miRagen Company Founders
Co-Founder and Chairman of the Board of Directors, miRagen Therapeutics
Partner, Atlas Venture
Chairman of the Board of Directors and Co-Founder of miRagen Therapeutics, Bruce L. Booth, D.Phil., is a Partner in the Life Sciences group at Atlas Venture. He focuses on novel biopharmaceutical products, therapeutic platforms and innovative biomedical technologies.
Bruce currently serves on the Boards of Atlas portfolio companies Avila, Bicycle, Miragen, Nimbus, OnQity, ProtAffin and Zafgen. He also works or has worked closely with portfolio companies ARCA Biopharma (NASD:ABIO), Archemix, NxStage Medical (NASD:NXTM), Prestwick (acquired by Biovail, Sept 2008), Proprius (acquired by Cypress Biosciences, Feb 2008), and Stromedix.
Previously, Bruce was a Principal at Caxton Health Holdings L.L.C., where he focused on the firm's private equity activities, ranging from early stage venture capital through late stage private equity. Prior to Caxton, he was an Associate Principal at McKinsey & Company, where he advised biopharmaceutical clients on R&D productivity, corporate strategy and business development issues.
As a British Marshall Scholar, Bruce earned a Doctorate in Molecular Immunology from the Oxford University's Nuffield Department of Medicine and the Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine. He received his Bachelor of Science degree summa cum laude in Biochemistry from the Pennsylvania State University.
He serves as a Trustee of the New York Academy of Medicine, where he participates on the Executive Committee as Treasurer and helps manage the Academy's Endowment. He also currently serves in several life sciences advisory roles, including UCB Pharma NewMedicines Science Advisory Board, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center's Accelerating Bench to Bedside effort, and LifeTech Boston seed-stage loan program. Bruce has also authored numerous scientific papers and biotech venture capital review articles, including several in Nature Biotechnology and Nature Reviews Drug Discovery.
He lives in Wellesley, MA, with his wife and three wonderful kids.
Michael R. Bristow, M.D., Ph.D.
Co-Founder, miRagen Therapeutics
Michael R. Bristow, M.D., Ph.D., is currently a fully tenured Professor of Medicine (Cardiology) and Co-Director of the University of Colorado Cardiovascular Institute at UC Denver School of Medicine. He is a fellow of the American College of Cardiology, a founding member of the Heart Failure Society of America, and a member of multiple professional societies and editorial boards.
Dr. Bristow has authored over 380 reviewed papers and chapters on heart failure and other cardiovascular diseases, was instrumental in elucidating key molecular mechanisms underlying heart failure and the use of 
-blockers for its treatment, and is developing the first pharmacogenetically targeted cardiovascular drug (bucindolol, Gencaro™). Dr. Bristow has received many academic and industry honors, most recently the 2008 Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America Clinical Trial Exceptional Service Award for the development of carvedilol for heart failure and the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Heart Failure Society of America. Additionally, Dr. Bristow was named “Scientist of the Year” by the Colorado Chapter of the ARCS Foundation.
Dr. Bristow is the Chairman and Chief Science and Medical Officer of ARCA biopharma, a company he founded in 2002 with the mission of developing genetically targeted therapies for heart failure and other cardiovascular diseases. Dr. Bristow is also the principal Founder and former Chief Science and Medical Officer of Myogen, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company acquired by Gilead Sciences, Inc., in 2006.
Marvin H. Caruthers, Ph.D.
Co-Founder and Board of Directors member, miRagen Therapeutics
Marvin H. Caruthers, Ph.D., is a Distinguished Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Colorado and a pioneer in the biotechnology field. One of the co-founders of Amgen and Applied Biosystems, Dr. Caruthers’ groundbreaking scientific research in nucleic acid chemistry led to the development of DNA synthesizing techniques that remain the industry standard today.
Dr. Caruthers holds a B.S. in Chemistry from Iowa State University and a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Northwestern University. A Guggenheim Fellow, he is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Dr. Caruthers was awarded the National Medal of Science for 2006, the nation’s highest distinction honoring scientific achievement.
In addition to his membership on the Board of miRagen, Dr. Caruthers currently serves on the Boards of Array Biopharma and Barofold and is a founding investor in several biotechnology companies.
William S. Marshall, Ph.D.
Co-Founder, member of the Board of Directors, miRagen Therapeutics
President and Chief Executive Officer, miRagen Therapeutics
William S. Marshall, Ph.D., is miRagen’s President, Chief Executive Officer, Co-Founder and Director. Prior to establishing miRagen, Dr. Marshall was Vice President of Technology and Business Development for Bioscience at Thermo Fisher Scientific. In this role, he was responsible for leading technology assessment and strategic planning for the Thermo Fisher Biosciences Division, a unit with revenues of approximately $1 billion that manufactures and supplies a wide range of products and services across the general-chemistry and life-sciences arenas.
Dr. Marshall was one of the scientific founders of Dharmacon, Inc., which was acquired by Fisher Scientific International, serving as the Executive Vice President for Research and Operations and General Manager. Prior to joining Dharmacon, Dr. Marshall served in many capacities at Amgen, Inc., most recently as Associate Director of Research, Site Head for Research and Head of the Nucleic Acid and Peptide Technology Department. In these positions, he participated in a wide variety of therapeutic development approaches throughout the drug discovery process leading to the development of clinical candidates.
Dr. Marshall received his B.S. in Biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Colorado at Boulder in the laboratory of Professor Marvin Caruthers. He is author and co-author of over 50 research papers and 30 patents.
Eric N. Olson, Ph.D.
Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Advisor, miRagen Therapeutics
Eric N. Olson, Ph.D., miRagen’s Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Advisor, has dedicated his career to deciphering the mechanisms that control muscle gene regulation and development. His most recent work has focused on the genetic pathways responsible for congenital and acquired cardiovascular disease.
Dr. Olson attended Wake Forest University receiving a B.A. in Chemistry and Biology, a Ph.D. in Biochemistry and an honorary doctorate. After postdoctoral training at Washington University School of Medicine, he joined the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at The M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in 1984 and became Professor and Chairman. He later founded the Department of Molecular Biology at The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas where he holds the Robert A. Welch Distinguished Chair.
Dr. Olson’s honors include: the Basic Research Prize, the Founding Distinguished Scientist Award, and the Research Achievement Award from the American Heart Association; the Pasarow Medical Research Award in Cardiovascular Disease; the Gill Heart Institute Award; the Lucian Award for Research in Cardiovascular Disease; the Outstanding Investigator Award from the International Society for Heart Research; and the Pollin Prize for Lifetime Contributions to Pediatric Research. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Sciences and its Institute of Medicine.
Dr. Olson is a member of numerous editorial boards including Circulation, Circulation Research, and Science and belongs to the Scientific Review Board of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. He was a Co-Founder and Scientific Advisor of Myogen, Inc., a biotechnology company focusing on therapies for heart muscle disease, acquired by Gilead Pharmaceuticals in 2006.
