Ian is a molecular biologist, engineer, and entrepreneur. He has been involved in the formation and early company building of Lux portfolio companies including Kallyope as well as several other stealth Newcos.

Before joining Lux, Ian was the Head of Platform Biology & Technology at Kallyope, where he led a team of molecular biologists, neuroscientists, and data scientists in the discovery of new therapeutic targets that harness the gut-brain axis.

Prior, Ian worked on neuroprosthetics and brain-machine interfaces at Duke University with Miguel Nicolelis, later completing his PhD at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, where he developed novel tools to map connectivity in the brain by leveraging high-throughput DNA sequencing.

Ian is currently the Co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Cajal Neuroscience, a Lux-incubated portfolio company.

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Mr. Foster is a Venture Partner with Lux Capital. He is also the Managing Partner of the Millbrook Management Group LLC. He recently started a new machine learning company, General Semantics, which is focused on automated text analysis of public and private companies worldwide.

Prior to forming Millbrook, Mr. Foster was with McKinsey & Company for 30 years, where he is an Emeritus Director and served as a Senior Partner and Director for 22 years. Mr. Foster co-founded the firm’s technology, chemicals, healthcare and private equity practices. He also led McKinsey’s worldwide knowledge development and served over fifty leading global companies primarily in healthcare, electronics, and chemicals as well as a number of nonprofit institutions.

Mr. Foster was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the President’s Circle of the National Academies. He is a member of the Policy and Global Affairs Committee of the National Research Council, National Academies. He led the Study Group for the Council on Foreign Relations on Innovation and Economic Power, which led to the publication of Technological Innovation and Economic Performance.

Mr. Foster is also a member of the board of directors of: Athenahealth (Chairman, Governance Committee); Trust Company of the West, a wholly owned subsidiary of Société Général (Audit Committee); Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (Executive and Finance Committees); Yale School of Medicine Dean’s Advisory Board; W. M. Keck Foundation (Executive Committee); Council of Foreign Relations (Nominating and Membership Committees); Council for Aid to Education (Chairman, Strategy Committee); a member of the Chambers Street Executive Network of Goldman Sachs; and a member of the advisory board of the Institute of Genomic Biology at The University of Illinois.

What is the greatest innovation of the past decade?
CRISPR/Cas9

What are you most looking forward to in the future?
Machine learning and the discoveries it will enable

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Robert is Co-Founder and Venture Partner, focusing on healthcare. Robert manages Lux Capital’s investments in Cala Health (neuroperipherals), Kala Pharmaceuticals (ophthalmology), Kyruus (healthcare IT), and Visterra, Inc. (infectious diseases). Previous investments include Cerulean Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: CERU – pharmaceutical nanoencapsulation), Magen Biosciences (acquired by PPD – dermatology), and Molecular Imprints (acquired by Canon – semiconductor imprint lithography).

Robert was the founding CEO of Harvard Medical School spinout Genocea Biosciences (NASDAQ: GNCA) and founding CEO of Johns Hopkins spinout Kala Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: KALA). Robert was nominated as Biotech CEO of the Year at the World Vaccine Congress and was selected as one of the “100 of the Most Inspiring People” by PharmaVoice Magazine. He was Co-Founder of Lux Research and has served as an advisor to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Robert was also a member of Motorola’s Research Visionary Board and has been an invited lecturer or panelist at MIT, Stanford, Yale University, Brown, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, the National Cancer Institute, Georgetown, and the University of Virginia. He has been published in The Journal of Biomedical Materials Research and Nature Biotechnology. Robert graduated from the University of Virginia with a B.S. in Architecture and is a former member of the Regional Selection Committee for UVA’s Jefferson Scholars Foundation.

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Retired General Raymond Anthony "Tony" Thomas III joins Lux after a distinguished career of public service. Tony will be working closely with the entire Lux partnership and Lux family companies on strategy, team building, leadership, navigating complex and risky challenges, and advancing cutting-edge technologies in markets from commercial to defense.

Most recently, Tony served as the 11th Commander of U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) headquartered at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida.

Prior to assuming command of USSOCOM, Tony served as Commander of Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

Tony’s other assignments as a general officer include: Associate Director for Military Affairs at the Central Intelligence Agency; Commanding General, NATO Special Operations Component Command in Afghanistan; Deputy Director for Special Operations, The Joint Staff in the Pentagon; Assistant Division Commander, 1st Armor Division in Iraq; and Deputy Commanding General, JSOC.

He is a graduate of the US Army War College and the Naval Command and Staff College. He attended the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, and was commissioned an infantry second lieutenant upon graduation in 1980.

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Tuvia Barak has served as a Venture Partner with Lux Capital since 2005. In 1982, Mr. Barak joined Tadiran, Inc., the North American subsidiary of Tadiran, the largest electronics conglomerate in Israel. During his 12-year tenure, over $3 billion in revenue was achieved under his direction, and Tadiran became one of the major suppliers of tactical communications to the U.S. Army. Mr. Barak developed strategic alliances and partnerships with some of the largest aerospace and defense companies. In 1993, Mr. Barak established his own marketing and consulting practice, advising U.S. and international companies on business development, marketing strategies, technology assessment, and mergers and acquisitions in the aerospace and technology fields.

Mr. Barak is a member of the Board of Directors of Aveta.life, Skyline Software, Toonimo, WhiteCanyon Software, and Weatherbell Analytics, and special advisor to Astra Capital Management, and Heller Industries. He previously served as a Board Director at Brashear LP., Fairchild Imaging, and Arinc Corp., all of which were acquired by major companies with exceptional returns to their investors. His many clients have included The Carlyle Group, Boeing, L-3 Communications, ITT, General Dynamics, AAI/Textron, BAE, EDS, DRS, Elbit Systems, Schott, Selex, Ness Technologies, Vought Aircraft, SanDisk, United Defense, Mantech International, NanoSys, MapInfo, Rockwell Collins and Raytheon. Mr. Barak has a M.Sc. in E.E. from the Technion Institute of Technology, Israel.

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Zack is a Venture Partner at Lux and currently serves as a Board Director for Moment and Pawp, as well as a Board Observer for Statespace. A talented visual storyteller, Zack has been a shepherd of Lux’s brand identity and works closely with founders to help them powerfully communicate complex ideas for customers, partners and investors.

Over a 15 year career at Lux, Zack has played a key role in nearly every aspect of the organization’s development. His contributions across investor relations, operations, finance and investing have helped Lux scale from less than $100M to more than $4B in assets under management.

As an investing Partner, Zack developed the firm’s original thesis around 3D technologies, sourcing the firm’s Seed investment in Matterport (NASDAQ: MTTR), the leading 3D space capture company; leading Lux’s Series B investments in Shapeways (NYSE: SHPW), a marketplace and platform that turns customer’s designs into real products using additive manufacturing; and leading Lux's Seed investment in SOLS Systems (acquired), a mass-customization company that used 3D printing to create perfect-fit products. He led Lux’s Series A investments in Latch (NASDAQ: LTCH), a building operating system of hardware, software, and services designed to make every building better; Caper (acquired by Instacart), a retail technology platform that automates checkout and improves store operations; and Pawp, an affordable digital pet care provider. He also led Lux's Seed investments in Moment, a marketplace for creators; and Statespace, neuroscience-based training and analytics platform. Zack has worked closely on narrative development with companies including Auris (acquired by Johnson & Johnson), Transphorm, Avail Medsystems, Science37 (NASDAQ: SNCE), and Kurion (acquired by Veolia).

Prior to joining Lux, Zack worked as an expedition photographer on the Colorado plateau. He created his own curriculum at Cornell University, which combined materials science and entrepreneurship. He graduated in five years with a BS in engineering and an MBA. He has been a guest speaker at Cornell University, Drexel University, New York University and The University of Pennsylvania.

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