Leadership
Hanadie Yousef, PhD
Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder
Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, Juvena Therapeutics
Dr. Hanadie Yousef is an entrepreneur, scientist, and leading expert on the mechanisms underlying age-related tissue degeneration with over two decades of experience in biomedical research. In 2018, she launched Juvena Therapeutics, a venture-backed, platform-driven, clinical stage biotechnology company mapping the therapeutic potential of secreted proteins and accelerating their translation into engineered biologics that promote tissue repair and restoration of function and health to treat degenerative diseases.
Under Dr. Yousef’s leadership, Juvena has leveraged its Artificial Intelligence (AI)-enabled platform to develop a proprietary, pro-regenerative protein library that enabled the discovery and development of a growing pipeline of biologics for muscle and metabolic diseases. The company’s lead asset, JUV-161, promotes muscle regeneration and metabolism. As of Q2 2025, it is in Phase 1 safety studies for the treatment of orphan disease Myotonic Dystrophy Type and sarcopenia. In addition, Juvena is progressing multiple preclinical programs across metabolic and fibrotic disease areas, including a novel preclinical obesity asset, JUV-112, that uniquely enhances lipid metabolism to induce weight loss through an energy expenditure promoting, non appetite-suppressing mechanism.
Dr. Yousef’s high-impact published research has been supported by fellowships and grants from the National Institute of Health (NIH), National Science Foundation, SPARK, and the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine and led to multiple issued and pending patents. She has received multiple awards and recognition for her entrepreneurship and innovation, including San Francisco Business Times’ “Women Who Lead in Life Sciences”, In Vivo’s “Rising Leaders“, and Founders Forum’s “100 Women Founders to Watch” in 2024, FierceBiotech’s “Fiercest Women in Life Sciences,” Business Insider’s “30 Leaders Under 40 Changing Healthcare in 2023,” Endpoints’ “The 20(+2) under 40,” and Pharmaceutical Executive’s “Emerging Pharma Leader”in 2023, , and the 2022 Biocom Catalyst award. She is also a regularly invited speaker at industry and innovation events. Under her leadership, Juvena has been recognized as the “NextGen Class of 2024: Top Life Sciences Startups to Watch This Year” by BioSpace and as a World Economic Forum 2024 Technology Pioneer company.
Dr. Yousef earned her B.S., summa cum laude from Carnegie Mellon University and a PhD from UC Berkeley as an NSF graduate research fellow then completed a 5-year postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford School of Medicine as an NIH fellow and SPARK scholar.
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Jeremy O’Connell, PhD
Chief Scientific Officer and Co-Founder
As Chief Scientific Officer and Co-Founder of Juvena Therapeutics, Dr. O’Connell oversees research strategy, pre-clinical science and manufacturing, and intellectual property efforts. Dr. O’Connell’s expertise in proteomics and systems biology was accrued during a PhD from UT Austin, a postdoc at Harvard, and his time in industry.
Prior to Juvena Therapeutics, in his postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard Medical school in the lab of Steven Gygi, he leveraged large proteomics datasets to build machine learning classifiers to improve protein-protein interaction predictions within the ubiquitin system.
He has spearheaded research projects in multiple tier-one research institutions, including Harvard and Stanford, employing a combination of mass spectrometry, high throughput imaging, and computational approaches. His work has resulted in numerous peer-reviewed publications, approved and pending patents, millions in award grant funding as the primary PI, fellowships, and awards.
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Banmeet Anand, PhD
Senior Vice President of Drug Development
Dr. Banmeet Anand’s more than 20 years experience in the discovery and development of antibodies encompasses fusion proteins, naked, ADCs and bi-specific antibodies; small molecules, and cellular therapies (NK-T, CAR-T) at biotechs and large pharma including Harpoon (a subsidiary of Merck & Co. inc.), Astellas and Genentech.
As senior vice president of drug development Dr. Anand leads development of Juvena’s biological assets including the pre-clinical, non-clinical and IND-enabling studies.
Prior, he served as Senior Vice President of Translational Medicine at Harpoon Therapeutics (a subsidiary of Merck & Co. Inc.) where he led toxicology, pharmacology, biomarkers, non-clinical/clinical PK/PD, companion diagnostics including IND-enabling studies supporting Harpoon’s proprietary TriTAC biologics (T-cell engagers) portfolio. Dr. Anand previously held management and scientific positions at Molecular Templates, NantKwest (ImmunityBio), Astellas (Agensys) and Genentech where he was involved in early and late development of multiple approved drugs such as RITUXAN®, PADCEV® and OCREVUS®.
Dr. Anand received his PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences and Chemistry from the University of Missouri-Kansas City.
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Colin Hislop
Senior Vice President of Clinical Development
As SVP Clinical Development, Dr. Colin Hislop leads Juvena’s clinical-stage drug candidates. His 36-years drug development and life science experience spans roles across multiple therapeutic areas at companies including Lilly (formerly Eli Lilly & Company), Proctor & Gamble Pharmaceuticals, CV Therapeutics, Peninsula Therapeutics, Versartis Inc., Anthera Pharmaceuticals and Eiger BioTherapeutics. His expertise encompasses early and late-stage clinical development of both small and large molecules, as well as the successful prosecution of multiple drug approvals.
Just prior to Juvena, Colin helped lead the successful prosecution of an NDA (2020) and MAA (2022) for lonafarnib to treat an ultra-rare genetic disease called Hutchinson-Guilford Progeria Syndrome. Previously Colin has held senior management positions as SVP Clinical Development and Operations for Eiger BioTherapuetics, Chief Medical Officer at Versartis Inc; SVP and Chief Medical Officer at Anthera Pharmaceuticals where he served on the leadership team to take the Company public.
Colin obtained an undergraduate degree in Medical Biochemistry from the University of Surrey and his medical degree from the Middlesex Hospital Medical School, University of London.
Bernard (Barney) D. King, MD, MBA, RAC (US, EU)
Chief Medical Officer (CMO)
Dr. King brings more than 25 years’ experience managing business and development operations in the pharmaceutical, medical device, biotechnology and CRO (Contract Research Organization) industries to his role as Chief Medical Officer at Juvena Therapeutics. Leveraging his expertise in life science product development planning and execution and in due diligence consulting for venture capital, investment, and pharmaceutical firms, Dr. King oversees all aspects of Juvena’s clinical development and medical affairs.
Prior to his role at Juvena, Dr. King directed, or has been directly involved in, development programs for more than 100 pharmaceutical, medical device and biologics products across diverse f therapeutic areas and overseen more than 250 clinical trials globally – experiences he captures in his book “Get It Right The First Time! Pharmaceutical Product Development: Intelligent Solutions for Challenging Issues.”
Dr. King graduated cum laude from the University of Notre Dame, majoring in English and Preprofessional Studies, and received his MD from the Ohio State University College of Medicine. He is board certified in Cardiology and Internal Medicine. He received his MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
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Bek Madjidov
Vice President of Finance and Operations
Bek Madjidov is the Head of Finance and Operations at Juvena Therapeutics, responsible for administrative and operational functions (finance, human resources, information technology, and facilities).
Bek is a transformational leader who brings strong business acumen and over 15 years of finance and operations experience in the biotech and high-tech industries. His areas of expertise are strategic planning, business analysis, management reporting, process improvement, and organizational transformation.
Bek previously served as Finance Director at Genentech (Roche), supporting Product Development and Manufacturing Operations organizations. He provided finance leadership to global product and functional teams and led transformational efforts in business and finance organizations. Prior to Genentech, Bek held a variety of finance and leadership roles at Autodesk and Bio-Rad Laboratories by successfully building and leading teams that built strong, cross-functional business partnerships in complex, matrix organizations.
Bek holds a Bachelor of Science (summa cum laude) in Business Administration from the University at Buffalo, State University of New York (SUNY). Bek is pursuing a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley.
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Dasom (Christine) Yoo, PhD
Senior Corporate Development Manager
Christine Yoo, PhD, joined Juvena Therapeutics in May 2025 as Senior Corporate Development Manager. Prior to joining Juvena, she was a Senior Associate at Propel Bio Partners, a life sciences venture capital firm. As the fund’s first hire, Christine played a key role in building internal operations and led due diligence efforts on private therapeutics and biotech companies from Seed through Series B stages.
Before her time in venture capital, Christine served as a Business Development Manager at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle, where she supported strategic partnerships and commercialization initiatives.
Christine earned both her B.S. and Ph.D. in Bioengineering from the University of Washington, where her research focused on cardiac regeneration using stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes. Outside of work, she enjoys exploring the outdoors with her husband and their two golden retrievers.
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