Board of Directors

Prior to becoming CEO of Tvardi, Imran Alibhai was a Senior Vice President and Managing Director of DNAtrix, a clinical stage biotech company developing oncolytic viruses for cancer. Previously, Imran was an investment banker in PJ Solomon’s Healthcare Advisory Group, focused on M&A transactions in science based markets including biopharmaceuticals, medical devices/diagnostics and life science tools. Formerly, he was the Senior Director at Alexandria Venture Investments, where he was responsible for investments in emerging companies and funds in the healthcare sector. He also directed investments for PIPE’s and long/short positions in MPM Capital’s BioEquities hedge fund. Imran began his career in early stage venture capital at the Accelerator Corp., where he was involved in every facet of company/project formation and management. He currently serves on the Scientific Advisory Board for NASA’s Translational Research Institute for Space Health. Imran holds a PhD in Molecular Neuroscience from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School and a BS in Biology from Duke University.

David Tweardy, M.D. is Head of the Division of Internal Medicine at MD Anderson Cancer Center and a physician-scientist recognized for his contributions to our understanding of the biochemistry and molecular and cellular biology of signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) 3, as well as its contribution to inflammation, fibrosis, and oncogenesis. His group claims several firsts in the STAT3 field, including the identification, molecularly cloning, and full characterization of the β isoform of human STAT3, identifying the contribution of STAT3 to human oncogenesis, and discovering competitive small-molecule inhibitors of STAT3 through targeting its Src homology (SH) 2 domain. Since his founding of StemMed, Ltd., the parent of Tvardi Therapeutics, Inc. in 2009, he obtained $15M in non-diluted funding to support development of small-molecule STAT3 inhibitors from concept to Phase I testing. He is the major inventor of all patents licensed to or owned by Tvardi.

Ronald A. DePinho, M.D. is past president and distinguished university professor of MD Anderson Cancer Center. He studied biology at Fordham University, where he graduated class salutatorian, received his M.D. degree with distinction from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and performed his residency and postdoctoral training at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center. His research career began at Einstein as the Feinberg Senior Faculty Scholar in Cancer Research and an ACS Research Professor. He then joined the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School where he was the founding Director of the Belfer Institute for Applied Cancer Science. During his 6-year tenure as MD Anderson’s president, Dr. DePinho conceived and launched the Cancer Moon Shots Program, maintained MD Anderson’s top ranking, dramatically enhanced its research and training excellence, recruited many world class faculty, and expanded its global network to reach one-third of the human population. His research program has made fundamental contributions to our understanding of cancer, aging and degenerative disorders, and the translation of such knowledge has led to clinical advances. He is a member of the National Academies of Science and Medicine and recipient of honorary degrees and many awards including the Ellis Island Medal of Honor and knighthood from Portugal. He is the founder of several private and publicly traded biotechnology companies and served as an advisor or director for AACR, NIH, Vatican as well as several large biopharma companies focused on oncology.

Mr. Hall is founder and president of Wetland Partners, LP., which is primarily engaged in wetland mitigation banking and oil & gas investments. Mr. Hall is also a co-founder of BioMatrix Partners, an investment partnership focused on public and private biotechnology companies, with an emphasis on early-stage opportunities enabled by synthetic biology. Mr. Hall has invested in a wide range of businesses for over 30 years, serving in a variety of leadership capacities. An active member of his community, Mr. Hall has served in multiple leaderships roles with St. Mark’s School of Texas, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, and most recently, a six-year term with the University of Texas System Board of Regents. He is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics.