Irit Rappley, PhD

Irit Rappley is a seasoned biotech executive and drug discovery expert. She is currently leading a stealth biotechnology company that she co-founded, while helping other biotechs grow through her consulting practice. Dr. Rappley began her industry career in the Protein Homeostasis group at Celgene, working on teams that identified and developed small molecule drug candidates for leukemia, lymphoma, and other blood cancers. Several of those candidates are in clinical trials today. She helped to initiate and build the Neuroscience group at Celgene, serving in positions of increasing responsibility and leading external collaborations that generated multiple investigational new drug applications. After the acquisition of Celgene by Bristol Myers Squibb, Dr. Rappley transitioned into the role of Scientific Director of Discovery and Translational Research, Neuroscience, where she led the biomarkers teams for all neuroscience programs entering the clinic. She then joined Recursion Pharmaceuticals as Vice President of Neuroscience and Translational Research, leading drug discovery efforts in the neuroscience space and working to reimagine the drug discovery process through the application of machine learning and automation. Most recently, she served as Chief Scientific Officer of Teal Omics, where she led the company’s scientific strategy and collaborated closely with the CEO on fundraising. Dr. Rappley earned her PhD in Neurobiology at Harvard and completed her postdoctoral training at Scripps Research, with a focus on the biochemistry and biophysics of protein homeostasis, misfolding, and aggregation.