OvaScience Leadership
Management
Michelle Dipp, M.D., Ph.D. — Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder
Dr. Dipp is the founding Chief Executive Officer of OvaScience and serves on the Board of Directors. Dr. Dipp is also a Founder and Partner of Longwood Fund, which founds and invests in healthcare companies such as Alnara (acquired by Eli Lilly) and Verastem. Previously, Dr. Dipp was the Senior Vice President and Head of the CEEDD at GlaxoSmithKline. Prior, she was Vice President of Corporate Development at Sirtris, where she led the successful acquisition of Sirtris by GSK for $720 million. Before joining Sirtris as a founding employee, she worked in healthcare private equity at The Wellcome Trust, London. Dr. Dipp serves on the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Board of Trustees, the Boston Symphony Orchestra Board of Overseers, and the Board of Directors of the City on a Hill Charter School in Roxbury, Mass.
Dr. Dipp holds an M.D. and a Ph.D. from the University of Oxford.
Christopher A. Bleck — Chief Commercial Officer
Mr. Bleck has more than 25 years of successful senior management experience in the medical device, diagnostic and pharmaceutical industries. For the last 10 years, Mr. Bleck has worked exclusively in women's healthcare. Most recently, he served as President & CEO of Incept BioSystems, where he lead the product and clinical development of a micro-fluidic culture system designed to improve the quality of human embryos. The Incept technology platform was acquired by Origio a/s, a leader in Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) solutions. Prior to Incept, Mr. Bleck served as President and CEO of Intact Medical Corporation. Intact Medical manufactured a breast biopsy and tissue excision system used in the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer. Mr. Bleck had previously served as Vice President of Commercial Operations for Cytyc Corporation, a diagnostic and therapeutic medical device company focused on women’s health. Mr. Bleck’s history also includes 18 years in senior management at Abbott Laboratories, including positions as Corporate Vice President, Pediatric Products and President & General Manager, Abbott Canada.
Mr. Bleck holds a B.S. degree in Pharmacy and an M.B.A. from The University of Connecticut.
Scott Chappel, Ph.D. — Chief Scientific Officer
Infertility and reproductive health expert, Dr. Chappel, is Chief Scientific Officer of OvaScience and serves as co-chairman of the company’s scientific advisory board. Dr. Chappel is an accomplished endocrinologist who, while Chief Scientist at Serono, directed research that led to the development of six FDA-approved and marketed products. Among the products that Dr. Chappel developed include Gonal-F®, Luveris® and Ovidrel® for the treatment of infertility. During his tenure at Serono, the company became the market leader for recombinant protein therapeutics in assisted reproduction. Most recently, Dr. Chappel was the Chief Scientific Officer and Chief Operating Officer of Tokai Pharmaceuticals, a biotechnology company developing therapies for the treatment of hormone-refractory prostate cancer. Prior to joining Tokai, Dr. Chappel was an executive at a number of biotechnology companies, including Dyax, Serono, Diacrin and Integrated Genetics.
Dr. Chappel received his Ph.D. in neuroscience from the University of Maryland School of Medicine. Dr. Chappel has authored or co-authored more than 65 peer-reviewed scientific publications and is a named inventor on 19 issued U.S. patents.
Alison Lawton — Chief Operating Officer
Ms. Lawton has more than 28 years of global pharmaceutical and biotechnology experience, including 21 years at Genzyme Corporation and seven years in the U.K. at Warner-Lambert/Parke-Davis. Prior to OvaScience, she was Senior Vice President and General Manager at Sanofi Biosurgery (formerly Genzyme Biosurgery), where she was responsible for three separate franchises, including surgical, cell therapy and regenerative medicine, and orthopedics. Prior to Genzyme Biosurgery, Ms. Lawton was Senior Vice President of Global Market Access for Genzyme, which involved leadership across several of Genzyme's global functional organizations including regulatory affairs and corporate quality systems, policy programs, health outcomes and strategic pricing, patient safety and risk management, and biomedical process excellence and training. She served two terms as the industry representative on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Cell & Gene Therapy Advisory Panel, and was past President and Chair of Board of RAPS (Regulatory Affairs Professional Society). Ms. Lawton is currently a Board member of Cubist Pharmaceuticals and Verastem, Inc.
Ms. Lawton holds a B.Sc. Hons. in Pharmacology from King's College London.