Who we are
JENNIFER PANAGOULIAS
CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER
Jennifer Panagoulias, RAC is the Chief Operating Officer of AS²Bio and the Head of Regulatory and Policy for the Foundation for Angelman Syndrome Therapeutics (FAST). Jennifer has worked in drug development for over 20 years, primarily focused on advancing global development programs for the treatment of rare neurological diseases.
She spent 16 years in Regulatory Affairs at Genzyme where she held various roles, including Global Therapeutic Head, Regulatory Affairs Neurology. At Genzyme, she supported global registration efforts for Myozyme (alglucosidase alfa), an enzyme replacement therapy for children and adults with Pompe disease—a rare, genetic, neuromuscular disorder. Jennifer has experience in working with global regulatory agencies including the US FDA, the European Medicines Agency, and the Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Agency in Japan. She has held key leadership roles in Regulatory Affairs and Quality Assurance supporting the development of oligonucleotide drugs at Wave Life Sciences and was part of the founding team at GeneTx Biotherapeutics advancing an investigational ASO specific for the treatment of Angelman syndrome. Jennifer serves as co-Director of ABOM and INSYNC-AS. Jennifer resides in Danvers, MA with her husband and 2 daughters. She has a niece, who lives with Angelman syndrome.
ALLYSON BERENT
CHIEF DEVELOPMENT OFFICER
A veterinary specialist in internal medicine, interventional endoscopy/radiology, and medical device development, she has been running clinical trials in animals with complicated and devastating disease processes with a clinical unmet need.
After graduating from Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine, Allyson completed a residency in Small Animal Internal Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, followed by a fellowship in interventional radiology at University of Pennsylvania, and a fellowship in Endourology at Thomas Jefferson University. She then served as an Adjunct Assistant Professor in Internal Medicine and Interventional Radiology/ Interventional Endoscopy at the Veterinary Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. In 2009 she moved to New York City, where she started the first Specialized Interventional Endoscopy Program in veterinary medicine. In 2014, Dr. Berent’s daughter was diagnosed with Angelman syndrome (AS), a rare non-degenerative neurogenetic disorder. The following year, she joined the board of directors and took the role of chief science officer at the Foundation for Angelman Syndrome Therapeutics (FAST), where she helped establish a drug development pipeline for novel therapeutics applicable for AS, working hand-in-hand with a consortium of scientists, clinicians and other collaborators. In 2016, Dr. Berent helped to spearhead a pre-competitive biomarker and outcome measure consortium called the Angelman syndrome Biomarker and Outcome Measure Consortium (ABOM) in order to support bringing patient focused outcome measures forward for human clinical trials. She also founded the International Angelman Syndrome Research Council (INSYNC-AS), in collaboration with the Simons Foundation, to bring a brain trust together to advance drug development for monogenic neurodevelopmental disorders. All of these efforts aimed at encouraging translational research opportunities, in order to help bring novel gene-targeted therapies and disease modifying modalities forward toward human application. Through these efforts, Dr. Berent co-founded GeneTx Biotherapeutics, a company focused on advancing an investigational antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) therapy through IND enabling studies and a phase 1/2 clinical trial for Angelman syndrome. Dr. Berent served as the Chief Operating Officer of GeneTx Biotherapeutics, which was acquired in 2022 by Ultragenyx Pharmaceuticals. Currently Dr. Berent is working to advance numerous cell and gene therapy products through IND-enabling studies into clinical trials for AS through her efforts at FAST and AS²Bio. Allyson lives in New York City with her husband, Chick, and their three daughters—one of which lives with Angelman syndrome.
JULIEN DE BOURNET
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
Julien started his career as an engineer at Bouygues Telecom, joined the SME Strategy Consulting division at IBM, and held investments positions in UK and Swiss based Hedge Funds. He earned a MS from Swiss Institute of Technology Lausanne (CH), and a MBA from INSEAD (France/Singapore). His mother tongue is French, and he is fluent in English and Spanish. He has worked extensively in France, UK and Switzerland.
As a specialist in private deal structuring, investing across the balance sheet in multiple investments as an advisor and sponsor, he has a successful track record at working with private investors, C-level management teams and boards through-out the investment cycle including preparation and execution of value creation plans with successful exits. He lives in London with his wife, Gaelle, and their three children — one of which lives with Angelman syndrome. Eight years ago, after learning of the robust and impressive vision of the drug development pipeline created by FAST, Julien and his family set out to support the concept of evaluating the potential to bring 6 disease modifying or gene targeted therapies from discovery to human clinical candidate. With their incredible support of FAST, and the entire scientific consortium, human clinical candidates were declared for numerous programs, leading to the broadening vision of the need for acceleration. Julien was taken by FAST's model of venture philanthropy while aggressively engaging in the biotech space to ensure these promising therapeutics do not languish and was part of the seed investors in GeneTx Biotherapeutics. Julien also saw the potential to leverage the learnings in the AS space to other similar neurodevelopmental disorders.
BETH MACGILLIVRAY
SENIOR DIRECTOR, CLINICAL OPERATIONS
Beth MacGillivray is a senior clinical operations leader with more than 20 years of experience advancing early- and late-stage clinical programs across rare disease, gene therapy, oncology, and autoimmune indications. She currently serves as Senior Director of Clinical Operations as AS²Bio where she leads first-in-human gene therapy development for Angelman syndrome, overseeing global CRO and vendor strategy, trial execution, and cross-functional team leadership.
Beth brings deep expertise in early-phase clinical development, including IND-enabling activities, protocol and consent development, CRO selection and oversight, and operational readiness for regulatory inspections. Her career includes leadership roles at Moderna Therapeutics, Shire, and Genzyme and multiple consulting organizations, where she has supported programs ranging from early phase pediatric rare diseases to global Phase 3 oncology trials. Known for her collaborative leadership style, Beth has a strong track record of partnering with clinicians and patient advocacy groups and translating complex science into executable clinical strategies that deliver on timelines, quality, and patient-focused outcomes.
SCOTT SHAPOT
SENIOR DIRECTOR, REGULATORY AFFAIRS
Scott Shapot brings over 15 years of regulatory experience across all phases of drug development for both biologics and small molecules. He has a comprehensive understanding of US and global regulatory requirements and relevant GxP compliance aspects related to drug development. He has led numerous successful INDs in the US and CTAs in over 30 countries for early and late stage programs. Scott also has in-depth knowledge and experience with orphan drugs and expedited programs for serious conditions.
Before joining AS²Bio, Scott served as Director, Regulatory Affairs at Adaptive Phage Therapeutics, where he developed and executed the overall regulatory strategy for programs focused on combating antibiotic resistant infections. Scott got his start in Regulatory Affairs at MedImmune, where he worked for over 5 years holding several positions of increasing responsibility. Scott resides in Frederick, MD with his wife and 2 children.
DEREK KICHULA
SENIOR DIRECTOR, TECHNICAL OPERATIONS
Derek Kichula brings 20 years of experience in biologics and gene/cell therapy to his role as Head of Technical Operations at AS²Bio. He has a proven record of leading high-impact initiatives across Process Development, Manufacturing, MS&T, Engineering, Validation, Facilities, and Supply Chain. His contributions include the launch of a $35M CMC laboratory, establishment of a GMP cell therapy manufacturing facility, successful FDA and EMA pre-approval inspections, and implementation of an AAV suspension manufacturing platform.
Before joining AS²Bio, Derek served as Senior Director of Technical Operations & CMC at Passage Bio, where he oversaw operations for the company’s CMC laboratory and served as the technical operations representative on the PBFT02 clinical development team. Earlier in his career, he spent more than eight years in leadership roles within Thermo Fisher’s biologics manufacturing services division. Derek resides in Newtown, PA with his wife and 2 children.
SCOTT PHERSON
SENIOR DIRECTOR, QUALITY ASSURANCE
Scott has spent the last ten years serving in quality leadership roles in biotechnology, pharmaceutical, and medical device companies and draws from another dozen years of work in research and development, analytical development, QC, QA, and operations roles in the biotechnology sector. Rare disease cell and gene therapy programs have been his passion for the past six years, and Scott brings his molecular biology education and practical experience from startup through commercial to build and integrate right sized quality solutions that deliver safe and reliable products.
Prior to joining AS²Bio, Scott worked for well known developers of drug therapies (Shire, Genzyme, Biogen, Alkermes) and contract manufacturers (Lonza). His work directly contributed to the successful approval of multiple commercial biological and small molecule therapies and clearance to proceed on many biological clinical programs in the US, EU, Japan, and other regulatory markets. Scott lives in Massachusetts with his wife and three sons.
FABIO FERREIRA DA SILVA, PHD, MBA, PMP®
ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR, PROGRAM & ALLIANCE MANAGEMENT
Fabio Silva is the Associate Director of Program & Alliance Management at AS²Bio, where he leads cross-functional teams to deliver strategic objectives. With more than ten years of industry experience across diverse modalities and therapeutic areas, Fabio excels at translating vision into execution by streamlining communication, aligning timelines, and clearly defining scope. He builds high-performing teams, strengthens program narratives, and drives collaborative partnerships with CROs, CDMOs, and academic institutions.
At AS²Bio, Fabio spearheads portfolio management across multiple therapeutic assets, ensuring alignment among diverse stakeholders. Guided by a patient-centered philosophy consistent with the FDA’s Patient-Focused Drug Development model, he is committed to transforming innovation into meaningful outcomes for patients and the broader community. Fabio is based in the Boston metro area.