Karen Smith, MD, PhD, MBA, LLM
Dr. Smith has served as a member of our board of directors since September 2024, as our interim Chief Medical Officer in May 2026 and as a consultant to support the transition to our next Chief Medical Officer in June and July of 2026. Since November 2018, Dr. Smith has been providing consulting services internationally. Dr. Smith most recently served as Chief Medical Officer for Qunice Therapeutics, Inc./Novosteo, Inc., a private biopharmaceutical company from January 2022 to September 2023, having previously served as Chief Medical Officer for Emergent BioSolutions, Inc. from April 2020 to December 2021. From May 2019 to January 2020, Dr. Smith served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Medeor Therapeutics, Inc., a biotechnology company. From June 2018 to May 2019, Dr. Smith served as Chief Executive Officer of Eliminate Cancer, Inc. From April 2015 to May 2018, she served as the Global Head of Research & Development and Chief Medical Officer of Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc, a biopharmaceutical company, where she built the research and development function into a pipeline of neuroscience and oncology products across all stages of discovery and development. From 2011 to 2015, she was Senior Vice President, Global Medical Affairs and Global Therapeutic Area Head (Dermatology) for Allergan, Inc., a multi-specialty health care company. Earlier in her career, she held senior leadership roles at AstraZeneca plc and Bristol Myers Squibb Company.
Dr. Smith serves on the boards of directors of public biotechnology companies Sangamo Therapeutics, Inc. and Skye Bioscience, Inc. Dr. Smith previously served on the board of directors of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a public biotechnology company, from August 2023 to May 2025, Talaris Therapeutics, Inc., a public biotechnology company, from June 2022 to October 2023, Antares Pharma, Inc., a public pharmaceutical company, from March 2019 to May 2022, and Acceleron Pharma, Inc., a public biopharmaceutical company, from November 2017 to December 2021.
Dr. Smith holds several degrees, including an M.D. from the University of Warwick, a Ph.D. in oncology from the University of Western Australia, an M.B.A. from the University of New England and an L.L.M. (Masters in Law) from the University of Salford.