HOUSTON – (Oct. 17, 2023) – Rice University today announced the addition of Kevin Sheridan to its external advisory board for the Rice Biotech Launch Pad, a Houston-based accelerator focused on expediting the translation of the university’s health and medical technology discoveries into cures.
Sheridan will be instrumental in providing his counsel in financial expertise to expand the capabilities of the Launch Pad and progress its mission to identify and support highly differentiated projects of the accelerator and drive the growth of Houston as a world-class medical innovation ecosystem. He has over 25 years of experience in the investment banking industry.
“With the formation of the external advisory board earlier this month, the Rice Biotech Launch Pad is well-positioned to stand out among other accelerators and to have a meaningful impact on the biotech industry with the invaluable insights provided by the board,” said Omid Veiseh, associate professor of bioengineering at Rice and faculty director of the accelerator. “The addition of Kevin reflects our commitment to advancing innovation and achieving the highest standards of excellence. His valuable business acumen greatly enhances our ability to facilitate the successful transition of our faculty’s research at Rice into thriving startups.”
“Our vision for the Rice Biotech Launch Pad is to connect Houston-based researchers with executives across a range of industries,” said Paul Wotton, the accelerator’s executive director and chairman. “Kevin is the next piece of the puzzle to building out the phenomenal group of executives that comprise our external advisory board. Kevin’s background and expertise in advising pharma and biotech companies sets up the accelerator for continued progress in line with our business strategy to expand and advance the university’s technologies into therapies and potential cures.”
Sheridan is the managing director and joint global head of health care investment banking at Jefferies, where he is responsible for 130 health care investment bankers globally while overseeing mergers and acquisitions and advising large-cap pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies in the United States, Europe and Japan. Prior to his current position, he was a managing director at UBS.
Over the course of his career, Sheridan has led over 200 biotech equity transactions, including initial public offerings and follow-on offerings. He also serves as a board member of ApiJect Systems. He received a bachelor of arts degree from Rutgers University and an MBA from Columbia Business School.
Sheridan is the 12th member of the Launch Pad’s external advisory board. The other members are Jason Bock, founder and CEO of CTMC; Albert Cha, managing partner of Frazier Life Sciences; Rima Chakrabarti, partner at KdT Ventures and adjunct professor of neuroscience at the Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine; John Flavin, founder and CEO of Portal Innovations, co-founder and chairman of Pyxis Oncology and entrepreneurial advisor of Argonne National Laboratory; Pierre Jacquet, managing director and vice chairman of L.E.K.’s health care consulting practice; Robert Langer, professor at the David H. Koch Institute for Integrated Research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Dennis Lee, senior program officer of chemistry, manufacturing and controls at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; Ferran Prat, senior vice president of research administration and industry relations at the MD Anderson Cancer Center; Josh Richardson, managing director and senior investor on the life sciences investigating team at Goldman Sachs; David Schull, president of Russo Partners; and Lisa Wright, president and CEO of Community Health Choice.
About the Rice Biotech Launch Pad
The Rice Biotech Launch Pad is a Houston-based accelerator focused on expediting the translation of Rice University’s health and medical technology discoveries into cures. This initiative is designed to help advance internally discovered platform technologies from concept to clinical studies and commercialization. The Rice Biotech Launch Pad will identify and support highly differentiated projects while driving the expansion of Houston as a world-class medical innovation ecosystem. The accelerator will bring together local researchers with a network of industry executives. For more information, please visit https://biotechlaunchpad.rice.edu/.
About Rice University
Located on a 300-acre forested campus in Houston, Rice University is consistently ranked among the nation’s top 20 universities by U.S. News & World Report. Rice has highly respected schools of Architecture, Business, Continuing Studies, Engineering, Humanities, Music, Natural Sciences and Social Sciences and is home to the Baker Institute for Public Policy. With 4,552 undergraduates and 3,998 graduate students, Rice’s undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio is just under 6-to-1. Its residential college system builds close-knit communities and lifelong friendships, just one reason why Rice is ranked No. 1 for lots of race/class interaction and No. 4 for quality of life by the Princeton Review. Rice is also rated as a best value among private universities by Kiplinger’s Personal Finance.