11 May 2017

Industry Veteran Peter Barrett To Lead Harvard Business School's Blavatnik Fellowship in Life Science Entrepreneurship

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Peter Barrett

BOSTON—The Blavatnik Fellowship in Life Science Entrepreneurship, a program fostering connections between emerging business leaders and cutting-edge scientific innovators, announced today that Peter Barrett, PhD, will become faculty chair effective July 1.

“I’m delighted to be joining the Blavatnik Fellowship at Harvard Business School to develop and mentor life science entrepreneurs. Given my passion for life sciences, venture creation experience, and Harvard’s vast network of research institutes and teaching hospitals, it’s an exciting opportunity to foster continued success in this dynamic and important arena,” said Barrett.

Barrett will leverage decades of corporate and biotech expertise and lead a distinguished group of HBS alumni to work with Harvard inventors to promote the commercialization of life science technologies with significant market potential. Barrett is a partner at Atlas Venture; he serves as chairman of Obsidian Therapeutics, Synlogic, and Zafgen, and on the boards of Cadent Therapeutics, InfaCare, and Perkin-Elmer. Previous investments include Alnylam, Momenta, and Vitae. Prior to Atlas, Barrett was the co-founder of Celera Genomics and was a senior executive at PerkinElmer.

“Peter brings to the program his intimate knowledge of life science business, from startups to acquisitions. His leadership will enable the Blavatnik Fellowship program, now beginning its fifth year, to realize its ambitious strategic objectives and to shape Harvard Business School’s impact on the life science business environment,” commented HBS Dean Nitin Nohria.

Since its inception in 2013, twenty Blavatnik Fellows have helped create eighteen new companies and have collectively raised almost $60 million under the leadership of HBS professor of management practice Vicki L. Sato, PhD, who will retire this summer but remain on the board.

Barrett received a BS in chemistry from Lowell Technological Institute (now known as the University of Massachusetts, Lowell), and a PhD in analytical chemistry from Northeastern University. He also completed Harvard Business School’s Program for Leadership Development.

About The Blavatnik Fellowship in Life Science Entrepreneurship

The Blavatnik Fellowship in Life Science Entrepreneurship is a one-year fellowship for Harvard Business School alumni who have earned their MBA in the last seven years. Blavatnik Fellows are hired to foster entrepreneurship and commercialization of biomedical innovation from laboratories throughout Harvard University and its extended community of teaching hospitals.

ABOUT ATLAS VENTURE

Atlas Venture is a leading biotech venture capital firm. With the goal of doing well by doing good, we have been building breakthrough biotech startups since 1993. We work side by side with exceptional scientists and entrepreneurs to translate high impact science into medicines for patients. Our seed-led venture creation strategy rigorously selects and focuses investment on the most compelling opportunities to build scalable businesses and realize value. For more information, please visit www.atlasventure.com.

Contacts

Tran Courtney
781-605-8454
tcourtney+hbs.edu

About Harvard Business School

Founded in 1908 as part of Harvard University, Harvard Business School is located on a 40-acre campus in Boston. Its faculty of more than 250 offers full-time programs leading to the MBA and PhD degrees, as well as more than 175 Executive Education programs, and Harvard Business School Online, the School’s digital learning platform. For more than a century, faculty have drawn on their research, their experience in working with organizations worldwide, and their passion for teaching, to educate leaders who make a difference in the world. The School and its curriculum attract the boldest thinkers and the most collaborative learners who will go on to shape the practice of business and entrepreneurship around the globe.