Board of Directors

Christopher J. Burns, Ph.D.
Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer

Dr. Burns is Founder, President and CEO of Venatorx Pharmaceuticals, a world leader in antibacterial and antiviral drug research and development. He has 30 years’ experience in the pharmaceutical ...

Dr. Burns is Founder, President and CEO of Venatorx Pharmaceuticals, a world leader in antibacterial and antiviral drug research and development. He has 30 years’ experience in the pharmaceutical industry, including various corporate and R&D leadership positions at Protez/Novartis, ViroPharma, and Rhone-Poulenc Rorer (now Sanofi). Dr. Burns has appeared as co-author or co-inventor on more than 60 patents and publications and has served as Principal Investigator on more than ten awarded U.S. National Institute of Health (NIH) grants. He received a B.S. in Chemistry from St. Joseph’s University, and a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) under Nobel-laureate Professor K. Barry Sharpless. Dr. Burns currently serves on the Board of Directors at Life Sciences Pennsylvania (LSPA) and the Antimicrobials Working Group (AWG) and on the Advisory Board for Life Science Cares Philadelphia. Dr. Burns was named both Life Sciences Pennsylvania’s ‘CEO of the Year’ and an Ernst and Young ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’ in 2019.
Tomas J. Heyman
Chairman of the Board

Mr. Heyman brings more than 37 years of biopharmaceutical experience in corporate strategy, business development, venture capital, as well as R&D, legal and operational management experience to Venatorx’s Board. ...

Mr. Heyman brings more than 37 years of biopharmaceutical experience in corporate strategy, business development, venture capital, as well as R&D, legal and operational management experience to Venatorx’s Board. He spent his entire career at Johnson & Johnson and its affiliates both in the USA and in Belgium and retired from the company in September 2019. As president of JJDC, Johnson & Johnson’s corporate venture capital group, from 2015 until his retirement, Mr. Heyman managed approximately $1.5 billion in capital and oversaw investments in more than 120 companies. Prior to leading JJDC, he led business development for J&J’s pharmaceutical group, Janssen, for over 20 years, completing hundreds of licensing and M&A transactions. He was also the managing director of Janssen Pharmaceutica, Belgium, J&J’s largest subsidiary outside the U.S., and vice president of licensing at Ortho Pharmaceutical, a J&J affiliate. Mr. Heyman currently serves as a member of the boards of directors of Xilio Therapeutics, Legend Biotech, Akero Therapeutics, OptiNose, and Invivyd (formerly Adagio Therapeutics Inc.). He earned a Master of Law degree from K.U. Leuven in Belgium and completed post-graduate studies in international law in Geneva, Switzerland, and post-graduate studies in business management at the University of Antwerp in Belgium.
Martin Heidecker, Ph.D.
Chief Investment Officer, AMR Action Fund

Martin joined the AMR Action Fund in August 2021 coming from Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund where he worked as Managing Director USA in Cambridge, MA. He served as board ...

Martin joined the AMR Action Fund in August 2021 coming from Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund where he worked as Managing Director USA in Cambridge, MA. He served as board director of ArmaGen Technologies, Inc (acquired by JCR Pharma), Tilos Therapeutics Inc. (acquired by Merck & Co Inc.), Sentien Biotechnologies Inc., Abexxa Biologics Inc., Libra Therapeutics Inc. and Rgenta Therapeutics Inc. Martin also serves on the Board of Directors of MassBio.

Martin started his career at BayernKapital in the early 2000s to focus on seed investments in biotechnology companies in Germany. He held several Marketing positions at Solvay Pharmaceuticals and Boehringer Ingelheim in CNS and Oncology and was involved in the launch of various drugs in the CNS space.

Martin holds a PhD in Biology from University of Würzburg and an MBA from FernUniversität Hagen.

Tim Haines
Executive Partner, Managing Director, Abingworth

Mr. Haines has more than 25 years of international management experience in the life sciences industry in both public and private companies. During his time at Abingworth, Mr. Haines ...

Mr. Haines has more than 25 years of international management experience in the life sciences industry in both public and private companies. During his time at Abingworth, Mr. Haines has taken board roles in a number of companies including Astex, Fovea, GammaDelta Therapeutics, MEDIAN Technologies, PowderMed, Sientra, Virion, Scorpion, Venatorx Pharmaceuticals and Adaptate Biotherapeutics. Before joining Abingworth in 2005, Mr. Haines was Chief Executive of the Abingworth portfolio company, Astex Therapeutics. He was with Astex for over five years and was instrumental in establishing it as one of the leading UK biotechnology companies. Previously, Mr. Haines was Chief Executive of two divisions of the publicly-listed medical technology company, Datascope Corp. Prior to Datascope, he held a number of other senior management positions in the US and Europe, including CEO of Thackray Inc and General Manager Baxter UK. Mr. Haines has a BSc from Exeter University and an MBA from INSEAD. He is a former Director of the BIA and sat on the BVCA Venture Committee and the Wellcome Trust / NHS Health Innovation Challenge Fund.
Henry Skinner, PhD, MJur
Chief Executive Officer, AMR Action Fund

Henry Skinner, PhD, MJur, is Chief Executive Officer at the AMR Action Fund. Prior to joining the fund, he held leadership positions across the pharmaceutical and venture capital sectors, ...

Henry Skinner, PhD, MJur, is Chief Executive Officer at the AMR Action Fund. Prior to joining the fund, he held leadership positions across the pharmaceutical and venture capital sectors, including serving as Senior Vice President, Venture at Tekla Capital Management and as Deputy Head and Managing Director of the Novartis Venture Fund. In addition, Henry was the CEO of SelectX Pharmaceuticals, which focused on developing small-molecule antimicrobials, and NeoGenesis Pharmaceuticals, which developed a platform for identifying and optimizing drug candidates.

Over the years, he has held Business Development positions at the Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research, Pfizer, Pharmacia, Pharmacia & Upjohn, and Lexicon Genetics. Henry was a postdoctoral fellow at Baylor College of Medicine in the department of Human and Molecular Genetics. He earned a PhD in Microbiology and an MS in Biochemistry from the University of Illinois; an MJur in Health Law, Policy, and Management from Texas A&M; and an MS and a BS in Biology/Biotechnology from Worcester Polytechnic Institute.