Team
Life Sciences
Karl D. Handelsman
David J. Collier, MD
Rodney D. Altman, MD

Karl Handelsman joined CMEA Ventures in 1999. Karl has been involved with numerous CMEA investments such as: Ambrx, Ensemble Discovery, Ilypsa, Intellikine, Kalypsys, Maxygen, Phenomix, Rigel, Syrrx, Tetraphase, and Xenoport. Prior to joining CMEA, Karl was one of the first employees of Tularik, Inc., a drug discovery company, where his business development role spanned corporate partnering, technology licensing, and operations. Karl was also one of the first employees of Whitehead Institute, a premier research organization within Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); and he worked in business development at Millennium Pharmaceuticals. Karl holds graduate degrees from both MIT and Harvard Medical School.


David Collier, MD joined CMEA Ventures as a Managing Director in 2001. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of four CMEA portfolio companies: Arcadia Biosciences, Arcion, Sorbent Therapeutics, and VeraLight. He also serves as a Board Observer at Bayhill Therapeutics. Additionally, David was responsible for CMEA's investments in Altus Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ALTU), Biomimetic Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: BMTI) and Predix Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: EPIX).
Previously, David was a Managing Director at Burrill & Company, a private merchant bank focused exclusively on life science companies, where he played a leading role in the management of the company's life science venture capital funds. Before joining Burrill, David served as a consultant at Arthur D. Little and Magainin Pharmaceuticals. Earlier in his career, David was Assistant Vice President at First Options of Chicago where he directed a group of traders and managed a large portfolio of futures and options. David has an M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, an M.B.A. from the Wharton School, and a B.A. in Physics from Wesleyan University.


Rodney D. Altman, MD joined CMEA in 2006. Prior to joining CMEA, he was a founder and managing director of Aphelion Capital. Previously, he also worked at Piper Jaffray Ventures and was a partner at TVM Techno Venture Management. Before joining TVM, Rod practiced emergency medicine for 10 years. He was the Assistant Medical Director of the emergency department at MacNeal Hospital in suburban Chicago and a Clinical Instructor at the University of Chicago. On a limited basis, Rod continues to practice emergency medicine at Stanford University Medical Center where he is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine in the Department of Surgery. He graduated from McGill University's Faculty of Medicine as a University Scholar and from University of Chicago's business school with honors. Rod is a Fellow of the American College of Emergency Physicians. At CMEA, he focuses on investments in medical devices, biotechnology therapeutics, and diagnostics. Rod serves as a director on the boards of SurgiQuest, InSound Medical, VasoNova, and Visiogen.
