Corporate Governance

Shalabh Gupta, MD, is the founder of Unicycive and has served as Chief Executive Officer, President, and director since August 2016. Previously, Dr. Gupta served in various other roles, including founder and Chief Executive Officer of Biocycive Inc.; a commercial strategy role at Genentech, Inc.; equity researcher covering US pharmaceutical companies at UBS Investment Bank; and as an equity researcher covering biotechnology companies at Rodman & Renshaw (currently HC Wainwright). Dr. Gupta previously served as a medical advisor to Synageva BioPharma Corporation and as an advisor to New York University (NYU) Langone Medical Center’s Office of Technology Transfer. Dr. Gupta is also the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Globavir, which had licensed diagnostic technology from Stanford university, which was then partnered with global commercial diagnostic companies. Dr. Gupta is an advisor to the UCSF Innovation Center, a role he has held since 2020. Since 2012, and has also been an advisor to SPARK, Stanford University School of Medicine. Dr. Gupta previously served on the board of directors for the Beall Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the University of California Irvine, Paul Merage School of Business.  

Before his roles in business and finance, Dr. Gupta was an attending physician at NYU Medical Center and a clinical faculty member at the NYU School of Medicine. Dr. Gupta was a board-certified physician, and he currently holds a license from the California State Medical Board. Dr. Gupta completed his internship in Internal Medicine, medical residency in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, and research fellowship in Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation at NYU School of Medicine. Dr. Gupta received his MPA in Health Care Finance and Management from NYU’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service and his MD from Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education & Research, India. 

Dr. Gupta has been in several leadership roles throughout his academic and professional career. He was elected president of the Resident Physicians Council during his residency training, representing approximately 1,500 resident physicians in physical medicine and rehabilitation across the US. He also served on the Board of Directors at the Wagner Alumni Association, and was elected to the Board of Directors of the UC Irvine Beall Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship in 2018.

Gaurav Aggarwal, MD, brings decades of experience investing in private and public biopharmaceutical and medical device companies across the development spectrum. He currently serves as a Managing Director at Vivo Capital, a healthcare focused investment firm where he focuses on investments in life science companies. Previously, Dr. Aggarwal served as the Chief Business Officer of Ocera Therapeutics, Inc. He has also served as Managing Director with Investor Growth Capital, Principal and Partner with Panorama Capital, a venture capital fund, and Associate at JPMorgan Partners. Prior to joining JP Morgan Partners, LLC, Dr. Aggarwal focused on venture capital investments in biopharmaceutical and medical device companies at KBL Healthcare Ventures and Wasserstein Perrella & Co. He currently also serves on the board of Geron Corporation and previously served on the boards of of directors of Sierra Oncology, Inc. (acquired by GlaxoSmithKline plc), Hyperion Therapeutics, Inc. (acquired by Horizon Pharma) and Microlin Bio, Inc.

Dr. Aggarwal received his M.D. from Columbia University, College of Physicians & Surgeons, and his B.S. in Agricultural Economics from Cornell University.

Dr. Sara Kenkare-Mitra is a distinguished biotech/pharma drug developer and executive, currently serving as the President and Head of R&D at Alector for two years. With over 25 years of industry experience, she has dedicated her career to developing novel drugs and personalizing treatments. Her work spans the entire drug discovery and development spectrum, including the successful global filing and launch of multiple drugs during her 24-year tenure at Genentech/Roche. While she has a particular focus on Oncology, she has also worked in areas such as neurodegeneration, ophthalmology, and respiratory diseases.

Dr. Kenkare-Mitra's accomplishments are significant. She and her organizations have contributed to the filing of 11 BLA/NDA for novel drugs currently on the market, including Xolair, Tarceva, Avastin, Lucentis, Kadcyla, Venclexta, Vismodegib, Perjeta, Tecentriq, Ocrevus, and Polivy, as well as over 100 IND/CTA submissions for novel NMEs. She has also enabled the successful development and approval of more than 15 companion diagnostics and several novel diagnostic technologies at Genentech/Roche. She was instrumental in driving the early success of the antibody-drug conjugate platform at Genentech and was part of the team that led to the discovery of Kadcyla. Additionally, her team has been integral in driving collaborations and strategic partnerships, such as the one with Foundation Medicine.

Dr. Kenkare-Mitra's leadership and contributions to the field have earned her numerous accolades and memberships, including being elected a National Academy of Medicine (NAM) member and an AAAS fellow. She has also received awards for her leadership and influence from the San Francisco Business Times, Fierce Biotech, Endpoint News, AAPS, and has been celebrated as both a distinguished and Top 150 alumni at UCSF.

Beyond her industry work, Dr. Kenkare-Mitra is an Adjunct Full Professor at UCSF and Adjunct faculty at the University of Pacific. She has served on the board of several non-profit organizations, including AWIS and the Genentech Foundation, and co-founded two successful mentoring programs at Genentech. Her academic qualifications include a PhD in Pharmaceutical Chemistry from UCSF, a Fellowship in Clinical Pharmacology, and post-doctoral training at UCSF.

Steve Laumas has over two decades of experience in healthcare investments in both private and public companies and has served on the board of directors of publicly traded biotechnology companies, including BioXcel Therapeutics (Nasdaq: BTAI) and 9 Meters Biopharma (Nasdaq: NMTR). 

Since 2014, Dr. Laumas has served on the board of directors of private and publicly traded biotechnology companies. In 2008, Dr. Laumas founded Bearing Circle Capital, an investment vehicle, and has served as its Managing Director since such time. Dr. Laumas began his career at Goldman Sachs & Co. in 1996 as an equity analyst in the healthcare investment banking division, working on mergers & acquisitions and corporate finance transactions before transitioning to the healthcare equity research division. After leaving Goldman Sachs in 2000, Dr. Laumas moved to the buy side as an analyst at Balyasny Asset Management from 2001 to 2003. Dr. Laumas was a Managing Director of North Sound Capital from 2003 to 2007 and was responsible for the global healthcare investment portfolio. Dr. Laumas has served as a member of the board of directors of private and public healthcare companies, including Parkway Holdings Ltd. (2010), SRL Ltd. (2011-2012), 9 Meters Biopharma, Inc. (Nasdaq: NMTR) (2018-present) and BioXcel Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: BTAI) (2017-present). Dr. Laumas received his A.B. in Chemistry from Cornell University in 1990, his MD from Albany Medical College in 1995 with a research year at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and he completed his medical internship in 1996 from the Yale University School of Medicine.