Dr. Srinivas Akkaraju, MD, PhD

Board Member

Dr. Srinivas Akkaraju, MD, PhD,  is the Founder and Managing General Partner at Samsara BioCapital. Previously, from April 2013 to February 2016, he served as a General Partner of Sofinnova Ventures. From January 2009 until April 2013, he served as Managing Director of New Leaf Venture Partners. Previously, he served as a Managing Director at Panorama Capital, LLC, a private equity firm. Prior to co-founding Panorama Capital, Dr. Akkaraju was with J.P. Morgan Partners, which he joined in 2001 and of which he became a Partner in 2005. From October 1998 to April 2001, he was in Business and Corporate Development at Genentech, Inc. (now a wholly owned member of The Roche Group), a biotechnology company, most recently as Senior Manager. 

Prior to joining Genentech, Dr. Akkaraju was a graduate student at Stanford University, where he received his MD and a PhD in Immunology. He received his undergraduate degrees in Biochemistry and Computer Science from Rice University. Dr. Akkaraju serves as a director of Scholar Rock, Mineralys Therapeutics, Syros Pharmaceuticals, vTv Therapeutics, and several private biotechs. Previously, he served as a director on the boards of Seattle Genetics, Principia Biopharma, Chinook Therapeutics, Intercept Pharmaceuticals, Eyetech Pharmaceuticals, ZS Pharma, Synageva Biopharma Corp., Amarin Corporation, Aravive, Inc., and Barrier Therapeutics. 

Abe Bassan

Board Member

Abe Bassan is a Principal at Samsara and joined the firm in 2017 when the fund was launched. He was previously Director of Program Biology at Revolution Medicines, where he co-led the initial stages of the company’s 4EBP1/mTORC1 cancer program. Prior to that, Abe was at bluebird bio, where he was the project manager for the company’s β-Thalassemia, Sickle Cell Anemia, and ALD gene therapy programs. Before bluebird, Abe was an Associate at Third Rock Ventures, where he was involved in the firm’s investment in bluebird bio and concept creation for Blueprint Medicines, a precision medicine oncology company. Abe was also the founder of Aurora Medical, a molecular diagnostics testing services company. Abe received an AB in Molecular Biology from Princeton University, and an MS in Developmental Biology from Stanford University.

Eric Dobmeier

Board Chair

Eric Dobmeier is an executive and board member with over 20 years of experience in the biotechnology industry. He is currently a Venture Partner at Samsara BioCapital, and serves on the boards of directors of Structure Therapeutics, (Nasdaq: GPCR), Janux Therapeutics (Nasdaq: JANX), Abdera Therapeutics and Bluejay Therapeutics.  

From 2019 to 2023, Eric was President and CEO of Chinook Therapeutics, a biotechnology company focused on developing precision medicines for kidney disease that was acquired by Novartis for $3.5 billion. Previously, he was President and CEO of Silverback Therapeutics, and prior to that held positions of increasing responsibility over more than 15 years at Seagen, including Chief Operating Officer. During his career, he has been directly involved in raising more than $2 billion in equity capital, and led negotiation of many corporate alliances with leading biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. 

Eric has a law degree from University of California, Berkeley School of Law and an undergraduate degree from Princeton University.  

Atul Saran

Chief Executive Officer

Atul has more than 20 years experience in biopharma.  Prior to IntegerBio, he held several Executive Vice President roles at Emergent BioSolutions from May 2017 through March 2023 including Chief Strategy and Development Officer, General Counsel, and Corporate Secretary, with management over a broad portfolio of operational and corporate functions. Previously, he served as the Senior Vice President and General Counsel for MacroGenics, a clinical-stage oncology company from May 2013 through April 2017. Prior to that, he held various positions of increasing responsibility in the at MedImmune/AstraZeneca from February 2003 through December 2009 culminating as Deputy General Counsel before assuming leadership for global biologics corporate development and venture investingfor the AstraZeneca group from January 2010 through January 2014. Before taking an in-house role, Mr. Saran was a practicing attorney in the Hogan & Hartson Business & Finance Group from April 1999 through January 2003. 

Atul holds an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management, a JD from the University of Illinois College of Law, a BS in Biological Sciences from Stanford University, and completed all coursework and Step 1 of the USMLE towards an MD from the University of Illinois. He currently serves as a director on the board of Proniras and has previously served as a director on several board of directors including Arriva, VentiRx, and Xencor.