Termeer Foundation announces its Class of 2025 Termeer Fellows
Incoming class reflects an increasing global footprint and engagement in multiple biotech ecosystems
Today the Termeer Foundation announced its largest class of Termeer Fellows to date, with 17 first-time CEOs welcomed into the 2025 cohort. This new class reflects the organization’s commitment to supporting a diverse array of current and future healthcare leaders — over half are female and nearly 60% are from underrepresented groups.
In addition, the 2025 class of Termeer Fellows signifies an increasing global footprint, with fellows hailing from four different countries (U.S., Spain, Great Britain, and the Netherlands) and four states across the U.S. Nearly half of this year’s fellows are from California, supporting the Foundation’s goal to bring together the most talented first-time CEOs from across innovation ecosystems.
“We have been very intentional about building relationships and community globally, in particular on the U.S. West Coast,” said Catharine Smith, Executive Director of the Termeer Foundation. “This year’s class stems from a deep collaboration with several California-based partners, and we are excited to continue our work together.”
This collaboration involves several individuals and organizations, including Termeer Foundation Board Members, Gail Maderis, Paul Hastings and Termeer Foundation Mentors Sarah Boyce, Troy Wilson, Oved Amitay, Kevin Finney, and Enoch Kariuki. MyPhuong Le and Leah Villegas of Aquillius also played critical roles, as did Sibylle Hauser as well as Michael Cook and Bjorn Koch of UBS. And West Coast-based fellows,— Lukas Lange, Yael Weiss, Alex Federation, and June Park — were also essential in helping to recruit local first-time CEOs to apply for the Termeer Fellows Program.
The Foundation continues to build relationships with biotech executives and companies in Texas and the Netherlands and is also setting its sights on other budding biotech ecosystems.
“Our goal is to support emerging biotech leaders and foster unique connections among entrepreneurs in multiple ecosystems,” said Smith.
The Foundation received a total of 104 applications for the 2025 fellowship program — a 30% increase over the number received the previous year. This year marks the Termeer Fellowship’s eighth year.
“We are delighted to welcome this new class of fellows,” said Belinda Termeer, President and Co-Founder of the Termeer Foundation. “Our flagship fellowship program is about supporting and cultivating a new generation of biotech leaders who are passionate, people-focused, and committed to putting patients first.”
The 2025 Class of Termeer Fellows includes:
Rachel Abbott, CEO, Pan Cancer T
Katy Digovich, Co-Founder & CEO, Minutia
Aisling Foley, Co-Founder & CEO, ExCulture
Lauren Gehman, Co-Founder & CEO, Merge Therapeutics
Luca Giani, Co-Founder & CEO, Ilios Therapeutics
Antonio Henriques, Co-Founder & CEO, Momentum Therapeutics
Alex Hersham, Co-Founder & CEO, Nonsense Tx
Noor Jailkhani, Co-Founder & CEO, Matrisome Bio
Robert Kruse, CEO, HydroGene Therapeutics
Sophia Lugo, Co-Founder, CEO & Chairman, Radar Therapeutics
Demetri Maxim, Founder & CEO, Nephrogen
Sheena McGowan, Co-Founder & CEO, Scudo Biosciences
Ana Moreno, Founder & CEO, Navega Therapeutics
Josh Peters, Co-Founder & CEO, PROX Biosciences
Carolina Pola, CEO, STAb Therapeutics
J.Ross, Co-Founder & CEO, Alleo Labs
Tere Williams, Founder & CEO, DUB Therapeutics
About the Termeer Fellowship Program
The Termeer Fellowship supports first-time CEOs who are patient-focused and working to meet an unmet need through innovative science and passion. Support provided through the Termeer Fellows program includes skill competency growth & executive coaching, network building and mentoring, intended to facilitate connections, break down silos, strengthen skillsets and ultimately enable a diverse array of current and future biotech leaders. The Foundation organizes and facilitates a variety of forums through which members of the network can connect and share, including events, presentations, peer-to-peer sharing, 1:1 mentoring and virtual, online forums.
About The Termeer Foundation
The Termeer Foundation is a nonprofit organization working to connect the world of healthcare innovators until every patient has a cure. The Termeer Foundation builds and supports an ever-expanding network of biotech entrepreneurs, CEOs, academics, and other innovators because helping people succeed will ultimately help their innovations reach patients. Support includes mentoring, networking, professional development, and financial grants intended to facilitate connections, break down silos, strengthen skill sets, and ultimately enable a diverse array of current and future healthcare leaders who bring much-needed solutions to patients. Find out more about The Termeer Foundation and how you can support, engage with, and join its network at www.termeerfoundation.org or on LinkedIn @TermeerFoundation.