Our Team

Barry E. Greene joined Sage as CEO in 2020, bringing more than 30 years of biopharmaceutical industry experience to this position. Barry previously joined the Sage Board of Directors in October of 2020. Prior to Sage, he served as president of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. since 2007, and he previously held the position of chief operating officer when he first joined the company in 2003. Prior to his 17-year tenure at Alnylam, Mr. Greene was the general manager of Oncology at Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. where he led the Company’s global strategy and execution for its oncology business, including strategic business direction and execution, culminating in the successful U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval and launch of VELCADE® (bortezomib) in mid-2003. Prior to joining Millennium in 2001, Barry served as executive vice president and chief business officer for Mediconsult.com, a healthcare consulting company. Earlier in Mr. Greene’s career, he held multiple leadership positions at AstraZeneca (formerly AstraMerck), and was a partner of Andersen Consulting, where he was responsible for the pharmaceutical/biotechnology marketing and sales practice. Barry is a member of the board of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA).

Barry received his B.S. in Industrial Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh and served as a Senior Scholar at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business.

Chris Benecchi joined Sage in 2021, bringing a track record of designing commercial strategies and launching novel therapies that sustained long-term growth in highly competitive markets. In his role as Chief Business Officer, Chris leads Sage’s global commercial, medical affairs, and health economics and outcomes research (HEOR) efforts across all Sage programs, as well as corporate strategy, business development, commercial, new product planning, and alliance management.

Chris most recently served as Vice President, Global Head of Commercial Excellence at Alexion, where he led integrated global launch planning and readiness. Previously, Chris spent eight years at UCB in commercial roles of increasing responsibility including Global Launch Head, Commercial and Medical Affairs, Immunology and Global Commercial Strategy Lead, Immunology. Chris began his career in sales at Johnson & Johnson and held sales leadership and senior marketing roles at Takeda.

Chris received an MBA from Duke University and a B.A. from Colby College.

Anne Marie Cook joined Sage as General Counsel in 2015, and thoughtfully guides Sage on legal strategy, corporate governance, commercialization legal issues and more. Prior to Sage, Anne Marie was Senior Vice President, General Counsel at Aegerion Pharmaceuticals, and was a partner with Boston-based law firm Choate Hall & Stewart LLP (Choate), where she represented life science companies in structuring and negotiating strategic transactions such as joint ventures, collaborations, mergers and acquisitions and intellectual property licenses. Prior to joining Choate, she was Senior Vice President, Business & Corporate Development, General Counsel at ViaCell, Inc., and Chief Corporate Counsel at Biogen.

Anne Marie holds a B.S. in biology from Tufts University and a J.D. from the University of Notre Dame Law School.

As Chief Medical Officer for Sage, Dr. Laura Gault focuses on advancing the development and delivery of Sage’s current and emerging product pipeline. Dr. Gault joined Sage in 2022 and brings more than 15 years of pharmaceutical industry experience advancing programs at early and late stages of development in rare and common diseases. She has led multidisciplinary teams focusing on neuropsychiatry, neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration and has extensive knowledge of clinical trial design and conduct, and the regulatory landscape in these areas. In her previous role, Dr. Gault was Vice President, Therapeutic Area Head for Neurology and Ophthalmology at Alexion/Astra Zeneca Rare Disease and was responsible for the development of ravulizumab in generalized myasthenia gravis (gMG) and neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) and the initiation of new programs in dermatomyositis, Guillain-Barré syndrome, age-related macular degeneration, and gMG. Prior to that, Dr. Gault, held positions as Vice President, Neurology Clinic Development at Vertex Pharmaceuticals and Group Project Leader at AbbVie.

Dr. Gault received an M.D. and a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Case Western Reserve University and a B.S. in Behavioral Neuroscience from the University of Pittsburgh. She completed an internship in Pediatrics, followed by residency in Adult Psychiatry and fellowship in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Yale University.

Kimi Iguchi joined Sage as CFO in 2013, bringing financial and operating strength from her senior management experiences at established, and emerging, life science companies. With a background that includes both science and finance, Kimi has carefully crafted a financial strategy that has allowed Sage to remain a nimble, independent, and innovative biopharmaceutical company. Prior to joining Sage, Kimi served as Chief Operating Officer, North America, for Santhera Pharmaceuticals, and Vice President of Finance at Cyberkinetics Neurotechnology Systems. Previously, Kimi held roles of increasing responsibility at Millennium Pharmaceuticals and Biogen. She also worked as a business assurance manager at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP and began her career in chemistry-related positions at various Boston-based companies.

Kimi holds a B.A. in chemistry from Drew University and an M.B.A. from Northeastern University. She earned her CPA in Massachusetts.

Erin Lanciani built and fostered the high-performing culture that has made Sage a success, nurturing it as the Company has grown from a small startup to a major player in biotech and CNS. She joined Sage in 2014 with more than 20 years of experience in developing human resources strategies and programs. Previously, Erin served as Executive Director, Human Resources, Global Commercialization at Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS). In 2009, Erin relocated to Paris where she was the HR Director for European Markets at BMS, serving as the strategic business partner responsible for all aspects of HR across multiple European commercial, R&D and corporate functions. This followed her tenure at Adnexus, where she was the Vice President, Human Resources and a member of the executive leadership team responsible for driving strategy and ensuring a successful integration of Adnexus into BMS. Earlier, as Vice President of Human Resources at Therion Biologics Corporation, she was instrumental in defining and creating the company’s culture and HR infrastructure. Prior to Therion, she was the Director of Human Resources for ViaCell; Human Resources Business Partner at Genzyme Corporation; and was a Founder/Partner of Outsourcing Solutions, Inc., a human resource consulting firm.

Erin earned her B.S. in Business Administration from Northeastern University.

Matt Lasmanis joined Sage as Chief Technology and Innovation Officer in 2020. In this role, Matt leads Sage’s digital innovation, data, analytics, and enterprise-wide technology capabilities. Matt was previously at GlaxoSmithKline where he served as Vice President and CIO for GSK’s $10 billion U.S. affiliate and held global leadership roles of increasing responsibility in the areas of Oncology, Biopharmaceuticals, and Research & Development. Before GSK, Matt led the digital platforms team at HarperCollins Publishers.

An active thought leader and speaker, Matt regularly shares his perspectives on digital transformation and strategic leadership with global and local audiences and is the recipient of several industry leadership awards, including the CIO 100. He serves on the board of the Center for Social Norms and Behavioral Dynamics at the University of Pennsylvania and holds a B.A. Magna Cum Laude from Boston College.

Mike Quirk joined Sage in 2014, initially helping to build translational science and establish Sage’s NMDA receptor modulator platform and over the last 9 years has taken on increasing roles of responsibility. In his role as Chief Scientific Officer, Mike leads Sage’s Research, Nonclinical Development, and Clinical Pharmacology teams supporting programs from early discovery through commercialization. Prior to joining Sage, Mike was a Director within the Neuroscience Innovative Medicines group at AstraZeneca where he worked on a variety of programs within psychiatry and neurology. With over 15 years of diverse industry experience, Mike has been critically involved, as both scientific and program lead, in over 10 programs that have made the transition from preclinical to clinical development.

Mike is a trained neurophysiologist and translational scientist with over 25 peer reviewed manuscripts in the areas of neurotransmission, memory formation and retrieval, and neural mechanisms of decision-making and goal-directed behavior. He holds both a S.B degree in Cognitive Science and a Ph.D. in Systems Neuroscience from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and completed his post-doctoral training at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York.

Vanessa Procter is Senior Vice President of External Affairs for Sage, with over 20 years of experience leading initiatives at the intersection of business and public policy. Vanessa aligns the activities of Sage’s communications, public policy, government affairs, and patient advocacy teams, to advance Sage’s patient-centric mission.

Vanessa joined Sage from Alexion Pharmaceuticals, a biopharmaceutical company focused on therapies for patients with ultra-rare and rare diseases, where she led Government Affairs and Patient Advocacy for North America, with a focus on patient access to existing and new medical therapies.

Prior to Alexion, Vanessa led U.S. Government Affairs for MedImmune, a wholly owned subsidiary of AstraZeneca. Vanessa began her career working as a staff member in the United States Congress, where she served as a senior health policy advisor.

She received a Bachelor of Arts degree in History with a minor in Civil War Studies from Gettysburg College.

Amy Schacterle leads R&D strategy and business management, including the development, endorsement and prioritization of strategic initiatives, investments, and goals for R&D programs. Working broadly across the Sage organization, this team fosters innovation and efficiency in developing new treatments for CNS disorders. Amy joined us in 2014 and was responsible for building our successful Regulatory and Quality organizations. Amy came to Sage with extensive expertise in regulatory affairs and the development of treatments for CNS disorders, with more than 20 years in the biotech and life science industries. As Vice President, Regulatory Affairs at Sunovion Pharmaceuticals (previously Sepracor), she led the development and commercial regulatory activities for all drug, biologic, and combinations device products at the company’s Marlborough campus. Prior to Sunovion, Amy held leadership roles in regulatory affairs at various biotech and device companies and was an integral part of the quality teams.

Amy received her Ph.D. and M.S. in biomedical engineering at the University of Virginia, and her B.S. in biomedical engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. In 2014, Amy was named as one of the Boston Business Journal/Mass High Tech 2014 Women to Watch.

Heinrich Schlieker leads the pharmaceutical development, quality, manufacturing, and supply chain teams at Sage, and is responsible for ensuring compliant, efficient, and cost-effective production of Sage products. Heinrich joined Sage in 2015 as Senior Vice President, Technical Operations. Before joining Sage, Heinrich served as Vice President, Process Development & Manufacturing at Cubist, Inc., where he was responsible for developing manufacturing processes for new products, all CMC-related development, and for overseeing external manufacturing partners for clinical stage and commercial products. Prior to his 10-year tenure at Cubist, he held various positions in process development and manufacturing support at Hoffman-La Roche in Switzerland, New Jersey, and Germany.

Heinrich holds both a chemistry degree and a Ph.D. in biochemical engineering from the Braunschweig University of Technology, Germany.

Barry E. Greene joined the Sage Board of Directors in October 2020 and brings over 30 year of experience to this position. He most recently served as President of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc., since 2007 and he previously held the position of Chief Operating Officer when he first joined the company in 2003. Prior to his 17 year tenure at Alnylam, Mr. Greene was the General Manager of Oncology at Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc where he led the company’s global strategy and execution for its oncology business, including strategic business direction and execution, culminating in the successful U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval and launch of VELCADE® (bortezomib) in mid-2003. Prior to joining Millennium in 2001, Mr. Greene served as Executive Vice President and Chief Business Officer for Mediconsult.com, a healthcare consulting company. Earlier in Barry’s career, he held such leadership positions as Vice President of Marketing and Customer Services for AstraZeneca (formerly AstraMerck), Vice President, Strategic Integration with responsibility for the AstraZeneca North American post-merger integration; and as a partner of Andersen Consulting, where he was responsible for the pharmaceutical/biotechnology marketing and sales practice.

Barry has served as a member of the boards of directors of Karyopharm Therapeutics, Inc., since 2013, and Acorda Therapeutics, Inc., since 2007, where he also serves as a member of the compensation committee. He received his B.S. in Industrial Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh and served as a Senior Scholar at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business.

Liz Barrett is the President & Chief Executive Officer of UroGen, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on urological-oncology diseases.

Prior to joining UroGen, Ms. Barrett was the Chief Executive Officer of Oncology at Novartis, where she oversaw more than 10,000 associates in 85 countries. Ms. Barrett was also a member of the Executive Committee of Novartis.

Ms. Barrett was previously Global President of Oncology at Pfizer, Inc. While at Pfizer, Ms. Barrett held numerous leadership positions, including President of Global Innovative Pharma for Europe, President of the Specialty Care business unit for North America, and President of United States Oncology. Prior to Pfizer, she was Vice President and General Manager, Oncology business unit at Cephalon Inc. from 2006 to 2009, where she built the unit from scratch and launched Cephalon into Oncology. Ms. Barrett also worked at Johnson & Johnson across their consumer, diagnostics and biopharma sectors. Ms. Barrett started her career at Kraft Foods Group Inc. in 1984.

Ms. Barrett holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of Louisiana and a Master of Business Administration from Saint Joseph’s University.

Michael currently serves as Chief Executive Officer of Cerecor, Inc., formerly Aevi Genomic Medicine, Inc., a position he has held since February 2020, when Cerecor acquired Aevi. Prior to joining Cerecor, Mr. Cola served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Aevi since 2013. Michael has served as president of specialty pharmaceuticals at Shire Plc, a global specialty pharmaceutical company he first joined in 2005 as executive vice-president of global therapeutic business units and portfolio management. Previously, Michael also served as a growth capital provider and president of the life sciences group for Safeguard Scientifics, Inc., where he served as chairman and chief executive officer of Clarient, Inc., and chairman of Laureate Pharma, Inc. In addition, Michael has held senior positions in product development and commercialization at AstraMerck and AstraZeneca.

Michael received a B.A. in biology and physics from Ursinus College and an M.S. in biomedical science from Drexel University. He also serves on the board of directors at Phathom Pharmaceuticals and as chairman for the board of governors of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Philadelphia.

Jessica Federer is a managing partner at Supernode Ventures, where she is working to address a critical gap in innovation by accelerating change through investment in women’s health and health technology. She was the first Chief Digital Officer for the Bayer AG group, as well as the first woman to hold that role in the industry. During her tenure, Ms. Federer united the company’s global digital strategy and investments to accelerate growth. She also held leadership positions in regulatory affairs, market access, communications, and public affairs during her almost 10 years with Bayer AG.  

Ms. Federer has served on the United Nations International Telecommunications Union (UN-ITU) advisory board, as well as participated in engagements with the World Economic Forum, and is considered a thought leader in digital health. She began her public health career as an analyst at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. She earned a Bachelor of Science from the George Washington University, and a Master of Public Health from Yale University.

James Frates serves as Chief Financial Officer at Amylyx Pharmaceuticals. Prior to joining Amylyx, he was Alkermes Chief Financial Officer for almost 23 years through its growth from a clinical stage company to an international commercial and development enterprise with multiple products in CNS, over $1 billion in revenue and over 2,000 employees. Earlier in his career, Jim was a Vice President in charge of the East Coast Life Sciences Practice at Robertson Stephens & Company. He also worked in healthcare investment banking at Morgan Stanley & Company and spent a year teaching secondary school at the Royal Shrewsbury School in the U.K., as the Harvard College Fellow. Jim served on the Board of Directors of GPC Biotech AG from June 2004 to June 2009 and was a national director of the Association of Bioscience Financial Officers. He also serves as a Trustee for St. Francis House, Boston’s largest day shelter for the homeless. He has previously served as a trustee and Treasurer for the Roxbury Latin School and St Paul’s School. Jim received a Bachelor of Arts degree in government from Harvard College and a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration.

Geno has served as Chair of our Board of Directors since January 5, 2024. Mr. Germano was most recently President of Intrexon, a leader in synthetic biology, from June 1, 2016 to March 2017. As President, he led Intrexon’s management team and commercialization efforts utilizing the Company’s technology platform for biologically-based solutions across a broad range of industries including Health, Consumer, Energy, Environment and Food.

Mr. Germano has over 30 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry and a consistent track record of improving operating performance and increasing shareholder value. He held numerous leadership roles in multiple therapeutic categories and global markets at Pfizer, Wyeth and Johnson & Johnson. Prior to joining Intrexon, he was Group President of Pfizer’s Global Innovative Pharma Business, where he consistently grew this $14 billion global business and guided the development of an extensive portfolio of late-stage development candidates in the cardiovascular, metabolic disease, neuroscience, inflammation, immunology, and rare diseases therapeutic areas. Mr. Germano was also Co-Chair of the Portfolio Strategy and Investment Committee focused on maximizing the return on research and development investment across the Pfizer portfolio. Previously, Mr. Germano served as President and General Manager of Pfizer’s Specialty Care and Oncology business units where he led commercial, medical, and post proof-of-concept pipeline strategy and development across global markets, as well as held responsibility for driving P&L growth and pipeline value through disciplined portfolio management. In addition, while in this role he directed the integration of Wyeth and Pfizer Specialty Care and Vaccines Businesses and developed top talent within the organization focusing on the leadership team.

Prior to joining Pfizer, Mr. Germano held numerous executive and leadership roles at Wyeth Pharmaceuticals including President of Wyeth U.S., where he was responsible for delivery of operational results across four business units, as well as President of its Global Pharmaceutical and Women’s Healthcare Business. He has been a member of the Group of Fifty (G50) and served on the Board of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization, where he was a member of the Executive Committee and Chaired the International Committee. He continues to serve on the Advisory Board of the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association and as a Trustee of the Albany College of Pharmacy where he received his Bachelor of Science degree in Pharmacy. Geno was formerly a Director of Zoetis Inc., and is currently a director of Bioverativ.

George is currently President and Head of Corporate Development and Strategy at GRAIL, a health-care company focused on the early detection of cancer. Prior to joining GRAIL in 2018, he was Executive Vice President of Business Development for Celgene Corporation, where during his 9-year tenure he was responsible for a full array of business development including in-licensing, strategic collaborations, M&A, out-licensing and alliance management.

During his tenure at Celgene, George developed new models for corporate collaborations, and led a business development effort that saw Celgene become “Partner of Choice” according to Boston Consulting Group Survey data.

George was previously Vice President of Business Development, Licensing and Strategy at Novartis. Prior to Novartis, he was Vice President of R&D Business Development at Elan and Vice President of Corporate Development at Schwarz Pharma, where he led CNS acquisitions worldwide.

George holds a B.A. in Biology from the University of Virginia, a Ph.D. in Genetics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and he conducted his post-doctoral research in molecular biology at the University of Colorado-Boulder.

Jeff applies his 25+ years of well-recognized expertise in neuroscience, drug development, and pipeline expansion to his role as chair of Sage’s Science & Technology Forum of the Board and member of our CNS Innovation Scientific Advisory Board. He most recently served as CEO at Sage from 2013 – 2020, providing his creative, innovative thinking to building one of the industry’s leading brain health product pipelines. Jeff is well-known for encouraging a pursuit of new opportunities by taking smart risks and challenging conventional wisdom. His approach is shaped by a career that encompasses one-on-one patient care, rapid advancement through corporate structures, academic accomplishments, and entrepreneurial endeavors. Before joining the Sage team, Jeff served as President of the Regenerative Medicine Division of Shire Plc and previously as Senior Vice President of Research and Development, Pharmaceuticals at Shire. Prior to Shire, he served as the Executive Vice President of ISIS Pharmaceuticals, as the Chief Medical Officer and Executive Vice President of Forest Laboratories, Inc. and in senior-level positions at Upjohn Laboratories. Jeff is a member of the board for Generation Bio and Karuna Therapeutics. He has published more than 190 scientific papers and articles, chapters, abstracts and books, and has received numerous awards.

Jeff received his B.A. from Amherst College and M.D. from Harvard Medical School. He completed a residency in psychiatry at Harvard and then served as Chief Resident in psychopharmacology at McLean Hospital, Harvard Medical School.

Steve has had a distinguished 40-year career in neuroscience, particularly in molecular neuropharmacology and CNS drug discovery and development. Steve is the scientific co-founder of Sage Therapeutics and served as its interim start-up Head of R&D. He is also the co-founder of Voyager Therapeutics, a CNS gene therapy company, and served as its President and CEO. Steve is the CEO and Chairman of Karuna Pharmaceuticals, a company developing novel treatments for psychosis, cognition, and pain. Steve is the former Director of the Appel Alzheimer Disease Research Institute at Weill Cornell Medical College and is currently an Adjunct Professor of Psychiatry at Washington University of St. Louis School of Medicine. Prior to his appointments at Weill Cornell and Washington University, Steve spent 17-years at Eli Lilly and Company, during which time he held several key leadership roles, including Vice President of Neuroscience and Clinical Investigation, Executive Vice President for Science and Technology, and President of the Lilly Research Laboratories, where he was responsible for the company’s overall research and development efforts. Prior to Lilly, Steve spent 18 years at NIH as a Laboratory / Branch Chief and as the Scientific Director of the National Institute of Mental Health.

Steve has been the recipient of many awards and honors and has served on numerous committees and advisory boards. He has also authored or co-authored more than 550 papers and book chapters. Steve is an elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and a member of the National Academy of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences. He is also an elected Fellow Emeritus of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP) and served as ACNP President (1999). Steve is also currently on the board of directors or is a trustee of several organizations, including serving as Chairman of the Board of the Foundation for the NIH (FNIH) and as a board member for Karuna Pharmaceuticals. Steve has also served as a member of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) and the National Institute of Mental Health Advisory Councils and was appointed by the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as a member of the Advisory Committee to the Director of the NIH from 2001-2006 as well as to the Science Board of the FDA (2012-2014).

Steve received his B.A. in Biology and Psychology from Tulane University, and his M.S. and M.D. degrees from the Tulane University School of Medicine.