Maude Tessier, PhD, is Chief Business Officer of Seismic Therapeutic. She has over 17 years of company-building experience with background in business development, corporate strategy, corporate communications, IP management, and portfolio and program management in public and private biotechnology, pharmaceutical and academic organizations. Prior to joining Seismic, she served as CBO of clinical-stage biotech Ikena Oncology (Nasdaq: IKNA), where she led key company-building initiatives, including negotiation and execution of a $1B+ strategic partnership with BMS, strategy and execution of the company rebranding/pipeline expansion into targeted oncology, acquisition of Amplify Medicines, and as part of the executive team, drove core elements of financing activities resulting in over $260M in private and public capital. Previously, Dr. Tessier was Executive Director, Business Development and Licensing at Merck & Co, leading oncology partnering in the Boston innovation hub. She served as Assistant Director, Business Development and Strategic Initiatives at Boston Children’s Hospital. She began her career at venture-backed oncology biotech Xanthus Pharmaceuticals, with key roles in business development/program management of a Phase 3 drug candidate leading to FDA approval. She holds a BSc in Biochemistry from McGill University and a PhD from the Department of Medical Biophysics at the University of Toronto.