Our Leadership
Kevin Slawin, M.D. is the Founder and Managing Partner of Rapha Capital Management, LLC (https://raphacap.com). Formerly a robotic oncologic surgeon, he is now a biotech investor and founder focusing on disruptive healthcare technologies. He is the founder of Bellicum Pharmaceuticals, Inc., leading Bellicum to a successful $161 million IPO in December, 2014. He also plays a guiding role in several of the investments managed by Rapha Capital in certain companies, serving as the board Chairman of FIZE Medical, Inc. (https://fizemedical.com). He served as a board member and interim CEO of portfolio company AsclepiX Therapeutics, Inc. (https://asclepix.com) in 2020, engineering their $35 million Series A financing led by Perceptive Xontogeny Venture Fund in mid 2020. Rapha Capital Management manages thirteen legacy SPIVs, Rapha Capital Investment I – XIII. Rapha Capital Management offers alternative asset management services to its private equity fund, Rapha Capital PE Life Sciences Fund VI (https://raphacapitalpe.com) which is the current vehicle for all investments managed by Rapha Capital Management.
He is also the founder and CEO of Ponce Therapeutics, Inc. (https://poncetherapeutics.com), which reunites the team that founded Bellicum Pharmaceuticals and that is using advanced technologies to develop novel therapeutics targeting the fundamental mechanisms of aging, and DELiver Therapeutics, Inc. (https://delivertherapeutics.com), which is applying high throughput DNA encoded library (DEL) drug screening combined with other advanced technologies in novel ways to deliver small molecule and peptide therapeutics that address some of the most challenging and, some previously termed “undruggable”, targets in clinical medicine. Both have R&D facilities located at K2Bio in Houston (https://www.k2-biolabs.com/), a coworking research facility for biotech and pharma startups recently opened in Houston, where he is a co-founder, investor, and board member. He is also the Founder, Chairman and CEO of PrintBio, Inc. (https://senothera.wpenginepowered.com), a commercial stage company with products powered by advanced bio-printing technologies.
Slawin graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Biochemistry from Columbia University, where he was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. He earned his medical degree in 1986 from Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons and was elected to the Alpha Omega Alpha honor society. He trained in General Surgery and then Urology at the Mount Sinai Hospital and at Squier Urologic Clinic at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital, both in NYC. Later, he was awarded a two-year fellowship, from 1992-1994, as an American Foundation of Urologic Disease (AFUD) scholar at Baylor College of Medicine to continue to study the development and treatment of prostate cancer under the tutelage of renowned prostate cancer surgeon and thought leader, Dr. Peter Scardino. Slawin joined the Baylor College of Medicine as Director of The Baylor Prostate Center in 1994 and was appointed the Dan Duncan Family Professor in Prostate Cancer and Prostatic Diseases in 2003, established by the well-known Houston oil man and philanthropist of the same name. He is co-Inventor of the FDA-approved “prostate health index (phi)” test licensed and marketed by Beckman Coulter and utilized around the world. He has published extensively in top medical and scientific journals including the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), Journal of the National Cancer Institute (JNCI), and the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM). He has also been routinely listed in America’s Top Doctors for Cancer (Castle Connolly Medical) and The Best Doctors in America (Woodward/White). In 2003, he was awarded the F. Brantley Scott, Jr., Award for Innovation and Creativity in Urology. He currently lives in Miami, FL where he is Founder and CEO of Miami Medicos (https://miamimedicos.com), a membership organization of physicians, founders, executives, and investors catalyzing the healthcare entrepreneurial ecosystem in Miami and worldwide.
Kayvon is Founder of Lookout Ridge Capital Advisors, LLC. Previously, he served as a Principal at RNA Capital Advisors, a financial and strategic advisory firm, and as VP, Finance & Strategic Analysis at Hawthorne Effect, Inc, a healthcare technology company focused on decentralizing clinical trials. Previously, Kayvon was a director in the consulting group at Burr Pilger Mayer, Inc., a consulting and accounting firm headquartered in San Francisco. Kayvon was also a director in the valuation and financial advisory services group within the corporate finance and restructuring division of FTI Consulting, Inc. His predecessor company, The Salter Group, LLC, a leading independent financial and strategic advisory firm, was acquired by FTI.
In life sciences, Kayvon has developed dynamic patient-flow and other financial models to facilitate the forecasting and valuation of biopharmaceutical, medical device and diagnostic products, companies, complex securities, and royalty interests for transaction, bankruptcy, tax, and accounting oriented purposes. Kayvon has worked with companies ranging from large, publicly traded entities, to small, venture capital-backed organizations.
Kayvon holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Corporate Finance from the University of Southern California. He has been a guest lecturer and presenter at the University of Southern California and the California Institute of Technology, among others.
Karen Yarussi-King is a regulatory expert with more than 25 years of experience managing regulatory affairs for some of the cosmetic industry’s major brands. After obtaining her bachelor’s degree in political science in 1988 from Albertus Magnus College, Ms. Yarussi-King worked for the US Department of Commerce and the National Environmental Technology Applications Corporation (NETAC). She joined Schenectady International in 1993, where she navigated chemical regulations in different roles. In 1998, she joined Avon, initially as a regulatory affairs associate, then a senior associate, and eventually as program leader of regulatory affairs. She went on to serve in regulatory management roles for Honeywell, Limited Brands, Burt’s Bees and StriVectin before starting her own regulatory consultancy in October 2013. Ms. Yarussi-King is also a contributing author for Cosmetics & Toiletries magazine.
Daniel Jasinski, Ph.D. is Director of Peptide Analytics at Ponce Aurora. He also serves as the Vice President of Research at Eos SENOLYTIX, Inc. Previously, he held the position of Director of Research at Ponce Therapeutics, Inc. Prior to that , he was Research Scientist at Bellicum Pharmaceuticals, where he worked for 4 years until 2021. Dr. Jasinski earned his Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the University of Kentucky’s College of Pharmacy. His past innovative research has been published in several prestigious scientific journals including Blood, Advanced Materials, and Nucleic Acids Research. Passionate about translating scientific discoveries into real-world applications, Dr. Jasinski is committed to advancing the frontiers of Longevity Medicine
Kevin Slawin, M.D. is the Founder and Managing Partner of Rapha Capital Management, LLC (https://raphacap.com). Formerly a robotic oncologic surgeon, he is now a biotech investor and founder focusing on disruptive healthcare technologies. He was the founder of Bellicum Pharmaceuticals, Inc., leading Bellicum to a successful $161 million IPO in December, 2014. He also plays a guiding role in several of the investments managed by Rapha Capital in certain companies, serving as the board Chairman of FIZE Medical, Inc. (https://fizemedical.com). He served as a board member and interim CEO of portfolio company AsclepiX Therapeutics, Inc. (https://asclepix.com) in 2020, engineering their $35 million Series A financing led by Perceptive Xontogeny Venture Fund in mid 2020. Rapha Capital Management manages thirteen legacy SPIVs, Rapha Capital Investment I – XIII. Rapha Capital Management offers alternative asset management services to its private equity fund, Rapha Capital PE Life Sciences Fund VI (https://raphacapitalpe.com) which is the current vehicle for all investments managed by Rapha Capital Management.
He is also the founder and CEO of Ponce Therapeutics, Inc. (https://poncetherapeutics.com), which reunites the team that founded Bellicum Pharmaceuticals and that is using advanced technologies to develop novel therapeutics targeting the fundamental mechanisms of aging, and DELiver Therapeutics, Inc. (https://delivertherapeutics.com), which is applying high throughput DNA encoded library (DEL) drug screening combined with other advanced technologies in novel ways to deliver small molecule and peptide therapeutics that address some of the most challenging and, some previously termed “undruggable”, targets in clinical medicine. Both have R&D facilities located at K2Bio in Houston (https://www.k2-biolabs.com/), a coworking research facility for biotech and pharma startups recently opened in Houston, where he is a co-founder, investor, and board member. He is also the Founder, Chairman and CEO of PrintBio, Inc. (https://senothera.wpenginepowered.com), a commercial stage company with products powered by advanced bio-printing technologies.
Slawin graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Biochemistry from Columbia University, where he was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. He earned his medical degree in 1986 from Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons and was elected to the Alpha Omega Alpha honor society. He trained in General Surgery and then Urology at the Mount Sinai Hospital and at Squier Urologic Clinic at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital, both in NYC. Later, he was awarded a two-year fellowship, from 1992-1994, as an American Foundation of Urologic Disease (AFUD) scholar at Baylor College of Medicine to continue to study the development and treatment of prostate cancer under the tutelage of renowned prostate cancer surgeon and thought leader, Dr. Peter Scardino. Slawin joined the Baylor College of Medicine as Director of The Baylor Prostate Center in 1994 and was appointed the Dan Duncan Family Professor in Prostate Cancer and Prostatic Diseases in 2003, established by the well-known Houston oil man and philanthropist of the same name. He is co-Inventor of the FDA-approved “prostate health index (phi)” test licensed and marketed by Beckman Coulter and utilized around the world. He has published extensively in top medical and scientific journals including the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), Journal of the National Cancer Institute (JNCI), and the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM). He has also been routinely listed in America’s Top Doctors for Cancer (Castle Connolly Medical) and The Best Doctors in America (Woodward/White). In 2003, he was awarded the F. Brantley Scott, Jr., Award for Innovation and Creativity in Urology. He currently lives in Miami, FL where he is Founder and CEO of Miami Medicos (https://miamimedicos.com), a membership organization of physicians, founders, executives, and investors catalyzing the healthcare entrepreneurial ecosystem in Miami and worldwide.
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