TORONTO, January 6, 2022 – Lumira Ventures, a leading North American healthcare venture capital firm, today announced the promotion of Dr. Lu Han, Ph.D., to Partner and the appointments of Dr. Suman Rao, Ph.D. as an Associate and Dr. Ai Li (Alice) Luo, Ph.D. as an Analyst. This expansion of the Lumira Ventures investment team follows a year in which the firm raised over US$370 million (C$450 million) via three new investment vehicles: Lumira Ventures IV, Angelini Lumira Biosciences, L.P., and LAVA Medtech Acquisition Corp.
Dr. Han joined Lumira Ventures in 2014 as an Analyst and was later promoted to Director, Business Development Asia Pacific, and then to Principal. Since joining the firm, he has led or co-led the sourcing, evaluation and management of investments in numerous biotherapeutics companies. He currently serves on the boards of AmacaThera Inc. and Deka Biosciences and is an observer on the board of several other Lumira portfolio companies. He has been actively engaged on behalf of the firm and its portfolio companies on strategic initiatives in Asia and he oversees several important corporate/strategic relationships for Lumira. In 2021 Dr. Han launched Lumira’s Venture Innovation Program (Lumira VIP), an immersive 6-12 month program designed to offer accomplished Canadian students from all backgrounds, including those historically underrepresented within the venture capital industry, the opportunity to participate in the full lifecycle of life sciences venture innovation and investment.
Prior to joining Lumira, Dr. Han was a co-founder and VP, Business Strategy and Operations, at Sound Options Tinnitus Treatment Inc., and he also held positions at the Ontario Brain Institute and The Hospital for Sick Children. He earned a B.Sc. in medical sciences from Western University and a Ph.D. in neuroscience from the University of Toronto. He is fluent in English and Mandarin Chinese. During the first half of this year Dr. Han will be relocating to Vancouver, British Columbia, joining Venture Partner Richard Glickman, where he will continue to expand and build the firm’s presence in Western Canada and the U.S. Northwest.
Dr. Suman Rao joined Lumira Ventures in Toronto in 2021 after serving as a Senior Associate Consultant at L.E.K. Consulting in Boston, where she advised biopharma and biotechnology clients on portfolio expansion, growth opportunities, therapeutic area prioritization and other strategy-related solutions in the life sciences sector. Previously she was a Postdoctoral Fellow at Harvard Medical School and the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, applying chemical proteomic, biochemical and cellular techniques to study signaling pathways driving growth and proliferation in cancer cells. Dr. Rao received her B.Sc. in biochemistry and her Ph.D. in experimental medicine from McGill University.
Dr. Alice Luo joins Lumira’s Toronto office as a full-time member of the firm after being selected in 2021 as part of the inaugural class of the Lumira Venture Innovation Program. During her tenure as a VIP she worked closely with the Lumira team, and her commitment to excellence, ability to quickly identify and engage on the key issues and work collaboratively with founders, co-investors and the entire Lumira team made her transition to a full-time role in 2022 seamless. Prior to joining the firm she was a Fellow with HaloHealth, a Canadian physician angel group, where she evaluated investment opportunities in Canadian and U.S. health technology start-us. Dr. Luo holds a Ph.D. in pulmonary regenerative medicine and a M.Sc. and B.Sc. in immunology and medical sciences, all from the University of Toronto.
“We are pleased to recognize Lu’s significant contributions since joining Lumira in 2014, and excited to welcome Suman and Alice to the team as well,” said Peter van der Velden, Managing General Partner. “2021 was all about building our platform and expanding our franchise. The addition of significant new funds under management and the building of a team that now comprises 21 investment professionals, operations staff and special advisors means that we are extremely well-positioned to leverage our platform and growing franchise as we continue to support world-class entrepreneurs pioneering best-in-class biomedical innovations across Canada and the U.S.”
About Lumira Ventures
Lumira Ventures is a North American healthcare venture capital firm with decades of experience investing in and helping to build transformative biomedical companies. We are a multi-stage investor that partners with mission-driven entrepreneurs and like-minded investors to build innovative healthcare companies. These companies are harnessing rapidly evolving innovations in genomics, cell therapy, gene therapy, bioengineering, robotics and artificial intelligence to develop high impact, often transformative products for patients while generating exceptional returns for our investors and meaningful economic value to society. To date, Lumira’s companies have brought dozens of biomedical innovations to the market, impacting the lives of over 1 billion patients worldwide. Lumira Ventures manages its activities from offices in Toronto, Montréal, Vancouver and Boston. For more information, please visit www.lumiraventures.com
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