Esther Rajavelu is the President and Chief Executive Officer at Spero Therapeutics. She also serves as a member on Spero’s Board of Directors.

Ms. Rajavelu has more than two decades of life sciences sector experience combining equities research, investment banking, and strategy consulting. Prior to joining Spero, she was the CFO at Fulcrum Therapeutics, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, focused on rare genetic diseases. Ms. Rajavelu previously enjoyed a successful Wall Street career, serving as a senior equities research analyst, covering SMID-cap biotechnology companies at UBS, Oppenheimer, and Deutsche Bank. She was also a healthcare investment banker at Bank of America Merrill Lynch and EY Capital Advisors.

Ms. Rajavelu holds an MBA in Finance and Health Care Management from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, and a BA from Wesleyan University.

Tim Keutzer is the Chief Operating Officer at Spero Therapeutics. Tim has over 30 years’ experience in the pharmaceutical industry, spanning multiple functional and therapeutic areas. Tim was previously Spero’s Chief Development Officer. Prior to joining Spero, he was Vice President of Program and Portfolio Management at Cubist Pharmaceuticals. While there, he was the program leader for ceftolozane/tazobactam, which progressed rapidly from Phase 1 to Phase 3, and was approved in the US in December of 2014. Prior to that role, he also led several of Cubist’s in-licensed development programs and led the commercial supply chain for Cubicin. His experience before Cubist spans the drug development continuum across multiple drug classes and includes preclinical PK/PD and clinical operations at Genetics Institute, as well as global strategic marketing and program management at Wyeth. Tim began his career in contract toxicology labs. Tim studied English and microbiology at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, KY.

Dr. Debra Zack, MD, PhD, is the Chief Medical Officer at Spero Therapeutics. Deb is a board-certified rheumatologist and PhD immunologist with broad experience as a strategic bio-pharmaceutical executive in the development of therapeutics for autoimmune disease. She has extensive experience leading research, clinical development and medical affairs teams focusing on autoimmune disorders, highlighted by her role at Amgen as Global Development Lead for Enbrel. Dr. Zack has also served as Chief Medical Officer, Exagen Inc.; Vice President, Clinical Development, Xencor Inc.; Executive Director, Medical Scientific Leader, Biotherapeutics Development Unit, Novartis; and various other positions in preclinical research, clinical development and medical affairs at Amgen. Prior to these roles, she was an associate professor treating rheumatology patients for 10 years at UCLA. She received her MD and PhD from University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas before completing her residency and rheumatology fellowship at the UCLA School of Medicine.

Dr. Amy Rock is the Chief Regulatory and Quality Officer at Spero Therapeutics.
Dr. Rock has more than 25 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, spanning regulatory affairs, clinical development and operations, medical affairs, and compliance.
Most recently, Dr. Rock served as Senior Vice President, Regulatory Sciences at Vir Biotechnology, Inc., where she led the company’s interactions with global health authorities supporting the development of novel therapies in oncology and infectious diseases, including Xevudy (sotrovimab), an antibody therapy developed in collaboration with GlaxoSmithKline for the treatment of COVID-19. Prior to Vir, she held Vice President roles at ImmunityBio, Inc. and Cumberland Pharmaceuticals, with responsibilities across both development-stage and commercial programs.

Frank brings more than 25 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry as an accomplished business and financial executive, with a proven track record of success in leading operations and strategy, corporate finance, and commercialization at private and publicly traded biotechnology companies. Frank joined Orchard Therapeutics in 2018 and serves as its president and chief operating officer. He also continues to serve as the principal financial officer after leading the company through its IPO and several follow-on equity offerings. In his capacity, Frank creates and drives strategies for overall value-creation and long-term growth of the company. He currently oversees all key functional areas for the business, including strategy, portfolio and program management, finance, business development, corporate affairs, and communications. Orchard was acquired by Kyowa Kirin Corporation in 2024 and now operates as subsidiary of KKC.

Frank previously served as president and chief operating officer of AMAG Pharmaceuticals (acquired in November 2020 by Covis Group), where he helped develop the business from a single product company in 2011 to one with a portfolio of commercial and development-stage products that generated more than $600 million in sales in 2017. During that time, Frank raised more than $1.8 billion in new capital to support AMAG’s growth strategy. Before joining AMAG, he served as chief operating officer and chief financial officer for Molecular Biometrics, Inc. Earlier in his career, Frank also served as chief executive officer for Critical Therapeutics and chief financial officer for Esperion Therapeutics. Each company completed its initial public offering in the U.S. during his tenure. Frank currently serves on the board of directors of Larimar Therapeutics and as chairman of the board of Spero Therapeutics.

Frank received his B.B.A. from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

Esther Rajavelu is the President and Chief Executive Officer at Spero Therapeutics. She also serves as a member on Spero’s Board of Directors.

Ms. Rajavelu has more than two decades of life sciences sector experience combining equities research, investment banking, and strategy consulting. Prior to joining Spero, she was the CFO at Fulcrum Therapeutics, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, focused on rare genetic diseases. Ms. Rajavelu previously enjoyed a successful Wall Street career, serving as a senior equities research analyst, covering SMID-cap biotechnology companies at UBS, Oppenheimer, and Deutsche Bank. She was also a healthcare investment banker at Bank of America Merrill Lynch and EY Capital Advisors.

Ms. Rajavelu holds an MBA in Finance and Health Care Management from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, and a BA from Wesleyan University.

Milind Deshpande, PhD, is a member of the board of Spero Therapeutics. He served as The Chairman of Board from the inception of Spero in 2014 until October 2023 and was integral to building the company. Milind is an accomplished drug hunter and inventor of three FDA approved first-in-class therapies. Milind has over 30 years of experience in biotech and Pharma. He was a Group Leader at Bristol-Myers Squibb with the responsibility for advancing the early discovery portfolio in Infectious Diseases and Neuroscience. Following his tenure at BMS, Milind joined Achillion Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Alexion Pharmaceuticals) where he rose through the ranks to become the CEO and Board member. Currently, Milind is a Venture Partner at RA Capital. During his tenure at RA Capital, Milind co-founded and built four companies and served as founding CEO and Board member. Milind received his PhD in Organic Chemistry from Ohio University, following his undergraduate education in India.

Mr. Jackson joined the Spero Therapeutics Board of Directors in April 2020. Mr. Jackson has more than thirty-five years of corporate leadership experience within the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry. Mr. Jackson previously served as the Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors of Celator Pharmaceuticals, Inc. until it was acquired by Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc. Prior to joining Celator Pharmaceuticals, Mr. Jackson held positions of increasing responsibility in sales, marketing, and commercial development at multiple companies, including Eli Lilly & Company, SmithKline Beecham plc, ImClone Systems Incorporated, Centocor, Inc., a division of Johnson & Johnson, Eximias Pharmaceutical Corporation and YM Biosciences Inc. Mr. Jackson presently serves on the Board of Directors of MacroGenics, Inc. He previously served on the Board of Directors of GlycoMimetics, Inc. and Mural Oncology plc, until their respective acquisitions. He also serves on the Board of Directors of Philabundance, a non-profit organization addressing food insecurity in the Philadelphia region. He previously served on the Board of Trustees of the Eastern Pennsylvania Chapter of The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Mr. Jackson holds a B.S. in Pharmacy from the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science and an M.B.A. from the University of Notre Dame.

John C. Pottage, Jr., M.D. served as Senior Vice President and Chief Scientific and Medical Officer of ViiV Healthcare from November 2009 to October 2019, where he oversaw research and development, regulatory, safety and medical affairs. Prior to joining ViiV Healthcare, Dr. Pottage served as Senior Vice President and Head of the Infectious Disease Medicine Development Center at GlaxoSmithKline from September 2008 to November 2009, and prior to that, from June 2007 to September 2008, as Vice President of Global Clinical Development of Antivirals at GlaxoSmithKline. From May 2002 to May 2007, Dr. Pottage served as Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice President of Drug Development of Achillion Pharmaceuticals. Prior to Achillion Pharmaceuticals, Dr. Pottage served as Medical Director of Vertex Pharmaceuticals, and in various positions at Rush University Medical Center. Dr. Pottage presently serves as the Lead Scientific Consultant for the INTREPID Alliance and serves on the Global Safety Board of Medicines for Malaria venture, Geneva, Switzerland. He received his A.B. in biology from Colgate University and his M.D. from Saint Louis University School of Medicine.

Cynthia Smith most recently served as Chief Commercial Officer and a member of the executive team of ZS Pharma, where she helped lead the company from development to commercialization through its acquisition by AstraZeneca in 2016. Prior to joining ZS Pharma, Ms. Smith served as Vice President, Market Access and Commercial Development at Affymax from 2008 to 2013. She also held various senior leadership positions in market access, corporate strategy, government relations, and external affairs at Merck from 2000 to 2008.
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Before transitioning to the biopharmaceutical industry, Ms. Smith served as a healthcare policy analyst in the White House Office of Management and Budget from 1995 to 2000. Ms. Smith currently serves on the boards of Agios Pharmaceuticals, Protara Therapeutics, Tvardi Therapeutics, and Akebia Therapeutics, and previously served on the boards of Dicerna Therapeutics and Nivalis Therapeutics.
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She earned her M.B.A. from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and an M.S. in public policy from the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University. Ms. Smith received a B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Kathleen Tregoning has been a member of our Board of Directors since 2021. She brings more than two decades of experience leading global corporate affairs organizations and guiding innovative biopharmaceutical companies through complex policy, regulatory, reputational, and stakeholder environments.

Ms. Tregoning is currently Chief Corporate Affairs Officer of Kailera Therapeutics, a company advancing a diversified pipeline of therapies for people living with obesity.

Ms. Tregoning previously served as Chief Corporate Affairs Officer and Head of Commercial Strategy at Cerevel Therapeutics, where she helped lead the neuroscience company through a period of significant growth prior to its acquisition by AbbVie in 2024. Prior to joining Cerevel, she was Executive Vice President, External Affairs at Sanofi, where she led a global organization responsible for developing external engagement strategies, shaping healthcare policy, and advancing access to innovative therapies. She spent more than a decade at Biogen in positions of increasing responsibility, ultimately serving as Senior Vice President, Corporate Affairs, where she led communications, patient advocacy, public policy, and government affairs activities across the company’s global business. Earlier in her career, she was a professional staff member for multiple committees of the United States Congress.

Ms. Tregoning is currently an Independent Director on the Board of Compass Pathways (Nasdaq: CMPS) and a member of the National Board of Directors of the Epilepsy Foundation. She earned a B.A. in International Relations from Stanford University and an M.A. in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School.

Patrick Vink, MD., MBA, has been an advisor to the pharmaceutical industry since 2015 and a non-executive Board member or Chair of several public and privately held companies in the USA and Europe. Previously, Dr. Vink was employed at Cubist Pharmaceuticals. He served as Executive Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer, overseeing all worldwide commercial and technical operations as well as global alliance management, and managing the company’s P&L. He joined Cubist in 2012 as Senior Vice-President and Head of all International Business Operations, responsible for all business activities in international markets outside of the USA.
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Prior to joining Cubist, Dr. Vink served as Senior Vice-President, Global Head of Hospital Business and Biologics for Mylan Inc. (now Viatris Inc.). In this role, Dr. Vink managed the global hospital business of the company. Before joining Mylan, Dr. Vink held several leadership positions across the industry, including Head of Global Business Franchise Biopharmaceuticals for Novartis Sandoz; Vice-President International Business for Biogen; and Head of Worldwide Marketing, Cardiovascular and Thrombosis for Sanofi-Synthelabo.
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Dr. Vink served as a member of the Executive Committee of the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) between 2013 and 2015. Dr. Vink graduated as a medical doctor from the University of Leiden, Netherlands, in 1988 and obtained his MBA in 1992 at the University of Rochester.