About Zephyr AI

We value your privacy

We use cookies to enhance your browsing experience, serve personalised ads or content, and analyse our traffic. By clicking "Accept All", you consent to our use of cookies.

Powered by

About Zephyr AI

AI for Real-World Precision—Turning Data Into Patient Impact

Zephyr AI is redefining precision medicine with AI-enabled software and enterprise-scale real-world data. By transforming fragmented clinical and biological information into actionable insights, we advance therapeutic development, patient stratification, and diagnostic innovation—bringing clarity to complexity and impact to patients.

Our Mission

To transform precision medicine with AI-enabled software that integrates seamlessly into existing workflows for rapid validation and clinical translation. Alongside our models, we provide access to one of the world’s largest multimodal clinicogenomic datasets—enabling partners to explore populations, accelerate discovery, and improve trial success.

Our Vision

A future where precision medicine is accessible, immediate, and effective—where treatment decisions for every patient are guided by robust, biologically grounded insights tailored to each patient’s unique disease biology. By designing AI that imbues rich biological context into routine clinical inputs and delivers clinically actionable outputs, Zephyr creates tools that lay the foundation for more effective, personalized treatment while expanding access to precision medicine.

Core Principles Underlying Our AI

Zephyr’s AI is built on three principles: learn from a lot, refine with a little, and enrich limited patient data with deep biological context. By interpreting even sparse inputs against this foundation, we uncover hidden insights that transform today’s limited clinical data into powerful precision medicine software.

Our Team

We are scientists, engineers, clinicians, business leaders, and innovators united by a shared mission to make precision medicine more effective and accessible through technology. At the intersection of machine learning and real-world data, we bring clarity where it matters most.

We move fast, collaborate deeply, and value diverse perspectives. Together, we are redefining precision medicine—with scalable software, real-world intelligence, and a team built to deliver for patients and partners alike.

A lifelong champion for cancer patients and research—and a cancer survivor himself—Dr. Allen Chao is deeply committed to advancing precision medicine.

Dr. Chao founded Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE: WPI) and served as Chairman & CEO from 1985 to 2007, then as Chairman through 2008. He led Watson’s growth through internal R&D, licensing, and mergers and acquisitions of pharmaceutical products and technologies. Watson completed its IPO in 1993 (NASDAQ), moved to the NYSE in 1997, joined the S&P 500, and, by Dr. Chao’s retirement in 2008, had approximately $2.8B in annual revenue and $680M+ in EBITDA. Watson later became Allergan plc, which was acquired by AbbVie Inc. in 2020. He brings deep experience in business development, strategic execution, investment, and operational management across the pharmaceutical industry.

The Chao family helped establish the Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center (1994) and the H.H. Chao Comprehensive Digestive Disease Center (1999) at the University of California, Irvine Medical Center; a second Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center opened in Irvine in 2024.

Dr. Chao earned his Ph.D. in Industrial and Physical Pharmacy from Purdue University in 1973, and received a Doctor of Science degree from Purdue in 2000 recognizing his leadership in the development, manufacturing, and commercialization of medicines.

As CEO of Zephyr AI, Dr. Chao channels his passion and experience into building the partnerships, infrastructure, and teams to apply advanced AI/ML and world-class real-world data assets across the therapeutic lifecycle—helping partners accelerate discovery, validation, and clinical translation so the right therapies can reach patients sooner.

Jeff Sherman is Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer at Zephyr AI, where he leads the architecture of secure, scalable AI and data platforms that help partners match therapies to patients and bring precision medicine to scale. He previously served as Interim CEO of Zephyr AI. Jeff is also a Founding Partner at Red Cell Partners, an incubation firm building rapidly scalable technology in healthcare and defense, and Co-Founder of Adaje Inc., a SaaS company applying machine learning to bond, swap, and credit modeling.

Before Zephyr and Red Cell, Jeff was a Machine Learning Architect at Rally Health (acquired by UnitedHealth Group), where he led the design and deployment of a large-scale recommendation engine leveraging healthcare and behavioral data. Earlier, at BBN Technologies, he worked on DARPA/IARPA programs spanning natural language processing, computer vision, sensor fusion, and graph mining.

Jeff holds an MS in Computer Science from the University of Pennsylvania and a BS in Computer Science from George Mason University. He co-founded Zephyr AI with the conviction that advanced machine learning, paired with large-scale real-world data, can accelerate and de-risk drug development—making medicine more effective and accessible for patients.

Dr. Anshu Jain is Zephyr AI’s Chief Business and Clinical Officer. A double board-certified radiation oncologist and clinical informatician, he leads business development, clinical strategy, medical affairs, and partner collaborations—translating Zephyr’s AI and large-scale real-world data into solutions that help biopharma and diagnostic partners advance precision medicine for patients. Prior to Zephyr, Dr. Jain served as Chief Medical Officer at Aster Insights.

Dr. Jain has authored peer-reviewed publications in Nature Communications, Journal of Clinical Oncology (JCO), and JCO Clinical Cancer Informatics, and has served as a principal investigator for early- and late-phase oncology trials. He has advised the FDA Office of the Commissioner and the Oncology Center of Excellence, and provided clinical leadership to large-scale data initiatives including the NCI SEER program.

He serves on the Board of Directors of the Community Oncology Alliance, the Board of Advisors for the Duke Cancer Institute, and is an Assistant Professor at the Yale School of Medicine.

Dr. Jain trained in internal medicine and radiation oncology at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Columbia New York Presbyterian Hospital. He earned his M.D. with Highest Distinction from the University of Kentucky College of Medicine and a degree in Economics from Duke University.

John Applegate is the Chief Financial Officer of Zephyr AI. John has spent decades crafting strategy, driving growth, and bringing to bear his financial experience to advance companies committed to transforming patient care.

Applegate, a seasoned C-level biotechnology executive, joined Zephyr with over 25 years of experience in finance, strategy, accounting, capital formation, investor relations, and business development. He is the former CFO of biotechnology company Verge Genomics, where he raised a new round of equity financing in conjunction with a strategic partnership with AstraZeneca. Before his employment at Verge, Applegate was the vice president of accounting and finance at Valo Health, where he was a member of a senior leadership team that presided over a company valuation increase from seed to greater than $1B. In addition, Applegate previously worked at Biogen, a biotechnology company, as its senior director and head of finance worldwide for the research and development organization. During his 14-year career at Biogen, Applegate also supported business development transactions, including the $3.25B purchase of TYSABRI® rights from Elan Corporation, plc., and managed critical alliances on Biogen’s behalf that included collaborations with Eisai Co., Ltd., on developing and commercializing LEQEMBI® to treat Alzheimer’s disease, and Genentech for developing and commercializing the oncology blockbuster RITUXAN®. Applegate holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a bachelor’s degree in economics from Northwestern University.

At Zephyr AI, John leads capital strategy with a value growth mindset, aligning financial discipline with scientific advancement to scale operations, unlock value, and accelerate long-term impact. He is inspired to serve patients by wisely investing in transformative science.

Dr. Justin Stebbing is the Chairman of Zephyr AI’s Scientific and Medical Advisory Board. Justin is Editor of Nature’s cancer journal Oncogene and a Professor of Biomedical Sciences at ARU in Cambridge. He specializes in a range of solid malignancies (breast, GI, lung, others) including difficult cases with few conventional options and has published over 700 papers, the majority regarding new therapeutic and translational approaches including use of immunotherapies in clinical trials, including a large number as 1st/senior author in high impact factor journals. He was previously a student at Trinity College, Oxford, receiving a 1st class degree, prior to a residency at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore prior to a PhD in London, investigating the interplay between the immune system and cancer-causing viruses.

Many of his papers involve deciphering gene regulatory networks in normal tissues, cancer cells and stem cells including the roles of regulatory RNA molecules (Justin’s laboratory discovered a new class of RNA termed ‘two-tailed mirtrons’). He has also described a new kinase for the first time, now a target in a drug discovery program, and been principle investigator in a large number of clinical studies at all stages of drug development, from novel molecules to biosimilars. These efforts aim to translate basic research into clinically useful findings to help patients at the bedside.

Most recently, his early work during the COVID-19 pandemic used artificial intelligence to identify a drug as having surprising anti-viral and anti-cytokine effects, data that led to Baricitinib’s FDA emergency approval as a once/day tablet in November 2020, as described in a book ‘Witness to Covid’. It has the highest mortality benefit of all drugs for hospitalised patients with SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia, and its simplicity lends itself for use in low- and middle-income countries. He has worked with a number of funds including Calypso, Atticus Capital, Lansdowne, and Vitruvian Partners, and he sits on the scientific advisory boards of a number of companies with innovative, transformational approaches to cancer, was elected a member of the American Society of Clinical Investigation and was previously appointed the UK’s first NIHR Translational Professor of Oncology. His emphasis is on increasing the cure rate and improving quality and quantity of life, and using a computer-to-bench-to-bedside-to-regulatory approval based approach which Zephyr’s technology is ideally suited to.

Dr. Alan Barge is the Chairman of Modra Pharmaceuticals, the founder of Carrick Therapeutics and the Co-Founder of ASLAN Pharmaceuticals. Alan is the former VP of Clinical and Head of Oncology and Infection, AstraZeneca

Dr. Barge trained in medicine at Oxford and London and specialized in oncology and hematology. He joined Amgen in 1990, as European Medical Director, and was responsible for the European, and subsequently worldwide development of Neupogen® (filgrastim), and other hematopoietic growth factors. In 1999, he joined AstraZeneca, where he established a team responsible for early phase oncology drug development. In 2005, he was appointed Vice President of Clinical and Head of Oncology and Infection, responsible for building and managing a large development group, and the execution of AstraZeneca’s oncology portfolio globally.

Dr. Richard L. Schilsky is the Former EVP and Chief Medical Officer of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and a Professor Emeritus at the University of Chicago.

Dr. Schilsky is an international expert in gastrointestinal malignancies and cancer pharmacology, having published more than 400 scientific articles, reviews, and commentaries. He has served on a number of peer review and advisory committees for the NCI including serving as a member and chair of the NCI Board of Scientific Advisors and as a member of the Clinical and Translational Research Advisory Committee. He joined the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) in 2013 as Chief Medical Officer after a nearly 30-year career at the University of Chicago Medicine, where he served as chief of hematology/ oncology in the Department of Medicine and the deputy director of the University of Chicago Comprehensive Cancer Center. Dr. Schilsky is the Principal Investigator of the ASCO Targeted Agent and Profiling Utilization Registry (TAPUR) study and a former member and chair of the FDA Oncology Drugs Advisory Committee.

Dr. Siddhartha Mukherjee is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Columbia University Medical Center. Dr. Mukherjee is the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer which earned the award in 2011 for general nonfiction and has been listed among Time magazine’s “All-Time 100 Nonfiction Books.” A Rhodes Scholar, Dr. Mukherjee holds a BS in biology from Stanford University; a DPhil in immunology from Oxford University; and an MD from Harvard Medical School.

Dr. Mukherjee is a hematologist and oncologist who has published articles in the journals Nature, The New England Journal of Medicine, and Cell. Dr. Mukherjee is the scientific founder of several biotech companies, including Myeloid Therapeut, Immuneel Therapeutics, and Vor Biopharma which has been given breakthrough status by the FDA for its anti-AML treatment strategy.

Advisors

Dr. Fanziska Michor is a Professor of Computational Biology in the Department of Data Sciences at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, in the Department of Biostatistics at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and in the Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology at Harvard University. Dr. Michor obtained her undergraduate training in mathematics and molecular biology from the University of Vienna, Austria, and her PhD from the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University. Afterwards, she was awarded a fellowship from the Harvard Society of Fellows.

From 2007 until 2010, she was an Assistant Professor in the Computational Biology Program at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Dr. Michor is the director of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Physical Sciences-Oncology Center and the Center for Cancer Evolution. She has been the recipient of the Theodosius Dobzhansky Prize of the Society for the Study of Evolution, the Alice Hamilton Award, the Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Biomedical Science, the 36th Annual AACR Award for Outstanding Achievement in Cancer Research, and others. Dr. Michor’s laboratory investigates the evolutionary dynamics of cancer initiation, progression, response to therapy, and emergence of resistance.

Dr. George Miller is a surgical oncologist with Trinity Health of New England where he specializes in cancers of the liver, pancreas, and GI tract. He was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY and was educated at Columbia College where he graduated summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa and received his MD from McGill University Faculty of Medicine. He completed his residency training in General Surgery at NYU and a trio of fellowships at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in Surgical Oncology, Hepatobiliary-Pancreatic Surgery, and Experimental Immunology.

Dr. Miller was on the faculty of NYU School of Medicine for 13 years where he was the inaugural HL Pachter Professor of Surgery and Cell Biology and principal investigator of one of the world’s most productive cancer research laboratories. His lab was awarded ~20 grants from the NIH and Department of Defense and more than 70 grants in total. He is the recipient of prestigious awards from organizations such as the Society of University Surgeons, the American Liver Foundation, and the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) and in 2017 was awarded the Ruth Leff Siegel Award given annually to scientist making the most important contribution to pancreas cancer research.

He has been the keynote speaker at AACR and other prominent national meetings. His research has been published in leading journals including multiple papers in Nature, Cancer Discovery, Nature Medicine, and Cell and his work has been translated to 4 Phase I clinical trials. He has also partnered with industry to develop 5 new cancer therapeutics that have entered clinical testing and has co-founded a successful start-up company focusing on the development of novel immune-based therapies. His seminal work includes contributions to the roles of the microbiome, innate immunity, and inflammatory cell death in oncogenesis.

Dr. Miller was the leader of NYU’s 35-member Tumor Immunology Program, co-leader of NYU’s GI Disease Management Group, and director of the nation’s only T32 NCI Training grant in Gastrointestinal Oncology. Dr. Miller was awarded the 2018 Mentor of the Year Award from NYU School of Medicine and was twice nominated for university-wide medal of excellence for teaching. He currently serves as Editor-in-Chief of Oncogene. Dr. Miller is a member of the American Surgical Association and the American Society for Clinical Investigation. He sees patients with liver cancer, pancreas cancer, and stomach cancer and has performed more than 300 major liver resections and 200 pancreatectomies.

Dr. Sol J. Barer is a founder and former Chairman, President, COO, and CEO of Celgene (NASDAQ: CELG). Dr. Barer currently serves as Board Chair for Teva Pharmaceuticals (NYSE: TEVA), NexImmune (NASDAQ: NEXI), Centrexion Therapeutics (NASDAQ: CNTX), and Aevi Genomic Medicine (NASDAQ: GNMX). He is also lead director for Contrafect Corp. (NASDAQ: CFRX) and a member of the Board of Directors for 3DBio Therapeutics.

Dr. Barer is also the Founding Chair of the Hackensack Meridian Health Center for Discovery & Innovation and is a co-founder of Barer & Son Capital, an investment fund focused on capitalizing early-stage breakthrough biotechnology companies. Dr. Barer received his Ph.D. in organic and physical chemistry from Rutgers University and his B.S. in chemistry from Brooklyn College of the City University of New York.

Dr. Harry Phillips, the co-founder and former CMO of Duke LifePoint Healthcare, was a Professor of Medicine at Duke University and is triple board certified in internal medicine, cardiovascular medicine, and interventional cardiology.

In addition to serving as CMO of Duke LifePoint Healthcare between 2017 and 2024, Dr. Phillips was also the CMO of Duke Network Services from 2007 to 2024, providing physician leadership for affiliated program development, quality oversight, and physician engagement. A longtime Professor of Medicine at Duke University where he has worked for more than 40 years, Dr. Phillips has served as the Medical Director of Duke Heart Network and Associate Director of Duke Heart Center. He is a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology and has written extensively on the subjects of interventional cardiology and cardiovascular medicine, having co-authored the textbook “Interventional Cardiovascular Medicine: Principles and Practice” and authored or co-authored more than 100 peer-reviewed journal articles, and dozens of book chapters.

Dr. Phillips is the recipient of the Duke University School of Medicine Excellence in Professionalism Award and the Triangle Business Journal Health Care Hero Lifetime Achievement Award. In addition, he was part of the LifePoint Team that accepted the John M. Eisenberg Award from the National Quality Forum and the Joint Commission for success in improving patient safety and quality, including cumulatively reducing preventable harm to patients by more than 50 percent. Dr. Phillips earned a B.S. in chemistry from Washington and Lee University and his medical degree from Duke University. He completed internal medicine and cardiology training at the Massachusetts General Hospital, the oldest and largest teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School.

Grant Verstandig is the Founder, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer of Red Cell Partners.

Mr. Verstandig founded Red Cell to launch and scale disruptive technology-led healthcare, defense, and cyber companies that would have a positive and indelible impact on society and future generations to come. A venture studio with a portfolio of $425 million, Red Cell builds businesses from the ground up, providing critical support to help them develop their MVPs, establish product-market fit and customer traction, and prepare for market launch and long-term success.

Red Cell was born out of Mr. Verstandig’s personal experiences, first as a patient and later as a healthcare executive. A native of Washington, D.C., Mr. Verstandig aspired to be a doctor, attending Brown University. But after injuring his right knee and undergoing multiple surgeries, he came to understand the systemic issues plaguing the U.S. healthcare system and set out to address them. He dropped out of Brown and, in 2010, founded Rally Health, a consumer-centric digital health company that empowers Americans to make better healthcare decisions. In 2017, UnitedHealth Group acquired Rally in one of the largest digital health exits ever. From 2017 to 2021, Mr. Verstandig was UnitedHealth Group’s Chief Digital Officer, responsible for the strategic direction, governance, and performance of digital platforms.

Mr. Verstandig is a serial entrepreneur who has co-founded multiple businesses that have gone on to achieve tremendous success, including several Red Cell portfolio companies that, as of Q1’25, have raised a combined total of nearly $240M in funding. Among these businesses are insights company DEFCON AI – which, in 2024, raised one of the largest defense-tech seed rounds ever, led by Bessemer Venture Partners – and cyber company Andesite, co-developed by Red Cell and General Catalyst. In addition, Mr. Verstandig is the co-founder and CEO of Red Cell incubation Trase Systems, a platform that tactically delivers and implements end-to-end AI agent applications to automate complex administrative workflows. Trase replaces manual, repetitive processes with autonomous AI agents that are highly secure, audit-ready, and proven to deliver measurable ROI. He is also the co-founder of Epirus, a defense-technology company developing high-power microwave systems to protect warfighters against threats, which, to date, has raised more than half a billion dollars in funding.

Mr. Verstandig, who holds patents in advanced analytics, technology, and artificial intelligence, is a former senior advisor to the National Security Agency and a member of the Aspen Institute’s Cybersecurity Group, the nation’s leading cross-sector public-private cyber security forum; the Aspen Institute’s Foreign Ministers Program; and the Aspen Global Digital Program.

Mr. Verstandig is a philanthropist and civic leader, supporting various causes through the Verstandig Family Foundation, like VETSⓇ (Veterans Exploring Treatment Solutions), the National Cryptologic Foundation, and The Opportunity Network. In addition, he is a member of the National Council for American Enterprise and serves on the boards of the Third Option Foundation, the International Spy Museum, and the Greater Washington Partnership, where he is a founding member. Named by the Washingtonian a 2025 Tech Titan, Mr. Verstandig is a proud supporter of Greater Washington, D.C., area hospitals, including Children’s National Hospital, Inova, and MedStar-Georgetown.

Dr. Yisroel Brumer co-founded Zephyr AI and was the founding CEO. He was also a Founding Partner and President at Red Cell Partners and is now the co-founder and CEO of DEFCON AI, a leading defense startup providing resilient optimization of complex operational systems. Before that, he had an extensive career of executive leadership in the Department of Defense (DoD) culminating as Acting Director of Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation (CAPE). Reporting directly to the Secretary of Defense, he led the annual program review process that built the five-year defense program totaling over $3.5 trillion.

He also led CAPE’s oversight of all major investment programs, emphasizing analyses of alternatives, investment strategies, and programmatic tradeoffs. He led the SecDef-directed studies on high-stakes issues known as Strategic Portfolio Reviews that drove the strategic direction of the Department for the last decade. He was a member of DoD’s most senior decision bodies, including the Nuclear Weapons Council, the Missile Defense Executive Board, and the Deputy Secretary’s Management Action Group, among many others.

During that time, Yisroel worked on innumerable “impossible problems” ranging from fixing disaster response after Katrina to rebuilding cultures in massive organizations to helping military personnel deal with mental health impacts of combat. Yisroel holds a Ph.D. in Chemical Physics and a M.Sc. in Chemistry from Harvard University and has published a number of works in the applications of physics to biological systems and cancer. He has received the highest civilian medal awarded by DoD, the Defense Distinguished Civilian Service Medal, along with honors like the Presidential Meritorious Executive Rank Award and numerous other medals and awards for civilian service.

A lifelong champion for cancer patients and research—and a cancer survivor himself—Dr. Allen Chao is deeply committed to advancing precision medicine.

Dr. Chao founded Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE: WPI) and served as Chairman & CEO from 1985 to 2007, then as Chairman through 2008. He led Watson’s growth through internal R&D, licensing, and mergers and acquisitions of pharmaceutical products and technologies. Watson completed its IPO in 1993 (NASDAQ), moved to the NYSE in 1997, joined the S&P 500, and, by Dr. Chao’s retirement in 2008, had approximately $2.8B in annual revenue and $680M+ in EBITDA. Watson later became Allergan plc, which was acquired by AbbVie Inc. in 2020. He brings deep experience in business development, strategic execution, investment, and operational management across the pharmaceutical industry.

The Chao family helped establish the Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center (1994) and the H.H. Chao Comprehensive Digestive Disease Center (1999) at the University of California, Irvine Medical Center; a second Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center opened in Irvine in 2024.

Dr. Chao earned his Ph.D. in Industrial and Physical Pharmacy from Purdue University in 1973, and received a Doctor of Science degree from Purdue in 2000 recognizing his leadership in the development, manufacturing, and commercialization of medicines.

As CEO of Zephyr AI, Dr. Chao channels his passion and experience into building the partnerships, infrastructure, and teams to apply advanced AI/ML and world-class real-world data assets across the therapeutic lifecycle—helping partners accelerate discovery, validation, and clinical translation so the right therapies can reach patients sooner.

Roger W. Ferguson, Jr., is the Steven A Tananbaum Distinguished Fellow for International Economics at the Council on Foreign Relations. He is the immediate past President and Chief Executive Officer of TIAA, the leading provider of retirement services in the academic, research, medical, and cultural fields and a Fortune 100 financial services organization. Mr. Ferguson is the former Vice Chairman of the Board of Governors of the U.S. Federal Reserve System. He represented the Federal Reserve on several international policy groups and served on key Federal Reserve System committees, including Payment System Oversight, Reserve Bank Operations, and Supervision and Regulation. As the only Governor in Washington, D.C. on 9/11, he led the Fed’s initial response to the terrorist attacks, taking actions that kept the U.S. financial system functioning while reassuring the global financial community that the U.S. economy would not be paralyzed.

Prior to joining TIAA in April 2008, Mr. Ferguson was head of financial services for Swiss Re, Chairman of Swiss Re America Holding Corporation, and a member of the company’s executive committee. From 1984 to 1997, he was an Associate and Partner at McKinsey & Company. He began his career as an attorney at the New York City office of Davis Polk & Wardwell.

Mr. Ferguson is a member of the Smithsonian Institution’s Board of Regents. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences and co-chairs its Commission on the Future of Undergraduate Education. He serves on the boards of Alphabet, Inc.; Corning, Inc.; and Klarna Inc. Mr. Ferguson is also active as an advisor and board member with various private fintech companies. He serves on the boards of The Conference Board, the Institute for Advanced Study, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and Columbia University’s Teachers College and other non for profits. He is a fellow of the American Philosophical Society and a member of the Economic Club of New York, the Council on Foreign Relations, the Group of Thirty, and the National Association for Business Economics. Mr. Ferguson served on President Obama’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness as well as its predecessor, the Economic Recovery Advisory Board, and he co-chaired the National Academy of Sciences’ Committee on the Long-Run Macro-Economic Effects of the Aging U.S. Population.

Mr. Ferguson holds a B.A., J.D., and a Ph.D. in economics, all from Harvard University.

Steve Murray is an Advisor at Revolution Growth. Steve joined the team as a partner in 2016 with more than 25 years of experience with high-growth technology businesses and served as the Managing Partner until 2024. Previously, during his nearly 20 years at Softbank, Steve worked with some of the most important technology companies of our generation including Yahoo, Etrade, GeoCities, GSI Commerce, Alibaba, Fitbit, Kabbage, BigCommerce and many others.

He was also Partner and Managing Director at Softbank Capital, where he coordinated and organized the operations of the team’s venture activities across multiple funds, geographies, and investment agendas.

Steve has served on the Board of Directors of both public and private companies and has extensive experience in fundraising, M&A, operations, and all levels of corporate governance. In addition to Zephyr AI’s Board of Directors, Steve is currently on the boards of Draftkings (NASDAQ: DKNG) Orchard, and Tala and formerly served on the boards of over 20 businesses including BigCommerce, Fitbit, Tempus and Kabbage.

Steve started his career at the international accounting and consulting firm, Deloitte, and graduated from Boston College with a degree in accounting.

Sandra (Sandi) Peterson is a globally recognized leader at the intersection of healthcare, technology, and operations. She is an Operating Partner at Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R), where she works across healthcare and consumer investments in North America and Europe. Sandi is also the Lead Independent Director on Microsoft’s Board, Chair of Volastra Therapeutics, Board member of Seaport Therapeutics, Chair of the American Academy in Berlin, a Trustee and Executive Committee member of the Institute for Advanced Study (Princeton, NJ).

Previously, Sandi was Group Worldwide Chairman at Johnson & Johnson, where she led the consumer and medical devices businesses and oversaw the company’s global supply chain, technology strategy, and operating infrastructure. Earlier roles include CEO of Bayer CropScience AG, CEO of Bayer Medical Care, and President of Bayer HealthCare’s Diabetes Care Division. She began her career at McKinsey & Company and has held senior leadership positions at Medco Health Solutions (Merck-Medco), Nabisco, and Whirlpool.

At Zephyr AI, Sandi brings deep experience scaling regulated healthcare businesses, building high-impact partnerships, and aligning technology strategy with operational excellence—helping guide Zephyr’s mission to apply AI and real-world data to accelerate development and expand access to effective therapies.

Sandi holds a B.A. in Government from Cornell University and an M.P.A. in Applied Economics from Princeton University.

Dr. John W. Rowe is the Julius B. Richmond Professor of Health Policy and Aging at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. Previously, from 2000 until late 2006, Dr. Rowe served as Chairman and CEO of Aetna, Inc., one of the nation’s leading health care and related benefits organizations. Before his tenure at Aetna, from 1988 to 2000, Dr. Rowe served as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Mount Sinai Hospital , the Mount Sinai School of Medicine and Mount Sinai NYU Health, one of the nation’s largest academic health care organizations.

Before joining Mount Sinai, Dr. Rowe was a Professor of Medicine and the founding Director of the Division on Aging at the Harvard Medical School, as well as Chief of Gerontology at Boston’s Beth Israel Hospital. He was Director of the MacArthur Foundation Research Networks on Successful Aging and an Aging Society and has received many awards and honors for his contributions to the field.

Dr. Rowe was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a member of the National Academy of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences. He was Chairman of the Board of Overseers of Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health and Harvard Medical School and continues to serve on those Boards as well at the Board of the Columbia University Irving Medical Center. He previously served on the Board of Trustees of the Rockefeller Foundation, was a founding Commissioner of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (Medpac), and Chair of the Boards of Trustees of the University of Connecticut and the Marine Biological Laboratory.

Regarding his business career, Dr Rowe has been recognized by Business Week and the Harvard Business Review as one of the world’s leading CEOs.

MedStar Health President and Chief Executive Officer Kenneth A. Samet is responsible for a $9 billion healthcare delivery system. With more than 40 years of experience in healthcare administration, Samet provides strategic oversight and management for MedStar Health—the largest healthcare provider in Maryland and the Washington, D.C., region, comprised of 10 hospitals, a comprehensive network of health-related businesses that includes ambulatory, home health, a large multispecialty physician network, and an insurance product with approximately 170,000 members. MedStar Health has large research and innovation platforms and one of the largest graduate medical education programs in the country. In addition, MedStar Health is one of the region’s largest employers, with more than 35,000 associates and 4,000 affiliated physicians, serving more than a million patients and their families each year. MedStar Health is proud to be the long-standing clinical and medical education partner of Georgetown University.

Prior to becoming MedStar Health’s president and chief executive officer in January of 2008, Samet served as president and chief operating officer of MedStar Health from 1998–2008. From 1990 to 2000, he served as president of MedStar Washington Hospital Center, one of the nation’s largest tertiary care hospitals, in the District of Columbia from 1990 to 2000.

Samet is presently a member of the board of directors of a number of organizations to include: Greater Washington Partnership, Economic Club of Washington, Georgetown University, the Greater Washington Board of Trade and United Way of the National Capital Area. He has held leadership positions on the boards of the American Hospital Association (AHA), District of Columbia Hospital Association (DCHA) and Maryland Hospital Association (MHA) and served on the board of visitors for the University of Maryland School of Nursing. Samet is also a past board member of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center (Los Angeles), Greater Baltimore Committee and Old Dominion University Board of Visitors, where he received his bachelor’s degree in business administration in 1980 and an honorary doctorate of humane letters in 2012 following his commencement address to the school’s graduating class. He received his master’s degree in health services administration from the University of Michigan in 1982. In 1996, the American College of Healthcare Executives named Samet the national Young Healthcare Administrator of the Year. More recently, Samet was honored with the Anti-Defamation League 2015 Achievement Award, inducted as a 2016 Laureate into the Washington Business Hall of Fame, and in 2021 received the B’nai B’rith Charles S. Lauer National Healthcare Award.

Dr. Moncef Slaoui served as the Chief Scientific Advisor and Co-Lead to Operation Warp Speed from 2020 to 2021. During his tenure with Operation Warp Speed, Dr. Slaoui, who has an extensive background in vaccine and medicine development and production, lead the acceleration of the development, manufacturing, and approval of COVID-19 vaccines, truncating a lengthy drug-approval process from years to less than 11 months, from the moment the coronavirus was first described.

Prior to joining Operation Warp Speed, Dr. Slaoui spent nearly 30 years at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), serving in a variety of leadership roles, including as Chairman GSK’s Vaccines division and as Chairman of Pharmaceutical R&D during which he spearheaded efforts to improve innovation and productivity. Dr. Slaoui had also previously served as GSK’s SVP R&D Vaccines & Oncology, overseeing the company’s industry-leading vaccine pipeline which included a portfolio of 48 vaccines – the broadest of any pharmaceutical company at the time. During his tenure at GSK, Dr. Slaoui led or supported the development of several novel vaccines, including: Cervarix to prevent cervical cancer; Mosquirix to prevent malaria; Rotarix to prevent rotavirus gastroenteritis; Shingrix to prevent shingles; and Synflorix to prevent pneumococcal disease. From 2011 to 2016, he served on the Advisory Committee to the Director of the NIH. After retiring from GSK in 2017, he served on the boards of various biotechnology companies, including Moderna, Inc., and Lonza Group AG. He also chaired the boards of Galvani, and Vaxcyte, an independent vaccine development platform company. In 2016, Dr. Slaoui was recognized by Fortune magazine as one of The World’s 50 Greatest Leaders for his work with under-researched diseases common in the developing world.

Currently, Dr Slaoui is a Venture partner at Medicxi Ventures and a strategic Advisor to Biospring Partners and to Affinity Partners funds, as well as chair of the boards of Arcturus Therapeutics and Curevo Vaccines Biotech companies. He also sits on the boards of Altesa Biosciences, Abzena a CDMO company, AfricPhar, a Moroccan Pharmaceutical company and Zephyr AI.

Dr. Slaoui, who has authored more than 100 scientific papers and presentations, holds a PhD in Molecular Biology and Immunology from the Université Libre de Bruxelles, in Belgium. He completed his postdoctoral studies at Harvard Medical School and Tufts University School of Medicine and has served as a professor of Immunology at the University of Mons, Belgium. He holds an MBA from IMD, Switzerland.

Interested in learning more about our custom AI solutions?

We’d love to hear from you.

Contact Us