Our Company
Leadership Team
Our team is built with experts in the fields of gene therapy, manufacturing and drug development. Our driven and compassionate team comes to work each day to make progress towards our goal of delivering cures to patients living with devastating diseases.
Board of Directors
Dr. Keith Harris has served as a member of our board of directors since June 2015 and served as chairman of our board of directors since February 2018. Dr. Harris is a London-based investment banker and financier with a 25-year career as a senior corporate finance and takeover advisor. Since 1999, Dr. Harris has been the chairman of Keith Harris & Associates, a sports consulting firm. Dr. Harris previously served as Chief Executive Officer of HSBC Investment Bank from 1994 to 1999. Dr. Harris received a B.A. in business and economics from the University of Bradford and a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Surrey.
Dr. Alexandria Forbes has served as our President, Chief Executive Officer and a member of our board of directors since March 2015. Prior to joining MeiraGTx, Dr. Forbes served as Senior Vice President of Commercial Operations at Kadmon Holdings, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, from September 2013 to April 2015. Prior to Kadmon Holdings, Inc., Dr. Forbes spent eleven years as a healthcare investor at Sivik Global Healthcare, a healthcare hedge fund, from September 2000 to November 2008, and at Meadowvale Asset Management, a healthcare hedge fund, from January 2010 to June 2012. Before entering the hedge fund industry, Dr. Forbes was a Human Frontiers/Howard Hughes postdoctoral fellow at the Skirball Institute of Biomolecular Medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center from March 1997 to September 2000. Prior to this, Dr. Forbes was a research fellow at Duke University, and also at the Carnegie Institute at Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Forbes received an M.A. in Natural Sciences from Cambridge University and a Ph.D. in Molecular Genetics from Oxford University.
Dr. Ellen Hukkelhoven has served as a member of our board of directors since October 2017. Dr. Hukkelhoven currently serves as a Managing Director at Perceptive Advisors, a leading healthcare investment firm. Prior to joining Perceptive Advisors in 2013, Dr. Hukkelhoven received an A.B. in molecular biology from Princeton University and a Ph.D. in cancer biology from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
Martin Indyk has served as a member of our Board of Directors since February 2019. Ambassador Indyk is an American diplomat who has served in senior positions in the U.S. presidential administrations of Clinton, Bush ’43 and Obama. He was twice U.S. Ambassador to Israel, President Clinton’s Middle East Advisor in the National Security Council, President Obama’s Special Envoy for Israeli-Palestinian Negotiations, and Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs under Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. From 2001 to 2018, Ambassador Indyk managed, built-out and raised funds for the Brookings Institution, a think tank with an annual budget of $100 million. Ambassador Indyk currently serves as a distinguished fellow and director of executive education at the Council on Foreign Relations and on several boards, including the Lowy Institute for International Policy in Australia, the Institute for National Security Studies in Israel, the Aspen Institute’s Middle East Investment Initiative, the Israel Democracy Institute and America Abroad Media. He received a Bachelor of Economics from the University of Sydney and a Ph.D. in international relations from the Australian National University.
Dr. Arnold Levine has served as a member of our board of directors since February 2016. Dr. Levine currently serves as a professor emeritus at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton University. He was a professor in the Department of Molecular Biology at Princeton University from 1984 until 1996, where he was named the Harry C. Wiess Professor in Life Sciences and was the chairman of the department. Dr. Levine received a B.A. from Harpur College, State University of New York at Binghamton and a Ph.D. in microbiology from the University of Pennsylvania.
Lord Mendoza has served as a member of our board of directors since June 2015. Lord Mendoza is Provost of Oriel College, Oxford University. He has been a Member of the House of Lords since October 2020. He is the UK government’s Commissioner for Cultural Recovery and Renewal, and from 2016 to 2020 served as a non-executive director of the Department of Digital Culture, Media & Sport within the UK government. Lord Mendoza founded the custom marketing agency Forward (now renamed Bookmark Content and Communications), a subsidiary of WPP plc. Lord Mendoza received an M.A. in Geography from Oxford University.
Ms. Nicole Seligman has served as a member of our board of directors since May 2019. Ms. Seligman currently serves as a member of the board of directors of Viacom, WPP plc, and Far Point Acquisition Corporation. Ms. Seligman was President of Sony Entertainment from 2014 to 2016 and global General Counsel of Sony Corporation from 2005 to 2014. Before joining Sony, Ms. Seligman was a partner in the litigation practice at Williams & Connolly LLP. She received a B.A., magna cum laude, from Harvard College (Radcliffe), and a J.D., magna cum laude, from Harvard Law School, where she was a winner of the Sears Prize.
Dr. Thomas Shenk has served as a member of our board of directors since June 2015. Dr. Shenk has been the James A. Elkins Jr. Professor of Life Sciences in the Department of Molecular Biology at Princeton University since 1984. Dr. Shenk served on the board of directors of Merck and Co. Inc., a pharmaceutical company, from 2001 to 2012. Dr. Shenk currently serves as a director of Vical Incorporated, a biopharmaceutical company. He received a B.S. from University of Detroit and a Ph.D. from Rutgers University.
Dr. Debra Yu has served as a member of our board of directors since April 2022. Dr. Yu currently serves as President and Chief Strategy Officer of LianBio, and previously served as LianBio’s President and Chief Business Officer. Dr. Yu has more than 30 years of healthcare industry experience in business development, alliance management, investment banking and capital markets. She has held senior positions at Pfizer in its Worldwide Business Development organization and Labrador Advisors, LLC, where she advised numerous partnerships and licensing transactions. Dr. Yu received a bachelor’s degree with high honors in molecular biology from Princeton University and earned a medical degree from Harvard Medical School.
Dr. Keith Harris has served as a member of our board of directors since June 2015 and served as chairman of our board of directors since February 2018. Dr. Harris is a London-based investment banker and financier with a 25-year career as a senior corporate finance and takeover advisor. Since 1999, Dr. Harris has been the chairman of Keith Harris & Associates, a sports consulting firm. Dr. Harris previously served as Chief Executive Officer of HSBC Investment Bank from 1994 to 1999. Dr. Harris received a B.A. in business and economics from the University of Bradford and a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Surrey.
Dr. Alexandria Forbes has served as our President, Chief Executive Officer and a member of our board of directors since March 2015. Prior to joining MeiraGTx, Dr. Forbes served as Senior Vice President of Commercial Operations at Kadmon Holdings, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, from September 2013 to April 2015. Prior to Kadmon Holdings, Inc., Dr. Forbes spent eleven years as a healthcare investor at Sivik Global Healthcare, a healthcare hedge fund, from September 2000 to November 2008, and at Meadowvale Asset Management, a healthcare hedge fund, from January 2010 to June 2012. Before entering the hedge fund industry, Dr. Forbes was a Human Frontiers/Howard Hughes postdoctoral fellow at the Skirball Institute of Biomolecular Medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center from March 1997 to September 2000. Prior to this, Dr. Forbes was a research fellow at Duke University, and also at the Carnegie Institute at Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Forbes received an M.A. in Natural Sciences from Cambridge University and a Ph.D. in Molecular Genetics from Oxford University.
Dr. Ellen Hukkelhoven has served as a member of our board of directors since October 2017. Dr. Hukkelhoven currently serves as a Managing Director at Perceptive Advisors, a leading healthcare investment firm. Prior to joining Perceptive Advisors in 2013, Dr. Hukkelhoven received an A.B. in molecular biology from Princeton University and a Ph.D. in cancer biology from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
Martin Indyk has served as a member of our Board of Directors since February 2019. Ambassador Indyk is an American diplomat who has served in senior positions in the U.S. presidential administrations of Clinton, Bush ’43 and Obama. He was twice U.S. Ambassador to Israel, President Clinton’s Middle East Advisor in the National Security Council, President Obama’s Special Envoy for Israeli-Palestinian Negotiations, and Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs under Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. From 2001 to 2018, Ambassador Indyk managed, built-out and raised funds for the Brookings Institution, a think tank with an annual budget of $100 million. Ambassador Indyk currently serves as a distinguished fellow and director of executive education at the Council on Foreign Relations and on several boards, including the Lowy Institute for International Policy in Australia, the Institute for National Security Studies in Israel, the Aspen Institute’s Middle East Investment Initiative, the Israel Democracy Institute and America Abroad Media. He received a Bachelor of Economics from the University of Sydney and a Ph.D. in international relations from the Australian National University.
Dr. Arnold Levine has served as a member of our board of directors since February 2016. Dr. Levine currently serves as a professor emeritus at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton University. He was a professor in the Department of Molecular Biology at Princeton University from 1984 until 1996, where he was named the Harry C. Wiess Professor in Life Sciences and was the chairman of the department. Dr. Levine received a B.A. from Harpur College, State University of New York at Binghamton and a Ph.D. in microbiology from the University of Pennsylvania.
Lord Mendoza has served as a member of our board of directors since June 2015. Lord Mendoza is Provost of Oriel College, Oxford University. He has been a Member of the House of Lords since October 2020. He is the UK government’s Commissioner for Cultural Recovery and Renewal, and from 2016 to 2020 served as a non-executive director of the Department of Digital Culture, Media & Sport within the UK government. Lord Mendoza founded the custom marketing agency Forward (now renamed Bookmark Content and Communications), a subsidiary of WPP plc. Lord Mendoza received an M.A. in Geography from Oxford University.
Ms. Nicole Seligman has served as a member of our board of directors since May 2019. Ms. Seligman currently serves as a member of the board of directors of Viacom, WPP plc, and Far Point Acquisition Corporation. Ms. Seligman was President of Sony Entertainment from 2014 to 2016 and global General Counsel of Sony Corporation from 2005 to 2014. Before joining Sony, Ms. Seligman was a partner in the litigation practice at Williams & Connolly LLP. She received a B.A., magna cum laude, from Harvard College (Radcliffe), and a J.D., magna cum laude, from Harvard Law School, where she was a winner of the Sears Prize.
Dr. Thomas Shenk has served as a member of our board of directors since June 2015. Dr. Shenk has been the James A. Elkins Jr. Professor of Life Sciences in the Department of Molecular Biology at Princeton University since 1984. Dr. Shenk served on the board of directors of Merck and Co. Inc., a pharmaceutical company, from 2001 to 2012. Dr. Shenk currently serves as a director of Vical Incorporated, a biopharmaceutical company. He received a B.S. from University of Detroit and a Ph.D. from Rutgers University.
Dr. Debra Yu has served as a member of our board of directors since April 2022. Dr. Yu currently serves as President and Chief Strategy Officer of LianBio, and previously served as LianBio’s President and Chief Business Officer. Dr. Yu has more than 30 years of healthcare industry experience in business development, alliance management, investment banking and capital markets. She has held senior positions at Pfizer in its Worldwide Business Development organization and Labrador Advisors, LLC, where she advised numerous partnerships and licensing transactions. Dr. Yu received a bachelor’s degree with high honors in molecular biology from Princeton University and earned a medical degree from Harvard Medical School.