TrueNorth Team
Leveraging distinctive interdisciplinary experts & an extensive network of strategic partners,
TrueNorth teams are built to purpose.
David S. Battleman, MD, MSc, MBA
Principal & Founder
Areas of expertise:
- Development & commercial strategies for drugs, devices & diagnostics
- Start-ups, growth acceleration and strategic transitions & programmatic restructuring
- Creative & non-traditional financing solutions
Contact info:
Dr. Battleman is a seasoned healthcare executive with over 20 years of experience, spanning academia, industry, and management consulting. Prior to establishing his advisory firm, TrueNorth Lifesciences, Dr. Battleman served as a senior principal in the R&D and commercial strategy practice within IMS Health Holdings, Inc. (now IQVIA; NYSE: IQV), a Fortune 500 company providing data and consulting services to the global pharmaceutical industry. Prior to joining IMS Health, he was a management consultant at Bain & Company and executive director for Pfizer Pharmaceuticals. Within academia, he was an assistant professor of Public Health & Medicine at Cornell University’s Weill Cornell Medical College. While at Cornell, Dr. Battleman’s research focused primarily on health economics and technology assessment, and he has published both original research and expert reviews in these areas.
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TrueNorth Lifesciences takes a unique multi-dimensional approach toward healthcare & life science investing, evaluating not only the scientific, clinical, and regulatory risks (i.e., likelihood of technical success) but also carefully evaluating commercial risk and opportunity (i.e., likelihood and magnitude of commercial success) across global markets.
For highly innovative early-stage healthcare & life science companies, TrueNorth provides strategic consulting & financial advisory services to accelerate growth and optimize drug, device medical diagnostic as well as healthcare services development and commercialization. We differentiate based on our unique ability to advise and align R&D/commercialization strategies with financing strategies. And as a FINRA-licensed investment banking Managing Director at Pickwick Capital Partners, Dr. Battleman can assemble experienced financing teams to execute on private placements, strategic partnerships and/or M&A in both the public & private markets.
Additionally, TrueNorth Lifesciences works with a distinctive network of elite family offices, hedge funds, and HNW / UHNW individuals providing buy-side advisory services on healthcare and biotech-related investments.
Dr. Battleman holds an M.D. from Weill Cornell Medical College, an M.B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business, and an M.Sc. from the Harvard School of Public Health. Dr. Battleman also holds his Series 63 & 82 licenses and, as mentioned, is a FINRA registered representative with Pickwick Capital Partners.
Jeff Solomon
Principal Advisor
Areas of expertise:
- Healthcare investment banking and M&A
- Strategic advisory, finance & complex financial modeling
- Capital sourcing
Contact info:
Jeff is Co-founder & Managing Partner of Paddock Capital Markets. He has more than 15 years of experience in investment banking and management consulting. Prior to founding Paddock Capital, Jeff senior roles in the healthcare M&A groups of Moelis & Co as well at BofA Merrill Lynch.
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In each of his prior roles and currently at Paddock, Jeff has been instrumental in driving M&A transactions to completion by providing founders and CEOs guidance in navigating the deal-making process. To date, Jeff has advised on over 40 completed M&A transactions, totaling more than $65 billion in transaction volume since 2011.
Jeff received his M.B.A. from Georgetown University and holds his Series 7, 79 & 63 licenses and is a FINRA registered representative with M&A Securities Group.
Kristie Pellecchia
Principal Advisor
Areas of expertise:
- International finance
- Global strategic advisory & networking
- Global capital sourcing
Contact info:
Kristie Pellecchia is Principal at Pellecchia International, which advises global businesses on financial strategy, capital markets, policy, sustainability, and partnerships. She is the former Senior Advisor for Western Hemisphere at the United States International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), the U.S. Government’s Development Finance Institution.
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In this role, Ms. Pellecchia served as a key advisor to the agency’s President and Chief Executive Officer, providing guidance and leadership on policy and transactional matters for the USD 8.5Bn Western Hemisphere portfolio.Prior to joining DFC, Ms. Pellecchia spent five years at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), where she led and considerably increased the bank’s presence in Latin America. Before SMBC, Ms. Pellecchia spent ten years at BNP Paribas in debt financing roles throughout the Americas, generating new business and leading restructuring transactions.
Ms. Pellecchia’s foreign transactional experience includes working with clients and governmental bodies throughout the hemisphere, and ranges in scope from small project financing to multibillion-dollar transactions. She has worked with diverse investors throughout the Americas, including regional funds, and large financial institutions.
Ms. Pellecchia has an M.B.A. in Finance from the Wharton School and she is fluent in Spanish and has working knowledge of Portuguese. She holds her Series 7 & 63 licenses and is a FINRA registered representative with Pickwick Capital Partners.
Muna Abu-Shaar, JD
, PhD
Principal Advisor
Areas of expertise:
- Intellectual property law
- Intellectual property strategy
- Licensing negotiation
Contact info:
Muna Abu-Shaar is Managing Partner & Founder of Biospark Intellectual Property Law. Muna is an intellectual property attorney with over twenty years of experience in patent counseling for biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry clients ranging from startups to Fortune 500 companies.
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She has a molecular biology technical background with experience in biologics (including all aspects of antibody therapeutics, from novel binders to novel formats to manufacturing processes), pharmaceutical formulations, vaccines, diagnostics, recombinant technologies, research tools, synthetic biology, manufacturing processes and alternative energy.
Muna was recognized as a Super Lawyers “Rising Star” in New York in 2011 and 2013. Prior to founding Biospark Intellectual Property Law, Muna was a partner in the intellectual property group of a large international law firm.
Muna earned her J.D. from Fordham Law School (cum laude, Law Review, and Order of the Coif) and earned her Ph.D. with distinction in Cellular, Molecular & Biophysical Studies from Columbia University.
Dev Chatterjee, MD, PhD
Principal Advisor
Areas of expertise:
- Early-stage biomedical development
- Entrepreneurial leadership
- Angel & SBIR grant financing
Dr. Chatterjee is an early-stage biomedical technology expert with other a decade’s experience in creating, managing, and leading biomedical startups – with technologies ranging from drugs, devices and diagnostics. He currently serves as the Managing Director of Fannin Innovation Studio, LLC, and the Chief Scientific Officer of Brevitest Technologies.
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Fannin Innovation Studio is Texas’ most active biomedical development group focused on early-stage pharmaceutical and medical device assets, both those in-licensed from academic institutions and those developed internally. Brevitest is a diagnostic company spun out of Fannin and Brevitest’s diagnostic platform has won multiple awards, including the AACC Disruptive Technology Award, the Texas New Ventures award, and the Goradia Innovation Prize. Prior to Fannin and Brevitest, Dr. Chatterjee was a NASA/DoE awardee postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.
Dr. Chatterjee holds an M.D. from Calcutta Medical College and an M.S. from the Indian Institute of Technology. He was awarded his Ph.D. from the National University of Singapore for his work on the uses of upconverting nanoparticles in cancer.
Tom Gallucci
Principal Advisor
Areas of expertise:
- Healthcare investment banking and M&A
- Healthcare services strategic advisory, finance & operations
- Institutional and non-traditional capital sourcin
Mr. Gallucci is a seasoned executive with roughly 30 years of healthcare finance, banking, operating and strategy experience as a Chief Financial Officer, investment banker and equity research analyst. Tom serves as CFO of myLaurel, which was acquired by a company he co-founded, Nobis Health, an innovative business bringing care to the home for complex patient populations. Previously, he was Principal, Strategic Healthcare Advisory, and prior to that served as EVP & CFO of Cota Healthcare, a Real World Evidence company focused on precision medicine in oncology.
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Prior to Cota, Mr. Gallucci was a Managing Director at Cain Brothers, a leading independent healthcare investment banking firm, where he provided merger and acquisition advice, as well as capital-raising services, to the healthcare services sector. Before joining Cain, Tom was a highly-ranked sell-side equity research analyst at firms including Merrill Lynch, Lazard Capital Markets and Bear Stearns, having covered a wide spectrum of healthcare services businesses during his career. In 2008, he had the unique honor of being simultaneously named to the Institutional Investor All-America team in two separate categories – Healthcare Distribution/Technology and Healthcare Facilities.
Mr. Gallucci began his career at Ernst & Young and holds a B.S. with High Honors in Accounting from Lehigh University. Tom is a FINRA-registered representative with Pickwick Capital Partners and maintains his Series 7, 79, 86 & 87 licenses among others.
Navneet Kathuria, MD, MPH, MBA
Principal Advisor
Areas of expertise:
- Healthcare systems financial & operational leadership
- Value-based healthcare & digital health
- Private & public payment systems
Dr. Kathuria is a seasoned senior healthcare executive leader with over 25 years of experience, encompassing complex Health Care Organizations, global leaders in academic medicine and health care start-ups. Notably, he was Chief Quality & Performance Improvement Officer for the Baylor College of Medicine, providing strategic and operational oversight for care that reached over 3 million patients annually. He was the principal leader in establishing Baylor College’s Center for Global Health.
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Prior to joining Baylor, he was Deputy Chief Medical Officer and Vice Chairman of Medicine at The Mount Sinai Medical Center, with oversight for clinical operations, quality and patient safety. With the move to value-based care, Dr. Kathuria is also a recognized leader in Population Health, having developed and successfully led population health teams that have been in the top quartile in the nation in Quality and Shared Savings. He has also applied his deep industry knowledge of health care as a Board Member for the largest workers’ compensation insurance group in New York State (NYSIF). NYSIF collects $1B+ in premiums annually and manages a fund totaling $15B. Within Academia his research and publications have focused on clinical operations, quality and safety. He was Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine.
Dr. Kathuria holds an M.D. from Albany Medical College, an M.P.H from Columbia University School of Public Health Harvard School of Public Health and an M.B.A. from The Stern School of Business of New York University.
Doug Greenwood
Principal Advisor
Areas of expertise:
- Investment banking
- Compliance & securities regulation
- Deal sourcing & structuring
Mr. Greenwood is President and Chief Executive Officer of Pickwick Capital Partners, an SEC registered broker/dealer and Member of FINRA. He has over 40 years of securities industry experience.
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Earlier in his career, Mr. Greenwood was a Principal at Alex Brown & Sons Inc. and a Managing Director at its successor firm Deutsche Bank Alex Brown. Prior to that he held officer positions at Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. and Chemical Bank. Doug has extensive experience in investment banking and both FINRA & SEC regulatory compliance and maintains his Series 24, 7, 63, and 65 licenses among others. He is graduate of Princeton University.
Erwin Wong
Principal Advisor
Areas of expertise:
- International corporate finance
- Strategic advisory
- Asia-Pacific deal sourcing
Mr. Wong has been involved in corporate finance since attaining his Chartered Accountant (CA) designation in 1994. Since then, he has served in senior management and board level positions for numerous Chinese based enterprises, both public and private.
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Additionally, he has served in management, Board and strategic advisory level capacity for Canadian and HK listed public companies involved in the asset management, mining, telecommunications, and life science arenas. Presently, Mr. Wong is a Senior Adviser/LLC member of Pickwick Capital Partners and a shareholder of Academy Securities. Mr. Wong received his Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of British Columbia and articled with Cooper’s Lybrand to attain his Chartered Accountant (CA) designation
Rachel Kemp
Principal Advisor & Transactional Support
Areas of expertise:
- Investment banking
- Management consulting
- Life science private / public partnerships
Rachel V. Kemp is a Vice President at Pickwick Capital Partners with seven years of investment banking experience and over twenty years of managerial and financial experience. In addition to sourcing and leading deal team transactions, Ms. Kemp support’s Pickwick’s lower middle-market knowledge management practice, while broadening the firm’s investment activities in ESG (environmental, social and governance), alternative asset financing and family office capital pools.
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Prior to joining Pickwick, Ms. Kemp was a management consultant at Booz|Allen|Hamilton International. Ms. Kemp has also served as the Assistant Secretary of Economic Affairs – Commonwealth of Massachusetts. In her capacity the Assistant Secretary, Ms. Kemp represented the Commonwealth’s fiduciary responsibilities on five (5) of its eight (8) investment committees, including biotechnology & medical devices. Ms. Kemp is recognized as an economic development expert and sits on the (Worcester) Venture Forum, a central Massachusetts organization creating an alternative bio-tech ecosystem to Cambridge’s Kendall Square area.
Ms. Kemp earned a BA from Harvard College, an MPA from the Kennedy School of Government of Harvard University, and a management certificate for senior public sector managers from the Sloan School, MIT. She is a FINRA-registered representative with Pickwick Capital Partners, holding Series 63, Series 82 and Series 79 licenses.
