Nafise brings to RiverVest more than 10 years of experience in the life sciences industry, most recently at Novo Holdings Venture Investments, where she engaged in discovery and due diligence for early- and late-stage biotech companies. Prior to Novo, Nafise worked at Takeda and Boston Consulting Group. Earlier in her career, Nafise completed fellowships at Flagship Pioneering and the Wyss Institute at Harvard.

“I am thrilled to join RiverVest,” said Nafise. “It is an honor to work alongside such a disciplined and collaborative team with a strong reputation and proven track record. I am privileged to contribute to RiverVest’s invaluable mission of transforming cutting-edge science into life-changing therapies for patients.”

Nafise earned a Ph.D. in Biochemical Engineering at the Harvard-MIT Program in Health Sciences & Technology (HST) and Penn State. She completed her postdoctoral fellowship in Robert Langer’s Lab at MIT and at the Department of Cardiac Surgery at Boston Children’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School. Nafise holds MSc and BSc degrees in Chemical Engineering from Sharif University of Technology in Iran and was a visiting scholar at the Institute of Biomedical Engineering (IBME) at Oxford University, where she analyzed energy metabolism in the brain. Nafise has co-authored 21 peer-reviewed journal publications.

“We are excited to welcome Nafise to the San Diego office,” said RiverVest Managing Director Niall O’Donnell. “Nafise brings extensive MedTech and biopharma experience both in academia and the investment industry to support strong decision-making and company oversight.”