Leadership team
George Aitken-Davies
CO-FOUNDER AND MANAGING DIRECTOR
George co-founded Altaris, a healthcare investment firm focused on building companies that deliver innovation and efficiency to the healthcare system. Since 2003, Altaris has acquired or invested in more than 50 companies across the pharmaceuticals and life sciences, medical device and diagnostics, and tech-enabled services sectors. George is responsible for co-managing Altaris and co-Chairs the firm’s Investment Committee.
Prior to Altaris, George worked at Merrill Lynch in New York and London, holding various positions in the firm’s private equity and healthcare investment banking divisions.
George received a Master’s in Biochemistry from the University of Oxford and completed the research for his dissertation at the Università di Padova, Italy.
George currently serves as a trustee of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and the Senator Foundation.
Daniel Tully
CO-FOUNDER AND MANAGING DIRECTOR
Dan co-founded Altaris, a healthcare investment firm focused on building companies that deliver innovation and efficiency to the healthcare system. Since 2003, Altaris has acquired or invested in more than 50 companies across the pharmaceuticals and life sciences, medical device and diagnostics, and tech-enabled services sectors. Dan is responsible for co-managing Altaris and co-Chairs the firm’s Investment Committee.
Prior to Altaris, Dan worked at Merrill Lynch in New York, holding various positions in the firm’s investment and investment banking divisions, including serving as global head of healthcare equity capital markets.
Dan received a B.S. in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania.
Previously, Dan served as Vice Chairman of the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York.
Aaron Bell
Head of Portfolio Engagement
Aaron is Head of Portfolio Engagement where he manages various portfolio initiatives, including operational and transformational projects.
Prior to joining Altaris, Aaron worked at Ceridian where he led the global deployment of Salesforce Service Cloud. Previously, Aaron held roles at 3M in business services, continuous improvement, and mergers & acquisitions. Aaron is a certified Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt and a Marine Corps veteran.
Aaron received a B.A. in History from the University of Minnesota and a M.A. in International Relations from the University of California, San Diego.
Lana Dweik
HEAD OF CAPITAL MARKETS
Lana is Head of Capital Markets at Altaris and manages the firm’s financing activities and portfolio company operational initiatives. Lana is a member of Altaris’ Investment Committee and serves as Chair of the firm’s Environmental, Social & Governance Committee.
Prior to joining Altaris, Lana worked at Antares Capital where she was responsible for the structuring, underwriting, documenting and managing of private equity-backed transactions. Previously, Lana was a member of the risk team at GE Capital.
Lana received a B.A. in Mathematics from Wellesley College.
Matteo Foderaro
Managing Director, Pharmaceuticals and Life Sciences
Matteo is a Managing Director at Altaris and co-leads the firm’s coverage of pharmaceuticals and life sciences.
Prior to joining Altaris, Matteo worked at McKinsey and Company where he was focused on healthcare investing and M&A, serving both private equity funds and life science companies.
Matteo received an MD from the University of Turin in Italy and was an exchange medical student at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland.
Nicholas Fulco
Managing Director, Tech-Enabled Services
Nick is a Managing Director at Altaris and leads the firm’s coverage of the tech-enabled services sector. Nick is a member of Altaris’ Investment Committee.
Prior to joining Altaris, Nick worked at CCMP Capital Advisors, both in New York and London, where he focused on buyout and growth equity investments in the Healthcare and Consumer/Retail sectors.
Nick received a B.A. in International Studies from Boston College.
Charles Mullens
Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer
Chuck is Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer of Altaris and serves as Chair of the firm’s Compliance and Valuation Committees.
Prior to joining Altaris, Chuck was Director of Fund Reporting at J.C. Flowers & Co. where he was a member of the firm’s Compliance Committee. Previously, Chuck worked at Deloitte & Touche, both in New York and Dublin, Ireland, serving a wide range of domestic and international asset management clients.
Chuck is a New York State Certified Public Accountant and received a B.S. in Accounting from the University of Scranton.
Garikai Nyaruwata
Managing Director, Pharmaceuticals and Life Sciences
Garikai is a Managing Director at Altaris and co-leads the firm’s coverage of pharmaceuticals and life sciences. Garikai is a member of Altaris’ Investment Committee.
Prior to joining Altaris, Garikai worked in the private equity and healthcare practices of McKinsey & Company, both in the United States and South Africa, where he completed numerous transaction and corporate strategy engagements.
Garikai received a B.S. in Economics from the University of Cape Town, and an M.S. in Financial Economics and an M.S. in Development Economics from the University of Oxford, where he was a Rhodes Scholar.
Jim O’Brien
Managing Director, Medical Devices and Diagnostics
Jim is a Managing Director at Altaris and leads the firm’s coverage of medical devices and diagnostics. Jim is a member of Altaris’ Investment Committee.
Prior to joining Altaris, Jim worked at Merrill Lynch in New York where he was a member of the investment banking and equity capital markets groups, focused on the execution of mergers, acquisitions and corporate finance transactions.
Jim received a B.A. in History from Princeton University.
Operating partners
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Iain Baird
Iain Baird is an operating partner at Altaris and a board member of Padagis and Kindeva. Iain has a long track record of partnering with founders and management teams to build contract development and manufacturing organizations (CDMOs) and product companies including: OSO BioPharmaceuticals, CANbridge Life Sciences, Gallus Biopharmaceuticals, Brammer Bio, Mikart, Arranta Bio, Vibalogics, Genezen, Enterobiotix and Meridian Medical Technologies. Iain started his career at AstraZeneca (formerly ICI and Zeneca) where he designed and project managed the construction of pharmaceutical facilities and ran multiple production sites. Subsequently, Iain was a member of the leadership teams that established Avecia Oligonucleotides and Avecia Vaccines. Iain received a Bachelor of Engineering in Mechanical and Electrical Engineering from Robert Gordons University.
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Tim Callahan
Tim Callahan is an operating partner at Altaris and a board member of CMP Pharma and Padagis. Tim has over 25 years of board and operational leadership experience in biopharmaceutical companies, including serving as SVP, Commercial Operations at Actavis Plc (now Allergan), where he led the commercial transformation of the brand division into a multi-billion-dollar global specialty business. Previously, he built specialty pharma businesses in commercial leadership roles at Actavis, Watson Pharmaceuticals, and Schein Pharmaceutical. Tim has held board roles in public, private, and non-profit healthcare organizations, and he has served as a Senior Advisor to McKinsey & Company. Tim holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Applied Economics and Business Management from Cornell University.
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Shawn Cavanagh
Shawn Cavanagh is an operating partner at Altaris and serves as Executive Chair of Kindeva and Veranova. Shawn has over 30 years of experience in the pharmaceutical services industry, predominantly with contract development and manufacturing organizations. Previously, Shawn was President, Chief Operating Officer, and member of the Board of Directors at Cambrex Corporation. Shawn has also held leadership roles at Lonza, where he served as President of Lonza Bioscience. He holds a degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of New Hampshire.
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Bernard Lyons
Bernie Lyons is an operating partner at Altaris and a board member of Minnetronix. Previously, Bernie served as a board member of Creganna and Paramit prior to their sales. Bernie has over 30 years of experience in the medical device industry, including as the President & CEO of Direct Flow Medical, Inc. Prior to Direct Flow, he served as President and CEO of Vasca, Inc. and CardioClasp, Inc., and held several senior level positions at Boston Scientific. Bernie is an Executive in Residence with Canon USA and Partners Healthcare Innovation, and has served as an advisor/board member to numerous innovative medical device start-ups.
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Greg Sargen
Greg Sargen is an operating partner at Altaris and chair of the audit committee at Kindeva Drug Delivery and Veranova. Greg has over 25 years of experience in the pharmaceutical services industry and has served on the board of two publicly traded biopharmaceutical companies. Previously, Greg was Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, and Vice President of Corporate Development and Strategy at Cambrex Corporation, a publicly traded Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization. Greg also held finance roles at Fisher Scientific International (now ThermoFisher), Merck & Co and Expanets. Greg began his career in auditing at Deloitte & Touche, LLP, and is a Certified Public Accountant. Greg holds a B.S. in Accounting from Penn State University and an MBA from The Wharton School.
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Philip Smith
Phil Smith is an operating partner at Altaris and is Chair of the board of Intricon and a board member of Trean. Phil has over 30 years of board, strategic advisory and operational leadership experience in the healthcare industry, predominantly with medical device companies. Previously, Phil was a managing director at investment banking firms Kroll (formerly Duff & Phelps), BMO Capital Markets (formerly Greene Holcomb Fisher) and Piper Jaffray, where he advised healthcare clients and executed mergers, acquisitions and corporate finance transactions. Prior to his investment banking career, Phil held various executive leadership positions at several medical technology companies, including as President and CEO of Angeion Corporation, a global medical technology company focused on cardiorespiratory health solutions and DGIMED Ortho, an orthopedic trauma technology company. Phil also served as an Executive Vice President of Vital Images, a global medical imaging software company. Phil received a BS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Florida and an MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
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Rafael Torres
Rafael Torres is an operating partner at Altaris and a board member of Analogic. He has over 20 years of investment and operational experience in the medical device, life sciences and diagnostics industries, including serving as the Head of Corporate Development & Strategy at Varian Medical Systems (NYSE:VAR) until the company was sold to Siemens for $16.4 billion. Prior to that, Rafael led the healthcare investing teams at GE Equity and GE Ventures. Rafael received a B.A. in Economics from Universidad del Pacifico in Lima, Peru, and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
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Brooks West
Brooks West is an operating partner at Altaris and a board member of Intricon. Brooks has over 25 years of board and operational leadership experience in the medical technology industry, including serving as President and CEO of BK Medical, an Altaris portfolio company. Previously, Brooks served for over a decade as a sell-side equity research analyst, most recently as a Senior Research Analyst covering medical technology at Piper Jaffray. Brooks received a Bachelor of Business Administration from Boston University.
Company leadership
- Analogic | Tom Ripp
- Chemical Computing Group | Paul Labute
- Clearwater | Steve Cagle
- CMP Pharma | Gerald Sakowski
- Intricon | Brooks West
- Kindeva Drug Delivery | Milton Boyer
- Minnetronix | Jeremy Maniak
- Padagis | Pam Hoffman
- Sharecare | Brent Layton
- Solesis | John Witkowski
- Trean Insurance Group | Julie Baron
- Veranova | Mike Riley
Members of the Altaris Operating Network are not employees of Altaris.