Cynthia Smith

Cynthia Smith is a board member at Akebia Therapeutics. Cynthia has previously held positions at Protara Therapeutics, Spero Therapeutics, Akebia Therapeutics, and Dicerna Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Most recently, they served as Chief Commercial Officer of ZS Pharma, Inc. from 2013 to 2016. During their time at ZS Pharma, they were responsible for leading a commercial organization of 250 employees and developing a strategy to launch the company’s first asset into a new and competitive global marketplace. Smith has also served on the board of directors for Nivalis Therapeutics, Inc. from 2016 to 2017.

Cynthia Smith has a MBA in Finance from The Wharton School, an MS in Public Policy from Rutgers University, and a BA in Communications from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.