Jonathan P. Gertler

Co-Founder, Managing Partner & CEO at Back Bay Life Science Advisors

Jonathan P. Gertler, MD has over 35 years of clinical and scientific experience, and extensive advisory work with biotechnology, medical device, diagnostic, and health care IT companies in both the private and public sectors.

A former vascular surgeon, Dr. Gertler is a frequent speaker and writer on strategic issues facing life science companies at all stages.

He has founded a several life sciences companies, including Antyllus Therapeutics; a development-stage biotechnology company focused on aortic diseases, and Optivio, a commercial-stage enterprise software platform for stress management and performance optimization. Dr. Gertler also founded Cardiovascular Technologies, an endovascular company that successfully exited in 2001.

Throughout his advisory career, Dr. Gertler has counseled companies on growth and liquidity strategies and has been responsible for significant aggregate consideration in M&A private and public equity for biotech, medtech, and HCIT companies. Before his advisory and consulting career and during the latter phases of his academic career, he was a venture partner at SV Life Sciences from 1997-2001.

Dr. Gertler was an academic vascular surgeon, primarily as Associate Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School and the Massachusetts General Hospital. He has published extensively in clinical vascular surgery and endothelial and smooth muscle cell biology. He has served as an ad-hoc editor for the Journal of Vascular Surgery, The New England Journal of Medicine, and The Journal of Critical Care Medicine and Surgery.

He currently serves on the Dean’s Advisory Board at Boston University School of Medicine and the Venture Advisory Board of the BioInnovation Institute in Copenhagen. He is a supporter and advisor to several non-profit organizations dedicated to inclusion and diversity, including Life Science Cares and Squashbusters, a sports-based youth development program serving young people in Boston, Lawrence, and Providence.

Dr. Gertler trained in Vascular Surgery at Yale in General Surgery and the Massachusetts General Hospital. He earned a medical degree from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, an MBA in Health Policy and Management from Boston University, and a BA from Wesleyan University. Dr. Gertler is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons and a member of numerous academic and clinical surgical societies. He is a Series 24 Registered Securities Principal and is an avid musician, athlete, and fly angler.

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Timeline

  • Co-Founder, Managing Partner & CEO

    Current role