Amir Nashat

Amir Nashat has created and invested in a breadth of category-defining biotechnology companies during his 16-year tenure with Polaris Partners. He is currently a managing partner in the firm’s Boston office and represents Polaris as a Director of AgBiome, aTyr Pharmaceuticals, Dewpoint, Fate Therapeutics, Jnana Therapeutics, CAMP4 Therapeutics, Metacrine Therapeutics, Morphic Therapeutic, Scholar Rock, Selecta Biosciences, Syros Pharmaceuticals, and TARIS Biomedical. Additionally, Amir has served as a director of Adnexus Therapeutics (Bristol Myers Squibb), Athenix Corporation (Bayer), Avila Therapeutics (Celgene), Living Proof (Unilever), Pervasis Therapeutics (Shire Pharmaceuticals), Promedior Pharmaceuticals, Receptos (Celgene), and Sun Catalytix (Lockheed Martin). At Living Proof, Sun Catalytix, Olivo Labs, and Jnana Therapeutics, Amir served as the company’s initial CEO.

Amir also serves on the Partners Innovation Fund, the Investment Advisory Committee for The Engine at MIT, and helped launch the MIT Sandbox Innovation Fund as its active president. He previously served on the board of the New England Venture Capital Association. He has been named to the Forbes Midas List of “Top 100 Venture Capitalists.” Prior to joining Polaris, Amir completed his Sc.D. as a Hertz Fellow in Chemical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a minor in Biology under the guidance of Dr. Robert Langer. Amir also earned both his M.S. and B.S. in Materials Science and Mechanical Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley.