Mike Briskin

Mike Briskin, Ph.D., brings more than 20 years of industry experience in multiple areas of drug discovery, including molecular biology, immunobiology, oncology, and inflammation. Prior to Obsidian, Dr. Briskin founded and ran discovery research at Jounce Therapeutics, a company developing biotherapeutics for immune-oncology indications. Prior to Jounce, he was Senior Director of Immunology at Merrimack Pharmaceuticals, where he led the company’s efforts aimed at translational studies with a lead therapeutic compound in rheumatoid arthritis, as well as programs in inflammation and oncology. Prior to Merrimack, Dr. Briskin was a scientific consultant for Healthcare Ventures, one of the world’s largest venture capital firms. Previously, he was Director of Inflammation – cell migration at LeukoSite and subsequently Millennium Pharmaceuticals, where his early discovery work led to the development and subsequent approval of a novel T Cell homing inhibitor, Entyvio® (vedolizumab), for Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn’s disease. Dr. Briskin also led efforts in target identification and validation for the Millennium/Aventis collaboration and led discovery efforts in the company’s biotherapeutic and small molecule programs. Dr. Briskin holds a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology and a B.A. in biology from the University of California, Los Angeles.