The team behind
Blue River Bio
Our Team
A cross-disciplinary team of leading scientists, regulatory experts, and experienced startup executives. Together we combine the medicine, pharmacology, and engineering behind our technology with the clinical trial design and company operations needed to bring it to patients.
Karl Ruping, JD
Founder, Chief Executive Officer
Leads Blue River Bio’s strategy, financing, and partnerships as a serial biotech CEO with multiple successful exits and a track record of raising venture funding and government grants for university spin-outs.
US registered patent attorney with a JD from Boston University School of Law.
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Patrick Purdon, PhD
Founder, Scientific Advisor
Guides the company’s scientific strategy, drawing on his lab’s research in systems neuroscience, neurophysiology, and signal processing that underpins Blue River Bio’s technology.
Professor of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine. PhD from the Harvard-MIT Program in Health Sciences and Technology.
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Martin Angst, MD
Founder, Medical Advisor
Shapes the company’s clinical strategy and trial design as a world-leading expert in opioid pharmacology with more than 20 years of clinical trial experience.
Professor of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine and Vice Chair for Strategy and Initiatives at Stanford University School of Medicine. MD from the University of Bern.
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Rory Vu Mather, PhD
Head of Operations & Clinical Data Science
Runs day-to-day company operations, spanning fundraising, finance, and regulatory planning. Leads clinical data science, building the machine-learning and statistical methods behind our neural and clinical-outcomes analyses of opioid use and addiction.
PhD in Biomedical Engineering from the Harvard-MIT Program in Health Sciences and Technology. MD candidate at Harvard Medical School.
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Akriti Pandit, MPH
Head of Clinical Research Operations
Leads clinical research operations, including clinical trial design and day-to-day work with our contract research organizations, drawing on a background in clinical research management, public health, and project management.
MPH from Boston University School of Public Health.
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Gustavo Balanza, MD
Co-Inventor of Company Technology
Co-inventor on the patent underlying the company’s product, drawing on his expertise in clinical neuroscience and EEG analysis of opioid-induced signals recorded in the operating room.
Instructor in Anesthesiology at Stanford University School of Medicine. MD from Universidad Mayor de San Andrés.
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Our Advisors
Our advisor network includes members of the Stanford SPARK, Stanford OTL HIT Fund, and StartX communities, with decades of experience spanning all aspects of drug development.
Scott Shively
Company Advisor
Biotech founder and commercial leader who co-founded and led Neumentum and served as Chief Commercial Officer at Depomed, after leading Pfizer’s global commercial strategy for pain and CNS.
Previously: Vice President and Global Commercial Lead for Pain at Pfizer; Senior Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer at Depomed; Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Neumentum
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Curtis Scribner, MD, MBA
Regulatory Advisor
Regulatory strategist who spent a decade at the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research and has since led regulatory affairs at Intarcia, Eiger BioPharmaceuticals, and Amarantus.
Previously: Medical Officer and Deputy Director, Office of Blood Research and Review, FDA Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research; regulatory leadership at Intarcia Therapeutics and Eiger BioPharmaceuticals
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Ramneik Dua, PhD
CMC Formulation Advisor
Formulation and product development leader who has run early- and late-stage CMC programs at Nestlé Health Science, Codexis, Puma Biotechnology, Depomed, and The Medicines Company.
Previously: Formulation and CMC leadership at Nestlé Health Science, Codexis, Puma Biotechnology, Depomed, and The Medicines Company
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Terence Turner, MS
Business Development Advisor
Clinical research business development executive with senior roles at PSI CRO and PPD, bringing deep knowledge of clinical trial outsourcing and CRO partnerships.
Previously: Executive Director of Business Development at PPD (now Thermo Fisher Scientific); Vice President of Business Development at PSI CRO
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Interested in working with us?
We would love to hear from collaborators, investors, and clinicians.