Marc Tessier-Lavigne is co-founder, Chairman & CEO of Xaira Therapeutics. Previously, he held executive positions in the private sector at Genentech, where he was executive vice president for research and chief scientific officer, and in the academic sector, where he served as president of The Rockefeller University and then of Stanford University, where he remains professor of Biology (on leave). He also served previously on the faculty of the University of California, San Francisco, and was an investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. A Rhodes Scholar, Dr. Tessier-Lavigne has been a leader in understanding mechanisms that direct the wiring of the brain, and has helped elucidate mechanisms of neurodegeneration. He is the recipient of numerous scientific awards, including the 2020 Gruber Neuroscience Prize, and has been elected to multiple scientific societies, including the US National Academy of Sciences and US National Academy of Medicine; he is also an Officer of the Order of Canada, one of that country’s highest honors. Dr. Tessier-Lavigne has co-founded two neuroscience startups, Renovis and Denali, and served on the boards of Agios, Regeneron, Pfizer, Juno and Denali.