Roberto Iacone, MD

Dr. Roberto Iacone is a physician-scientist and a serial entrepreneur. He most recently served as Entrepreneur-in-residence for the Versant Ventures group where he co-founded Bright Peak Therapeutics and Ridgeline Therapeutics, Versant’s Basel-based Discovery Engine. In this role, he was responsible for sourcing and evaluating academic opportunities from European institutes, and for leading biology and translational activities for Ridgeline New Cos. He was part of the leadership team which built the precision oncology medicine company Black Diamond Therapeutics from inception through multiple financing rounds and a NASDAQ IPO in early 2020. Previously, Roberto was at Roche for over 10 years, most recently as Global Head of Rare Diseases Research where he established numerous external collaborations with academic and biotech partners, which included large molecule, small molecule and gene therapy programs. During his time at Roche, Roberto also gained considerable experience in preclinical research and early development, managing discovery programs across a range of therapeutic areas including Neuroscience, Ophthalmology and Rare Diseases. Roberto holds an M.D. from the University of Napoli, and a PhD from the Max Planck Research School for Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics.