About Trefoil

Dr. Yerxa currently serves as the Chair of the Board of Trefoil Therapeutics since February, 2026 and as Opus Genetics’ President since October, 2024. Dr. Yerxa was Chief Executive Officer and President of Opus from September, 2021. Dr. Yerxa previously served as Chief Executive Officer of the Foundation Fighting Blindness (“FFB”) starting in October 2017, a foundation that drives research to provide treatments and cures for people affected by retinal degenerative diseases, where he established the Retinal Degeneration Fund, a venture philanthropy investment fund. Prior to joining FFB, Dr. Yerxa served as President and Co-Founder of Envisia Therapeutics,, a company focused on developing novel ocular sustained delivery therapies for the front and back of the eye. He also has previously held founding and executive positions in several biotechnology organizations, including Liquidia Technologies, Parion Sciences, and Inspire Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Yerxa has also served on the board of directors of Nacuity Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Yerxa holds 60 U.S. patents.

Dr. McGraw is Chairman and CEO of TheraVida, Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company, as well as Executive Chairman of Auration Biotech, Inc., a private biotechnology company focused on using growth factors for tissue regeneration. He is the lead independent director for the board of Aerie Pharmaceuticals, a public ophthalmology company, and active in the SPARK program at Stanford University. Previously, Dr. McGraw was on the board of Ista Pharmaceuticals, a public ophthalmology company; Chairman and CEO of Valentis, Inc.; Corporate Vice President, Corporate Development at Allergan, Inc.; and Vice President, Development at Marion Laboratories, Inc. and Marion Merrell Dow, Inc. (now Sanofi US). Dr. McGraw received his B.S. and Doctor of Pharmacy degrees from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, where he also completed a clinical practice residency.

Dr. Robertson has over 25 years of experience in pharmaceutical research and global product development, including R&D strategies, project management, clinical trials, regulatory filings, market support, and medical communication. Stella is a co-founder of Bios Partners, LP, a member of the Cowtown Angels, and the founder of Arrochar Consulting LLC, specializing in due diligence, translational research, product development and the life sciences. She volunteers with the incubator TECH Fort Worth, the UNTHSC entrepreneurial program, and as an adjunct for the Ophthalmology Department at UT Southwestern. She formerly was a Vice President of Research and Development at Alcon Laboratories, Inc., a Division of Novartis, where she grew and led organizations responsible for the ophthalmic pipeline. During her tenure at Alcon, she and her colleagues successfully developed, registered, and globally launched 16 ophthalmic medications, as well as treatments for otitis media and nasal allergy. In addition to Trefoil, she serves on the board of three Bios Partners portfolio companies, Azitra, Inc. (member), Lantern Pharma, Inc. (observer), Lung Therapeutics, Inc. (observer), and also as a member on the ARVO Foundation Board, the Cowtown Angels steering committee, and the AyuVis Research, Inc. board. Stella is an immunologist-cell biologist by training. She received a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University.  She was an Arthritis Foundation post-doctoral research fellow at the UTHSC in Dallas, TX and completed the executive Program for Management Development at Harvard Business School.

A seasoned entrepreneur and biotech executive, Christy Shaffer, Ph.D. has over 25 years of experience in the life science industry. She is currently a General Partner at Hatteras Venture Partners. Following a career as a clinical scientist, international project leader and Associate Director of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at Burroughs Wellcome Co., she joined Inspire Pharmaceuticals in 1995 as the first, full-time employee. She was responsible for raising over $300 million for the company, including taking the company public in 2000. As President and CEO, Christy grew the company from 20 scientists to nearly 250 employees, with revenues of over $100 million. Under her leadership, Inspire was named as “Best Place to Work for Scientists” by the Scientist magazine, and “Best Place to Work in North Carolina.” Christy retired from Inspire in 2010 and the company was acquired by Merck in 2011. She joined Hatteras in 2011 as the Managing Director of Hatteras Discovery and became a general partner in 2016. Christy serves as a board member of seven Hatteras portfolio companies and chairs four of them: Artizan Biosciences (Chair), Clearside Biomedical (Chair), GrayBug Vision (Chair), Kinodyn (Chair), G1 Therapeutics and Spyryx. Christy is a receptor pharmacologist by training, earning her Ph.D. in Pharmacology from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis TN in 1985. She received her post-doctoral training at The Chicago Medical School and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  

Kseniya Simpson is a Partner at Hatteras Venture Partners, an early-stage, healthcare-focused venture capital firm, where she focuses on investing in innovative biotech companies. She has more than 10 years of experience working with life sciences companies of all stages. Prior to Hatteras, Kseniya was with Triangle Insights Group, where she worked as a Strategy Consultant, advising biotech and pharma companies on a wide variety of topics including company and asset diligence, pipeline strategy, clinical development, and commercial preparedness. Kseniya is a scientist by training and has conducted research in the areas of RNA therapeutics, nucleic acid delivery, lipid monolayers, and tissue engineering. She has also worked at Yale Ventures and served as a teaching fellow and lecturer at Yale.

Kseniya earned a Ph.D. in Cellular and Molecular Physiology from Yale University where she worked on siRNA therapeutics under the mentorship of W. Mark Saltzman, Ph.D. and received the Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award. She holds dual B.S. degrees in Chemistry and Biological Chemistry from the University of Chicago.

John Fucci is a Partner at Bios Partners, a biotech venture capital firm based in Fort Worth. He focuses on sourcing, diligence, and negotiation of new investment opportunities, as well as portfolio company management and investor relations. He currently serves on the board of Trefoil Therapeutics, which develops therapies leveraging the regenerative properties of corneal endothelial and epithelial cells. He previously served on the boards of Bobcat Bio and Lantern Therapeutics.

Prior to Bios Partners, John was a Vice President at Steelhead Capital Management, a Fort Worth-based family office investing across biotechnology, cryptocurrency, real estate, energy, consumer products, and early-stage venture capital. He holds a double major in Finance and Entrepreneurial Management from Texas Christian University.