Our Team
Many Backgrounds. Different Perspectives. Persistently Curious.
MEET THE TEAM
PHI THACH
Executive Assistant
LORENA CHEN, CPA
Fund Controller
MICHAEL SAULNIER, CPA
Chief Financial Officer
MATT FERESTEN
Senior Business Systems Analyst
GUNNAR ESIASON, MBA, MPH
Director of Patient Engagement
KEEGAN MUELLER
Fund Accountant
PHI THACH
Executive Assistant
Phi Thach is an Executive Assistant at RA Capital Management. Phi's primary responsibilities at RA Capital are to support the Operations team by coordinating calendars, events, and company meetings. Phi previously worked as an Executive Assistant at Relay Therapeutics. Prior to Relay, she worked as an Executive Assistant at Bullhorn, Inc. Phi holds an Associate in Science Business Administration from Middlesex Community College.
LORENA CHEN, CPA
Fund Controller
Lorena Chen is a Fund Controller at RA Capital Management. Lorena's primary responsibility is to oversee all accounting related activities for the firm. She has spent the last five years as a Senior Finance Associate at Great Hill Partners. Prior to GHP, Lorena served as an Assurance Senior at EY. Lorena has dual degrees from Beijing Foreign Studies University: a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting and a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature. She also has a Master's in Accounting from Boston College and is a CPA.
MICHAEL SAULNIER, CPA
Chief Financial Officer
Michael is the Chief Financial Officer at RA Capital Management. He oversees the firm's financial functions, including middle office operations, accounting, valuation, tax and financial reporting. Prior to RA, Michael was a Special Projects Manager at Baupost, LLC where he led a large project to transition the business model to utilize third party fund administration, including management of the implementation. Prior to Baupost, he spent over five years as a Controller at Centerbridge Partners, LP, where he was responsible for accounting and valuation for the credit fund business, as well as the management company (US and Europe) and associated functions. In addition, Michael served on the firm's Luxembourg Board of Directors where he was responsible for accounting and financial reporting. Michael held leadership positions at Citigroup Hedge Fund Services in both Fund Accounting and Product Management before joining Centerbridge. Prior to Citigroup, he held various accounting and analyst roles at EY, Morgan Stanley, BBH, and Deloitte. Michael has a BS in Business Administration from Boston University with concentrations in Finance and Accounting.
MATT FERESTEN
Senior Business Systems Analyst
Matthew Feresten is a Senior Business Systems Analyst at RA Capital Management. Matt’s primary responsibilities at RA Capital are to gather team input to help guide internal software development to support competitive landscapes of drugs and medical devices across a range of disease indications and capabilities, and to provide software training and coordinate with outside technology vendors. He holds a BS in Biology from the College of William and Mary, where he studied the impact of ecological fragmentation on the prevalence of ticks and their bacterial pathogens.
GUNNAR ESIASON, MBA, MPH
Director of Patient Engagement
Gunnar Esiason is Director of Patient Engagement at Blackbird, a NewCo within the RAVentures Incubator. Gunnar is a cystic fibrosis and rare disease patient leader, who is passionate about early-stage drug development, patient empowerment, and health policy. Professionally, he is an accomplished patient advocate who has also developed a patient engagement platform for a medical nutrition company, built a venture philanthropy practice at the Boomer Esiason Foundation. He has consulted on clinical trial development, a real-world evidence population health study, and a cystic fibrosis-specific mental health and wellness screening tool. Gunnar holds an M.B.A. from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, an M.P.H. from the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy & Clinical Practice, and a B.A. from Boston College.
KEEGAN MUELLER
Fund Accountant
Keegan is a Fund Accountant at RA Capital Management. His primary responsibilities are to assist with accounting, financial reporting, and investment valuation. Prior to RA, Keegan was a Senior Audit Associate at PwC. Keegan has a BS in Business Administration in accounting and finance from Boston College.