Anish Bhatnagar, MD
Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer
Anish Bhatnagar, MD
Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer
Dr. Bhatnagar, a physician by training, has been our Chief Executive Officer since the creation of Soleno in 2017. With nearly three decades in the biopharmaceutical and medical device industries, Dr. Bhatnagar’s experience spans development of biologics, drugs, drug-device combinations and diagnostic as well as therapeutic medical devices. At Soleno, Dr. Bhatnagar leads the team responsible for developing and commercializing VYKAT XR, the first FDA-approved therapy for hyperphagia in Prader-Willi syndrome. His passion for delivering meaningful solutions for those impacted by rare diseases has been recognized with TIME Magazine naming him one of the 100 Most Influential People in Health for 2025, and his invited testimony to the United States Senate’s Special Committee on Aging where he testified on “Unlocking Hope: Access to Therapies for People with Rare, Progressive and Serious Diseases.”
Dr. Bhatnagar has also been involved in the development of various approved products, such as Bexxar (radioimmunotherapeutic for Non-Hodgkins lymphoma), Probuphine (for opioid addiction), Serenz (device for nasal allergies) and CoSense (diagnostic for neonatal hemolysis). Prior to Soleno, Dr. Bhatnagar served as Chief Executive Officer of Capnia, Inc. from February 2014 until March 2017 and held positions of increasing responsibility at Capnia from 2006. Prior to that he was at Titan Pharmaceuticals, Inc. from 2000 to 2006 and Coulter Pharmaceuticals, Inc. from 1998 to 2000.
Dr. Bhatnagar currently serves on the Boards of ImmuneEdge (private) and IndoUSrare, a non-profit dedicated to accelerating therapies for rare diseases in global markets, including India. Dr. Bhatnagar obtained his medical degree at SMS Medical College in Jaipur, India and completed his residency and fellowship training in the U.S. at various institutions, including Georgetown University Hospital and the University of Pennsylvania.
Dawn Carter Bir
Dawn Carter Bir
Ms. Bir recently served as Executive Vice President, member of the core executive team, and Chief Commercial Officer of Reata Pharmaceuticals for over 7 years through the company’s first product approval and launch and $7.3B acquisition by Biogen in September 2023. Prior to Reata, Ms. Bir served as Vice President Sales and member of the Pharmacyclics executive leadership team through the launch of the company’s first product, a novel, first-in-class and blockbuster hematology therapeutic. Pharmacyclics was acquired by AbbVie in 2015 for $21B. Ms. Bir currently serves on the Geron Corporation board of directors, a public, commercial-stage oncology company with a first in class telomerase inhibitor.
Mark Hahn
Mark Hahn
Mark Hahn is an accomplished executive with over two decades of financial leadership in the life sciences sector. His expertise spans strategic planning, public and private financings, commercialization, and M&A transactions. He was the Chief Financial Officer of Verona Pharma plc, a publicly traded biopharmaceutical company focused on respiratory diseases, from February 2020 through the launch of its first product in 2024 and until its $10B acquisition by Merck & Co. in October 2025. From 2018 to 2019, Mr. Hahn was the CFO of Dova Pharmaceuticals, a publicly traded biopharmaceutical company focused on rare diseases, through its $900M acquisition by Sobi. From 2010 to 2017, Mr. Hahn was the CFO of Cempra, Inc, a publicly traded biopharmaceutical company focused on infectious diseases. Mr. Hahn also serves on the Board and as Chair of the Audit Committee of Opterion Health, a privately held clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company. Mr. Hahn began his career at Ernst & Young. He received a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Accounting and Finance from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and is a certified public accountant in Maryland and North Carolina.
Matthew Pauls, JD, MBA
Lead Independent Director
Matthew Pauls, JD, MBA
Lead Independent Director
Mr. Pauls has served as Chair of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer of Savara since 2020. He is also currently Lead Independent Director at Soleno Therapeutics, a publicly traded biopharmaceutical company focused on rare diseases and serves on the Board of Directors of Pelthos Therapeutics, a publicly traded biopharmaceutical company focused on dermatologic infectious diseases. Mr. Pauls also serves on the board of Amplo Biotechnology, a private gene therapy company focused on rare neuromuscular disorders. From 2014 to 2019, Mr. Pauls was President and Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors of Strongbridge Biopharma plc., a publicly traded rare disease focused biopharmaceutical company that he took public via IPO on the NASDAQ. Prior to 2014, he served as Chief Commercial Officer of Insmed, Inc., where he led both the global Commercial and Technical Operations organizations. Prior to Insmed, Mr. Pauls worked at Shire Pharmaceuticals, most recently as Senior Vice President, Head of Global Commercial Operations, and earlier in his career held senior commercial leadership positions at Bristol Myers Squibb and Johnson & Johnson. In addition to his other Board positions, Mr. Pauls has also served as Chair of the Board of Directors of Mast Therapeutics and was a member of the Board of Directors of Zyla Life Sciences, both publicly traded biopharma companies. Mr. Pauls holds B.S. and M.B.A. degrees from Central Michigan University and a J.D. from Michigan State University College of Law.
Andrew Sinclair, PhD
Abingworth LLP
Andrew Sinclair, PhD
Abingworth LLP
Dr. Sinclair has been a member of our Board of Directors since December 2018. Since 2008, Dr. Sinclair has held various positions at Abingworth LLP, a life sciences investment group, where he is currently a Managing Director. Dr. Sinclair currently sits on the boards of Adicet Bio, Inc., Timberlyne Therapeutics, Inc. and Entact Bio Therapeutics, Inc. and was previously on the boards of Sierra Oncology Inc. and Verona Pharma plc. Dr. Sinclair is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. Dr. Sinclair received a BSc in Microbiology from King's College London and his Ph.D. in Chemistry and Genetic Engineering at the BBSRC Institute of Plant Science, Norwich.
Birgitte Volck MD, PhD
Birgitte Volck MD, PhD
Dr. Volck joined our Board of Directors in June 2019. Since July 2021, Dr. Volck has served as Senior Vice President, Head Clinical Development and Medical Affairs at Ascendispharma, and since October 2022, she has also served as Interim Chief Medical Officer. From December 2018 to October 2020, Dr. Volck served as the President R&D at AVROBIO Inc., a clinical stage gene therapy company. From 2016 to 2018, she served as head of Research and Development, Rare Diseases, for GlaxoSmithKline. From 2012 to 2016, Dr. Volck served as the Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice President of Development at Swedish Orphan Biovitrum AB. Prior to this, from 2007 to 2012, she held various positions at Amgen Inc., including Executive Development Director, Bone, Neuroscience & Inflammation. From 2004 to 2007, Dr. Volck served as Nordic Medical Director and Project Director at Genzyme A/S, and from 2001 to 2004, she served as Head of Clinical Development and Medical Affairs at Pharmexa. Since May 2021, Dr. Volck has served as a director for Nykode A/S. Dr. Volck served as a director for Ascendis Pharma A/S from 2016-2021. She also served as a director for Wilson Therapeutics AB from May 2017 to May 2018 until it was acquired by Alexion Pharmaceuticals for $850 million. Dr. Volck served as a director of TFS International AB from 2016-2020. Dr. Volck received her M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from Copenhagen University, Denmark.
Developing novel therapeutics for the treatment of rare diseases
