Joel C. Scherer, MD, AM

Dr. Joel Scherer is currently Chief Medical Officer for an Atlas Venture start-up operating in ‘stealth mode’ in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Previously, he was Entrepreneur-in-Residence, and Interim Chief Medical Officer for Boston Pharmaceuticals.  From 2008 to 2013, he was Managing Director and Chief Medical Officer, Chorus, Eli Lilly and Co.  The Chorus group is recognized as a leader in developing an alternative lean-to-proof-of-concept (L2POC) approach to early phase development in which data to drive investment decisions can be generated on average a year earlier and at half the cost of traditional development. During his 5-year tenure, Chorus delivered three molecules to late phase development at Lilly. Also during his tenure, Dr. Scherer was instrumental in the formation of Lilly’s Mirror Funds with two VC partners. He also led the Chorus collaboration with Atlas Venture and Oribimed in the development of Lilly’s CGRP antibody for migraine prevention. This asset was reacquired by Lilly after POC, and launched in 2018 as Emgality (galcanezumab).  Previous roles at Lilly included Sr. Director of the Cardiovascular Therapeutic Area, Director of R&D Strategy, and Medical Director of the ReoPro (abciximab) Product Team.  Before beginning at Lilly, Dr. Scherer practiced invasive cardiology in San Diego, California.

Dr. Scherer serves on the Scientific Advisory Boards of Tri-I TDI and Bridge Medicines in NYC. His major interests lie in efficient drug development, strategic planning, and advancing transformational pharmaceutical development and business models.

Dr. Scherer earned his BS in Chemistry from the University of Wisconsin – Madison, MS in Organic Chemistry from Harvard University, and his MD from Stanford University. He is Board Certified in Internal Medicine and Cardiovascular Disease.