Muscular dystrophy is a disabling condition, affecting primarily boys, that causes a mutation of the protein, dystrophin. This aberrant mutation of dystrophin, which acts like a molecular “shock absorber” for our muscles, in turn, leads to a host of debilitating outcomes: heart complications, difficulty walking, and trouble breathing.

Until now, little to no advance has been made to address the root cause of this disease.

Listen as Eventide CIO Finny Kuruvilla, MD, PhD, talks about exciting new research being done to tackle the root cause of muscular dystrophy, how the symptoms of this disease are being reversed, and why we believe Pediatric and Orphan Diseases to be a compelling investment theme.
Author

Finny Kuruvilla, MD, PhD

Co-Chief Investment Officer, Senior Portfolio Manager, Managing Director, Founding Member

Finny Kuruvilla, MD, PhD, serves as a Co-Chief Investment Officer, Senior Portfolio Manager for Eventide’s strategic growth strategies and healthcare & life sciences strategies, a Managing Director for Eventide Ventures, as well as Founding Member of Eventide. 

Dr. Kuruvilla has a background in healthcare, statistics, and investing. Concurrent with his early years at Eventide, he was a Principal at Clarus Ventures, a healthcare and life sciences venture capital firm subsequently acquired by Blackstone. Earlier in his career, Dr. Kuruvilla was a postdoctoral research fellow at the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, where he led the development of a new microarray between the Broad Institute and a publicly-traded company Affymetrix. Prior to his investing career, Dr. Kuruvilla was resident, chief resident, and fellow at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Boston Children’s Hospital. 

Dr. Kuruvilla holds an MD from Harvard Medical School, a PhD in Chemistry and Chemical Biology from Harvard University, a SM in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from MIT, and a BS in Chemistry from Caltech.