Dr. Cheng has served as Akero's President and Chief Executive Officer since September 2018. Before joining the Company, he served for 19 years at Gilead Sciences, where his last role was Chief Medical Officer. During his tenure, he was responsible for the clinical development of the HIV program resulting in 11 FDA/EMA approved products. Dr. Cheng serves on the board of directors of Vera Therapeutics & MorphoSys. He previously served on the board of directors of Arbutus Biopharma & privately held Syntimmune, which was acquired by Alexion. Dr. Cheng holds a B.A. in biology from Johns Hopkins University and a M.D. and Ph.D. in cellular and molecular biology from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. He completed his internal medicine residency at UCLA and was board certified in internal medicine.

Kitty Yale is Chief Development Officer of Akero. Kitty joined Akero from Gilead Sciences, where she led global clinical operations and management of the company’s oncology, HIV, inflammation, and liver disease trials, and held senior clinical research and operations roles at Gilead and Roche global development. As VP of Clinical Operations at Gilead, her most recent role prior to joining Akero, Kitty led global development programs resulting in eight drug approvals in the US, EMEA, Canada, Korea, Japan, and China.

Jonathan Young is Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Akero. Prior to co-founding Akero, Jonathan held roles as a Venture Partner at Apple Tree Partners (ATP) and General Counsel and Vice President of Policy/Advocacy at Braeburn Pharmaceuticals, Inc., an ATP portfolio company. He previously worked as Partner and General Counsel of FoxKiser, a Washington, D.C. law firm specializing in regulatory approval and life cycle management for pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. Jonathan is an advocate for policies that empower patients and people with disabilities to reach their life goals. In 2009, he was appointed by President Barack Obama, and confirmed by the U.S. Senate, to serve as Chairman of the National Council on Disability, an independent federal agency advising the President and Congress on disability policy; he previously coordinated White House disability policy for President Bill Clinton. He currently serves on the board of directors of the MedStar Health Research Institute. Jonathan holds a Ph.D. in American history from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a J.D. from Yale Law School.

Patrick Lamy is Senior Vice President of Commercial Strategy at Akero. He brings over 25 years of experience in building commercial teams, leading global product launches, and developing strategic plans to ensure the success of both large and small pharmaceutical companies. Prior to joining Akero, he held various commercial planning and strategy, and alliance management roles at Iovance Biotherapeutics and Gilead Sciences. Patrick studied biochemistry and cellular biology at the University of California, San Diego, and received his M.B.A. from the University of California Berkeley.

Tim Rolph is Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Akero. Prior to co-founding Akero, Tim led Pfizer’s Cardiovascular & Metabolic Disease Research Unit as Chief Scientific Officer. In his 22 years at Pfizer, Tim led anti-infective research at the company’s Sandwich (UK) laboratories, directing the team that discovered the prototype CCR5 antagonist, maraviroc, launched as a novel antiretroviral for HIV (Celzentry™), before becoming Head of Research in Sandwich and then at Pfizer’s Groton, Conn., laboratories. Under his leadership at Pfizer, Steglatro™ (ertugliflozin) was discovered and developed in partnership with Merck, and launched as a fixed-dose combination with sitagliptin (Steglujan™), a leading oral medication for diabetes. Prior to Pfizer, Tim worked in Glaxo’s veterinary R&D group, initially studying the modulation of growth for food production and then moving into anti-parasitic research for veterinary applications. Tim holds a B.Sc in Biochemistry from the University of London and a D.Phil from the Faculty of Clinical Medicine at the University of Oxford. His pre- and post-doctoral training was at the Nuffield Institute for Medical Research, where he studied the metabolic adaptations of skeletal and cardiac muscle during development.

Bill White is the Chief Financial Officer and Head of Corporate Development at Akero. Prior to joining Akero, Bill spent 18 years as a life science-focused investment banker. He was most recently head of U.S. Life Sciences Investment Banking at Deutsche Bank, and previously worked at Goldman Sachs and Citigroup. Prior to his time on Wall Street, Bill was an attorney at Sullivan & Cromwell, and a law clerk to the Honorable Kimba M. Wood of the Southern District of New York. He holds an A.B. from Princeton, M.P.P. from Harvard, and a J.D. from Columbia.