Beth Shafer joined Scholar Rock in August 2024 as Chief Business Officer, responsible for corporate strategy and business development. She is a seasoned healthcare executive with 20 years of experience in the biomedical industry and is known for her leadership in corporate and business development in the fields of neurosciences, gastroenterology, drug discovery, ophthalmology, and pipeline externalization at prominent biopharmaceutical companies. Prior to Scholar Rock, Beth served as a Venture Partner to Mubadala Capital Ventures and as Voyager’s Chief Business Officer. Her experience also includes being Vice President and Head of R&D Business Development at Takeda, where she led Gastrointestinal & Inflammation, Neuroscience, Drug Discovery Sciences, Externalizations BD groups from 2018-2023. Previously, Beth held multiple corporate and business development roles of increasing responsibility during her tenures at Takeda, Novartis and Roche. Prior to joining Takeda, Beth served as Head, Ophthalmology and Exploratory Disease Area (DAx) Business Development & Licensing at Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research. Prior to that role, she served as Director, Business Development & Licensing at Roche. Beth has also served as a member of the Board of Directors for Aquinnah Pharmaceuticals and Arcellx Inc. She received her Ph.D. in Neuroscience from University of California, San Diego, her M.Phil. and M.A in neuroscience from Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, and her B.A. from Rutgers University.
