Brett Erkman
Managing Director

Brett has over two decades of experience in healthcare finance. Prior to joining Deep Track Capital, he was a Managing Director at Great Point Partners, where he began working with David Kroin in 2006 on the equity long/short biotechnology hedge fund. Earlier in his career, Brett was a sell-side research associate at ThinkEquity Partners in San Francisco and a senior financial analyst at Abbott Laboratories in the Global Pharmaceutical R&D division, now known as Abbvie. Brett earned a Bachelor of Science in Finance from DePaul University. He is a father of four young children, an avid woodworker, and a reluctant gardener in the Catskill Mountains. 

Rael Mazansky, MD/MBA
Managing Director

Rael has over 23 years in the health care investment business including over fifteen years of buyside biotechnology investing experience at numerous investment firms including Sigma Capital, Ridgeback Capital, Perceptive Life Sciences, Surveyor Capital (Citadel) and NextheraCapital. Rael is also the co-founder of DOC Jobs (fkaDropoutclub), a leading website connecting biomedical professionals with the business community. Rael earned a Bachelor of Arts from Brown University, his Medical Doctorate from the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from the Columbia University Graduate School of Business. He enjoys cycling and books on decision-making and cognitive bias.

Gerard Smith, MD/MBA
Managing Director

Gerard earned both his Medical Doctorate and Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Miami and a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Virginia Commonwealth University. Following medical school, Gerard was a resident physician in Anesthesiology at the VCU Health System prior to joining the equity research department at Leerink Partners (now SVB Securities LLC), where he became a Vice President covering biotechnology companies for two years. Prior to joining Deep Track at the time of launch, Gerard was an Analyst covering biotech on the buy-side at Samlyn Capital, a multi-billion-dollar hedge fund. Outside of work he enjoys spending time with his wife and three daughters, traveling, outdoor activities, and watching European soccer.

Steven Breazzano, Ph.D.
Principal

Steve has been investing in, consulting for, and publishing equity research on biotechnology companies for over ten years, including from 2018 through 2020 investing as a Research Analyst covering cell and gene therapies at CasdinCapital, a biotechnology focused investment fund. For the previous five years, Steve was a sell side equity research analyst covering biotechnology companies at Piper Jaffrayand Evercore ISI, and prior to that was a life sciences consultant. Steve earned a Master of Science in Chemistry and a Bachelor of Arts in both Chemistry and Biochemistry from Brandeis University and his Ph.D. in Chemistry from The Scripps Institute. He is also a CFA charterholder. He enjoys visiting new places, cycling, and spending time with his wife and two young children.

Rebecca Luse
Principal

Rebecca has seventeen years of experience in the health care investment business. She joined from New Leaf Venture Partners where she worked for six years, most recently as a Principal leading the crossover and public company strategy. She has been a board member and observer for several biotechnology companies. Previously, she spent four years on the sell side at both Jefferies and Piper Jaffray, covering biotechnology and specialty pharmaceuticals companies. Rebecca started her career as an investment banking analyst in the health care group of Bank of America and as a venture capital associate at Bay City Capital. Rebecca earned a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry and Mathematics from Indiana University. She enjoys skiing, traveling, racket sports and board games.

Aaron Hakim, MD
Exclusive Consultant

Aaron Hakim, MD is a fellow in gastroenterology and hepatology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School. Previously, Aaron was a Vice President at Great Point Partners, a biotechnology-focused investment fund where he worked with David for seven years. His research has appeared in peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of Hepatology, the Journal of the American Medical Association, Annals of Internal Medicine, and the Journal of Biological Chemistry. Aaron earned his medical degree with honors at Yale School of Medicine and graduated summa cum laude from Yale University with an M.S. in Molecular Biology and a B.S. in Economics and Molecular Biology. He is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of OliX Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Aaron enjoys skiing, hiking, and spending time with his family.

Chris Margono, MD
Associate

Chris earned his Medical Doctorate from the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF) where was awarded the school of medicine dean’s research prize, and a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from University of California at Riverside. Following his MD., Chris spent almost two years as a consultant at Simon-Kucher & Partners focusing on the health care and life sciences sector. Previously he was a summer intern at Aquillo Capital Management, a biotechnology focused hedge fund. He enjoys snowboarding, coffee brewing, sous vide cooking and hackathons (improved variant call pipeline using machine learning).

Andrew Milligan
Associate

Prior to joining Deep Track Capital, Andrew was an Associate at Guggenheim Partners, where he worked in the healthcare investment banking group advising public and private biotech and pharmaceutical companies on a variety of strategic and financing transactions. Previously, he worked in the healthcare corporate banking group at U.S. Bank. Andrew earned his Bachelor of Science in Human and Organizational Development from Vanderbilt University. He enjoys skiing, cheering on Boston sports teams and searching for the best pasta in NYC.

Andrew Shao
Associate

Prior to joining Deep Track Capital, Andrew was an Associate of Bain Capital Life Sciences where he invested in public and private companies across therapeutics and medical technology sectors. Previously, he worked at Centerview Partners, where he advised biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies through strategic initiatives and M&A transactions. Andrew earned a Bachelor of Science in Applied Economics from Cornell University. He enjoys hiking, rock climbing, and photography.

Kenneth Shields
Associate

Prior to joining Deep Track Capital, Ken was a Vice President in biotech equity research at Leerink Partners, where he covered oncology and hematology companies. Previously, Ken was an associate in biotech equity research at Wedbush Securities working on a coverage team that focused on CNS, rare disease, and immunology. Before this, he worked in the biopharma industry as a preclinical pharmacology researcher at Genentech, a Member of the Roche Group, where he contributed to pipeline programs in multiple therapeutic areas and helped co-author a publication in Nature Communications. Ken earned a M.S. degree in Pharmacology from Georgetown University, and a B.S. in Biology from Stanford University. He enjoys running, going to museums, and poker. 

Greco Song, Ph.D.
Associate

Prior to joining Deep Track Capital, Greco was on the sell-side as an equity research associate at SVB Leerink (now SVB Securities LLC) and Jefferies, covering smid-cap biotech stocks across cell/gene therapy, oncology, and rare diseases. Previously, Greco was a fellow at biotech venture funds Vida Ventures and 5am Ventures. Greco earned his Ph.D. degree in medical engineering and medical physics through the Harvard-MIT Program in Health Sciences and Technology (HST) and BS/MS degrees in chemical and biomolecular engineering at Johns Hopkins University. Greco enjoys going to concerts and comedy shows, discovering (or stumbling upon) new artists/musicians, collecting houseplants, and checking out hip spots around his neighborhood in NYC. 

Cedric H Xia, MD, Ph.D.
Associate

Cedric earned his M.D. and Ph.D. in neuroscience from the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. Prior to joining Deep Track Capital, he was a management consultant at McKinsey & Company, where he served a variety of biopharma companies and investor clients. From his medical research, Cedric has authored more than twenty peer-reviewed articles in top academic journals. He graduated summa cum laude from Washington University in St. Louis with BA in biology. Outside of work, he is a rescue SCUBA diver and an avid chef of Sichuan cuisine.

Timothy Zhou
Associate

Prior to joining Deep Track Capital, Tim was an Associate at Novo Ventures focused on public and crossover investments in the biotech and medical technology sectors. Previously, he worked at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in the healthcare investment banking group, where he advised public and private biotech and pharmaceutical companies on strategic and financing matters. Tim earned a Bachelor of Science in Bioengineering from the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor of Science in Economics (Concentration in Finance) from the Wharton School. He enjoys watching cooking shows, solving jigsaw puzzles, motorsports and spontaneous karaokeing.

Rushad Dordi, MD
Advisor

Rushad has an MD from Columbia University Medical School and completed a residency in internal medicine NYU Langone Medical Center. He previously worked as a biotechnology analyst at Broadfin Capital, an equity long/short investment fund focused exclusively on health care companies, and as an analyst at a generalist hedge fund where he had principal coverage responsibility for therapeutics/biotechnology for the fund. Rushad earned his Bachelor of Arts from Yale University with distinction, double major in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, and Economics. His medical research has been published in over a dozen abstract/papers, and he is the author of a book chapter on cardiorenal disease for a leading medical text. Rushad currently practices as an attending physician at NYU Langone / Bellevue Hospital in New York.

Nir Messafi, CPA
Chief Operating and Financial Officer
Chief Compliance Officer

Prior to joining Deep Track Capital, Nir was the Chief Financial Officer and Chief Compliance Officer at Broadfin Capital since April of 2016. Prior to joining Broadfin Capital, Nir was a Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer of Fortress Investment Group’s Liquid Markets Hedge Fund business. Prior to joining Fortress in 2013, Nir worked at AQR Capital Management LLC for ten years, where he served as the Head of Accounting and Chief Financial Officer of AQR Funds. Previously, Nir was a Manager in the Financial Services Group at American Express Tax & Business Services/Goldstein Golub Kessler LLP (1997-2003). In addition, Nir worked in the tax department at General Electric (1996-1997). Nir holds a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from the University at Albany and is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA). Nir currently serves as a member of the NYSSCPA Investment Management Committee and has served as a member of the AICPA Investment Companies Expert Panel (2015-2019). Nir has participated in several leading industry panels. Nir enjoys running, skiing, traveling, and spending time with his wife and three kids.

Mitchell D. Kaye, JD
Chief Business Officer

Mitchell is the Founder and Chief Exploration Officer for Sabbatical Ventures, LLC, an investment and advisory firm, which focuses on investing in seed-stage companies. Most recently, Mitch served as Senior Advisor to Boston-based High Vista Strategies, an endowment-style investment firm, on the launch of High Vista’s multi-manager biotechnology platform. Prior to his engagement with High Vista, Mitch served as Chief Operating Officer and Head of Marketing for San Francisco-based BVF Partners (2013-2019), a leading biotechnology investment fund. Mitch founded and ran MedClaims Liaison, a direct-to-consumer health insurance advocacy firm (2010-2013). He started his career by co-founding Brown Simpson Asset Management and its successor firm, Xmark Opportunity Partners, where he served as Co-CIO and CIO, respectively (1996-2010). Mitch has significant experience as a senior executive specializing in fundraising, client relations, transactions, investments, operations, and talent acquisitions. Mitch holds a Juris Doctorate from Northwestern University School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts from Wesleyan University. He has served on numerous boards of public and private biotechnology companies (including, presently, Bionomics Ltd. And Mendel Biotechnology Inc.). He has also served on the boards of several private companies and not-for-profit organizations. Mitch has been happily married for over twenty years and is a sometimes-proud father of two almost-adult sons. He is an avid runner, diver, chef, photographer, and player of Scrabble and chess.

Brian Diminich, CPA/MBA
Senior Controller

Prior to joining Deep Track Capital, Brian was the Controller at Consonance Capital (2020-2021). Prior to joining Consonance in 2020, Brian was the Controller at Broadfin Capital since 2014. Prior to joining Broadfin, Brian was a Fund Controller at Alphadyne Asset Management (2012-2014), a multi-billion hedge fund firm. Before Alphadyne, Brian was Controller at Goshen Investments, a fund seeded by Tiger Management (2009-2012). He also worked as a Senior Analyst at Highland Financial Holdings (New York) (2007-2009) and was a Senior Auditor at Deloitte & Touche (2004-2007). Brian received a Bachelor of Science in Accounting (2003) and a Master of Business Administration in Accounting (2004) from St. John’s University. He also is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA). Brian is a family man who loves spending time with his wife and four kids. He is an avid sports fan who also coaches his kid’s youth soccer and basketball teams.

Daniel Berke, JD
Senior Compliance Associate

Prior to joining Deep Track Capital, Daniel was the Senior Compliance Analyst at Mirae Asset Global Investments (2015-2021). Prior to Mirae, Daniel worked at UBS (2014-2015) where he helped develop their response to the Dodd Frank regulations. Before working in compliance, Daniel practiced law for several years including as an International Associate at Arias, Fabrega & Fabrega in the Republic of Panama and did litigation contract work at leading international law firms including Kirkland & Ellis, Hughes Hubbard & Reed and DLA Piper. Daniel is a licensed attorney in New York. He received his Juris Doctor from Brooklyn Law School (2011) and received a Bachelor of Science in Management from A.B. Freeman School of Business, Tulane University (2008). Daniel is a proud husband and father of two. When he is not chasing his two boys around, Daniel enjoys traveling, trying new restaurants, playing golf and skiing.

Sarette Verdeschi
Executive Assistant & Co-Office Manager

Prior to joining Deep Track Capital, Sarette was an Executive Assistant at Ehrenkranz Partners since October 2017. Prior to joining Ehrenkranz Partners, Sarette was an Executive Assistant at MBIA Insurance Corporation since November 2006. Previously, Sarette was an Executive Assistant for Koo Larrabee Lau-Kee & Lane LLP (2005-2006) and Senior Assistant at Active International (2002-2005). Sarette holds a Bachelor’s degree in Liberal Arts from Purchase College and a Master’s Degree in Education from Manhattanville College. Sarette enjoys cooking, playing tennis, ballroom dancing and spending time with her husband and three children.

Alessia Adler
Executive Assistant & Co-Office Manager

Prior to joining Deep Track Capital, Alessia was an Associate at AQR Capital Management since December 2018. Prior to joining AQR Capital Management, Alessia was the Office Manager of Greenwich, CT hedge fund Deccan Value Investors from February 2013 through December 2018. Prior to joining Deccan Value Investors, Alessia was an Executive Assistant for the International Division of WWE from April 2011 through February 2013. Alessia’s career in finance started at Shumway Capital as Administrative Assistant from March 2010 through April 2011. Alessia holds a Bachelors of Science in Sociology from Montclair State University, an MBA in Marketing from Iona College and a Certificate in Investment Foundations from the CFA Institute. Alessia lives in Greenwich with her daughter and their Maltese-poodle dog. In her spare time, Alessia teaches yoga, enjoys cooking, travel, doing puzzles and most outdoor activities.