Our Team
Many Backgrounds. Different Perspectives. Persistently Curious.
MEET THE TEAM
KUNAL RAYAKAR, MBA
Associate
CHEYI LI
Research Assistant
NICK PICCA, MBA
Associate, HTS
BRETT NOEL, PhD, MBA
Infectious Disease Senior Associate
EMILY MINKOW
Venture Partner
ANURAG KONDAPALLI
Principal
KUNAL RAYAKAR, MBA
Associate
Kunal Rayakar is an Associate with the TechAtlas division of RA Capital. Prior to RA Capital, Kunal held roles in corporate development at Pyxis Oncology, principal investing at Bazean, and startup building at daytum, an energy-focused data science education company. Prior to daytum, he served as a generalist investor at Cathexis and as an investment banker at TPH & Co., part of Perella Weinberg Partners. Kunal holds a BA in Biochemistry and Cell Biology from Rice University, a Masters in Bioengineering from the University of California, Berkeley, and an MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management.
CHEYI LI
Research Assistant
Cheyi is a Research Assistant at RA Capital Management. Cheyi’s primary responsibility is to conduct research and analysis for competitive landscapes of drugs and medical devices across a range of disease indications and capabilities. Previously, Cheyi worked as a Research Associate II at Evidera. Prior to that, Cheyi served as an Associate Consultant at IQVIA PCS. Cheyi holds a BA in Biology and a Master of Public Health from Boston University School of Public Health.
NICK PICCA, MBA
Associate, HTS
Nick Picca is an Associate with the TechAtlas division of RA Capital. He works on the Healthcare, Technology, and Services (HTS) Team collaborating with RA Capital’s Investment Team, evaluating companies and competitive landscapes to identify potential investment opportunities, as well as advising on program strategy for portfolio companies. Prior to RA, Nick has held strategy and operations roles at early-stage start-ups including Nanopath and Volta Labs. He started his career as an engineer at Quanterix. Nick holds a BS from Northeastern University in Mechanical Engineering and Physics and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
BRETT NOEL, PhD, MBA
Infectious Disease Senior Associate
Brett Noel is an Infectious Disease Senior Associate with the TechAtlas division of RA Capital. Brett works closely with members of the investment team and portfolio companies to deeply understand competitive landscapes, evaluate investment opportunities in a variety of therapeutic areas across all stages from discovery and new company creation through commercialization, and advise portfolio companies on program and pipeline strategy. Prior to RA, Brett was a Director of Innovation and Emerging Sciences and Global Project Head for next-generation influenza vaccines at Sanofi. Brett has a dual BS in Neurobiology and Zoology from the University of Wisconsin, a PhD in MolecularPharmacology from Purdue University, and an MBA from the Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University.
EMILY MINKOW
Venture Partner
Emily Minkow is a Venture Partner at RA Ventures. Prior to joining RA, Emily was Chief Business Officer of Prevail Therapeutics from the company’s inception in 2017 until its acquisition by Eli Lilly in 2021. At Prevail, Emily led business functions including business development, strategy, commercialization, public relations, patient advocacy, and intellectual property, and co-led financings generating $250 million in proceeds, including the company’s IPO in 2019. Previously, Emily spent over seven years at Celgene Corporation in positions of increasing responsibility in business development, marketing, operations, and as Principal to the Chairman and CEO. As Executive Director of Business Development at Celgene, Emily was responsible for all aspects of deal evaluation, negotiation, and execution for licensing deals, mergers and acquisitions, and collaborations, with a focus on immune-inflammatory and neurodegenerative diseases. As Director of Global Marketing, she provided global leadership for the launch of Otezla for the treatment of patients with psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. Emily started her career in strategy consulting at Frankel Group. She received a BA from Princeton University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
ANURAG KONDAPALLI
Principal
Anurag Kondapalli is a Principal on the Investment Team at RA Capital Management. Anurag works on both public and private investments with a focus on Healthcare, Technology, and Services. Prior to this role, Anurag was at Orbimed Advisors where he served as Vice President, Structured Growth Capital and Royalty Opportunities. While at Orbimed, he drove proprietary deal sourcing, diligence, negotiation, and investment decisions for growth stage companies and determined valuation ranges for companies and products with a focus on technology platform value, commercial potential, and binary catalysts such as clinical and regulatory milestones. Anurag holds a BSE in Biomedical Engineering and a BS in Economics from Duke University.