Dean Slagel brings 12 years of pharmaceutical industry experience in 4 countries to Cara's Board. After 4 years of international marketing at Tillotts Pharma, Switzerland, he joined Ferring Pharmaceuticals in 1995, moving from regional management to Global Business Development, becoming Global Business Development Director in 2000. He established Esperante Ventures' operations in late 2003.

Ed Hurwitz joined Alta Partners in 2002 and is a Director in Alta BioPharma III and Alta Partners VIII.  In addition to Cara Therapeutics Inc. Ed serves on the Board of Directors of FoldRx, and MacroGenics, and led Alta’s investments in ChemoCentryx, Threshold Pharmaceuticals and Sunesis.   From 1997 to 2002, Ed was Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Affymetrix.  From 1994 to 1997, Ed was a biotechnology research analyst for Robertson Stephens & Company and, from 1992 to 1994, served a similar role for Smith Barney Shearson. From 1990 to 1992, Ed practiced commercial law at Cooley Godward LLP.  Ed earned his Juris Doctor (JD) and Master of Business Administration degrees in 1990 from the University of California, Berkeley’s Boalt School of Law and Haas School of Business, respectively. Ed earned a Bachelor of Arts in Molecular Biology from Cornell University in 1985

Biography coming soon

Dr. Chalmers has 11 years experience in the biotechnology industry with increasing levels of corporate and business responsibilities. Dr. Chalmers served as a Principal Investigator at Neurocrine Biosciences (Nasdaq; NBIX) prior to co-founding Arena Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: ARNA) in 1997. He served as Vice President and Executive Director of Arena until May 2004, prior to co-founding Cara. Dr. Chalmers has extensive corporate financing experience, having led both private and IPO road-show teams. Dr. Chalmers is an inventor or co-inventor on 31 issued or pending US patents.

Dr. Lewis has had extensive experience in the biopharmaceutical industry, and prior to that, about five years of experience in opioid research at the National Institutes of Health and the University of Michigan . After establishing and directing a molecular pharmacology lab at DuPont, Dr. Lewis co-founded Cephalon, Inc. (Nasdaq; CEPH), serving as Director of Pharmacology and Senior Director of Scientific Affairs. He participated in pre- and post-IPO road shows in Japan and the U.S, and presentations to obtain corporate partners, including Schering-Plough and Kyowa Hakko. Dr. Lewis later co-founded and served as Chief Scientific Advisor to Adolor Corporation (Nasdaq; ADLR), and also participated on their analgesics development team and assisted in pre-IPO financing and corporate partnering presentations. Dr. Lewis was subsequently invited by Dr. Chalmers to co-found Arena Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq; ARNA), and served as a pre-IPO Director and Chief Scientific Advisor to Arena. Dr. Lewis is presently a Director of PolyMedix, Inc., a privately held biotechnology company that is developing antimicrobial agents based on a novel computational chemistry platform. Dr. Lewis is an inventor or co-inventor on 15 issued U.S. patents and is an author or co-author of over 40 publications on opioids, including journal articles, invited reviews, and book chapters.

Dr. Menzaghi has eleven years of drug development and management experience in biotechnology. Her expertise ranges from early exploratory research through clinical development. She has a successful track record in leading drug discovery programs in areas of pain, obesity, psychiatric, cognitive and neurological disorders guiding 4 compounds to Phase 2 clinical trials. Dr. Menzaghi has served as VP Pharmacology and Business Development at Psychogenics Inc. and Director of in vivo Pharmacology at Arena Pharmaceuticals. Prior to that, Dr. Menzaghi established and directed a preclinical research laboratory at SIBIA Neurosciences. She has extensive experience with corporate partnering with large pharmaceutical companies such as Eli Lilly. She has filed 3 INDs and has led successful interdisciplinary teams spanning the entire drug development process. Dr. Menzaghi received her Ph.D. in Neurosciences from the Louis Pasteur University , Strasbourg , France and an MS in clinical psychology from the University of Nancy. She has over 49 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters, 78 international meeting presentations and is listed as an inventor on numerous patents.

Mr. Schoell has over twenty years of financial and accounting experience, including ten years in the Biotechnology industry. From 2003 until joining the Company, Mr. Schoell was a consultant with Robert Half Management Resources. From 1995 to 2002, he served as the Chief Financial Officer and Vice President-Finance of the American Biogenetic Sciences Inc. and Controller from 1992 to 1995. From 1988 until joining American Biogenetic Sciences Inc., Mr. Schoell was an independent consultant providing financial accounting and computer services. From 1978 until 1988, Mr. Schoell served in various financial and accounting positions with JP Stevens. Mr. Schoell is a graduate of New York University Stern School of Business, is a Certified Public Accountant in New York State and a member of the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants, American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and Financial Executives International.

Dr. Rivière is a world-renowned leader in the field of kappa opioid receptor pharmacology and the leader of the team which discovered Cara's leading kappa opioid compounds.

Dr. Milligan is a recognized world leader in the field of GPCR pharmacology and is the inventor of DimerScreen™ technology.

Dr. Portoghese is editor-in chief of the highly regarded Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, a world leader in opioid medicinal chemistry, for which he received the prestigious Alfred Burger Award in Medicinal Chemistry, and has pioneered research into drug design for specific opioid receptor heterodimers.

Dr. Watson is a member of the Institute of Medicine under the aegis of the National Academy of Sciences and an internationally recognized leader in opioid molecular biology and pharmacology. He led the NIH-sponsored commission to investigate and report on the potential medical utility of marijuana in pain management.

Dr. Kauer retired as Vice President, Chemical Technologies at Cephalon, Inc., after serving as Director of Chemistry and a co-founder of Cephalon. Dr. Kauer previously worked as a Principal Investigator at DuPont for over 30 years. He is internationally recognized for his contributions in synthetic chemistry, including peptide medicinal chemistry, and is the sole inventor or co-inventor on over 40 issued U.S. patents