Srihari Sritharan, PhD
Venture Fellow
Dr. Srihari (Sri) Sritharan is a Venture Fellow at Kaleida Capital with deep operating and transactional experience across neurotechnology and neuro-biopharma. Dr. Sritharan has executed high-impact industry partnerships, including a $100M+ Takeda partnership at Beacon Biosignals, a leading neurotech startup monitoring sleep data, and a ~$1B RNA therapeutics deal for Acadia Pharmaceuticals’ neurodegenerative disease pipeline. Prior to industry, Dr. Sritharan’s doctoral work focused on wireless neuromodulation for sensory restoration - an important contribution to modern-day neurosurgery and brain-computer interfaces.
Dr. Sritharan holds a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the University of Pennsylvania and a B.S. in Neuroscience from Brown University.
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Early-career computational nanophysics research conducted in collaboration with labs in Croatia and Czech Republic, reflecting a global, cross-disciplinary scientific foundation
Brings rare cross-disciplinary fluency spanning computational neuroscience, stem cell biology, epigenetics, and biopharma deal-making — positioning him as a uniquely rigorous evaluator of neurotechnology and neuro-biopharma opportunities
Embedded operator at the frontier of clinical neurotech commercialization — advising biopharma partners on implementing quantitative EEG endpoints in CNS clinical trials, bridging the gap between machine learning-driven neuroscience tools and real-world therapeutic deployment
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Neural Interface & Neuroprosthetics
A chronic neural interface to the macaque dorsal column nuclei. Journal of Neurophysiology | Co-author (2016)
A fully integrated wireless sensor-brain interface system to restore finger sensation. IEEE | Co-author (2017)
A fully integrated sensor-brain-machine interface system for restoring somatosensation. IEEE | Co-author (2020)
Somatosensory Encoding & Brainstem Mapping
Somatosensory encoding with cuneate nucleus microstimulation: effects on downstream cortical activity. IEEE | Co-author (2015)
Somatosensory encoding with cuneate nucleus microstimulation: Detection of artificial stimuli. IEEE | Co-author (2016)
Primate somatosensory cortical neurons are entrained to both spontaneous and peripherally evoked spindle oscillations. Journal of Neurophysiology | Co-author (2020)
Characterization of somatosensation in the brainstem and development of a sensory neuroprosthesis. University of Pennsylvania | Author (2018)
Computational Physics & Theoretical Modeling
Solitons, shockwaves and spikes: computational simulation of nonlinear Waves on Lattice. Author (2009)
Quantum states of an electron interacting with various dielectric plate geometries. Author (2013)
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Beacon Biosignals - Current Business Development Manager helping biopharma partners implement quantitative EEG endpoints in CNS clinical trials, leveraging Beacon's machine learning platform to accelerate development of new treatments for neurological, psychiatric, and sleep disorders
Beacon Biosignals × Takeda - Executed a landmark partnership worth up to $109M between Beacon Biosignals, a leading AI-driven neurodiagnostics company, and Takeda, to advance at-home EEG sleep monitoring and neurobiomarker discovery for narcolepsy and CNS drug development
Acadia Pharmaceuticals × Stoke Therapeutics - Played a role in structuring a ~$1B RNA therapeutics collaboration ($60M upfront + up to $907M in milestones) to develop novel RNA-based medicines for rare genetic neurodevelopmental CNS diseases including Rett syndrome and SYNGAP1
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Synchron - Frontrunner for FDA-approved minimally invasive brain-computer interfaces
Science Corp - High-bandwidth BCI and retinal prosthetics platform founded by Max Hodak
Paradromics - High-data-rate neural interface technology for clinical BCI applications
Resonant Link Medical - Wireless power delivery for implantable medical devices
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Domains: Neurotechnology, Neuro-biopharma, BCI, Wireless Neuromodulation, CNS Drug Development
Strengths: Industry partnerships and deal structuring, business development in regulated neurotech and biopharma, translational neuroscience, clinical-stage pipeline strategy
Networks & Memberships: University of Pennsylvania (PhD, Neuroscience), Brown University (BS, Neuroscience),