Rob Hopfner, PhD, MBA, is a Principal at Bay City Capital and has been with the firm since August 2002. He specializes in pharmaceutical and drug discovery investments. Prior to joining Bay City Capital, Dr. Hopfner was an Associate in DuPont Pharmaceuticals’ Business Development & Strategic Planning group, where he focused on portfolio strategy and out-licensing. Prior to that, he was an Analyst at Ag-West Biotech, a Western Canadian seed-stage biotech venture capital firm. Dr. Hopfner is currently an observer on the boards of directors of Aciex, Inc., Conatus Pharmaceuticals and PTC Therapeutics.  He holds a PhD in Pharmacology and a BS in Pharmacy from the University of Saskatchewan and an MBA from the University of Chicago. He completed post-doctoral work in cardiovascular medicine at the Brigham & Women’s Hospital at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Hopfner won numerous awards during his academic research career and has published over 20 scientific articles in the diabetes and cardiovascular fields based on his research. During graduate school, he also worked as a practicing pharmacist and as a consultant to a drug formulary committee where he made coverage recommendations on newly launched drugs.