Ethan Perlstein: Scientific Coaching for Rare Families
Improbable Developments
We first met Dr. Ethan Perlstein on our other podcast Raising Rare. Dr. Perlstein is a biotechnology entrepreneur.
Dr. Perlstein has nearly two decades of experience in biomedical research and over five years in biotech company formation and executive leadership. He holds a doctorate in molecular and cell biology from Harvard University and was a Lewis-Sigler Fellow at Princeton University from 2007-2012.
In 2014, Dr. Perlstein founded Perlara PBC, the first biotech public benefit corporation with a legal mandate to co-develop drugs in collaboration with families and communities affected by genetic diseases. During that time, Dr. Perlstein served as a member of the Medical and Scientific Advisory Board of Global Genes, the leading rare disease community-led advocacy organization. Prior to becoming a biotech entrepreneur, Dr. Perlstein conducted and led cross-disciplinary academic research in genetics, cell biology, neuroscience, pharmacology, and drug discovery.
In 2019, Ethan joined the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation as their first Chief Scientific Officer, but due to unexpected COVID-related financial constraints, his team was let go in Spring 2020.
Dr. Perlstein currently advises https://cureGPX4.org and a few other small foundations. His story is one of a relentless pursuit of ways to help families affected by rare disease.