Dr. Hughes joined Zafgen in 2008 as chief executive officer. Throughout his career, Dr. Hughes has been involved in numerous drug discovery efforts in the metabolic and cardiovascular disease area, focusing on glucose homeostasis, lipid metabolism and the control of blood clotting. During his 20-year tenure at Novartis, Dr. Hughes most recently served as the vice president and global head of the cardiovascular and metabolism disease area. Prior to this position, he served as the the site head for research at Novartis’ research facility in Basel, Switzerland.  He also served as global head of diabetes research at Novartis where he directed drug discovery research teams specializing in type 2 diabetes and metabolic disorders. From 1995 to 2001, Dr. Hughes led discovery efforts at Novartis that resulted in the validation of DPP-4 inhibition as a therapeutic approach to type 2 diabetes, as well as the identification and advancement of vildagliptin.  In 2007, R&D Directions magazine named Dr. Hughes one of the 20 Most Notable People in R&D. Dr. Hughes earned his Ph.D. in Nutrition from Tufts University and received an M.S. in zoology from Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University. He graduated with a B.A. in biology from Franklin and Marshall College.

Mr. Jaffe serves as Zafgen's chief financial officer and vice president of business development, bringing more than ten years of experience in corporate finance and strategic management to his role. Prior to joining Zafgen, Mr. Jaffe served as chief financial officer in a number of private, venture-backed companies in the life science and cleantech space, including Alantos Pharmaceuticals, where he led the company through its successful acquisition by Amgen for more than $300 million in cash. Previously, Mr. Jaffe was a principal at Earlybird Venture Capital (Munich, Germany), where he supported new investments activities and existing portfolio companies. He also worked at the Boston Consulting Group, where he was a member of the pharmaceutical practice group, assisting Fortune 500 companies with strategic management issues. Mr. Jaffe holds a M.S. in molecular biology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, an MBA from INSEAD (Fontainebleau, France) and a B.S. in chemistry from Universidad Simon Bolivar (Caracas, Venezuela).

Dr. Vath joined Zafgen in 2006 and brings over 19 years of experience in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries to his role as head of discovery and development. Prior to joining the company, Dr. Vath worked with established companies and new ventures to assess, develop and execute product development plans. As senior vice president of product development at Phylogix Inc., Dr. Vath created and implemented the corporate operational and R&D plan for the lead product in oncology-supportive care. Prior to Phylogix, he served as senior vice president of research at Praecis Pharmaceuticals where he led the R&D organization through multiple IND filings and a product approval. Dr. Vath also held roles as director of protein technologies at Millennium Pharmaceuticals and a lab head in development at Genetics Institute. Dr. Vath is a contributing author on numerous peer-reviewed journal publications and book chapters. Dr. Vath earned his Ph.D. in chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a B.S. in chemistry from Northeastern University.