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

Chris Moller is a founder and General Partner of Devon Park Bioventures, a $110M venture capital organization located in Wayne, Pennsylvania. Devon Park was specifically formed to invest in promising therapeutics companies. In 1990, Chris left academic medical research at the University of Pennsylvania to join Radnor Venture Partners, which subsequently became TL Ventures. The TL Ventures organization created six venture funds with $1.5 billion under management. For 16 years Chris lead the TL Ventures biotechnology group and was responsible for evaluating, selecting and managing biotech companies in TL Venture’s portfolio.
Chris’s educational and research background have allowed him to become highly skilled in the evaluation of the science and technology of therapeutics companies. He earned a Ph.D. in Immunology from the University of Pennsylvania in 1986 and was a post-doctoral fellow at the Roche Institute for Molecular Biology. He also holds a B.A. degree in Chemistry from Pomona College. Chris is a past director of the Lankenau Medical Research Institute and the Delaware Valley Venture Group.

Dr. Reeders is founder and Managing Partner of MVM Life Sciences Partners, a venture capital firm. Dr. Reeders has a degree in Natural Sciences (Cambridge) and practiced as a clinician before undertaking research into molecular genetics at Oxford University and Yale University, where he was an Investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Dr. Reeders has been involved in starting up several U.S. biotechnology companies and, from 1993 until 1997, was responsible for early-stage health care investments at Saunders, Karp & Megrue in New York City.

In addition to Cara Therapeutics Inc., Dr. Reeders is a member of the board of Biomedix Inc.

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.

Martin Vogelbaum is a partner of Rho Ventures. He has more than 17 years of experience investing in the life sciences sector, having been involved with companies at all stages of development, including co-founding more than a half dozen companies.
He joined Rho in 2005 and primarily focuses on investments in biotechnology, biopharmaceuticals and medical devices. Prior to Rho, he was a partner of Apple Tree Partners, a life sciences venture firm focused on early-stage companies. While at Apple Tree, Martin co-founded four start-ups, including Gloucester Pharmaceuticals where he served as interim CEO and chairman.
Martin began his venture capital career in 1993 at Oxford Bioscience Partners, where he served as a general partner. Prior to Oxford, he was a research associate in the bone marrow transplantation unit at Memorial-Sloan Kettering Hospital, where he conducted research in graft-versus-host-disease (GVHD).
Martin received his A.B. in biology and history from Columbia University.

Dr. Chalmers has 17 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 over 50 issued or pending US patents.

Dr. Jones most recently was the Chief Medical Officer at Strativa Pharmaceuticals, a division of Par Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Previously, he was the VP of Clinical Development and Medical Affairs at Xanodyne Pharmaceuticals where he was instrumental in the approval and subsequent launch of Zipsor™ (diclofenac potassium). Prior to Xanodyne, Dr. Jones was VP of Clinical Development at Alpharma Pharmaceuticals where he was actively involved in the development of EMBEDA™ (morphine sulfate and naltrexone hydrochloride). Other analgesics/CNS compounds that Dr. Jones has worked on include Lusedra (fospropofol disodium) while at Guilford Pharmaceuticals as well as valdecoxib and parecoxib while at Pharmacia. Dr. Jones received his Doctorate of Medicine degree from the University of Pennsylvania and his Doctorate of Pharmacy from Purdue University.

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 seventeen years of drug development and management experience in biotechnology in the field of ion channels and GPCRs. Her expertise ranges from early exploratory research through clinical development, and has a successful track record in leading numerous drug discovery programs in the areas of pain, inflammation, obesity, psychiatric, cognitive and neurological disorders guiding 5 compounds to Phase 2 clinical trials. She has contributed to the filing of numerous INDs and CTAs and has led successful interdisciplinary teams spanning the entire drug development process from the validation of novel receptor targets to NMEs formulated for oral, parenteral or transdermal routes of administration.
She previously served as VP Pharmacology and Business Development at Psychogenics Inc., and was the Research Director of In Vivo Pharmacology at Arena Pharmaceuticals. Prior to that, Dr. Menzaghi established and directed a preclinical research laboratory at SIBIA Neurosciences. Her research expertise ranged from small molecules to peptides.
She has extensive experience with corporate partnering with large pharmaceutical companies including Eli Lilly and J&J. Dr. Menzaghi received her Ph.D. in Neurosciences from the Louis Pasteur University, Strasbourg, France and a M.Sc. in clinical psychology from the University of Nancy. She has over 54 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters, 95 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. 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

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.