Niall O’Donnell joined RiverVest Venture Partners in 2006, initially as a Kauffman Fellow. Niall became a managing director in 2014, focusing on biopharmaceutical opportunities.

Dr. O’Donnell is a board member of Amplyx Pharmaceuticals, Lyric Pharmaceuticals and co-founder of Reneo Pharmaceuticals.  Niall was acting interim Chief Medical Officer at Lumena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (acquired by Shire in 2014) where he was central to the development and execution of its clinical strategy. Niall was also co-founder and board member of Excaliard Pharmaceuticals, Inc., (acquired by Pfizer in 2011) which he helped seed and develop the clinical strategy, and is a co-inventor on several key patents.

Prior to RiverVest, Niall was an immunologist at Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research and Development in San Diego.  Niall co-authored the first paper validating the newly discovered histamine H4 receptor as a key regulator of immune pathologies.  Dr. O’Donnell was a member of the scientific advisory board of Ziarco Ltd. (acquired by Novartis in 2016), a developer of H4 Receptor antagonists.

Niall earned his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Dundee, Scotland, and M.A. in Biochemistry from Pembroke College, Oxford. He also received an M.B.A. from the Rady School of Management of the University of California, San Diego.