Suman Rao, Ph.D.

Suman comes from a strong life science background, with special expertise in oncology and developing multi-targeted strategies to treat advanced cancers. Suman joined Lumira in 2021 as an Associate and focuses on conducting scientific and technical diligence of investment opportunities. She remains extremely passionate about understanding drivers of complex diseases and through her work at Lumira Ventures, hopes to bring novel therapies to patients by promoting cutting-edge technologies and medicines.

Prior to joining Lumira Ventures, Suman worked in healthcare consulting at L.E.K. Consulting in Boston as a Life Sciences Specialist. During her time at L.E.K., she provided strategic advice on growth opportunities, pipeline expansion, potential M&A partnerships and financial modeling. Her clients included start-ups, biotech and pharma companies developing cell & gene therapies, protein degraders, small molecules and RNA-based therapies within oncology, neurology, rare diseases and ophthalmology.

Before joining L.E.K., Suman spent 4 years doing a Postdoctoral Fellowship at Harvard Medical School and Dana Farber Cancer Institute. During this time, she worked with a multidisciplinary team to develop therapies to treat advanced cancers. She used small molecule inhibitors as chemical probes to interrogate signaling pathways and identified key targets to inhibit to achieve anti-tumor effects.