Zain Kassam

Co-Founder, Finch Therapeutics

Dr. Zain Kassam is a biotechnology entrepreneur and physician-scientist dedicated to building transformative companies. He is the co-founder and former chief medical officer at Finch Therapeutics, a clinical-stage company focused on developing novel microbiome therapeutics. He has experience leading Phase I-III trials across multiple therapeutic areas, has raised >$300M in the capital including an upsized IPO with peak market capitalization ~$1B, and driven strategic pharmaceutical partnerships. Previously, Dr. Kassam was the chief medical officer at OpenBiome, where as part of the founding team, he pioneered the application of the microbiome to treat disease, treating >65,000 patients across >1,300 healthcare facilities.

Dr. Kassam received the 2020 Public Health Innovator Alumni Award from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and was named to the prestigious Top 40 under 40 Healthcare Innovator List by MedTech. He has authored over 200 peer-reviewed publications and co-authored the first practical handbook for clinicians on microbiome therapeutics. Dr. Kassam has been featured on PBS, CNN, BBC, and numerous other media outlets. He is an inventor on over 15 patent applications or patents. Dr Kassam received his MPH degree from Harvard University, and completed post-doctoral training at MIT. He was awarded his MD from Western University and completed his internal medicine and gastroenterology training at McMaster University.