Dione Kobayashi, PhD

• Head of Therapeutics and Operating Partner, Amplify

Dione Kobayashi, PhD is Head of Therapeutics and Operating Partner with Amplify. Previously, she was Vice President of Preclinical Translation at Cydan Development where she managed diligence opportunities, led scientific projects, and operated companies before to advancing them to Series A launch. Prior to Cydan, Dione held roles as a Director at the neurodegeneration startups Alector and Annexon, and the venture philanthropy-oriented Spinal Muscular Atrophy Foundation. Dione spent a decade working as a scientist and research program leader at Genentech, Elan, and Pfizer across a range of prevalent and rare nervous system indications. Dione received an undergraduate degree from MIT, a master’s degree from the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa, and her Ph.D. in neuroscience from the University of Edinburgh. Dione has launched or cofounded multiple companies in the CNS, gene therapy, and rare disease space, and has raised fund for seeds, Series A, and a Fund. Dione is an Advisor or Investment Committee member to AllStripes, the Bluefield Project, CureCMD, the Lydian Accelerator, MavenView, the Muscular Dystrophy Association, NF2 BioSolutions, and Pivotal BioVenture Partners.