Leadership
Voyager’s leaders bring deep expertise in biopharmaceutical development, neurotherapeutics, genetic medicines, strategic management, and organizational culture. The result is a company delivering on its breakthroughs.
Management Team
Alfred Sandrock, M.D., Ph.D.
President and Chief Executive Officer
Todd Carter, Ph.D.
Chief Scientific Officer
Jacquelyn Fahey Sandell
Chief Legal Officer
Trista Morrison
Chief of Staff & SVP Corporate Affairs
Peter Pfreundschuh
Chief Financial Officer
Michelle Quinn Smith
Chief Human Resources Officer
Robin Swartz
Chief Operating Officer
Board of Directors
Michael Higgins
Chair
Grace E. Colón, Ph.D.
James Geraghty
Steven Hyman, M.D
Catherine J. Mackey, Ph.D.
Jude Onyia, Ph.D.
Glenn Pierce, M.D., Ph.D.
Alfred Sandrock, M.D., Ph.D.
George Scangos, Ph.D.
Nancy Vitale
Scientific Advisory Board
Guangping Gao, Ph.D.
Director, University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS) Gene Therapy Center & Vector Core; Scientific Director, UMMS-China Program Office; Professor of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, UMMS.
David Liu, Ph.D.
Richard Merkin Professor and Vice-Chair of the Faculty at the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, and Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Harvard University.
Dinah Sah, Ph.D.
Former Chief Scientific Officer of Voyager and former Vice President of Research at Alnylam Pharmaceuticals.
Phillip Zamore, Ph.D.
Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator; Gretchen Stone Cook Chair of Biomedical Sciences, Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, and Chair of the RNA Therapeutics Institute, University of Massachusetts Medical School.
Alfred Sandrock, M.D., Ph.D.
President and Chief Executive Officer
Sandrock has been President and Chief Executive Officer of Voyager, as well as a member of the board of directors, since 2022. He also currently serves as a member of the board of directors for Atalanta Therapeutics, Inc.; Verge Genomics, Inc.; Transition Bio, Inc.; and Neurimmune, Inc. Sandrock joined Voyager following a prolific career in biopharmaceutical drug development, in which he spent 23 years at Biogen where he identified and developed novel therapies for a variety of serious diseases. While at Biogen, Sandrock served in positions of increasing responsibility, culminating in his service as Executive Vice President, Research and Development. He also served as Chief Medical Officer and held a seat on the Biogen Executive Committee. Over the course of his tenure, he led the discovery and development, and regulatory approval of numerous medicines including: ADUHELM™, PLEGRIDY®, SPINRAZA®, TECFIDERA®, and TYSABRI®. Sandrock earned a B.A. in human biology from Stanford University, an M.D. from Harvard Medical School, and a Ph.D. in neurobiology from Harvard University. He completed an internship in medicine, a residency and chief residency in neurology, and a clinical fellowship in neuromuscular disease and clinical neurophysiology at Massachusetts General Hospital.
Todd Carter, Ph.D.
Chief Scientific Officer
Carter has been Chief Scientific Officer at Voyager since 2022. Starting in 2016 and prior to his role as CSO, Carter held roles of increasing responsibility at Voyager, most recently serving as senior vice president of research. He led novel gene therapy development programs and supported the development of the TRACER™ platform, the identification of novel AAV capsids, and the execution of multiple successful industry partnerships. Before joining Voyager, Carter served as the Senior Science Advisor to the Office of the Director of the Broad Institute of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard, where he was the lead scientific advisor and manager for several internal and external science programs, with a focus on moving innovative science concepts toward the clinic. Previously, he led research at BrainCells, Inc., as Senior Director of Biology, including evaluation of novel targets for CNS disease and the preclinical to clinical transition of the company’s lead program. Carter received a B.A. in genetics from Texas A&M University, a Ph.D. in genetics from Columbia University, and completed his postdoctoral training at the Salk Institute for Biomedical Research.
Jacquelyn Fahey Sandell
Fahey Sandell joined Voyager in 2023 as Chief Legal Officer. She has over 25 years of legal experience spanning in-house roles at multiple biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. Prior to joining Voyager, she served as CLO, Corporate Secretary, and Compliance Officer of Jounce Therapeutics, Inc., where she was responsible for all legal matters, including supporting key license agreements with Gilead and the company’s merger agreement with Concentra Biosciences, LLC. Prior to joining Jounce, Fahey Sandell served as Vice President, General Counsel and Company Secretary at Vericel Corporation. Fahey Sandell previously held senior positions at Millennium: The Takeda Oncology Company and Genzyme Corporation, and she has worked at multiple top-tier law firms. Fahey Sandell holds a B.A. from Duke University and a J.D. from Boston University School of Law.
Trista Morrison
Chief of Staff and SVP Corporate Affairs
Morrison joined Voyager in 2022 as Chief of Staff and Senior Vice President of Corporate Affairs with over 20 years of experience in healthcare public affairs, including strategic communications, investor relations and patient advocacy. She also serves on the board of directors for the Network of Tyrosinemia Advocates and on the advisory board for The Termeer Foundation. Prior to joining Voyager, Morrison served as Chief Corporate Affairs Officer for Saniona, where she built and led communications, investor relations, patient advocacy and government relations, in addition to serving as a member of the executive committee. She previously founded the consulting firm PR with Purpose, and her prior roles include Vice President of Communications and Patient Advocacy for rare disease company Sobi in North America, Head of Communications for Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, and reporter and editor for BioWorld Today, as well as various positions at multiple communications agencies. Morrison received a B.S. in marketing and biology from Tulane University.
Peter Pfreundschuh
Pfreundschuh has served as Voyager’s Chief Financial Officer since 2022. He has more than 25 years of finance, business development, commercial and public company leadership experience in the life sciences and medical device industries. Prior to joining Voyager, he served as CFO of Frequency Therapeutics, Inc., where he provided executive leadership and guidance to help develop a path forward on the company’s hearing program and communicate this to investors. Prior to joining Frequency, Pfreundschuh served as CFO, Chief Compliance Officer and Corporate Secretary for UroGen Pharma Ltd., where he led the company in raising $162 million and helped transition the company from a development-stage entity to a commercial-stage company, successfully gaining FDA approval of and commercializing Jelmyto®. Prior to UroGen, Pfreundschuh was the CFO of Sucampo Pharmaceuticals Inc., a successful commercial-stage company, where he co-led the sale of Sucampo to Mallinckrodt. He also served in senior roles at Immunomedics, Inc.; CircuLite, Inc.; AstraZeneca, plc; Johnson & Johnson; and Ernst & Young, LLP. Pfreundschuh is a certified public accountant and received his B.S. in accounting from Rutgers University and his MBA from Rider University.
Michelle Quinn Smith
Smith joined Voyager in 2020 as Chief Human Resources Officer. Before joining Voyager, she served as part of the Human Resources Leadership Team at Flagship Pioneering. Prior to Flagship, Smith was Global Human Resources Business Leader for Takeda Pharmaceuticals. She also served in global HR roles at Sanofi as well as Genzyme, Goldman Sachs and Young and Rubicam Advertising. Smith received a B.A. in history from Chestnut Hill College in Philadelphia and serves on the Board of Directors for Horse Hugs for Heroes, a therapeutic animal non-profit organization based in Maryland.
Robin Swartz
Swartz has served as Voyager’s Chief Operating Officer since 2022. She joined the company in 2021 as Senior Vice President, Portfolio Management and Patient Engagement. Prior to joining Voyager, she held several leadership positions at Genzyme. She most recently served as Vice President, Patient and Product Services for Rare Diseases and has held various additional positions including as Senior Vice President, Head of Global and U.S. Business Operations, Chief of Staff to the Executive Vice President, and Senior Director, Finance. Swartz served on the Sanofi Aventis Board of Directors and was a member of the Executive Community Relations Committee. Swartz received her B.A. in political science from Kenyon College.
Michael Higgins
Higgins has served on the board of directors since 2015 and as chairman of the board since 2019. He is currently also the chairman of the board of Pulmatrix, Inc., and a board member at Nocion Therapeutics, Inc., Camp4 Therapeutics, Corp; Sea Pharmaceuticals, LLC; and KinDex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Higgins is a serial entrepreneur who has helped launch and build numerous companies during his career. He previously served as Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Polaris Partners. He also served as Senior Vice President, Chief Operating Officer of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and held a variety of senior business positions at Genzyme Corp., including Vice President of Corporate Finance and Vice President of Business Development. Higgins received a B.S. from Cornell University and an M.B.A. from the Amos Tuck School of Business Administration at Dartmouth College.