Dione Kobayashi, PhD, is Head of Therapeutics and Partner with Amplify. Previously, she was Vice President of Preclinical Translation at Cydan Development, where she managed diligence, and led scientific projects and seed companies as founding CSO. 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. In addition Dione spent a decade working as a scientist and research program leader at Genentech, Elan, and Pfizer in both prevalent and rare disease indications. Dione has a BSci degree from MIT, an MSci degree from the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa, and a PhD in Neuroscience from the University of Edinburgh.