Brom was raised in a military family, which gave him an extreme view into the challenges of mental health at a young age. Brom first experienced psychedelics nearly a decade ago. Psychedelics helped him process traumas and stay emotionally healthy while pursuing a high-pressure hedge fund career, CFA Charter, and Master’s from Georgia Tech.

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Prior to founding Empath, Brom spent 7 years as a portfolio manager and quantitative researcher - most recently as a Global Macro PM at Crabel Capital Management, a quant fund with $9B AUM.

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After leaving Crabel in 2020, Brom started a podcast that covers the psychedelics industry from an investing, scientific, and cultural impact perspective.  The research that went into this podcast and the connections it established laid the groundwork for what would become Empath Ventures.

Sam leads in-depth technical and scientific due diligence on Empath’s psychedelic biotech investments.

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Sam served as the VP of R&D for PurMinds, a neuromedicine startup developing novel therapeutics for neurodegenerative diseases.  As an independent consultant she’s led projects for leading psychedelic companies including Beckley Psytech, advised family offices on Life Science investment strategies, and worked as a temporary strategic director at several biotech startups.

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Sam has been fascinated with neuroscience and psychedelics (especially DMT) since she was in her teens.  She’s most excited about funding psychedelic startups working towards solutions for complex neurological disorders.

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She holds a B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Toronto and attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Pharmaceutical Sciences Master’s program.

Melody focuses on technical due diligence and deal sourcing as a Venture Partner at Empath.  

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Melody is passionate about the intersection of psychedelic science and mental health. She sees her work at Empath as part of a path to a career in those fields.

Melody recently completed her Master’s in Biotechnology at Johns Hopkins University, one of the leading psychedelic research institutions in the US. She received her Bachelors of Science in Biochemistry from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo in 2018.   

Arye is a General Partner at MarsBio, a seed stage venture fund based in Los Angeles that invests in biotech and deeptech companies.

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He holds a degree in Molecular and Cellular Biology from UCLA and began his startup career as a founding member of ImaginAb, a UCLA spinout with several drug candidates in clinical trials.  

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Arye leverages his deep experience operating and investing in drug development to support technical due diligence at Empath.  

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Arye has a life-long interest in psychedelic pharmacology and is most interested in startups developing novel psychedelic molecules.

Danielle is a cofounder and General Partner of 1517 Fund, an early-stage vc that invests in hackers, makers and scientists working outside of universities and tracked institutions. 1517’s portfolio includes unicorns like Loom and Luminar.

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Prior to 1517, Danielle was a founding team member and Program Director of The Thiel Fellowship. Danielle worked alongside Peter Thiel for nearly 5 years in this role, identifying and mentoring young founders. 10 years and 226 Fellows later, Thiel Fellowship companies are worth over $30 Billion, not including 2014 Thiel fellow Vitalik Buterin’s Ethereum.

Vaughn is a partner at Blue Bear Capital and investor in frontier technologies.