Dr. Daniel O’Connell is a private equity Associate at OrbiMed Advisors. OrbiMed is a leading investment firm dedicated exclusively to the healthcare sector. One of the areas O’Connell is excited about is the development of novel therapeutics at OrbiMed. They are currently providing funding and support to Clementia Pharmaceuticals, which O’Connell informs “has advanced a drug into the clinic for the  ultra-orphan disease FOP (fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva), a severely disabling muscle disorder characterized by abnormal bone growth.”

O’Connell is a native of Miami Beach, Florida and a third-generation Irish American. He attended MIT where he graduated with degrees in chemistry and mathematics and received his M.D. and Ph.D. in biochemistry from Tufts University School of Medicine. Throughout his life and education he has learned that the qualities of a good leader “are the ability to motivate all members of a team to complete a project with high quality.”

His great-grandparents hailed from County Cork, and he fondly remembers the “notable paraphernalia” displayed in his grandparents’ home. He recalls two objects in particular: an “Irish Need Not Apply” sign, and a campaign poster of “Kennedy for President.” He had taken particular note that “within their lifetimes they could be firsthand witnesses to such a dramatic and personal cultural shift.” O’Connell and his wife Jill live in Hoboken, New Jersey.