Jessica Dennison, PhD

Dr. Jessica Dennison is a translational scientist and emerging biotech entrepreneur. She currently serves as Chief Operating Officer of Cyana Therapeutics, where she manages cross-functional teams and external partners, leads business development, and supports fundraising. Prior to joining Cyana, Jessica drove strategic advisory and diligence efforts at a biotech venture placement firm. In this role, she guided clinical-stage companies through critical inflection points including fundraising preparation, valuation modeling, and exit strategy development.

Jessica received a PhD in Neuroscience from the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, where her research focused on epigenetic mechanisms and female-specific risk factors in Alzheimer’s disease. During her doctoral training, she contributed to complementary work exploring epigenetic regulation in cancer. She received the competitive F31 predoctoral fellowship from the NIH for her research and published numerous peer-reviewed publications. She completed her bachelor’s degree in Natural Sciences at Fordham University. Earlier in her career, Jessica led clinical research in Europe on interventions in cognition and vision and served in roles spanning private healthcare and biotech consulting. She brings expertise across scientific diligence, clinical operations, market analysis, and corporate strategy, coupled with a passion for advancing innovative therapeutics toward meaningful patient impact.