Dr. Mandel is a pharmaceutically-oriented scientist. He has a BS in pharmacy from Columbia University, and a doctorate in biochemistry from Columbia’s College of Physicians and Surgeons.

During his more than 30-year tenure at Merck, he played the pivotal role in developing the scientific licensing and university relations functions within the research division. Under his leadership, External Scientific Affairs (ESA) Worldwide was established, and the Department grew from a one-person operation to over 50 across multiple Merck sites. Dr. Mandel led the scientific assessment associated with the licensure of Noroxin, Pepcid, Fosamax, Cozaar, and Invanz. He retired as Vice President of ESA in December 2003.

Dr. Mandel then joined the VC firm Care Capital, where, as Executive-in-Residence, he was part of the team involved in the scientific evaluation of a range of investment opportunities. He was engaged in the initial work leading to the development of Pyridorin for diabetic nephropathy by Nephrogenix, and was a contributor to the assessment of several other companies’ candidates including Cervelo, Edusa.