PolG Leadership
Brian Tseng, M.D., Ph.D. / Chief Executive Officer
As a board-certified M.D., Ph.D. pediatric neurologist/neuromuscular physician–scientist, Brian Tseng now serves as the CEO for The POLG Foundation which is on a laser-focused mission set out by our beloved Frederik. Since 2003, Brian has been the Chief Scientific Officer for the Foundation and brings a vast depth of experience in therapeutic development. He has led large cross-functional teams (Novartis, AveXis, Vertex) to develop and bring forward many new medicines approved for use in infants and children with rare genetic disorders. As a retired vice president from top R&D companies, he has deep 20+ years of experience in translational and clinical development of novel molecules (small, biologic, cell-based, AAV genetic replacement, and CRISPR-mediated gene editing). His past clinical/academic practice has been at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School and at Children's Hospital Colorado. His physiology undergraduate degree is from University of California Berkeley and he has a Ph.D. in molecular biology from MD Anderson Cancer Center/University of Texas at Houston McGovern Medical School. He is also a Parkmedic for Search and Rescue efforts in Rocky Mountain National Park and serves on the Board of the N=1 Collaborative N1C www.n1collaborative.org for ultrarare disorders.
Luca Bolliger, Ph.D. / Chief Scientific Officer
Luca Bolliger is a scientist (PhD Biochemistry -translocation of proteins into mitochondria- & Immunology at the Basel Institute of Immunology) with 20+ years in biopharma and finance. He held leadership roles at Roche (Global Discovery Portfolio Manager), BT&T Asset Management (Fundamental Analyst), Actelion (Director of Business Development), Novimmune (Director Business Development), and Recordati (VP Corporate Licensing). He founded abcDNA (advisory firm) before joining The POLG Foundation in 2023 as Chief Strategy Officer.
Julie de Luxembourg / Co-Founder, Vice Chair
Julie de Luxembourg is the mother of three children, the youngest of whom suffers from a rare PolG mitochondrial disorder. Her life work has focused on access to education, racial justice, human rights, music and now, seeking treatments and a cure for PolG disorders. She is a Human Rights Watch Ambassador, with a current focus on the U.S. criminal justice system; in the world of music, she is on the board of the Montreux Jazz Artists Foundation and has served as a jurist for The Glenn Gould Prize and Montreux Jazz Piano Competitions. She was involved in the creation of École Eden, the first nonprofit educational establishment in Switzerland and she is an advocate for recruitment of underrepresented future educators in the U.S.
Paula Casanova / Chief Operating Officer
Paula Casanova joined The PolG Foundation staff as Project Manager in September 2022. She brings to the Foundation a richly varied cultural background: childhood in Spain, boarding school in Switzerland, a degree in International Policy from New York University. Her post-graduate work has been in start-up efforts in New York and London (fashion), Iraq (fin-tech) and Moscow (skin care). Between business and family obligations, Paula has engaged in humanitarian work through foundations working in Ghana as well as Bolivia. She brings to her role within The PolG Foundation the administrative and organizational skills, as well as the professional passion, needed to support and manage the search for effective, life-sustaining research.
Frederik de Nassau / Co-Founder, Creative Director
At 20, Frederik de Nassau is living with PolG Disorder. With courage and creativity, Frederik rises above the great challenges of his disease to lead the creative design of The PolG Foundation’s digital presence. “The mind is the strongest thing we have,” notes Frederik, “We have the potential to do anything we want to. Every second counts.”
