Jennifer Chickering, PhD

Vice President, Program Leadership

Jennifer Chickering, PhD, is Vice President, Program Leadership at Tisento Therapeutics. She brings more than 20 years of experience in biotech, holding diverse R&D roles spanning multiple therapeutic areas, including rare diseases, CNS, cardiovascular/cardiometabolic, and gastrointestinal. Jennifer is responsible for the strategic direction of Tisento’s drug development programs and leads the cross-functional zagociguat program team as well as the new product planning, communications, drug safety, medical writing, and program management functions.

Previously, Jennifer led clinical strategy at Cyclerion Therapeutics and prior to that at Ironwood Pharmaceuticals. She has broad clinical development expertise, deep scientific sensibility, a can-do attitude, and a passion for building collaborative, nimble organizations within the start-up environment.  Jennifer has an unparalleled ability to orchestrate the execution of complex projects from start to finish and the resilience to maintain a quiet sense of humor even in challenging situations. She earned a BS in Biology from Rhodes College and a PhD in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from Brown University. Outside of work, Jennifer enjoys movies, reading, scouring estate sales to create artful displays of found ephemera, and dog training (to be clear, her dogs are doing the training). 

Proudest professional accomplishment: any time we “sing” as a team when solving a hairy challenge under pressure

Favorite quote: “Orville Wright did not have a pilot’s license.”
― from Orbiting the Giant Hairball by Gordon MacKenzie