RIchard King Mellon Foundation

Founded in 1947, the Richard King Mellon Foundation is the largest foundation in Southwestern Pennsylvania, and one of the 50 largest in the world. The Foundation’s 2025 year-end net assets were $3.3 billion, and its Trustees in 2025 disbursed more than $167 million in grants and program-related investments. The Foundation focuses its funding on six primary program areas, delineated in its 2021-2030 Strategic Plan.

Michael Hund, MBA
EB Research Partnership 

Michael Hund, MBA, is an award winning CEO with more than 20 years of experience in the innovative business models of venture philanthropy, impact investing and medtech entrepreneurship. His leadership has been highlighted by MIT, Yale, Harvard, Stanford, Cambridge, Forbes, and the Milken Institute. 

He is the CEO of EB Research Partnership, a groundbreaking medical research organization dedicated to curing Epidermolysis Bullosa through its proven Venture Philanthropy model, and Co-Founder of Rare Ventures, a new rare disease accelerator using that model to advance treatments across the broader rare disease community. Under his leadership EBRP has raised more than $80 million to transform the landscape from 2 to over 50 clinical trials and accelerated 3 FDA approved treatments in the last two years. He is Executive Producer of the award-winning Netflix documentary Matter of Time and Executive Producer of Venture into Cures, a movement combining stories of the patient and medical communities with musicians and actors. Previously he served as the Director for the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation and Paul Newman’s Hole in the Wall Gang, working on behalf of children battling life threatening illnesses. 

Michael received his MBA from Yale University, CORe credential from Harvard Business School, and a degree in Philosophy from the University of Kansas. He is the recipient of the MIT Solve Innovation Award, iHeart Media’s CEOs You Should Know, the Milken Institute’s Changemaker and LeadersLink, Fast Company's Impact Council, Social Innovations Journal Leadership Award, Top 100 Magazine Innovators, and IAOTP’s Top CEO of the Year in Medical Research.

Jill Vedder
EB Research Partnership 

Jill Vedder is the Co-Founder and Chairwoman of EB Research Partnership. Jill is a philanthropist, advocate, and nonprofit leader dedicated to accelerating treatments and cures for Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB), a rare and often life-threatening genetic disease.

As Co-Founder and Chairwoman of EB Research Partnership (EBRP), she has helped build the organization into the world’s largest nonprofit dedicated to funding EB research through an innovative venture philanthropy model.

Under her leadership, EBRP has advanced groundbreaking research initiatives, strategic partnerships, and global awareness efforts that are transforming the landscape for rare disease patients and families worldwide. Vedder has helped position EBRP as a global leader in rare disease venture philanthropy and research acceleration.

Eddie Vedder
EB Research Partnership 

Eddie Vedder is an internationally acclaimed musician, songwriter, activist and the lead singer of Pearl Jam, inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2017.

In addition to his influential career in music, Vedder is Co-Founder of EB Research Partnership (EBRP), the largest global nonprofit funding research to treat and cure Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB), a rare and life-threatening genetic disease. Inspired by families affected by EB, Vedder has helped lead EBRP’s mission to transform the pace of rare disease research through innovative philanthropy, strategic partnerships, and global advocacy.

His commitment has helped drive significant investment in scientific breakthroughs while elevating awareness for the broader rare disease community.

Sam Reiman,

Director, Richard King Mellon Foundation

Sam Reiman has been the Director of the Richard King Mellon Foundation since 2019, and a member of the Foundation’s Board of Trustees since 2020. As Director, Reiman oversees, on behalf of the Board of Trustees, the Foundation’s staff, strategy, and annual philanthropic program.

The Foundation’s 2025 year-end net assets were $3.3 billion, and it disbursed in 2025 more than $167 million in grants and program-related investments.

Reiman joined the Foundation in 2015, as Associate Director. His work prior to the Foundation included serving as a Senior Consultant for Deloitte in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Reiman grew up in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and his higher education began at Harrisburg Area Community College. He went on to receive a BA in Science, Technology and Public Policy from Franklin & Marshall College, matriculating on a work-study scholarship and graduating Cum Laude. Reiman subsequently earned an MS in Public Policy and Management, with a Minor in Business Administration, from Carnegie Mellon University, and an MS in Biotechnology from The Johns Hopkins University.

In addition to his service on the Foundation Board of Trustees, Reiman is a member of the Board of Trustees of two of his alma maters: Franklin & Marshall College and Carnegie Mellon University.

He and his wife, Sandra, have two daughters, Isabella and Sofia.

Jean Tang, MD, PhD
Stanford University

Jean Tang, MD, PhD, is an Endowed Professor of Dermatology at Stanford School of Medicine and a recognized leader in translational medicine, known for bridging scientific discovery and clinical application. Her work focuses on developing innovative therapeutics for both rare monogenic skin diseases and more common dermatologic cancers, including Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB), Basal Cell Nevus Syndrome (BCNS), and Basal Cell Carcinoma. By combining expertise in genetics, biostatistics, epidemiology, and clinical trial design, Dr. Tang has built a reputation for translating laboratory discoveries into meaningful treatments for patients.

At Stanford, Dr. Tang serves as Director of the Clinical Scholars Track within the Department of Dermatology and previously served as Co-Director of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Molecular Biology in Clinical Oncology Workshop. Her research has centered on rare inherited skin disorders such as BCNS and Recessive Dystrophic Epidermolysis Bullosa (RDEB). Over the course of her career, she has led or co-led 10 investigator-initiated clinical trials, with findings published in leading scientific and medical journals.

Dr. Tang began her academic training in biochemistry at the University of California, Berkeley, before earning both her MD and PhD from Stanford University School of Medicine. She completed her internship in internal medicine at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, followed by a dermatology residency at Stanford. She later pursued postdoctoral research training at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). Dr. Tang is board certified in dermatology by the American Board of Dermatology.

Anthony E. Oro, M.D., Ph.D.

Stanford University

Anthony E. Oro, M.D., Ph.D., is the Eugene and Gloria Bauer Professor of Dermatology, Associate Director of the Center for Definitive and Curative Medicine, and the co-director of the Child Health Research Institute.

He is co-founder of the Program in Epithelial Biology, and an active member of the Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Children’s Health Research Institute, Bio-X, and the Program in Cancer Biology. 

His research interests encompass cancer genomics and tumor evolution, stem cell biology and hair/skin development and regeneration, and definitive molecular and cellular therapeutics.  His clinical interests include hair biology, non-melanoma skin cancer, and stem cell-based therapies for genetic skin diseases.

Terence S. Dermody, MD
UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh

Dr. Terence S. Dermody is the Vira I. Heinz Distinguished Professor and Chair of Pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and Physician-in-Chief and Scientific Director at

UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. He also is Professor of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Dr. Dermody received his B.S. degree from Cornell University and his M.D. degree from Columbia University.

He completed an internal medicine residency at Presbyterian Hospital in New York and fellowships in infectious diseases and molecular virology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Prior to moving to Pittsburgh in 2016, Dr. Dermody was Dorothy Overall Wells Professor of Pediatrics and Director of the Medical Scientist Training Program and Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.

With over 35 years of experience in research, education, and clinical care, at his core, Dr. Dermody is a virologist. His work has advanced understanding of reovirus, an important model of viral encephalitis, and chikungunya virus, an emerging global health threat. He has identified virus receptors and cell entry mechanisms, elucidated virus-induced innate immune signaling pathways, and uncovered a viral trigger for celiac disease.

Dr. Dermody has led a variety of physician-scientist training programs that emphasize leadership and collaboration. He has been recognized for his  research accomplishments by an NIH MERIT Award and the American Society for Microbiology D. C. White Research and Mentoring Award. Dr. Dermody is a member of the American Academy of Microbiology, American Pediatrics Society, American Society for Clinical Investigation, Association of American Physicians, National Academy of Medicine, and Society for Pediatric Research and a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

He is a past president of the American Society for Virology, past chair of the AAMC GREAT Group M.D.-Ph.D. Section Steering Committee, and past chair of the Virology Division of the International Union of Microbiological Societies. Dr. Dermody is Editor- In-Chief of the Annual Review of Virology.

Dr. José-Alain Sahel
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine

José-Alain Sahel, MD is the Distinguished Professor and Chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology, the Eye and Ear Foundation Endowed Chair at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

He is the Director of the UPMC Vision Institute, which he founded in May 2023. Dr. Sahel also founded the Vision Institute in Paris, France (2008). He received his medical degree from Paris University Medical School and trained at Louis Pasteur University, Strasbourg, and Harvard University. Dr.Sahel is a clinician-scientist conducting vision restoration research focused on cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying retinal degeneration and the development of treatments for currently untreatable retinal diseases. His work has contributed to the understanding and prevention of vision loss from photoreceptor cell degeneration. He has conducted and overseen more than 80 clinical trials on retinal conditions, including first-in-human trials of artificial retina, gene therapy, and optogenetics.

Dr. Sahel has published more than 800 peer-reviewed articles, holds more than 90 patents, and has co-founded a dozen start-up companies. His memberships include the Académie des Sciences-Institut de France, the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, the Association of American Physicians, the American Ophthalmology Society, Academia

Europaea-Academy of Europe, and Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors. Dr. Sahel was appointed to the French Presidential Council for Science in 2023. He is the recipient of many prestigious awards, including the 2026 ARVO Proctor Medal and Lecture recipient, the promotion to Officer of the Ordre National de la Légion d’Honneur, the 2023 International Prize in Translational Neuroscience from the Max Planck Society, and the 2024 Wolf Prize in Medicine.