Vini Mani

Vini Mani is a Principal at Flagship Pioneering and co-founder, Chief Innovation Officer at ProFound Therapeutics. Vini joined Flagship Pioneering as an associate in 2019, working across the life cycle of emerging ventures in the life sciences. In her role, she works with a team of entrepreneurial scientists exploring new areas of biology to create and grow Flagship’s first-in-class platforms. Vini co-founded ProFound Therapeutics in 2020, leading the genesis and expansion of the ProFoundry Platform, and currently serves as Chief Innovation Officer.

Prior to joining Flagship, Vini completed her doctoral studies in Immunology at Harvard Medical School, where her thesis work uncovered a novel stage of T cell differentiation and contributed to advancing cancer immunology & barrier immunity, resulting in publications in Science, Cell and Nature and earning multiple awards including the Janeway Award from the American Association of Immunologists. While in graduate school, Vini was a member of the founding team and Director of Product Development at Adeo Health Science, a Boston-based startup focused on the prevention of allergy development in children. Vini also devoted significant time to cultivating the next generation of scientists, as Co-Director of Science in the News, an organization that provides a platform for graduate students to hone their communication skills and interface with various members of the general public. She continues to actively serve as an alumni community at Harvard, through teaching and mentoring pursuits.

Vini holds a Ph.D. in Immunology from Harvard Medical School and a B.S. in Bioengineering with a Certificate in Entrepreneurship and Technology from the University of California, Berkeley.