Vice President, Strategy and Operations, Renasant Bio
Michelle Ho Huey is vice president of strategy and operations at Renasant Bio, a Berkeley, California, preclinical biopharmaceutical company developing oral small-molecule correctors and first-in-class potentiators for autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease, or ADPKD. She leads corporate strategy, business operations and cross-functional program execution for the company, which launched out of stealth in July 2025 with $54.5 million in seed financing led by 5AM Ventures, with participation from Atlas Venture, OrbiMed and Qiming Venture Partners USA. Before joining Renasant, Huey spent six years at 5AM Ventures, rising from analyst to operating principal. There she worked alongside the firm’s venture creation team and founding scientists to launch multiple biotechnology companies through the firm’s 4:59 Initiative, including Ensoma, Radionetics Oncology and Renasant Bio. At Renasant Bio, she authored the original business plan and championed the investment thesis and deal that led to the company’s founding in 2022. Across the venture portfolio she led due diligence, market assessment and company-building from seed formation through financing, and she served as a board observer for seven venture-backed companies. Huey holds a doctorate in bioengineering from Rice University and a bachelor’s degree in bioengineering from the University of California, Berkeley, where she was a Regents’ and Chancellor’s Scholar. Her graduate research produced seven peer-reviewed publications and two patents in gene therapy and AAV engineering. Earlier in her career, she led research, business development and regulatory strategy for two life-science startups and served as co-principal investigator on an NIH Small Business Innovation Research grant. She lives in San Francisco with her wife and daughter.
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