OUR ADVANTAGE

PhDs, MDs, CFAs, CPAs, MBAs and seasoned corporate executives

Interlink Markets is a boutique investment bank specializing in institutional private capital deal sourcing, fundraising, placement, M&A, strategic partnering, and private secondary trading. Our team, comprised of PhDs, MDs, CFAs, CPAs, MBAs, and seasoned corporate executives, combines deep scientific expertise with real-world business experience and strategic financial insight. This uncommon blend, within a boutique firm, offers a rare and valuable proposition.

Distinguished Expertise

OUR SERVICES

Unrivaled access and guidance for private capital opportunities

Interlink is not only an investment bank, but also a first-mover in streamlining the private transaction space. Because we are solely focused on private markets, we are uniquely positioned to identify and leverage deals in both the primary and secondary marketplaces.

• Primary Market: A broad range of service that includes deal identification and sourcing, fundraising, placement, M&A, strategic partnering, licensing, incubating and accelerating, and consulting.

• Secondary Market: High-touch service and access to liquidity for existing and new shareholders through a boutique built on our institutional execution expertise and an institutional trader DNA.  Learn more about private secondary liquidity (PDF).

Curated Capital Access

OUR TEAM

Boston • South Florida • Metro New York • Mid Atlantic • San Francisco • Southwest

Rick Casella, Founder & President

Rick is an accomplished capital markets professional with a differentiated skill set. His cross-functional expertise, from origination and structuring to distribution and execution has driven success across mandates in both established and emerging markets.

Over the course of his career, Rick has founded, built, and scaled business verticals in capital markets and investment banking. He has a proven track record of launching and leading high-impact platforms that blend strategic innovation with deep market insight.

Among his builds, Rick ideated, developed, and managed the U.S. Institutional Equities customer division for INTL FC Stone, Inc., including launching its New York City global headquarters’ U.S. Equities sales and trading desk. Prior to that, he initiated, built and managed the Boston operation for Pacific Crest Securities, Inc., Wall Street’s premier boutique technology investment bank. Rick now serves as the Founder and President of Interlink Markets, and as Managing Director and Advisory Board Member at FNEX, a global fintech investment bank.

A former corporate-sponsored endurance athlete, Rick has competed in dozens of events including several Ironman Triathlons. He has contributed his time and expertise as a project specialist with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, served as an industry expert guest speaker, and is a mentor to college students and young professionals.

Rick graduated cum laude from Boston College, studied at Harvard, and holds multiple FINRA securities licenses.

Pamela Frank, Strategic Consultant

Pamela is an entrepreneurial leader with over 30 years of global experience in med-tech, health-tech, and biotech, spanning corporate enterprises and academic healthcare systems. She currently serves as Managing Director of International at Advanced Bifurcation Systems, where she drives global commercialization and strategic partnerships for a pioneering interventional cardiology company holding more than 75 patents and an FDA Breakthrough Device Designation.

Known as a connector and catalyst for innovation, Pamela has scaled life science startups, advised academic spinouts, and led market entry efforts across 30+ countries. Her previous leadership roles at Tufts Medical Center, Boston Children’s Hospital, and Children’s Mercy Kansas City include launching international patient care and innovation programs that broadened institutional reach and revenue. In 2010, she partnered with the U.S. Department of Commerce to co-establish USCIPP, the leading U.S. hospital consortium for international healthcare collaboration.

Pamela is a board member of both the United Nations Association of Greater Boston and the Grace Children’s Foundation. She holds an MBA from the Thunderbird School of Global Management, is fluent in Spanish, and proficient in Portuguese.

Randall S. Burkert, Strategic Consultant

Randall is the Managing Partner and a Co-Founder of Mercer + Bond Capital, Merchant Bankers, a Quadrant Company. Prior to M+B, Randall spent five years in wealth management working with family offices and significant net worth investors as a Managing Director for The Northern Trust Company and Hirtle, Callaghan & Co. Previously, he was at Goldman Sachs for twenty years as a Managing Director in the Securities Division. One of the original members of the Goldman Sachs Trust Company, he then served on the institutional sales force, eventually co-founding and heading the Global Institutional Group.

Prior to his tenure at Goldman Sachs, Randall earned his CPA at PricewaterhouseCoopers. He was an NBA draft choice and played basketball professionally overseas. Randall earned his MBA at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and attended Drexel University as an undergraduate where he served on the Board of Trustees for fifteen years. He is currently on the Advisory Board of Great Oaks Venture Capital and previously served on the Board of Trustees of the Abingdon Theatre Company in New York City.

Laura Moruzzi, Strategic M&A Consultant

Laura Moruzzi is a seasoned corporate finance professional with extensive experience executing mergers and acquisitions and leading strategic financial initiatives. She has worked closely with C-level executives, Boards of Directors, shareholders, attorneys, and accountants to deliver successful outcomes across a broad range of corporate transactions. Over the course of her career, Laura has managed numerous end-to-end M&A engagements, including deal sourcing, preparation of confidential information memoranda, identification and engagement of potential acquirers, negotiation of transaction terms, and collaboration with legal, accounting, and other professional advisors to ensure seamless execution. 

In addition to her transactional experience, Laura has conducted more than 100 business, securities, and intangible asset valuations for companies across diverse industries, including business services, consumer products, food manufacturing and distribution, industrial products, medical devices, and technology and telecommunications.  She has also advised Boards of Directors and special committees on key corporate finance decisions and has served as a non-voting board participant for both public and privately held companies, bringing a strategic and analytical perspective to governance and value creation initiatives.

Elizabeth Johnson, MD, Strategic Consultant

Dr. Elizabeth Johnson, MD is a seasoned physician executive and endovascular/vascular surgeon with a distinguished career spanning clinical leadership, medical education, and healthcare innovation. Driven by a deep commitment to patient safety, quality improvement, and interdisciplinary collaboration, she brings a uniquely comprehensive perspective to advancing medical care.

Before earning her medical degree, Dr. Johnson worked in organ donation and transplantation, as well as in clinical research at the University of California, San Francisco- experiences that laid a strong foundation for her lifelong dedication to improving patient outcomes through science and service.

She holds dual undergraduate degrees in Biology and Psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and earned her MD from the Medical University of South Carolina. Dr. Johnson completed her surgical training in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, within the West Penn-Allegheny Health System and went on to serve as an attending surgeon in a variety of settings, including rural hospitals, community facilities, and Level I trauma centers in Florida and Indiana.

Zachary Brodnik, PhD, Business Consultant

Dr. Zachary Brodnik is a seasoned business development professional with a robust background in biotechnology. Before transitioning to business development in 2020, Zachary distinguished himself as an award-winning neuroscience researcher. During his academic career, he earned a PhD from Drexel University and completed a prestigious fellowship at the National Institutes of Health, receiving over 20 national and international awards for his research excellence, along with multiple competitive fellowship grants.

Zachary leveraged his scientific and business acumen to found SciProse, a boutique marketing firm focused on content creation and strategic messaging for biotech companies. For Interlink, he combines his vast industry experience and best practices to aid in identifying precise targeting and expertly customized outreach.

Amanda Finck, PhD, Strategic Consultant

Dr. Amanda Finck is an immunologist whose research focuses on enhancing the efficacy of CAR T cell therapies against solid tumors. She earned her PhD in Immunology from the University of Pennsylvania, where she trained in the lab of Dr. Carl June. During her training she was an NSF Graduate Research Fellow and a Patel Family Fellow, and she received the Muriel Joan Drew Hege grant supporting early-career women at the Center for Cellular Immunotherapies.

 Dr. Finck’s work builds on a strong foundation in cancer immunotherapy. Prior to her doctoral studies, she conducted research at Yale University’s Department of Biomedical Engineering, developing single-cell transcriptomic and proteomic tools to investigate CAR T cell biology. She also gained industry experience at Janssen Pharmaceuticals, where she focused on bispecific monoclonal antibodies for hematologic malignancies.

Beyond the lab, Dr. Finck is deeply engaged in biotech innovation. She is a Tech Transfer Fellow at the Penn Center for Innovation, served as Vice President of Investment Research for the Penn Biotech Group, and was selected as a Flagship Pioneering Fellow, where she honed her skills in venture creation and science entrepreneurship.

With a unique blend of academic, translational, and entrepreneurial experience, Dr. Finck is dedicated to advancing innovative therapies from bench to bedside to improve patient outcomes.

Drue De Angelis, Strategic Consultant

Drue De Angelis is a retained executive search consultant with over 35 years of experience helping medical device companies identify transformational leaders, build high-performing teams, and accelerate enterprise value. His work spans C-suite and VP-level placements across orthopedics, spine, and emerging MedTech sectors for venture capital, private equity, and growth-stage companies. 

In addition to executive search, Drue provides strategic consulting to startups and turnarounds, leveraging his extensive industry network and operational expertise to help companies navigate critical growth phases. As founder of The DeAngelis Group, recognized by Forbes as a Best Executive Search Firm, he works closely with boards and executive teams to place visionary leaders who drive measurable results.

Drue acquired Orthopedics This Week in 2024 and serves as Co-Managing Director of MSK Innovations, Chairman of APEX Biologix, and Founder of Phoenix MedTech Consortium. He holds a degree in Biblical Studies from The Master's University.

Tatiana Yglesias Ulloa, Strategic Consultant

Tatiana Yglesias is a senior healthcare executive with over 15 years of experience at the intersection of biopharmaceutical innovation, venture capital, and global operations. Her career spans startup development, product launches, global commercial operations, pharmaceutical manufacturing, and business transformation across therapeutic areas. She served as Executive Director of Portal Innovations Boston, where she empowered early-stage life sciences ventures with capital, scientific expertise, and strategic resources. 

 An MIT graduate with an M.S. in Chemical Engineering and an MBA, Tatiana actively contributes to the life sciences ecosystem as a board member, startup advisor, and mentor. She serves on the Advisory Council of the Women’s Foundation of Boston and is a Board Member and Committee Chair for Latinos in Bio. In 2025, Tatiana was named to The BLOC100, recognizing the 100 most impactful women and allies shaping the future of healthcare, celebrating her bold leadership and contributions to advancing innovation.

O. Alejandro Balbin, PhD, Scientific Advisor

Dr. Alejandro Balbin is an experienced leader in precision medicine, thriving at the intersection of cutting-edge translational data science, new therapies, and technologies to improve patients’ journeys and clinical outcomes. With over 15 years of experience, he possesses a deep understanding of precision medicine, genomics, and well-designed data science strategies using multimodal datasets to drive drug discovery and clinical decision-making.

He currently advises early-stage companies on AIML, data science, and precision medicine strategies, guiding their product design, development, go-to-market strategy, and their application of AIML to resolve biotech and healthcare challenges. Previously, he led translational data science and engineering teams in both biotech and pharmaceutical industries.

At Novartis, he led the biomarker data science team responsible for the analysis of numerous clinical trials in lung and breast cancers, and he spearheaded the Oncology Real World Data strategy, securing significant investments. Recognized with the BOLD4Cure Novartis Oncology CEO award in 2020, Alejandro built high-performing data science teams and supported FDA approval for three oncology drugs: Tabreca, Kisqali, and Piqray.

Holding a PhD in Bioinformatics from the University of Michigan, he excels in innovation, leadership, computational methods, clinical trial design, and technology integration. Passionate about mentoring and exploring new technologies, Alejandro is committed to improving patient outcomes through biomedical innovation.

Micayla Casella, Strategic Development Lead

Micayla joined us after more than five years on the buy-side at John Hancock/Manulife, where she focused on global private placement and public debt investments across the healthcare, consumer, F&B, and broader industrial sectors. In addition to managing a $1.4 billion investment portfolio, she underwrote and originated new transactions alongside her team through extensive deal diligence and collaboration. Her experience has spanned company and investment analysis, strategic recommendations to senior leaders and investment committees, and consistent engagement with company management teams and financing partners to identify and pursue new opportunities.

 Micayla graduated cum laude distinction from Boston College, where she studied Psychology and Finance. As a decorated student-athlete on the Division I varsity tennis team, she earned numerous academic and athletic accolades including the Athletic Director’s Award for Academic Achievement, and achieved Dean’s List Honors all four years. Micayla brings investment experience, deal analysis, and business acumen to Interlink, where she is responsible for deal sourcing and analysis alongside leading strategic partnerships, firm development and long-term growth initiatives.

Harlan R. Sonderling, CFA, Advisor

Harlan is co-founder of Sonderling Brothers, which provides investment research and management and investment consulting. He has more than 30 years of equity research analysis and portfolio management experience, and he most recently served as lead healthcare analyst for Columbia Threadneedle. Harlan’s prior investment management employers in New York and Boston include Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. (now AllianceBernstein), Putnam Investments, and Evergreen Investments (now Wells Fargo). He is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and was a CPA and tax consultant with Arthur Andersen prior to entering investment management. Harlan has an MBA from NYU’s Stern School of Business and an AB from Brown University.

Karen Miller Gillis, Strategic Consultant

Karen is CEO at Vivvidae Life Sciences, a venture development firm that helps innovators launch and grow market shares for medical technologies that have a positive impact on patient care. Throughout her 30-year career, she has been committed to bringing cutting-edge products to market.

Her experience in building companies in the life sciences industry is extensive: she has led teams across all functional areas, designed new practice integration and economic models, developed tactics and support systems for healthcare practitioners, restructured businesses, and served in senior roles such as venture director, head of sales and marketing, COO, CEO, and president. 

Working at industry-leading companies and through multiple successful exits, Karen has led the launch of 29 medical technologies and successfully grown valuation, revenues, and market share everywhere she has been. She holds a BA in Business Economics from Brown University and enjoys coaching her daughters in their athletic endeavors.

Thomas Mannix, Securities Advisor

A 30-year veteran of the financial services industry, Thomas contributes to Interlink in the areas of distribution and business development. Most recently he worked to raise capital for a quant hedge fund in the Boston area L2 Asset Management, and prior to that he served as managing director and institutional equity sales manager at Smith Barney Citigroup, Merrill Lynch, and Lehman Brothers. He began his career in institutional equity sales trading with Cantor Fitzgerald in 1981. Thomas was born and raised in the New York City area and currently resides in Southborough, MA. He is a 1981 graduate of Harvard College, where he majored in American history with a minor in East Asian history and was captain of the basketball team his senior year. He holds series 7, 63, and 24 licenses.

Sarah Sutton, PhD, Strategic Consultant

Sarah Sutton, Ph.D., is a communications strategist with nearly 15 years of experience helping biotech companies define their story, sharpen their positioning, and communicate with clarity and purpose. Her work spans messaging and narrative development, website and content strategy, media strategy, and executive communications. 

In addition to developing content and messaging, Sarah provides media and speaker training to help executives, founders, and scientists show up with confidence in high-stakes moments, from investor meetings to media interviews and public speaking engagements. She also works closely with clients on media strategy and outreach, identifying compelling angles and pitching stories to top-tier outlets.

With a background in journalism and teaching, Sarah brings a clear, thoughtful approach to translating complex science into language that resonates with key audiences. She has held senior roles at Argot Partners, the Glover Park Group, Ten Bridge Communications, and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, and has worked with companies across all stages of growth and a wide range of therapeutic areas.

Sarah holds a Ph.D. in the History of Science from Brandeis University and a B.A. from Brown University

Audrey Van Heest, PhD Candidate, Strategic Consultant

Audrey brings technical expertise in drug delivery, diagnostics, and synthetic biology to her role as a Strategic Consultant at Interlink Markets. She is currently completing her Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering at Boston University, where her research focuses on enhancing delivery precision through targeting and conditional activation strategies. Audrey thrives in interdisciplinary environments that span scientific domains and stages of development - starting from clinical needs and engaging collaborators in Boston and abroad to drive translational impact. She is also an NIH Synthetic Biology and Biotechnology Fellow at BU.

 Audrey earned her B.S. and M.S. degrees in Biomedical Engineering from Case Western Reserve University, where she engineered implantable devices for localized drug delivery. Her industry experience includes R&D roles in pharmacology at AstraZeneca and AbbVie, where she has developed tools to evaluate therapeutic efficacy and delivery for malignancies and autoimmune diseases.

Scott Pearson, Venture Capital Advisor

For more than 25 years, Scott has led a wide range of technology-based companies in sectors that include energy storage solutions, uninterruptible power systems, fuel cells, electric transportation, electronics assembly equipment and materials, digital imaging, and defense systems. He is currently the CEO and president at Formetrix, Inc., a 3D-printing materials company, as well as an independent board director at Upstart Power, Inc., Titan Advanced Energy Solutions, Inc., and Zillion Group, Inc. Scott holds an MBA from MIT’s Sloan School of Management, an MS in Mechanical Engineering from MIT, and a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Massachusetts.

Regina Leung, Strategic Consultant

Regina has more than 25 years of achievement in business management in the healthcare, pharmaceutical, medical device, and consulting industries. She currently works as Chief Business Officer at CSSi Life Sciences, a regulatory consulting firm, and is the founder of MayFlower Health, a global boutique consulting firm, where she specializes in branding, corporate strategy and valuation, pricing and reimbursement, licensing, and market access entries for pharmaceutical and medical device companies.

Prior to MayFlower Health, she worked in leadership roles with Bristol-Myers Squibb, PDL Pharma, and Gilead Sciences, as well as McKesson, a global life sciences distributor. At McKesson, she helped build out the oncology division and started the first generic drugs portfolio program for the hospital market, and she holds a patent for an oncology practice solution.

Regina also worked as a managed market principal at IQVIA and CapGemini, heading their west coast business and supporting brand and market access strategies for Amgen and Genentech/Roche. She serves as an advisor to SkyDeck (UC Berkeley) and California Life Sciences Institute (CLSI), and is an exit advisor at Keiretsu Capital. She holds an undergraduate degree in Biological Chemistry from the University of Warwick, England, and an MBA from the University of Southern California.

Demos Kouvaris, Advisor

Mr. Kouvaris has been Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer of Chestnut Hill Ventures LLC since March 2002. Prior to Chestnut Hill Ventures, he was the Vice President of Finance for GCC Investments, LLC, a subsidiary of GC Companies, Inc. Before joining GC Companies, Mr. Kouvaris was a senior manager and Certified Public Accountant with Coopers & Lybrand LLP (predecessor to PricewaterhouseCoopers) in Boston. He currently serves and has served as a director of Millwall Football and Athletic Club plc, Affinity Solutions, Inc., FleetCor Technologies, Inc., Zillion Group, Inc., Acuity Link, LLC, Virtyx, Inc., ACA Capital Holdings, Inc., and Vanguard Modular Building Systems, LLC, among others. Mr. Kouvaris holds a B.S. in Accountancy from Boston College.

General Counsel: Seyfarth Shaw LLP, Boston, MA