John Ryan, Ph.D., M.D., has been named senior vice president, chief medical officer and Karen Roberts has been named senior vice president, finance and administration at Cerulean Pharma. Both appointments are newly established roles that reflect Cerulean’s growth and are effective immediately.

Dr. Ryan has more than 20 years of experience in clinical research and development at AVEO Pharmaceuticals, Wyeth (formerly Genetics Institute), and Merck Research Laboratories. Most recently, Dr. Ryan served as chief medical officer at AVEO Pharmaceuticals, where he built a clinical group for the development of oncology drugs.

Karen Roberts joins Cerulean after serving as vice president, finance and administration at Elixir Pharmaceuticals, since that company’s founding in 2001. Ms. Roberts was a core member of Elixir’s executive management team and responsible for all aspects of accounting, finance and administration for that company. Prior to that, Ms. Roberts held senior financial positions at Frontline Group, Dyax Corp. and T Cell Sciences.