Our people

Nicolas has over 20 years’ leadership experience in pharma & biotech, at GSK (2005-2015), Orchard Therapeutics (2016-2022), and Focalis Bio (since 2022). As Global Commercial Lead at GSK, Nicolas was responsible for the commercialisation strategy for a pipeline of seven gene therapies, including Strimvelis, the first autologous ex vivo gene therapy approved by the EMA in 2016. He was one of the founders and the first employee of Orchard Therapeutics. He played a key role in the evolution of Orchard from an early clinical-stage biotech to a public, fully integrated company with two commercially approved gene therapies and pioneered the commercialisation of Libmeldy in several European markets. Orchard was acquired by Kyowa in January 2024. In addition to Nicolas' experience in pharma and biotech, he also holds a Master’s degree in International Economics and Law from the Geneva Graduate Institute.

Dimitri is a Professor of Neurology at the UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, and a Fellow of the Royal Society and of the Academy of Medical Sciences. His career has focused on the fundamental mechanisms of synaptic transmission and neuronal and circuit excitability in epilepsy and other neurological disorders for over three decades. He has authored over 250 publications and was the Editor-in-Chief of Brain between 2014 and 2020. More recently, Dimitri has collaborated on several promising strategies for gene therapy of focal epilepsy. His work was recognised with the American Epilepsy Society Basic Science Research Award in 2023.

Joanne has over 25 years’ experience in the biopharmaceutical industry including over a decade at AstraZeneca (1996-2011) in various product development and clinical manufacturing roles, specialising in parenteral products. Joanne’s experience also includes roles of increasing responsibility at Freeline Therapeutics (2016-2021), most recently as Vice President, CMC Project Delivery, with responsibility for strategic leadership of the CMC aspects of Freeline’s adeno-associated virus (AAV) gene therapy portfolio. Her responsibilities also included CMO oversight and CMC regulatory submissions and health authority interactions. Joanne is a trained Pharmacist and holds a PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences.

Luiz has over 15 years of research experience in neurological disorders, including epilepsy and traumatic brain injury. He started his career researching the role of epigenetic mechanisms in epilepsy as part of his doctoral degree, which he completed at the Royal College of Surgeons, Ireland. For the past 10 years, his work has focused on trialling oligonucleotide and genetic therapies for the treatment of epilepsy, with a particular expertise in preclinical in vivo studies. Prior to joining Focalis Bio, Luiz was a Senior Research Fellow at UCL, where he led the design and delivery of large-scale industry-sponsored preclinical experiments, assessing the efficacy and tolerability of novel gene therapies for the treatment of chronic epilepsy.

Teresa has over twenty years of global leadership experience in the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries, with expertise spanning gene and cell and small molecule therapies across a range of conditions including CNS disorders and epilepsy. Prior to joining Focalis Bio, Teresa led the medical and pharmacovigilance teams at Allucent, a global contract research organisation (CRO). Previously, she held senior medical roles at clinical research consultancy, Premier Research International, as well as Bial, where she led the development of eslicarbazepine acetate (brand: Zebinix), an antiseizure medicine, from early clinical phase to commercial approval.

Over the course of her career, Teresa has contributed to the design and delivery of over 100 Phase I-IV trials. Her experience also includes AAV-based gene therapies, covering protocol design and safety monitoring, and the management of immunosuppression and hepatotoxicity. Teresa holds an MD from the University of Coimbra, a Board Certification in Clinical Pharmacology, an MSc in Clinical Pharmacology from the University of Surrey, and an MBA from Fernando Pessoa University.

Simon manages the UCL Technology Fund’s life-science team, focusing on therapeutics, delivery systems, diagnostics and medical devices arising from the University College London knowledge ecosystem. He completed his PhD (and postdoctoral training) in neuroscience at the University of Cambridge, prior to which he worked for seven and a half years at Goldman Sachs in Melbourne, predominantly on the Healthcare/Biotech and Portfolio Strategy Research teams. Simon worked in several roles across the UK and Australian biotech startup sectors before joining Albion Capital in 2015.

Jan has more than 25 years’ experience in pharmaceutical development and has had leadership roles in the commercialisation of therapeutics across all modalities. He is currently the Chief Executive Officer of Harness Therapeutics. Prior to this he was start-up CEO and Chief Development Officer of Freeline Therapeutics (2016-2021), overseeing the establishment of a platform for a novel AAV capsid and program management. Jan has also held roles at GSK spanning from Discovery to Manufacturing (1997-2015). He established GSK’s cell/gene therapy platform and played a pivotal role in the commercialisation of Strimvelis, the first autologous ex vivo gene therapy approved by the EMA. Jan holds an MA in Chemistry and a DPhil in Biological Chemistry from the University of Oxford.

Nicolas has over 20 years’ leadership experience in pharma & biotech, at GSK (2005-2015), Orchard Therapeutics (2016-2022), and Focalis Bio (since 2022). As Global Commercial Lead at GSK, Nicolas was responsible for the commercialisation strategy for a pipeline of seven gene therapies, including Strimvelis, the first autologous ex vivo gene therapy approved by the EMA in 2016. He was one of the founders and the first employee of Orchard Therapeutics. He played a key role in the evolution of Orchard from an early clinical-stage biotech to a public, fully integrated company with two commercially approved gene therapies and pioneered the commercialisation of Libmeldy in several European markets. Orchard was acquired by Kyowa in January 2024. In addition to Nicolas' experience in pharma and biotech, he also holds a Master’s degree in International Economics and Law from the Geneva Graduate Institute.

Dimitri is a Professor of Neurology at the UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, and a Fellow of the Royal Society and of the Academy of Medical Sciences. His career has focused on the fundamental mechanisms of synaptic transmission and neuronal and circuit excitability in epilepsy and other neurological disorders for over three decades. He has authored over 250 publications and was the Editor-in-Chief of Brain between 2014 and 2020. More recently, Dimitri has collaborated on several promising strategies for gene therapy of focal epilepsy. His work was recognised with the American Epilepsy Society Basic Science Research Award in 2023.

Caitriona is Senior Business Manager at UCL Business (UCLB) and brings extensive experience in commercialising UCL technologies, including therapies for rare diseases and CNS disorders. Prior to joining UCLB, she worked as a research associate within UCL, contributing to various life science and pharmaceutical research projects covering the areas of tissue engineering, drug delivery, regenerative medicine, biomaterials, and stem cell biology. Caitriona is also Director of companies including Avatar Ltd and Glialign Ltd and holds a PhD in Tissue Engineering from the Open University and an MSc in Neuropharmacology from the National University of Galway, Ireland.

Bernard has over 25 years of drug development experience in government, academia, and industry, and was a practicing neurologist. He is a founder and the Chief Executive Officer of Vima Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotech company developing oral therapies for movement disorders launched in 2025 with $60 million Series A funding led by Atlas Venture. Previously, Bernard has held leadership positions at Biogen, Voyager Therapeutics, and Praxis Precision Medicines.

Federica is Managing Partner of XGEN Venture and currently serves on the boards of Focalis Bio, Protembis, Aavantgarde and InnovHeart. She co-founded XGEN in 2021 leveraging extensive expertise in life sciences and venture capital. Before XGEN, Federica was Investment Director at Genextra from 2006, where she continues to contribute as a board member and co-investor in its portfolio companies. Her previous roles include board positions at Erydel and Kuste Biopharma, as well as operational roles such as COO of Congenia. Federica began her career in academia as a postdoctoral fellow at the Medical Research Council (MRC) in Cambridge, UK, focusing on the structural biology of mitochondrial proteins. She is actively involved in the life sciences community as a co-founder of Italian Angels for Biotech (IAB) and a former board member of Assobiotec. Federica holds an MBA from Columbia University, a PhD specializing in protein crystallography, and a master’s degree in biochemistry (summa cum laude) from the University of La Sapienza in Rome.

Carmine joined British Business Bank in January 2021 from the Northern VCTs, a generalist scaleup investor, where he focused on life sciences investments. Prior to this Carmine was an Investment Executive in the technology ventures team at the Development Bank of Wales. He also has university intellectual property commercialisation experience from his time with Cambridge Enterprise. Carmine holds a PhD in Cardiovascular Medicine from the University of Manchester. Within his current role as Investment Director, Life Sciences in the Bank’s Direct and Co-investment team, he has led the development of direct life sciences investment at the Bank, building a portfolio of 18 companies.

Matthew is Professor of Neurology at UCL in the Department of Clinical and Experimental Epilepsy and a Consultant Neurologist at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery. He is also an expert in epilepsy and neurological sleep disorders. He has published several hundreds of articles on the diagnosis and treatment of epilepsy and novel treatment strategies for drug-resistant epilepsy and prolonged seizures (status epilepticus). He is a member of the Executive Committee of the ILAE (International League Against Epilepsy) and serves as the Chair of ILAE - Europe. In 2013, he received the Ambassador for Epilepsy award from the ILAE. Prof. Walker has MA BChir from Cambridge University and a PhD from University College London.

Stephanie is the Sophia Jex-Blake Professor of Neuroscience at UCL and the Head of the Research Department of Neuroscience, Physiology and Pharmacology (NPP). Prof. Schorge has a long-standing interest in how mutations in ion channels cause neurological diseases, and conversely how manipulating ion channels can be used to treat disease.

Gabriele is Professor of Translational Neuroscience at the UCL Institute of Neurology. The focus of Prof. Lignani’s research lab is on finding novel gene therapy approaches for intractable neurological diseases with rapid potential for translation. He has pioneered the application of cutting-edge technologies such as CRISPR and synthetic promoters as therapeutics strategies for untreatable genetic diseases including Dravet Syndrome and refractory epilepsies. Prof. Lignani is on the editorial boards of Epilepsy Currents and Frontiers in Gene Editing. He was recently awarded the Michael Prize 2023 for the best scientific contribution to progress in the field of experimental epilepsy, and the ILAE European Epilepsy Young Investigator Award 2024, and was elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology.