We are a team of scientists, innovators and entrepreuners
Dr. Danuta Jeziorska
Chief Executive Officer, Academic Founder & Executive Director
Danuta is a deep tech entrepreneur and CEO & Co-Founder of Nucleome Therapeutics, with more than 16 years of experience working in the field, Danuta has deep expertise in gene regulation, transcription, epigenetics, 3D genome analysis and bioinformatics. In acknowledgement of her achievements at Nucleome, Danuta was recently recognised as an outstanding leader in the biotech sector by leading scientific journal Nature Biotechnology. She currently sits on the BIA’s Genomics Advisory Committee, holds an Honorary position at the University of Oxford, has a PhD in Systems Biology and a BSc in Biotechnology. Prior to Nucleome she founded Innovation Forum Oxford, for which she was recognised as one of the top Movers and Shakers in BioBusiness in 2018.
Dr. Nigel Clark
Chief Business Officier
Nigel is the Chief Business Officer of Nucleome Therapeutics. He most recently served as SVP Business Development and a member of the executive team at Kymab which was divested in 2021 to Sanofi for $1.1bn upfront and a further $300M of success-based milestones. Previous roles include Chief Business Officer at Syntaxin (divested to Ipsen Pharma), VP of Business Development at Vernalis and a member of the senior executive committee as well as President, Vernalis Canada. Nigel has also held leadership roles at Ribotargets and British Biotech and was co-head of the biotech business unit at Datamonitor.
He was awarded a Ph.D. from the University of Reading for research conducted into HIV gene regulation and completed his scientific training as a post-doctoral scientist at the Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford.
Dr. Phil Boyd
Chief Financial Officer
Phil is the Chief Financial Officer of Nucleome Therapeutics. He is a qualified management accountant and currently acts as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for private life science company Enterprise Therapeutics Ltd and as a Non-Executive Director and Chair of the audit committee for UK BioCentre Ltd. Between 2016 and 2020 he was also CFO for Caldan Therapeutics Ltd and IGEM Therapeutics Ltd. He was formerly CFO of Syntaxin Ltd from 2007 through to its acquisition by Ipsen in 2013 and remains as the Sellers' Representative; CFO of Tiziana Lifesciences plc from 2014 to 2015, taking it through its IPO in April 2014; and CFO of Oxford BioDynamics plc from 2015 to 2016 in preparation for its IPO in December 2016.
Prior to this, Phil was UK Finance Director of Evotec and Finance Director at Cambridge Discovery Chemistry, and a management consultant with PwC. His early finance experience and training was with Unilever and Kraft Foods.
Phil is a past chair of the finance committee of the BioIndustry Association (BIA) and was a non-executive director of OBN (UK) Ltd. He has a BSc in Biotechnology and a PhD in Genetics from Leeds University, is a fellow of the Royal Society of Biology, and a Visiting Fellow at Durham University Business School.
Dr. Emma Hickman
VP Biology
Emma is the VP Biology of Nucleome. She has a PhD in oncology and her experience spans 20 years in early research and drug discovery, across immunology, oncology and respiratory both within biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. She has a strong interest in identifying biological targets and leading pre-IND work.
Prior to joining Nucleome, Emma was the Head of Discovery at LabGenuis where she identified novel targets and defined the pharmacology strategy for IBD. Before this Emma was Head of Target Validation at Immunocore, joining during the company's infancy, and was responsible for defining the target identification and validation strategy. She built a multidisciplinary team of scientists across target ID, validation and drug discovery, and under her lead the team advanced many projects into the company's pipeline and developed patient selection assays and IND enabling data for multiple clinical stage projects. Earlier in Emma’s career she held a pivotal role at Novartis as part of the respiratory discovery team, where the focus was on early research on both small molecules and biologics.
Dr. Danuta Jeziorska
Chief Executive Officer, Academic Founder & Executive Director
Danuta is a deep tech entrepreneur and CEO & Co-Founder of Nucleome Therapeutics, with more than 16 years of experience working in the field, Danuta has deep expertise in gene regulation, transcription, epigenetics, 3D genome analysis and bioinformatics. In acknowledgement of her achievements at Nucleome, Danuta was recently recognised as an outstanding leader in the biotech sector by leading scientific journal Nature Biotechnology. She currently sits on the BIA’s Genomics Advisory Committee, holds an Honorary position at the University of Oxford, has a PhD in Systems Biology and a BSc in Biotechnology. Prior to Nucleome she founded Innovation Forum Oxford, for which she was recognised as one of the top Movers and Shakers in BioBusiness in 2018.
Prof. Jim Hughes
Academic Founder, Non-Executive Director
Jim is a Founder of Nucleome Therapeutics and a Professor of Gene Regulation at the University of Oxford. His research combines experimental, computational and machine learning based approaches to functionally interpret the non-coding genome and its role in human diseases. His group has developed numerous cutting-edge technologies and tools used world-wide.
Dr. Jonathan Hepple
Non-Executive Director
Jon is a co-founder of Rosetta Capital Limited, a venture capital firm focused on life science and medical technology sectors, where he has served as a Partner since January 2009. He has more than twenty years of investment experience in the life sciences industry. He started his investment career at Rothschild Asset Management before co-founding BioScience Managers Ltd in 2001. He has also served as a partner of Seroba Life Sciences Limited. Dr Hepple has held board director and observer roles in portfolio companies such as Aprea Therapeutics, Covagen AG, Opsona Therapeutics Ltd., Catalyst Biosciences, Glycomimetics, Inc., NovImmune SA and Tranzyme Pharma. He received his PhD from Cambridge University for cancer research.
Bauke Anninga
Non-Executive Director
Bauke is a Principal in the Biotechnology team at M Ventures. He serves on the boards of Immunitas Therapeutics, iOnctura, NanoSyrinx, Pictor Labs and Synaffix,. Before joining M Ventures, he was with Jefferies International in the Healthcare Investment Banking group in London (UK). During his time at Jefferies he advised on several financings and M&A transactions across the biotechnology, pharmaceutical and medical devices sectors. Bauke has a PhD in Cancer Studies from King’s College London (UK) and an MSc in Technical Medicine from the University of Twente (The Netherlands).
Fiona MacLaughlin
Non-Executive Director
Fiona is a Senior Director, Venture Investments, at Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation (JJDC) and sits on the Boards of Calypso Biotech BV, Pulmocide Ltd & AviadoBio Ltd. Prior to joining JJDC, Fiona served as a Director at Inkef Capital. A qualified pharmacist, Fiona is passionate about helping early-stage companies establish a value-building trajectory by engaging and challenging management and creating optimal development plans. Fiona began her career in biotech focusing on the development of non-viral gene therapy and other novel delivery solutions. A fundamental interest in philanthropy led her to the Wellcome Trust and a focus on translational funding, including establishing a fund to support the development of affordable healthcare technologies in India. Fiona’s transition to venture investing began with a move to Advent Life Sciences, where she was involved in helping shape and build a number of early-stage companies including Arrakis Therapeutics.
Rana Al-Hallaq
Non-Executive Director
Rana is an Executive Director and Partner at Pfizer Ventures. She leverages her preclinical, clinical, and business development experience to assess, invest in, and manage equity investments for Pfizer Ventures. She currently has responsibility for Pfizer’s investments in ReCode Therapeutics, Vivet Therapeutics, Mitokinin, Autifony Therapeutics, Blade Therapeutics, RefleXion Medical, Montis, Biograph55, Jnana Therapeutics, Arkuda, and the Dementia Discovery Fund. Prior to her current role, Rana was a Transactionalist in Worldwide Business Development at Pfizer where she was responsible for negotiating and transacting licenses, acquisitions, and partnerships across therapeutic areas. Rana joined Pfizer in 2015 as an Early Candidate Clinical Lead where she advised early clinical programs in CNS to ensure alignment with business strategies. Prior to joining Pfizer, she held roles at Allergan (formerly Actavis, formerly Forest Laboratories), first in Clinical Development Psychiatry as scientific and operational lead on Phase 2 and Phase 3 studies investigating novel treatments for Major Depressive Disorder and schizophrenia, and later in Business Development where she assessed and executed on a number of acquisitions and licenses across therapeutic areas. She began her training as a research fellow at the National Institutes of Health. Rana graduated Summa Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa with a BA in Biology from Hamilton College and holds a PhD in Neuroscience from Georgetown University Medical Center.
Dr. Danuta Jeziorska
Chief Executive Officer, Academic Founder & Executive Director
Danuta is a deep tech entrepreneur and CEO & Co-Founder of Nucleome Therapeutics, with more than 16 years of experience working in the field, Danuta has deep expertise in gene regulation, transcription, epigenetics, 3D genome analysis and bioinformatics. In acknowledgement of her achievements at Nucleome, Danuta was recently recognised as an outstanding leader in the biotech sector by leading scientific journal Nature Biotechnology. She currently sits on the BIA’s Genomics Advisory Committee, holds an Honorary position at the University of Oxford, has a PhD in Systems Biology and a BSc in Biotechnology. Prior to Nucleome she founded Innovation Forum Oxford, for which she was recognised as one of the top Movers and Shakers in BioBusiness in 2018.
Prof. Jim Hughes
Academic Founder, Non-Executive Director
Jim is a Founder of Nucleome Therapeutics and a Professor of Gene Regulation at the University of Oxford. His research combines experimental, computational and machine learning based approaches to functionally interpret the non-coding genome and its role in human diseases. His group has developed numerous cutting-edge technologies and tools used world-wide.
Dr. James Davies
Academic Founder
James is a Founder of Nucleome Therapeutics and Associated Professor at the University of Oxford. His expertise lies in developing novel sequencing-based assays and computational approaches for understanding how the genome functions. He is also a consultant haematologist with an interest in stem cell transplantation and cellular therapy and a fully qualified intensive care physician
Dr. Eliot Forster
CEO of F-Star, former CEO of Immunocore
Eliot is Chief Executive officer of F-star Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ FSTX) and is non-executive Chairman of Avacta plc and non-executive Director of Immatics NV (NASDAQ IMTX). He previously served as Chief Executive Officer of Immunocore, Creabilis Therapeutics, Solace Pharmaceuticals and was Head of Development and Operations for the EU and Asia at Pfizer. He is an honorary visiting Professor of Molecular and Clinical Cancer Medicine at the University of Liverpool and an honorary international visiting Professor at the University of Pavia, Italy. He is also Board member of Office for Strategic Coordination of Health Research and the National Genomics Board. He holds a PhD from University of Liverpool and an MBA from Henley Management College.
Dr. Raymond Barlow BSc, PhD, MBA
CEO of SynOx Therapeutics
Ray has over 20 years’ experience of the biopharmaceutical industry gained through leadership positions in scientific, clinical, commercial, and executive roles. Ray has diverse experience gained in global pharmaceutical companies (AstraZeneca, J&J and Amgen), publicly listed biotech’s (Emergent BioSolutions Inc, Crucell NV, e-Therapeutics PLC and Kiadis NV) and private companies such as Asterion Limited.
Ray has very strong corporate development experience, right across the value chain and has led and closed numerous M&A, licensing, commercial, manufacturing, equity-based and IP-based deals collectively worth multiple billions of dollars. Prior to his industrial career, Ray completed a PhD at Manchester University, UK and did postdoctoral research at McGill University, Canada.
Dr. Rene Russo, BSc, PhD
CEO of Xilio Therapeutics
Dr. Russo is an accomplished biotechnology CEO with over 20 years of experience leading R&D and commercialization in the biopharmaceutical industry. As an executive leader, Dr. Russo has been responsible for early preclinical research through all phases of clinical development, registration, and commercialization of many successful therapies in the US and EU. She is currently the CEO of Xilio Therapeutics, a privately held immuno-oncology company focused on the development of tumor-selective, potent IO therapeutics. Prior to Xilio, Dr. Russo was the President and CEO of Arsanis (NASDAQ: ASNS), a company developing monoclonal antibodies to prevent and treat serious infectious diseases, merged with X4 Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: XFOR) in 2018. Prior to Arsanis, Dr. Russo spent 12 years at Cubist Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: CBST), a leading global anti-infective company (acquired by Merck for $9.6B). At Cubist, she contributed to the successful launch and commercialization of Cubicin (reaching over $1B in sales annually worldwide) and played a key role in the successful integration of two public companies, Optimer Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: OPTR) and Trius Therapeutics (NASDAQ: TSRX). Prior to Cubist, Dr. Russo held R&D roles at Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY) contributing to the successful development and global commercialization of several therapies including Reyataz and Baraclude. Dr. Russo is cofounder and chairman of the board of Adagio Therapeutics (NASDAQ: ADGI) and serves on the boards of Xilio Therapeutics, X4 Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: XFOR), Celsius Therapeutics, and Life Science Cares. Dr. Russo holds a B.S. in pharmacy and a Doctor of Pharmacy degree from Rutgers University and completed a post- doctoral fellowship in infectious diseases with Bristol-Myers Squibb.
Prof. Chas Bountra, PhD.
Pro-Vice Chancellor for Innovation and Professor of Translational Medicine at the University of Oxford. Director of the Centre for Medicines Discovery in the Nuffield Department of Clinical Medicine and Associate Member of the Department of Pharmacology
Chas is the Director of the newly created Centre for Medicines Discovery, he is an invited expert on several government and charitable research funding bodies, and an advisor for many academic, biotech and pharma drug discovery programmes.
Prior to coming back to Oxford in 2008, Chas was Vice President and Head of Biology at GlaxoSmithKline. He was involved in the identification of >40 clinical candidates for many gastro-intestinal, inflammatory and neuro-psychiatric diseases. More than 20 of these molecules progressed into patient studies and >5 of these delivered successful “Proof of Concept” data and hence progressed into late-stage development. He was involved in the launch and development of the first treatment for Irritable Bowel Syndrome (Alosetron) and was the first to show that neurokinin NK1 antagonists are anti-emetic in preclinical and clinical studies. As Director of SGC-Oxford (2008 - mid 2020) he established a leading research group in human protein structural biology and epigenetics chemical biology, and arguably one of the most successful open innovation, public-private partnerships in the world.
Dr. Craig Fox, Ph.D
Operating Partner at OSE, former CSO C4X
Craig is an experienced biologist and NIH funded Principal Investigator who has managed and worked on numerous drug discovery and development projects over more than 20 years in the industry, from initial target selection right through to investigating clinical efficacy and safety in Phase 2 patient studies. Craig is currently an Operating Partner (Life Sciences) at Oxford Science Enterprises. Previously, Craig was CSO and an Executive Board member at C4X Discovery Limited (C4XD) and helped guide their transition from a technology-based company to a therapeutics business, raised >£35m on the UK public market, forged strategic collaborations and oversaw an emerging drug discovery pipeline that has led to multiple licensing deals with Pharma. Prior to joining C4XD, he was Director of Respiratory Research at Pulmagen Therapeutics where he managed several of its collaborations and partnerships. Craig has also previously worked for Argenta Discovery, Etiologics Ltd and Bayer plc. Craig has a PhD in Respiratory Medicine from Birmingham University and a first-class Biochemistry degree from the University of Surrey.
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