OUR MANAGEMENT TEAM

Fiona Nielsen

Chief Executive Officer

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Fiona Nielsen

Chief Executive Officer

Fiona Nielsen is a serial entrepreneur with a background in computer science, bioinformatics and genomics. Her experience spans across research and industry applications related to bioinformatic analysis of large-scale genetic data. She worked at Illumina on the analysis, interpretation and development of analysis tools for next-generation sequencing data, interfacing with prospective customers of clinical genomic instruments and worked for Genomics England to establish their first analytical platform for genomics data. In 2013 Fiona founded the charity DNAdigest promoting best practices for efficient and ethical data sharing for genomics research for the benefit of patients. She next founded the startup Repositive, a company that focused on sharing of genetic data and patient-derived cancer models for preclinical research. Fiona led Repositive for 7 years as CEO, partnering with 25+ biopharma and preclinical CROs worldwide creating a global marketplace for patient-derived cancer models. In 2021 Fiona moved to become COO of o2h Technology and was shortly after promoted to CEO. In this role she has been leading the company developing customized software for startups in life science, health tech and greentech. She has extensive experience in venture fundraising, company building and leadership, as well as developing business strategies around data and cell models. Fiona Nielsen has accumulated several accolades, among them Highly Commended for CEO of the year by Cambridge Independent Science and Technology Awards as well as WISE100 – Women in Social Enterprise. Fiona is a highly sought after speaker and mentor for companies in life sciences and technology. Fiona joined Neurolentech on a part-time basis from December 2022 and full-time from April 2023.

Carsten Pfeffer, PhD

Co-Founder and CSO

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Carsten Pfeffer, PhD

Co-Founder and CSO

Carsten Pfeffer is a pharmacologist with work experience in the pharmaceutical industry. After a PhD focusing on the molecular analysis of neurological disease models in Berlin (Germany), he pursued physiological and molecular studies of neural circuits at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute & University of California San Diego (USA), as a fellow of the European Molecular Biology Organisation. Carsten has extensive experience in transcriptomic and functional analysis of single neurons and morphological anatomical characterization of brain circuits. His work has been published in journals such as Nature Neuroscience, EMBO J, Journal of Neuroscience, and Current Biology. He is alumni of the highly selective LBG Innovator's Road and the IECT Summer School on Entrepreneurship.

OUR CO-FOUNDERS

Gaia Novarino, PhD

Co-Founder and Scientific Advisor

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Gaia Novarino, PhD

Co-Founder and Scientific Advisor

Gaia Novarino is a full professor of neuroscience at IST Austria and one of three vice presidents. Her focus is on genetics and molecular mechanisms of neurodevelopmental disorders. She has published groundbreaking studies in prestigious journals such as Science, Cell, Nature Neuroscience. She was one of the first to describe a genetic form of autism and epilepsy that can be treated and reversed through nutritional supplementation. She is a Simons Foundation SFARI investigator, ERC Starting and Consolidator grant holder (2017-2022, 2023-2028), FENS Kavli Network Fellow, and recipient of the Boehringer Ingelheim FENS Research Award. She has an intrinsic motivation and enthusiasm to bring excellent and novel research developments to benefit patients, with a keen interest in translational medicine and entrepreneurship. Gaia Novarino is a co-founder and scientific advisor of Neurolentech. Her national and international network among scientists and clinicians will be important to Neurolentech´s lasting success. She, also, co- founded Solgate, a pre-clinical drug development company focused on SLC transporters with currently ~20 employees.

Christoph Bock, PhD

Co-Founder and Scientific Advisor

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Christoph Bock, PhD

Co-Founder and Scientific Advisor

Christoph Bock is a Principal Investigator at the CeMM Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences and Professor of [Bio]Medical Informatics at the Medical University of Vienna. His research combines experimental biology (high-throughput sequencing, epigenetics, CRISPR screening, synthetic biology) with computational methods (bioinformatics, machine learning, artificial intelligence) – for cancer, immunology, and precision medicine. Before coming to Vienna, he was a postdoc at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard (2008-2011) and a PhD student at the Max Planck Institute for Informatics (2004-2008). Christoph Bock is also a informatics group leader at the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Rare and Undiagnosed Diseases (LBI-RUD), coordinator of an EU Horizon 2020 project that contributes single-cell sequencing of human organoids to the Human Cell Atlas, and fellow of the European Lab for Learning and Intelligent Systems (ELLIS). He has received important research awards, including the Otto Hahn Medal of the Max Planck Society (2009), an ERC Starting Grant (2016-2021), an ERC Consolidator Grant (2021-2026), and the Overton Prize of the International Society for Computational Biology (2017). He has been included in the global list of “Highly Cited Researchers” by Clarivate Analytics (ISI Web of Science) in each year since 2019. He co-founded Myllia Biotechnology, a Vienna-based startup company that develops and applies single-cell methods for high- throughput biology and drug discovery (currently ~40 employees). Christoph Bock is a co-founder and scientific advisor of Neurolentech. He contributes key expertise in high-throughput technology, bioinformatics and machine learning, as well as a strong global network in the field of single-cell biology. Beyond his computational research on human diseases, Christoph runs a sequencing core facility and engages in enhancing “genetic literacy” in the Austrian population through teaching, outreach and advocacy (e.g., https://nature.com/articles/537009a).

OUR TEAM

Eva Reinthaler, PhD

Senior Research Scientist

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Eva Reinthaler, PhD

Senior Research Scientist

Eva is a senior scientist at Neurolentech and is mainly involved in cellular reprogramming and management of NLT’s clinical collaborators. She has a strong background in stem cell and neuronal culture, as well as organoids. Eva holds a PhD in Neuroscience with a focus on epilepsy genetics.

Melanie Pieraks, MSc

Senior Research Associate/Lab Manager

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Melanie Pieraks, MSc

Senior Research Associate/Lab Manager

Melanie is the Lab Manager at Neurolentech, she is part of the team since the beginning and is evolved with the company and a number of different challenges. Melanie is involved in the coordination of clinical data/cell lines from collaborators, administrative tasks, purchase and budget for reagents/consumables and accounting tasks. She organizes and coordinates the laboratory infrastructure and social outings with joy and is responsible for the management of Neurolentech´s cryobank. Melanie holds a Master of Science and is a Clinical Trial Specialist.

Karin Stecher, PhD

Senior Research Scientist

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Karin Stecher, PhD

Senior Research Scientist

Karin is a senior scientist at Neurolentech, working primarily on neuronal differentiation, automation and project management. She is a molecular biologist by training with a specialization in epigenetics. During her PhD, she developed a particular interest in neuroscience by uncovering the mechanism of a genetic disorder characterized by neurodevelopmental defects, including autism.

Federico Salaris, PhD

Senior Research Scientist

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Federico Salaris, PhD

Senior Research Scientist

Federico is a senior research scientist working as main responsible in the characterization of SLC13A5 epilepsy. During his PhD, he studied neurodevelopmental disorders combining induced pluripotent stem cell potential and gene editing technology. At Neurolentech, Federico is developing and characterizing cell culture models based on patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells to identify new biomarkers for pharmacological treatment in SLC13A5 epilepsy.

Camilla Bosone, PhD

Senior Research Scientist

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Camilla Bosone, PhD

Senior Research Scientist

Camilla is a senior scientist motivated to fill the gap between current top-notch research and precision medicine available to neurodevelopmental disease patients. With a MSc in developmental biology and a PhD in molecular biology focusing on 3D human brain organoids patterning, Camilla applies her background knowledge to Neurolentech's effort in disease modelling by engineering cell lines with CRISPR technology and generating iNeurons. Her research interests span from microelectrode array recording to bioinformatic analysis of RNA seq data, to characterize Neurolentech's phenotypically diverse collection of patient-derived cells

Maria Pires, MSc

Research Associate

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Maria Pires, MSc

Research Associate

Maria is a researcher focusing on the cellular reprogramming of somatic cells into brain cells. Maria worked in several institution around the globe, passing through several fields, including cell models, drug targetting for inflamatory pathways and neuron isolation from mouse models. At Neurolentech Maria spends her time caring for patient cells, making sure they are up to standard to be integrated into our cell models. Maria holds a Master of Science from the University of Stockhom.

João Cortinhas, MSc

Research Associate

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João Cortinhas, MSc

Research Associate

João is a researcher mainly working in somatic cell reprogramming. With a diverse background encompassing a MSc in Bioengineering with a specialization in Molecular Biotechnology, he has previously employed RNA therapeutics and nanomedicine to develop novel therapies against neurological disorders, becoming proficient with neuronal cell culture and cell models.