Careers in Discovery

Søren Melsing is the CEO of EXOCURE, a company harnessing the therapeutic and delivery potential of exosomes across oncology, inflammation, and beyond. In this episode of Careers in Discovery, Søren shares his journey from chemical engineer to Biotech CEO, including leadership roles in R&D, commercial strategy, and company-building across Europe. He talks about learning by doing, transitioning...

This week on Careers in Discovery, we’re joined by Remi-Martin Laberge, Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of Arda Therapeutics. Remi shares his journey from academic research to building companies, the lessons he learned at Unity Biotechnology, and how Arda is using single-cell sequencing and targeted antibodies to eliminate disease-driving cells in chronic conditions. We talked about the le...

In this episode of Careers in Discovery, we’re joined by Markus Gruell, Senior Vice President of Corporate Quality at Autolus, one of the UK’s leading CAR-T therapy pioneers. Markus takes us behind the scenes of Autolus’ journey from a UCL spinout to a commercial-stage Biopharma company, offering a rare look at how quality underpins every part of the drug development lifecycle. From working across...

Our guest this week, Lara Campana is SVP of Research & Translational Science and a co-founder of Resolution Therapeutics, a company developing regenerative macrophage therapies for inflammatory and fibrotic diseases. In this episode of Careers in Discovery, Lara shares her journey from medical Biotechnology student in Milan to Biotech executive in the UK, and why she’s been fascinated by macro...

After nearly two decades at GSK, Pascal Lestrate took a leap into Biotech, joining Vicebio as Chief Preclinical Science Officer. In this episode of Careers in Discovery, Pascal shares how the shift from big pharma to early-stage Biotech gave him a chance to return to hands-on science - and start with a blank page. We explore the pioneering work Vicebio is doing on multi-pathogen respiratory vaccin...

From New Delhi to Kentucky to Biotech founder, Lalit Sharma’s journey into drug discovery has been one of relentless learning and ambition. In this episode, Lalit shares how his love for chemistry led him from a PhD in organic synthesis to leading cutting-edge drug discovery programs that reached clinical trials. Now the founder and CEO of a stealth-mode company tackling the data gap in AI-driven...

In this episode of Careers in Discovery, we’re joined by Jelena Aleksic, a serial entrepreneur, business coach, and director at SparkBio. Jelena shares her fascinating journey from genetics researcher to founder and start-up builder, including the lessons she learned from creating seven businesses across life sciences, tech, and even live entertainment. She opens up about her transition from acade...

After nearly two decades in big pharma, Lars van der Veen made the leap to entrepreneurship, co-founding iOnctura, a clinical-stage Biotech developing low-disruption therapies that target the tumour-stroma crosstalk to improve patient outcomes in cancer. In this episode of Careers in Discovery, Lars shares his journey from medicinal chemist to Biotech CSO, the lessons he learned building a company...

In this episode of Careers in Discovery, Emma is joined by Juozas Gordevicius, founder of VUGENE, a bioinformatics company making complex multi-omics data analysis accessible to scientists across academia and industry. Juozas joined us to talk about his unconventional journey from computer science into the world of life sciences, how a chance meeting with an epigenetics professor changed his caree...

In this episode of Careers in Discovery, we’re joined by Mirko Buchholz, Co-founder and Managing Director at PerioTrap Pharmaceuticals, a Biotech company on a mission to revolutionize oral health by tackling one of the most widespread and underestimated diseases in the world - periodontitis. Mirko shares how a passion for chemistry and biology sparked his journey into drug discovery, and how his t...

In this episode of Careers in Discovery, Tom meets with Annelise Vuidepot, Chief Technology Officer and UK Site Head at Immunocore, one of the UK’s most successful Biotech companies. Annelise was there on day one in 2000, when Immunocore spun out from Oxford University, and she’s been at the heart of the company’s pioneering work in T-cell receptor-based therapies ever since. She shares her story...

In this episode of Careers in Discovery, Emma is joined by Robert Fletcher, co-founder and CEO of Nanolyx, a company developing sustainable antimicrobial technologies that could help solve one of the world’s biggest challenges: antimicrobial resistance. Robert shares his unconventional path into Biotech - from working every entry-level job under the sun to returning to school in his thirties to st...

In this episode of Careers in Discovery, we’re joined by Søren Bregenholt, CEO of Alligator Bioscience, a company developing tumour-directed immunotherapies to treat aggressive cancers such as pancreatic cancer. Søren shares his journey from academic immunologist to biotech CEO, including pivotal moments in his career - from his experiences at the Pasteur Institute, to building his Biotech educati...

In this episode of Careers in Discovery, Emma meets with Chelsea Trengrove, CEO & co-founder of Neoclease, a start-up pioneering AI-designed, gene-specific editors that aim to overcome the safety, specificity, and scalability challenges of CRISPR-based therapies. Chelsea shares how her lifelong fascination with the brain and a PhD in neuroscience evolved into a career at the intersection of de...

From a childhood hospital bed to the founding of her own Biotech company, Ulrika Norin’s journey into drug discovery has been anything but conventional. In this episode of Careers in Discovery, we speak with the founder and CEO of Serendo Therapeutics about her mission to transform treatment for autoimmune disease - starting with a breakthrough she made during her PhD. Ulrika shares how a long-sta...

In this episode of Careers in Discovery, we’re joined by Jostein Dahle, Chief Technology Officer at Blue Wave Therapeutics. Jostein has spent over two decades in radionuclide therapy, taking discoveries from the lab to patients. Now, he's developing a new treatment for glioblastoma, one of the most aggressive and challenging brain cancers, using targeted radionuclide therapy derived from Norwegian...

This week on Careers in Discovery, we’re joined by Karin Conde-Knape, Senior Vice President of Global Drug Discovery at Novo Nordisk. Karin’s career has taken her from a PhD in cardiovascular science to leadership roles in big pharma, business development, and drug discovery. Now, she oversees early-stage research, external innovation, and portfolio strategy at one of the world’s most successful p...

This week on Careers in Discovery, we welcome back Dave Hallett, now Chief Scientific Officer at Recursion, following the recent merger with Exscientia. The last five years have been transformative for Dave, from leading AI-driven drug discovery at Exscientia to navigating one of Biotech’s biggest IPOs and stepping into the CEO role in a challenging market. Now, he’s focused on proving that AI-des...

This week on Careers in Discovery, Emma sits down with Mikko Turunen, founder and CSO of RNatives, a company pioneering RNA activation for therapeutic use. Mikko’s journey has taken him from academia to Biotech entrepreneurship, with more than 25 years in gene therapy. He shares the story behind RNatives, the challenges of launching a company in a tough funding climate, and the resilience required...

This week on Careers in Discovery, Emma is joined by Josef Christensen, Chief Operating Officer at ImmuneAGE Bio. Josef started out in academia, completing a PhD at Harvard Stem Cell Institute, before moving into consulting, venture capital, pharma, and Biotech startups. Now, he’s leading efforts to rejuvenate the immune system and combat age-related disease. He shares his journey from scientist t...

In this episode of Careers in Discovery, Tom sits down with Dominique Verhelle, Co-Founder, President and CEO of NextRNA Therapeutics, a company pioneering the use of long non-coding RNAs in drug discovery. Dominique takes us through her unconventional journey - from aspiring flight attendant to Biotech entrepreneur - sharing the pivotal moments that shaped her career. She talks about the challeng...

In this episode of Careers in Discovery, we’re joined by Christian Schroeter, Chief Operating Officer and Managing Director at Topas Therapeutics. Christian’s work focuses on developing immune tolerance therapies for autoimmune diseases, using nanoparticle technology to retrain the immune system. With Topas recently completing a Phase 2a trial in coeliac disease, he shares the excitement of leadin...

In this episode of Careers in Discovery, Emma is joined by Theonie Anastassiadis, Senior Principal at Flagship Pioneering and Founding President of Prologue Medicines. Theonie’s work is all about uncovering ground-breaking biology and turning it into transformative Biotech companies. She shares her journey from academia to venture creation, her experience co-founding multiple Biotech start-ups, an...

On this episode of Careers in Discovery, we spoke with Riccardo Panella, Founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Resalis Therapeutics, and Associate Professor at the Center of RNA Medicine in Copenhagen. Riccardo shared his journey from academia to Biotech entrepreneurship, discussing how a serendipitous discovery during his postdoctoral research at Harvard led him to explore the role of microRNAs...

This week on Careers in Discovery, we spoke with Graham Dempsey, CSO of Quiver Bioscience, to talk about his journey from a passion for sports medicine to leading a company at the cutting edge of neuroscience drug discovery. Graham shared how Quiver is combining stem cell models, optogenetics, and AI to study brain diseases at an unprecedented scale, and what he’s learned from spending over a deca...