Our People

MANAGEMENT & SCIENCE TEAM
Dr Valeria Ricotti
Chief Executive Officer & Co-Founder
BIO
Prof Thomas Voit
Chief Scientific Officer & Co-Founder
BIO
John McLaren
Executive Chairman & Co-Founder
BIO
Dr Eva Kritikou
Senior Director Program Lead
BIO
Dr Rachele Rossi
Scientific Director
BIO
Pierpaolo Ala
Senior Project Manager
BIO
Antigone Fogel
Machine Learning Scientist
BIO
Scientific Advisory Board
Prof Kevin Talbot
BIO
Prof Payam Barnaghi
BIO
Prof Dame Pamela Shaw  
BIO
Dr Michiel Vandenbosch
BIO
Prof Albert Ludolph
BIO
Dr Umesh Muchhal
BIO
Prof Paolo Pinton
BIO
Dr Federica Cerri
BIO
Prof Julie Dumonceaux
BIO
Sean McGrath
BIO
Current Scientific collaborators
Dr Tommaso Iannitti
BIO
Prof Ammar Al-Chalabi
BIO
Prof Valeria Sansone
BIO
Prof Ramin Nilforooshan
BIO
Prof Alessandra Ferlini
BIO
Dr Carlotta Giorgi
BIO
Dr Maria Sofia Falzarano
BIO
Dr Mariasole Perrone
BIO
Dr Serena Barral
BIO
Dr Alexander Capstick
BIO
Board of Directors
John McLaren
Executive Chairman
& Co-Founder
BIO
Dr Valeria Ricotti
Chief Executive Officer
& Co-Founder
BIO
Prof Thomas Voit
Chief Scientific Officer
& Co-Founder
BIO
Prof Julie Dumonceaux
Director
BIO
Elie Vannier
Non-Executive Director
BIO
Oscar Schafer
Non-Executive Director
BIO
Simon Black
Non-Executive Director
BIO

Dr Valeria Ricotti

Chief Executive Officer & Co-Founder

Honorary Clinical Lecturer at UCL. Co-inventor of five patents. Held senior positions in two US biotechs and co-founded Dinaqor, a successful Swiss gene therapy platform company. Highly experienced in drug development, with multiple publications in the field and two recent papers in Nature Medicine.

Prof Thomas Voit

Chief Scientific Officer & Co-Founder

Director of the National Institute of Health Research Great Ormond Street Biomedical Research Centre, Vice-Dean for Innovation and Enterprise, Faculty of Population Health Sciences, UCL. Has over 20 years’ experience in developing new therapies, in vitro assay testing, and biomarkers. Published 300+ scientific papers and filed over 20 patents.

John McLaren

Executive Chairman & Co-Founder

Originally a diplomat, held senior positions in three major investment banks and was a General Partner in a leading San Francisco venture capital group. Extensive board experience in both public and private companies in the UK, US and Japan. Substantial experience in the healthcare field, both commercially and pro-bono.

Dr Eva Kritikou

Senior Director Program Lead

An immunologist by training, she brings extensive experience across academic research, CRO operations, and biotech programme leadership. She holds a PhD from Leiden University and completed her postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard Medical School, specialising in cardiovascular immunology.

Following her academic career, she held roles at Charles River Laboratories and MAT Research, where she led programme activities spanning preclinical assay development, biomarker research, and animal-free pyrogen testing strategies.

Dr Rachele Rossi

Scientific Director

A Medical geneticist with extensive experience in academic research in the field of neuromuscular disorders, especially on gene and genetic therapies. She was Principal and co-Principal Investigator in several preclinical projects at University College London and the University of Ferrara. She also covers the role of topic and guest editor for numerus scientific journals and is a member of the topical advisory panel of the International Journal of Molecular Science, along with her role of associate consultant for consultancy firms.

Pierpaolo Ala

Senior Project Manager

An expert in Biobanking and Ethical Governance. He has worked in Biobank and Project management roles within both academic and non-academic environments. Previously, he held a position as Senior Research Biobank Coordinator at University College London and brings over a decade of experience in biobanking of human biospecimens and coordination of translational research projects in the field of neuromuscular disorders.

Antigone Fogel

Machine Learning Scientist

Machine learning scientist and is currently pursuing her PhD at Imperial College London. Her research focuses on developing predictive models for risk analysis and trajectory mapping before and after dementia diagnosis. Her academic interests include clinically applicable machine learning methods, medical technologies, and the influence of comorbidity and lifestyle factors on dementia risk and disease progression.

Prof Kevin Talbot

Consultant Neurologist, Professor of Motor Neurone Biology and Head of Department at the University of Oxford Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences. Founded the Oxford MND Clinic in 2001. His research interest is in understanding the molecular basis of motor neuron and other neurodegenerative disorders.

Prof Payam Barnaghi

Chair in Machine Intelligence Applied to Medicine and Deputy Head of Division of Neurology in the Department of Brain Sciences at Imperial College London. He is a Principal Investigator and Group Lead for Translational Machine Intelligence in the Care Research and Technology Centre at the UK Dementia Research Institute. He is an associate editor of the IEEE Transactions on Big Data and vice-chair of the IEEE SIG on Big Data Intelligent Networking.

Prof Dame Pamela Shaw  

Professor of Neurology at the University of Sheffield and Director of the Sheffield Institute for Translational Neuroscience (SITraN), one of the world’s leading centers for ALS/MND research. A world-leading researcher in motor neuron disease, she has held extensive leadership roles at national/international levels. She has systematically built scientific and clinical facilities and diverse, multidisciplinary teams to deliver effective translational research for neurodegeneration.

Dr Michiel Vandenbosch

Facility Manager at the Imaging Mass Spectrometry CORE Lab at Maastricht University. He obtained a PhD in Forensic Toxicology from KU Leuven, in Belgium.

In 2020, he joined M4i (Maastricht University) as a post-doc research scientist working on Parkinson’s Disease.

Prof Albert Ludolph

Professor and Chairman of the Department of Neurology at the University Hospital and Medical Faculty of Ulm. Also Acting Director of the Academic Neuroscience Centre at Ulm University. Established and leads the ALS-Centre at Ulm University Hospital where he directs a multidisciplinary team for ALS care, clinical and experimental research.

Dr Umesh Muchhal

Senior Vice President of Antibody Sciences at IGM Biosciences, Inc. with 24 + years of biotech industry experience, he has played a key role in developing novel antibody-based therapeutics. Dr. Muchhal has led and mentored large teams, managed cross-functional collaborations across design, biology, analytical, CMC, preclinical, clinical, and regulatory operations. He possesses extensive experience in business development, licensing, value creation, and managing multiple biopharma collaborations.

Prof Paolo Pinton

Professor of General Pathology at the University of Ferrara. He is a world leading expert in the field of calcium homeostasis and the role of mitochondria in health and disease. His main line of research focuses on the study of cell death processes in relation to mitochondrial diseases, with the aim of identifying altered signaling pathways as new potential pharmacological target in various pathological contexts.

Dr Federica Cerri

Neurologist and Head of the ALS group at the NeMO Clinical Center in Milan, where she leads a multidisciplinary team focusing on integrated ALS patient management Also serves on the Medical-Scientific Commission of AISLA APS, developing guidelines and research to improve diagnosis, treatment, and care for ALS patients and their families.

Prof Julie Dumonceaux

Professor in the Neuroscience Department at UCL and Visiting Professor at Ulster University. An expert in developing innovative therapies for neuromuscular diseases, including dystrophies and ALS. Published 70+ scientific papers. Previously worked in Institut de Myologie in Paris and Genethon (Evry, France).

Sean McGrath

Sean McGrath is the My Name is Doddie Foundation’s Medical Strategy Lead. He is a management consultant with a background in healthcare and general management. Sean has a wealth of knowledge and experience in the cancer and rare diseases environment, built over almost thirty years.

Dr Tommaso Iannitti

Senior scientific and translational leader with extensive experience across neurology and oncology within global biopharmaceutical organisations. His work focuses on translational science, clinical development, and the advancement of innovative therapies from discovery to market, with particular expertise in neurodegenerative diseases including Motor Neuron Disease (MND). Author of over 100 peer-reviewed publications spanning neurology and oncology.

Prof Ammar Al-Chalabi

Professor of Neurology and Complex Disease Genetics at King’s College London, Director of the King’s Motor Neuron Disease Care and Research Centre, and consultant neurologist at King’s College Hospital. His research focuses on the causes, modifiers, and potential treatments for ALS. He co-directs the UK MND Research Institute, co-leads the international Project MinE whole-genome sequencing initiative, and has received multiple international awards for his contributions to ALS research.

Prof Valeria Sansone

Professor of Neurology at the University of Milan and Clinical and Scientific Director of the NeMO Clinical Centre Milan, a dedicated hospital unit committed to the study and the care of Neuromuscular Diseases. With over 30 years of experience in clinical research on neuromuscular diseases, she is recognized nationally and internationally as one of the leading experts on neurodegenerative and neuromuscular diseases.

Prof Ramin Nilforooshan

Professor in Psychiatry at the University of Surrey and  a consultant psychiatrist for older adults in Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS FT (SaBP)). He is the director for R&D in his organisation and is the Dementia Speciality Lead for Clinical Research Network in Kent Surrey and Sussex. He is the Principal Investigator and Chief Investigator for number of national and international clinical trials and has considerable experience running clinical trials. He is also the Clinical Lead for Dementia Research Institute CR&T Imperial.

Prof Alessandra Ferlini

Professor of Medical Genetics and Director of the Medical Genetics Unit at the University of Ferrara. She is also honorary visiting professor at University College of London and a member of several neuromuscular disease research groups and care networks in Europe. Her researches focus on genomics, transcriptomics and novel therapeutic strategies in muscular dystrophies, as well as innovative aspects of molecular diagnostics.

Dr Carlotta Giorgi

An internationally recognised scientist specialising in cell signalling and mitochondrial biology. She is a Professor at the University of Ferrara and has led extensive translational research, publishing widely in high-impact journals. Her work has contributed to multiple international collaborations at the interface of fundamental and translational biomedicine.

Dr Maria Sofia Falzarano

Researcher in the Department of Medical Science in Ferrara. An expert in translational in vitro studies, with 20 + years of experience in molecular and cellular biology for neuromuscular diseases.
Lead scientist in Pinton’s lab, she  is responsible for in vitro experiments and immunohistochemistry analyses. Published 50+ scientific papers in the field.

Dr Mariasole Perrone

Holds an MSc in Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Biotechnology and a PhD in Biomedical Sciences and Biotechnology from the University of Ferrara. Her research focuses on translational studies, molecular characterisation, and biomarker analysis.From 2019 to 2023, she worked as a post-doctoral researcher in the Department of Medical Sciences at the University of Ferrara. She is currently a PTA in the same department, supporting ongoing preclinical and translational research.

Dr Serena Barral

Lecturer in Neurosciences at UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, her expertise is in childhood-onset neurological disorders, including rare forms of Parkinson’s disease. Her research uses human stem cell–derived brain models to study neurodevelopment and disease mechanisms, and to identify and test new therapeutic strategies. By integrating developmental neuroscience with clinically relevant approaches, her work aims to advance treatments for neurological conditions beginning early in life.

Dr Alexander Capstick

He recently completed his PhD at Imperial College London, where he researched machine learning approaches for remote healthcare monitoring in dementia care within the Translational Machine Intelligence Lab. He holds a BSc in Mathematics from UCL and an MSc in Applied Mathematics from Imperial College London, with research interests focused on applying machine learning to healthcare.

John McLaren

Executive Chairman
& Co-Founder

Originally a diplomat, held senior positions in three major investment banks and was a General Partner in a leading San Francisco venture capital group. Extensive board experience in both public and private companies in the UK, US and Japan. Substantial experience in the healthcare field, both commercially and pro-bono.

Dr Valeria Ricotti

Chief Executive Officer
& Co-Founder

Honorary Clinical Lecturer at UCL. Co-inventor of five patents. Held senior positions in two US biotechs and co-founded Dinaqor, a successful Swiss gene therapy platform company. Highly experienced in drug development, with multiple publications in the field and two recent papers in Nature Medicine.

Prof Thomas Voit

Chief Scientific Officer
& Co-Founder

Director of the National Institute of Health Research Great Ormond Street Biomedical Research Centre, Vice-Dean for Innovation and Enterprise, Faculty of Population Health Sciences, UCL. Has over 20 years’ experience in developing new therapies, in vitro assay testing, and biomarkers. Published 300+ scientific papers and filed over 20 patents.

Prof Julie Dumonceaux

Director

Professor in the Neuroscience Department at UCL and Visiting Professor at Ulster University. An expert in developing innovative therapies for neuromuscular diseases, including dystrophies and ALS. Published 70+ scientific papers. Previously worked in Institut de Myologie in Paris and Genethon (Evry, France).

Elie Vannier

Non-Executive Director

After a distinguished career in media as Chief Editor at RTL and News Director at Antenne 2, he moved to investment banking, before becoming a Board Member or Chair at many companies: Grand Vision, Delsey, Strafor-Facom, Ingenico, Hovione and Robertet. An investor in the pharma industry for 25+ years, was Professor at Sciences Po, Paris, and remains a Visiting Professor in International Law at Beijing University.

Oscar Schafer

Non-Executive Director

Chairman of Rivulet Capital, which he established in 2012. Prior to that, he operated O.S.S. Capital Management and was a member of Cumberland Associates and partner at Steinhardt, Fine, Berkowitz & Company. Schafer received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Harvard in 1961 and 1964, respectively. He joined the Phil’s board of directors in 2007 and was named chairman in December 2014 after serving as chair of a Board committee. Schafer is a philanthropist and chairman emeritus of the New York Philharmonic.

Simon Black

Non-Executive Director

Following 20 years as a Partner at Allen & Overy based in China and Japan, co-founded Lexical Labs, which uses AI technology to negotiate contracts. Also a founding investor in Zenobe, an advanced battery solutions company. Pro-bono activities include helping victims of violence seeking legal redress and other support in their recovery from war crimes and trauma.

Our People