Meet The Team

Michalis is an experienced biotech professional with a background in Protein Biochemistry, Computational Biology and Genomics. He is a Fulbright scholar and holds degrees from the University of Kansas and the Johns Hopkins University. He has over 12 years of professional experience, having held positions at the J. Craig Venter Institute (USA), the Joint Genome Institute (USA) and DNAnexus (USA). Most recently, he was Vice President and Head of Genomics at LifeMine Therapeutics (USA), a drug discovery company that uses genomics to discover new medicines from fungi. He is passionate about using genome mining to discover and develop novel or improved technologies from nature.

Georgia is a molecular biologist who specializes in multiomics technologies and artificial intelligence, seamlessly bridging basic research and drug discovery. With a doctoral degree in biology and over a decade of experience, she has effectively led high-profile initiatives in precision medicine and oncology, showcasing a profound understanding of the field's intricacies. Throughout her extensive professional journey, she has held leadership roles at prestigious institutions such as the Karolinska Institutet and within the life science industry, where her adeptness in driving proactive business development strategies was evident. Georgia's commitment to excellence is apparent in her ability to deliver positive outcomes, establishing her as a valuable asset in advancing science and healthcare. Currently, she serves as Scientific Project Manager at the Center for Neurogenomics at Mount Sinai in New York, USA, where her dedication to advancing science and healthcare continues to make an impact.

Nikos Kyrpides is a distinguished bioscientist and a globally renowned expert in microbial genomics and data science. His groundbreaking research has significantly advanced our understanding of microorganisms, including bacteria and viruses. Since 2004, he works at the Joint Genome Institute (JGI) of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California, where he directs the Microbiome Data Science program and the Prokaryotic Strategic Coordination, two of the world's most prominent initiatives in microbiome genomics. Over his career, Kyrpides has received numerous prestigious awards and honors, including recognition as one of the most influential scientists worldwide by Clarivate. With over 700 peer-reviewed publications, his contributions have left an indelible mark on the field of microbiology.

Georgios is a bioinformatician mainly focusing on Comparative Genomics, Metagenomics, Integrative Biology, and Visualization. He is a computer scientist by training (NKUA, Greece) and an MSc holder in Bioinformatics (Uni. Leeds, UK). He has received his MBA jointly from AUEB and NTUA (Greece) and holds a Ph.D. in Bioinformatics from EMBL-Heidelberg (Germany). He has served as a PostDoctoral Research Scientist in several Universities and Centers, such as the University of Crete (Greece), KU Leuven (Belgium), and Lawrence Berkeley Lab (USA). He has worked as a bioinformatics consultant for several companies in the USA and since 2018, he has been the Director of Bioinformatics (Research Associate Professor) as well as an elected member of the Scientific Board at the IFBR-BSRC 'Alexander Fleming' Institute (Athens, Greece). As of 2024, he has been appointed the role of Director of Research (Research Full Professor). His contributions to the field have led to recognition as one of the top 2% of scientists globally in his domain according to the Stanford list.

Victoria holds a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the University of Cambridge and a BSc in Biochemistry and Microbiology from King's College London, from which she has an Associate Degree in Philosophy as well. She started her career as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Neuroendocrinology Lab in Rockefeller University, New York, and had affiliations as a Research Fellow with Universities of Athens (Neurosurgery) and Patras (Engineering) before making a career shift to business. Most of her career is in the Technology Sector and she has significant leadership experience across technology and commercial roles with both multinationals such as Microsoft as well as start-up/scale-up companies. She is a founder of Insaitu, a company deeply rooted in innovation working on 'augmented intelligence technologies' in the fields of applied neuroscience, healthcare, and sustainability. Since 2018, she is a fellow of the University of Cambridge Judge Business School where she supports initiatives, innovators, and companies that primarily focus on addressing challenges with global impact.

Leda is an internationally trained physician-entrepreneur. She combines 15 years of medical practice, entrepreneurship, applied startup strategy and operations in the fields of precision medicine, life sciences and digital health. Leda served as the Chief Business Officer for neuroFit, a Silicon Valley NASA spin-off, leveraging eye-tracking technology to create a vital sign for brain health. She joined at pre-seed stage, and as neuroFit’s entrepreneurial lead on a $25K National Science Foundation (NSF) award for customer and stakeholder discovery, brought insights that led to corporate strategy pivot for healthcare and defense markets. This helped bring neuroFit into three accelerators, Jumpstart Foundry, Berkeley Skydeck and the FedTech SBIR Army Accelerator and helped secure a total of $2.4M of undiluted funding in research and DoD grants. Prior to this role she was the Strategy & Clinical Development Lead at DiscernDx, doing business as Naring Health, a Precision Medicine startup incubated by the Silicon Valley Sun Microsystems Founder, Vinod Khosla and Khosla Ventures. She led the design of Clinical pathways of Multiple Liquid Biopsy Test Bundles (IBS & IBD, NASH & Diabetes type II & CAD, Fibromyalgia & RA & SLE), helped design the deck that secured venture funding twice and consulted on strategy that led to the acquisition of Foodome, Inc., and strategic repositioning of the company as a digital health and nutrition startup. She then led the development of Naring Health's App, the Naring Navigator, a wellness ritual around food based on cutting edge medical research. The Naring Navigator app was part of Naring Health’s comprehensive digital health & nutrition program designed to help people achieve better health outcomes. Naring Health was acquired by Viome.Inc., a microbiome startup in 2023. She has served as the NSF I Corps entrepreneurial lead and advisor four times in different startups. Her passion for promoting entrepreneurship, supporting startups and her expertise in Lean LaunchPad methodology, customer discovery interviews and tools such as the business model canvas, led her to positions of Honors Fellow Industry Mentor at UC Berkeley Coleman Fung Institute for Engineering Leadership and an Industry Mentor at Hacking for Defense, Stanford. In this latter role she supports efforts to solve National Security Issues with the Lean Launchpad. She served as the World Business Angel Forum’s (WBAF) International Partner for Greece, from February 2021 to 2023, serving in the Global Women Leaders Committee as an Angel Investor and Startup Advisor. Among her various qualifications, she holds an Executive MBA and Venture Capital Executive Program Training from Berkeley-Haas, a Membership and Diploma with the Royal College of Pediatrics and Child Health during her training at the London School of Pediatrics and an MD from the University of Siena. She is fluent in multiple languages and loves Music and Art, the only languages that are truly beyond borders and speak directly to the human soul unifying mankind.

Ioanna is an attorney specializing in Life Sciences and Medical Technology law and Managing Partner at Michalopoulou & Associates-Lawgroup. With over two decades of expertise, she has distinguished herself as one of Greece's foremost legal experts, serving a global clientele across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Her practice is devoted to addressing intricate legal challenges faced by leading Healthcare, Pharmaceutical, Medical Device and Food industry organizations. Renowned for her mastery in navigating complex regulatory landscapes, Ioanna and her team excel in areas such as healthcare compliance, competition law, mergers and acquisitions, intellectual property, and data protection. Her expertise in the EU Medical Devices Regulation (MDR) and In Vitro Diagnostic Regulation (IVDR) underscores her commitment to staying at the forefront of regulatory advancements. Ioanna holds an LL.M. from the Université Catholique de Louvain and is a graduate of the University of Athens Law School. As a speaker, she frequently presents at international conferences on topics including compliance, artificial intelligence in healthcare, big data, and the intersection of personal data regulations with innovative fields such as orphan drugs, gene therapies, and advanced medical devices.

With over 25 years’ experience in health care management and consultancy, Greg has undertaken a wide range of assignments in the public and private health care sectors in the US, Europe, MENA, Baltics, LATAM & APAC. He has experience in strategic planning, functional, marketing and communication planning. Has a substantial track record in managing stakeholders, payers, doctors, designing and executing healthcare marketing plans and selling healthcare services to private and public HMOs. He has expertise in the establishment and development of primary care centers and the design and application of architected sales solutions for hospital networks. As of early 2000s, greg has been a pioneer in the establishment and development of biobanking and cell therapy preclinical services starting from the EU - MENA region and continuously contributes in the formulation of a sustainable and ethical policy and regulatory framework for this innovative industry. Based on this network and platform, as of 2013 accomplished a step further towards advancing precision medicine, disease prevention and affordable consumer health care. He contributed and managed the creation and development of Genoma; a Swiss company in proteomics and genomics for predictive medicine with the first genetic platform for clinical diagnostics in Europe utilizing the latest NGS technologies. Over the past 10 years further paved his career into precision medicine initiatives, digital and connected health. Relocated to the US and served as the Director of Global Strategic Partnerships at Veritas Genetics, The Genome Company. Next step was moving into the lab and cloud agnostic world; today serves as VP of Global Bus Development at Orgenesis Inc., helping to bring advanced personalized cell and gene therapies (CGTs) therapies to market effectively, with Orgenesis's unique point-of-care platform. As of 2007 he has been appointed officer of the ITERA (International Tissue Engineering Research Association) Life – Sciences Forum. Greg served from 2006 to 2014 as a member of the Executive Committee of the European Association of Hospital Managers. Has been Member of Organizing & Scientific committees of numerous health management congresses, is a lecturer at the post graduate health care management department of the CNAM (Conservatoire National Des Arts Et Metiers) and publishes regularly articles on health management issues. He is a father of two, a fervent McLaren F1 Team fan and an avid world traveler and world cultures lover!