Team

Afshin Samali – CEO

Afshin Samali has over 13+ years executive level experience in scientific based business. He is a successful entrepreneur cofounding and scaling three innovative high-tech startups. Afshin Samali has filed seven patents in the field of cancer research. He is the director of the National Apoptosis Research Centre in Ireland and has a large network of academic and industry contacts and collaborators including SMEs, MNCs, startups and non-profit organisations. Afshin Samali has 20 years’ experience in cancer biology and drug development and has coordinated or participated in 50+ exchequer and non-exchequer grants.

Leif Eriksson – CTO

Leif Eriksson is an international expert in next generation computational drug development with 20+ years’ R&D experience, 250+ publications, and 4 patients filed. He is the co-founder of Swedish Pharma, C26 Bioscience, Cell Stress Discoveries, and Santium Pharma. Leif has worked closely with the pharma industry to develop and license molecules for commercialisation.

Adrienne Gorman – CSO

Adrienne Gorman has 20 years’ experience in molecular and cellular biology in the field of cancer research. Dr Gorman is an authority in cancer treatment with a deep understanding of the competitive landscape and competitor products from a scientific and developmental standpoint. She has a large network of clinical, academic, and industry partners, collaborators, and colleagues. She has led several industry-academia collaborations and a large H2020 R&D project with multiple SMEs.

Steven Griffin – COO

Steven Griffin has 13+ years’ experience in product R&D and commercialisation in the lifescience sector. He spent 11 years with Alltech Biotechnology, a €2.5 billion biotech company. As part of the operations team of SFI’s €37 million flagship Centre for Research in Medical Devices he was involved in the strategic development and operational execution of the centre involving business development, networking, and fund-raising. His experience with CSD has grown the company’s network, business plan, and commercialisation strategy.