Scientific Founders
Co-founder
Dr. Vania Broccoli
Dr. Vania Broccoli is Director of Research at the San Raffaele Hospital and CNR-Institute of Neuroscience in Milan. He has 25 years of experience in conducting and supervising biomedical research to develop innovative therapeutic tools to treat incurable neurological disorders. His group has been developing original and transformative biological products at the intersection between molecular and cellular engineering, CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing, targeted epigenetic modifications and advanced viral delivery. He obtained his M.Sc. at the University of Bologna and Ph.D working at the San Raffaele Hospital. He carried out his post-doctoral training at the Max-Planck Institute in Munich and at the University of San Francisco in California (UCSF).
Co-founder
Dr. Alessandro Sessa
Dr. Alessandro Sessa is a Senior Researcher Tenured at Ospedale San Raffaele (OSR) and contract professor at San Raffaele University. He holds a B.Sc. and a M.Sc. in Biological Sciences from University of Insubria, Varese, Italy, and a Ph.D. in Molecular Medicine from San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy. His team investigates epigenomic and genomic factors in stem cell biology, brain development and neural cell homeostasis under physiological and pathological conditions. Alessandro has published more than 30 papers in peer-reviewed scientific journals including Neuron, Gene&Development, Nature Communications, Science Advances.
Board of Directors
BoD
Ciro Spedaliere
Ciro has a decade long experience in the venture capital investing across the main innovation sectors throughout his career (Innogest SGR, LVenture Group, Invitalia Ventures SGR, Vertis SGR). In the past Ciro worked as product manager dealing with strategic planning, development of innovative products and services. He has also collaborated with the academic world on issues concerning the venture investing. Ciro holds a degree in Management Engineering from the Polytechnic University of Turin and has earned his specialization at the Venture Capital Executive Program at the Berkeley Haas Business School.
BoD
Pietro Puglisi
Pietro is a biomedical engineer with over a decade of experience in life sciences investments and innovation. He is a founding partner at Claris Ventures, investment firm based in Turin (Italy), with focus on early-stage biotech ventures. He started his career at LifeSciences Consultants in 2010 and later joined Innogest VC firm’s healthcare practice. Pietro received an M.Sc. in Biomedical Engineering from Politecnico di Torino (Italy) and an MBA from Collége des Ingénieurs (France/Italy).
BoD
Daniela Bellomo
Daniela is part of the Business Development and Technology Transfer of Ospedale San Raffaele’s research outputs in the field of biotech, med tech and digital health. She also supervises and promotes growth of technology transfer in other two Hospitals of San Donato Group: IRCCS Policlinico San Donato and IRCCS Galeazzi – Sant’ Ambrogio.