Syncona

Edward Hodgkin is a Managing Partner at Syncona Investment Management, with more than 30 years of experience across pharmaceuticals, biotech, and healthcare investing. He has helped found and operationally build Syncona portfolio companies, serving as the first CEO of Autolus Therapeutics and founding CEO of Resolution Therapeutics. Earlier in his career he held leadership roles at Biotica, BrainCells, Tripos, Wyeth-Ayerst, and British Biotech, and holds a degree and DPhil in Chemistry from the University of Oxford.

Elisa Petris is a Managing Partner at Syncona Investment Management Limited and a member of the firm's founding team, with over a decade of experience building its portfolio of life science companies. She has helped establish companies including Quell, Blue Earth, Achilles, and Beacon, serving as Chief Business Officer at Beacon during its early period. Before Syncona she was a Senior Associate at Michel Dyens & Co. and worked on the Life Sciences team at L.E.K. Consulting; she holds a PhD in Molecular Biology from Imperial College London and an MBA from London Business School.

Gonzalo Garcia is a Partner at Syncona Investment Management Limited and serves as a director on the boards of Yellowstone Biosciences, Resolution Therapeutics, and Anaveon. He was involved in founding both Yellowstone and Resolution through their founding leadership teams. He previously worked as a Project Leader at Boston Consulting Group supporting biopharmaceutical clients, and holds a PhD in Protein Biophysics along with undergraduate and Master's degrees in Physics from the University of Cambridge.

Gwenaelle Pemberton is a regulatory leader with over 30 years of experience in global regulatory strategy in biopharma. She previously served as Vice President International Regulatory Affairs at Gilead, leading regulatory activities worldwide outside the US, and has also worked at Pfizer, Pharmacia and AstraZeneca. At Syncona she advises the investment team on regulatory strategy and developments; she holds a masters in Pharmaceutical Medicines from Hibernia College and a Master in Microbiology from l'Universite de Bretagne Occidentale, and chairs the BIA Regulatory Committee.

Hitesh Thakrar is an Executive Partner at Syncona Investment Management Ltd. with more than 30 years of experience in global public equities and early-stage venture investing, having previously managed innovation funds at firms including Aviva and ADIA. His focus lies at the intersection of life sciences and other innovation-led fields such as data sciences and the use of industrial technology in medical diagnostics. He holds a Chemistry degree from King's College London and an MBA from Cranfield University, is a CFA Charterholder, and was a Cambridge University Innovation Fellow.

Kenneth Galbraith is an Executive Partner of Syncona Investment Management Limited, and in November 2024 was announced as joining the SIML Board and taking on the role of Chair (effective after regulatory approval). He has around 35 years of experience in biotechnology and venture capital, having served as CEO, CFO, Executive Chair, director, investor and advisor at both private and NASDAQ-listed companies across North America. He began his career in 1987 as CFO of QLT and currently serves as Chair and CEO of Zymeworks.

Nikki Padden is a Corporate Partner at Syncona Investment Management Ltd and a chartered accountant with experience across practice and commerce. Her earlier career included business operations at GlaxoSmithKline and project management at AEA Technology and its biopharmaceutical contract manufacturing spin-out, as well as research roles at King's College London and the University of Reading. She holds a PhD in Biotechnology from King's College and an MBA from Warwick Business School.

Paul Sekhri is an Executive Partner of Syncona Investment Management Limited with over 40 years of experience across the life sciences industry, including operating roles at pharmaceutical companies, biotech firms, and venture capital and private equity organisations. He previously served as President and CEO of eGenesis and Lycera Corporation, and held senior roles at Sanofi, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, TPG Biotech, ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, and Novartis. He founded and led Cerimon Pharmaceuticals and has served on more than 40 public and private company boards.

Richard Wooster is an Executive Partner of Syncona Investment Management Ltd and serves as Chief Scientific Officer and a Director of Slingshot Therapeutics. He previously held Chief Scientific Officer roles at Translate Bio (acquired by Sanofi in 2021) and Tarveda Therapeutics, and led oncology discovery as a Vice President at GlaxoSmithKline. He began his career at the Institute of Cancer Research, where he discovered the BRCA2 gene, and helped found the Cancer Genome Project at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute; he holds a PhD from the University of Dundee.

Roel Bulthuis is a Managing Partner at Syncona, where he leads the investment team and draws on over 20 years of experience in life science venture capital, business development, and investment banking. He previously served as Managing Partner and head of healthcare at Inkef Capital, and before that as SVP and Managing Director of Merck Group's M-Ventures, following senior business development roles at Merck Serono and a position in investment banking at Fortis Bank. He holds an MSc in Biopharmaceutical Sciences from Leiden University and an MBA in Finance from the Helsinki School of Economics, and is a Kauffman fellow and Level20 mentor.

Samantha Roberts is an Executive Partner at Syncona Investment Management Ltd. She was Chief Executive of NICE from February 2022 and previously held roles including Managing Director, Health & Care at Legal & General, Chief Executive of the Accelerated Access Collaborative, and Director of Innovation, Research and Life Sciences at NHS England, along with earlier positions at University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and the London School of Economics. Originally trained as a doctor, she holds a medical degree, an MBA, and a DPhil in Evidence-Based Health Care from the University of Oxford, and began her career at McKinsey & Company.

Raghd Rostom is a Principal at Syncona Investment Management Limited, where she was involved in founding Kesmalea Therapeutics and Yellowstone Biosciences, contributing to their strategic and operational setup. She previously worked in the healthcare practice at Boston Consulting Group, focusing on strategy and digital areas across pharma, biotech and global health. She holds a PhD from the Wellcome Sanger Institute and University of Cambridge spanning computational genomics, cancer and infectious disease.

Alessio D'addabbo is an Analyst at Syncona Investment Management Ltd. He previously interned at Syncona through the Windsor Fellowship programme and worked in the Strategy & Operations team at Syncona portfolio company Resolution Therapeutics. He holds a PhD in Biological Sciences from the University of Southampton, focusing on biophysics and glycobiology in HIV-1 vaccine design.

Anastasia Prechistenskaya is a People Partner at Syncona Investment Management Ltd with around 20 years of experience in HR. She previously worked as HR Partner for the UK and Ireland at Alcon, held HR leadership roles at Diageo and Groupe SEB, and spent seven years at Sanofi as an HR business partner, having begun her career at a strategy consulting firm in Russia. She holds a Master of Science in HR and Sociology from Moscow State University.

Annabel Clark is Head of Corporate Affairs at Syncona Investment Management Ltd. She previously worked as a Consultant at Greenbrook Communications and spent several years at a financial communications firm advising clients across various sectors. She holds an Honours Degree in History from the University of Bristol.

Caroline Horsford is an Executive Assistant at Syncona Investment Management Ltd, where she supports the Board and the Investor Relations team. She previously held support roles across several sectors, including a position at Odgers Berndtson assisting the Global Head of Marketing and Head of Research. She holds a Joint Honours degree in Hispanic Studies and History from the University of Nottingham.

Christina Seed is the Group Reporting and Treasury Manager at Syncona Investment Management Limited, where she handles external and internal financial reporting and manages treasury assets. She is a Chartered Accountant who trained at Deloitte LLP over five years, specializing in investment funds, before joining Syncona as Group Accountant in 2020. She holds a BSc in Biomedical Sciences from the University of Warwick.

Cindy Woo is the Governance and Compliance Assistant at Syncona Investment Management Limited. She is a Chartered Secretary and Chartered Governance Professional, and previously worked as a Company Secretarial Assistant at Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity, following earlier company secretarial roles with listed companies and professional services firms in Hong Kong. She holds Master's degrees in Corporate Governance and in Language Studies.

Fiona Fernandez is Head of Operations at Syncona Investment Management Ltd, having joined in 2013, where she oversees the firm's technology and facilities functions and works with the CEO and CFO on strategic and operational matters. She previously served as an Executive Assistant at AnaCap Financial Partners, supporting the General Counsel and the M&A team. She holds a BSc (Joint Honours) in Geography and Management from the University of Leeds.

Gemma Mountford is an Executive Assistant at Syncona Investment Management Ltd. Before joining Syncona, she held senior support roles in investment banking, most recently as an Executive Assistant at Canaccord Genuity.

Harriet Gower Isaac is Chief People Officer at Syncona Investment Management Ltd. She has over 20 years of human resources experience at major pharmaceutical companies, having worked across multiple countries and previously held Head of HR roles at Alcon Eyecare (for Europe), GSK, and Novartis. She holds a degree in Latin and Ancient Greek.

Helen D'Silva is an Executive Assistant at Syncona Investment Management Ltd. Before Syncona, she held senior support roles, most recently as Senior Executive Assistant at Gardiner and Theobald. Earlier she worked as an Executive Assistant at The Big Lottery Fund and at Land Securities.

Kate Butler is CFO of Syncona Investment Management Ltd., having joined the firm in 2022 as Group Finance Director and been promoted to CFO in April 2024. She has over 20 years of finance experience in the life sciences sector, previously serving as CFO of Awakn, Head of Finance for Kite Europe (where she worked on the launch of Yescarta), and holding senior finance roles at Gilead Sciences and Vectura. She also has FTSE 100 experience with Anglo American and qualified as a chartered accountant during nine years at Ernst & Young.

Marc Perkins is General Counsel at Syncona Investment Management Ltd, with 20 years of legal experience. He began his career at Herbert Smith Freehills, spending 13 years as a corporate and M&A lawyer advising FTSE 100 and other companies, and previously served as General Counsel and Company Secretary at Abcam plc, where he worked on its Nasdaq listing, AIM delisting, several acquisitions, and its sale to Danaher. He holds a degree in jurisprudence from the University of Oxford.

Melina Hoffmann is an Associate at Syncona Investment Management Limited, with experience spanning biotech and venture investment. She previously worked as an Investment Fellow at Biogeneration Ventures and as Head of Discovery at Valink Therapeutics, where she supported setting up the company's wetlabs, hiring, and raising its seed round. She earned a degree in Onco-immunology from King's College London and held a post-doctoral fellowship at the Institute of Cancer Research.

Nathaniel Dahan is a Senior Associate at Syncona Investment Management Limited. He previously worked in Deloitte's Life Sciences M&A Consulting team on large pharma and medtech acquisitions and separations, and has experience in strategy execution consulting across pharma and healthcare as well as strategic communications for biotech and medtech start-ups. He holds a PhD in Biomedical Engineering from University College London and was a postdoctoral researcher at Imperial College London and King's College London.

Nisha Sethi is Legal Counsel at Syncona Investment Management Limited. She previously served as Legal Counsel for Animo Associates Limited, a corporate service provider focused on compliance and management consulting, and earlier qualified at Noble Solicitors, where she spent five years working mainly in criminal defence law. She holds an LLB from the University of Reading.

Pierre Joffrin is a Senior Associate at Syncona Investment Management Limited with experience in both biotech company building and venture investing. He began his career at OSE and later worked at Jeito, and previously was the first employee and Corporate Development Officer at Mogrify, a cell and gene therapy company in Cambridge, where he handled pipeline strategy, business development and investor relations. He trained in Biochemistry at the University of St Andrews and Pharmacology at the University of Oxford, where he researched breast cancer biomarkers for radiotherapy.

Sarah Crabtree is Head of Legal (Transactions) at Syncona Investment Management Limited. She previously served as Group Corporate and Commercial Counsel at Vue International, a cinema operator in Europe and Taiwan, and earlier worked as a private equity lawyer in London advising private equity clients on management buy-outs, disposals and exits. She holds an LLB from the University of Nottingham.