About

Marcella Origgi (PhD)

CEO

Marcella Origgi (PhD) is the Chief Executive Officer of Valo Therapeutics. She brings extensive experience across immunology, oncohematology, rare inherited diseases, precision medicine and advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMPs).

Before joining ValoTx, Marcella worked at Johnson & Johnson Innovation, where she was responsible for sourcing external innovation opportunities across oncology, immunology, rare diseases, and ATMPs. Her role involved asset development, due diligence, IP evaluation, public funding landscaping, remote scouting tool evaluation, and partnership development. She also served as a spokesperson at international events and represented J&J Innovative Medicine Italy at Farmindustria Ricerca & Innovazione.

Earlier in her career, Marcella held several roles at Janssen, including as Scientific & Patients Advocacy Groups Manager and as MSL Champion in the Immunology Medical Affairs Department. In these roles, she led and supported medical strategy, clinical trial feasibility, market access planning, and advisory board coordination for therapies including ustekinumab, guselkumab, golimumab, and sirukumab.

Marcella holds a PhD in Biology from the University of Milan, where she attended the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology. She also holds additional qualifications in Intellectual Property and Trademarks, drug discovery and commercialization, and leadership programmes developed in collaboration with SDA Bocconi and Milan Polytechnic.

Prof. Vincenzo Cerullo

Scientific Founder, Scientific Advisor

Prof. Vincenzo Cerullo (Vince), Scientific Founder, Scientific Advisor at Valo Therapeutics Italy, Professor in Biological Drug Development, Head of the Drug Research Program and a HiLIFE Fellow, Translational Immunology Programme at the University of Helsinki.

Vince gained his PhD at the Centre for Genetic Engineering (CENIGE) at the University of Naples, Federico II in 2004. He then moved to Houston Texas (USA), where he completed a Postdoc at the Baylor College of Medicine. Later, he moved to the University of Helsinki and in 2012 was awarded a tenure-track professorship, opening the ImmunoViroTherapy Lab. IVTLab has raised more than 5 million Euros for research, including the prestigious ERC Consolidator Grant, the HiLIFE Fellowship and the Jane and Aatos Erkko Foundation grant. Vince received the Outstanding Young Investigator award in 2014 from the European Society of Gene and Cell Therapy, as well as the Excellence in Research Award from the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy in 2015.

One of Vince’s passion is science dissemination. He has been involved from the beginning in the organisation of the Science Track at the Slush conference in Helsinki. Vince pitched on the Slush stage in 2015 and 2016 and on the Slush Y Science stage in 2017 (www.slush.org). Among others, he has presented a TEDx talk on the importance of creativity in science (https://youtu.be/1btbElPnREI ).

Lukasz Kuryk (PhD, MBA)

Chief Development Officer

Lukasz Kuryk, PhD, MBA, Chief Development Officer (CDO) at Valo Therapeutics Finland, holds a PhD in Biopharmaceutics/Oncolytic Virotherapy from the University of Helsinki, Finland. He also earned an MBA from the Institute of Computer Science, Polish Academy of Sciences (PAN), Poland, in collaboration with the Woodbury School of Business, University of Utah, USA. 

In addition, he has completed multiple advanced training programs, including courses at Harvard Medical School focused on clinical studies and biomarker discoveries, as well as postgraduate studies in clinical trial design, execution, and management at Wroclaw Medical University.

Dr. Kuryk brings extensive experience in immuno-oncology and immuno-virotherapy, with a strong background in preclinical, translational, and early-stage clinical drug development (Phases I–II) in oncology. Prior to joining Valo Therapeutics, he spent over a decade in clinical-stage immuno-oncology companies, including Targovax, Circio as Director of Clinical Science, Senior Research Scientist, and Oncos Therapeutics as a Research Scientist. His work focused on both preclinical research and clinical studies utilizing oncolytic vectors and peptide-based cancer vaccines.

Dr. Kuryk held research positions at the Institute of Biomedical Research “Alberto Sols” (Spain) and the Military Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology (Poland). He has also been a visiting researcher at several prestigious institutions, including the WHO Regional Office for Europe at the Robert Koch Institute (Germany), the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL, Spain), and the University of Padova (Italy), where he conducted multiple research projects in immuno-oncology and virology.

Dr. Kuryk currently serves as an Associate Professor at the National Institute of Public Health in Poland, where he leads and contributes to several research initiatives in immunotherapy. 

At Valo Therapeutics Finland he is responsible for the management of clinical operations, translational and clinical development strategies, and intellectual property portfolio management.

Otto Kari (PhD)

VP, Head of Antigen Business Unit

Otto Kari, VP & Head of Antigen Business Unit at Valo Therapeutics Finland, holds a Ph.D. in Pharmacy from the University of Helsinki, Finland. He has over 15 years of experience in pharmaceutical research and development, with advanced qualifications in R&D and technology management. During his Ph.D. and post-doctoral studies, he developed and set up novel and innovative methods and infrastructure for the study of biocorona formation on nanotechnological drug delivery systems and viruses. Recently, he served as the Commercial Lead for PeptiCHIP, a microfluidics-based technology for rapid tumor antigen identification developed by Prof. Vincenzo Cerullo’s ImmunoTherapyLab at University of Helsinki.     Previously, Dr Kari has served as a visiting researcher or teacher at the Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden (systems toxicology), and Department of Industrial Engineering and Management, Aalto University, Finland (strategic technology management). He has authored over 13 peer-reviewed articles covering fields such as cancer immunotherapy, pharmaceutical nanotechnology, drug delivery, biophysics, and medical logistics. Dr Kari is also a Laboratory Director for PharmaHUB at the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Helsinki, and Chairman of the Council at the Finnish Red Cross. 

Hanne Cojoc (M.Sc. Tech)

Head of Quality and Operations

Hanne Cojoc is the Head of Quality and Operations at Valo Therapeutics Oy, bringing a strong foundation in quality assurance and biotechnology to her role. She holds an M.Sc. (Tech) in Bioengineering from Tampere University, Finland, and has built a career marked by substantial experience in quality assurance within pharmaceutical development and healthcare technology, including a solid understanding of GxP regulations. 

Beyond quality assurance, Hanne’s professional background includes diverse preclinical and laboratory work, as well as expertise in chemistry, manufacturing, and controls, regulatory affairs and clinical operations. Her experience reflects a comprehensive understanding of the quality, technical, and operational aspects of clinical drug discovery.

Dr Austin Smith

Medical Director

Austin Smith is a Medical Director at Valo Therapeutics Oy with a decade of experience in oncolytic virus development, spanning programme design, clinical execution, and regulatory strategy. Dually trained in medical oncology and pharmaceutical medicine, he has led interactions with the FDA, EMA, and MHRA across multiple modalities. He brings deep translational and clinical expertise to oncolytic virus programmes in solid tumour indications.

Eleonora Leggiero (PHD)

CMC Project Lead

Eleonora Leggiero, CMC Project Lead at Valo Therapeutics Italy, holds a PhD in Genetics and Molecular Medicine and a specialization in Hospital Pharmacy from the University of Naples Federico II, Italy. She has over 15 years of experience in advanced therapies, with a focus on viral vector development, gene therapy, and CMC activities supporting the development and manufacturing of viral vector–based technologies.

Before joining Valo Therapeutics Italy, she worked at InnovAAVector (Pozzuoli, Italy) as Process Development and Technology Transfer Manager, where she led projects related to viral vector process development and technology transfer, coordinating upstream and downstream process optimization, analytical method implementation, and collaborations with industrial partners.

Earlier in her career, Dr. Leggiero worked at CEINGE – Advanced Biotechnologies in Naples, where she contributed to several research programs focused on gene therapy and viral vector platform development. Her work included the development of adenoviral, lentiviral, and retroviral vector systems, the coordination of multidisciplinary collaborations, and regulatory activities related to the use of genetically engineered microorganisms.

At Valo Therapeutics Italy, she leads CMC activities supporting the process development and upscaling of the PeptiCRAd viral vector platform. Drawing on her experience in viral vector bioprocess development and technology transfer, she also contributes to broader scientific coordination, interactions with external partners, and the operational advancement of the program.

Adriano Brighel (M.Sc.)

Project Management Officer

Adriano Brighel, Project Management Officer (PMO) at Valo Therapeutics Italy, holds an M.Sc. in Medical Biotechnology and a B.Sc. in Biological Sciences from Università di Napoli - Federico II.

At Valo Therapeutics Italy, he is responsible for managing complex project logistics, coordinating administrative operations, and organizing corporate events and meetings. He plays a key role in ensuring smooth day-to-day operations and facilitating seamless communication among internal teams and external partners. Prior to his current role, Adriano honed his expertise in operational management and large-scale event coordination, gaining a robust foundation in handling demanding logistical operations, financial tracking, and stakeholder relations.

Dr. Andrew Dean

Member of the Board

Dr Andrew Dean, Board Member, completed his medical training in the UK, became a fellow of the Royal Australian College of Physicians in 1993. He established the palliative care services at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital and St John of God Subiaco in Perth, later becoming professor of palliative medicine at Edith Cowan University Western Australia. In 2001, he founded the health information website virtualmedicalcentre.com earning the Prime Minister award for small business community excellence and a number of other awards. For a number of years this was the busiest health information site of anywhere in Australia. Stepping into medical oncology in 2006, Andrew now is Head of Oncology at St John of God Subiaco Hospital which has the busiest Clinical Trials unit of any private hospital in Western Australia. He also consults at GenesisCare. He has been the principal investigator on numerous studies both national and International, and as such has published extensively relating to his research. He is leading a number of ongoing clinical trials and has set up a charity to fund cancer research into tumours that have traditionally been very poorly funded. He is currently overseeing a number of studies into pancreatic, gastrointestinal and gynaecological cancers. Under his leadership, his hospital, St John of God Subiaco hospital, was awarded the most outstanding site award by the Australasian GastroIntestinal Trials Group at the annual scientific meeting last year. Prior to joining the board, Dr Dean was an independent investor in Valo who instantly saw the need and clinical utility of the Valo suite of products. 

Marcella Origgi (PhD)

CEO

Marcella Origgi (PhD) is the Chief Executive Officer of Valo Therapeutics. She brings extensive experience across immunology, oncohematology, rare inherited diseases, precision medicine and advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMPs).

Before joining ValoTx, Marcella worked at Johnson & Johnson Innovation, where she was responsible for sourcing external innovation opportunities across oncology, immunology, rare diseases, and ATMPs. Her role involved asset development, due diligence, IP evaluation, public funding landscaping, remote scouting tool evaluation, and partnership development. She also served as a spokesperson at international events and represented J&J Innovative Medicine Italy at Farmindustria Ricerca & Innovazione.

Earlier in her career, Marcella held several roles at Janssen, including as Scientific & Patients Advocacy Groups Manager and as MSL Champion in the Immunology Medical Affairs Department. In these roles, she led and supported medical strategy, clinical trial feasibility, market access planning, and advisory board coordination for therapies including ustekinumab, guselkumab, golimumab, and sirukumab.

Marcella holds a PhD in Biology from the University of Milan, where she attended the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology. She also holds additional qualifications in Intellectual Property and Trademarks, drug discovery and commercialization, and leadership programmes developed in collaboration with SDA Bocconi and Milan Polytechnic.

Dr. Paul Porter

Member of the Board

Associate Professor Paul Porter (MBBS, FRACP), Director, is the founder of Freeman Road Pty Ltd, an Australian company that specialises in early stage biomedical investments with an emphasis on global research and development collaborations. Freeman Road has investments in companies across Australia, South East Asia, Europe and the USA.

Paul is an experienced medical researcher, lecturer, director of training and paediatric physician at two major paediatric hospitals in Western Australia. He leads an established a research unit specialising in novel biometric diagnostic technology and algorithm development, with active programs targeting respiratory disease, antenatal care and mental health disorders in children and adolescents. He is the Chair of the Ramsay Health Care Human Research and Ethics Committee for Western and South Australia.

He is passionate about supporting advances in healthcare in the developing world.