About us

Cliff Brass is an expert in clinical development with special expertise in liver disease  and over 25 years of experience in Pharma. Most recently Dr. Brass was Vice President, Head of Clinical Sciences for Hepatology, Gastroenterology and Transplantation in Global Drug Development at Novartis.  Prior to that he worked at Schering-Plough/Merck and led medical affairs efforts in HCV before transitioning to lead multiple programs in drug development encompassing more than 30 NDAs/label changes in the US, EU and Japan.  Dr. Brass earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Biochemical Sciences at the Harvard College, and his MD and PhD (Pharmacology) degrees at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City. He completed his Internal Medicine Residency at the University of Chicago Hospitals and Clinics and his Gastroenterology and Hepatology Fellowship training at Brigham & Women’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School.  He then became a faculty member in the Department of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology and Biochemistry & Biophysics Departments at the University of Pennsylvania where he treated patients and ran a nationally funded research laboratory focused on the mechanisms of liver injury, and was Head of the Liver Study unit and Medical Director of the Liver Transplant Program. Dr Brass has published over 85 peer reviewed articles and more than 200 abstracts, primarily in the field of Hepatology, in both the areas of clinical and basic science research. He is named on 15 patents relating to drug development in liver disease. He is currently on the Project Executive of LITMUS, the IMI NASH Biomarker consortium, and a visiting professor at Newcastle University.

Ed is the CEO of Resolution Therapeutics. He is also a Senior Partner at Syncona, and Chairman of OMass Therapeutics. Previously, he was the first CEO and a board member of Autolus Therapeutics. He has also held the role of CEO of Biotica Ltd (Cambridge, UK), President & Chief Business Officer of BrainCells Inc (San Diego, CA), and VP, Business Development & Marketing at Tripos Inc (St Louis, MO). Ed’s early career was spent in research and management positions with Wyeth-Ayerst Inc and British Biotech. He holds a degree and DPhil in Chemistry from the University of Oxford, and is a former Chairman of the BIA, the UK’s trade association for innovative life science companies.

Amol has over 25 years of experience in pharmaceutical development and manufacturing.  He spent 21 years in various roles at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), most recently as Vice-President, Product Development and Supply for GSK’s Cell and Gene Therapy (CGT) CMC group. Amol’s role in GSK was as Vice-President, Product Development and Supply for GSK’s Cell and Gene Therapy (CGT) CMC group.  Prior to CGT, Amol held positions of increasing responsibility within GSK’s Biopharm group and supported CMC development across the development lifecycle from pre-candidate selection to post commercial support.  Amol’s time in GSK included process and product development for several therapeutics in GSK’s portfolio.  Amol and his team successfully delivered GSK clinical and commercial medicines, including Arzerra, the first monoclonal antibody approval for GSK and Strimvelis which was one of the first ex-vivo autologous cell and gene therapy medicines approved by regulatory authorities.  Amol has a Bachelor’s degree in Pharmacy from the University of Bombay, a Ph.D. in Pharmaceutics from The Ohio State University, and post-doctoral training from University of Iowa.

Alex is the Director of the Cell Engineering Unit. He has a PhD in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry from the University Complutense of Madrid and has held senior postdoctoral positions at the Universities of Oxford, Glasgow, and Edinburgh. His versatile experience in the industrial sector includes start-ups, big corporations, and CROs. He initially joined Horizon Discovery and developed new tools for the application of genome editing (CRISPR/Cas9) in iPSCs. Following that, he joined GSK and led the development of novel cellular models based on the differentiation of iPSC to myeloid cells for use in drug discovery. Finally, Alex held the position of Senior Manager at Censo Bio and had the opportunity to overview multiple Drug Discovery Services programs. His passion is primarily focused on the utilisation of iPSCs differentiation platforms and genome editing techniques, to generate better cellular models for cell therapy. Outside of RTx duties, Alex loves travelling and hiking with his family.

Lara is the Director of the Macrophage Biology Unit and a member of the founding team at Resolution Therapeutics. She achieved a Bachelor degree in Medical and Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, followed by a Master in Cellular and Molecular Medical Biotechnology from the San Raffaele University in Milan, Italy. She then successfully obtained a PhD in Cellular and Molecular Immunology, as part of a programme run by the San Raffaele University in collaboration with the Open University (Milton Keynes, UK). Her long-term research interest is the role of inflammation in tissue repair. She then moved to the University of Edinburgh, where she studied the role of macrophage phagocytosis in acute and chronic liver injury, under the supervision of Prof John Iredale (2013-2016) and Prof Stuart Forbes (2016-2020). She is author of more than 20 papers in international peer-reviewed journals. Outside the lab, Lara is passionate about teaching, science communication and equality, and is a keen hiker.

Victor is the VP of Corporate Development at Resolution Therapeutics. Victor began his life sciences career as a Venture Fellow at Flagship Pioneering in 2012, after which he founded Desktop Genetics, a genome editing bioinformatics and AI company. Victor led the company through multiple financing rounds, industrial partnerships, product launches and ultimate sale of the company in 2018. In 2019, Victor joined medical technology company Owkin where he supported the growth of the company through to Series B as VP, Head of Commercial Operations. Victor holds an MEng in chemical engineering from Imperial College London and an MPhil in Bioscience Enterprise from the University of Cambridge. Victor was nominated 30 Under 30 by Forbes, and MIT Innovator Under 35, Entrepreneur of the Year 2017 by the MIT Technology Review.

Esther is the VP of Clinical Operations at Resolution Therapeutics and has 30+ years of experience in Research and Development. She has held a number of senior operational leadership positions in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries and joined Resolution Therapeutics in February 2023 from Gyroscope Therapeutics, a Novartis company, where she recently held the position of Executive Director, Clinical Operations where she built up a global clinical team to support a portfolio of clinical studies from Phase 1 to Phase 3, and led the operation execution of the world’s largest gene therapy trial for dry AMD.

Prior to Gyroscope Esther has previously worked for GSK, Janssen-Cilag, Schering Plough, MSD and several other biotech industries. She has a wealth of experience in the development of a broad range of investigational medicinal products, including ATMPs, and has worked across a range of therapy areas, including ophthalmology, cardiovascular, neurology, oncology and hepatology. In addition to being responsible for the implementation and execution of FIH, early phase and multi-national clinical trials, her previous roles have included clinical project management, change management, outsourcing and vendor management and governance structure.

Esther holds a BSc in Pharmacology, MSc in Information Systems and has completed the Executive Leadership program at the Henley Business School, UK.

Damian is VP – Analytical Development at Resolution Therapeutics where he brings over 20 years’ experience in the cell and gene therapy field leading analytical innovation teams supporting CMC activities for early and late-stage clinical products. Prior to joining Resolution Therapeutics Damian has held various leadership positions including VP – Manufacturing Science and Technology at Achilles Therapeutics, Director of New Technologies at the Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult and Head of Cell Biology R&D at LGC Limited.

Lorna is the VP of Finance at Resolution Therapeutics. She has a BA in Accounting and is a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants. Lorna has held senior positions in PE backed and AiM listed biotechnology companies for the past 16 years, most recently as Chief Financial Officer for Censo Biotechnologies Ltd. Previous roles include CFO for Altovida Biosciences Ltd and Finance Director for Angel Biotechnology Holdings plc. Outside RTx Lorna is an avid reader and lover of Miniature Schnauzers !

Evelien is the VP of Translation at Resolution Therapeutics, engaged through her role as a Cell Therapy & Business Development Consultant at eXmoor pharma concepts. At eXmoor pharma, Evelien advises and assists clients on process changes required for commercialisation, manufacturing strategy, development of product CM dossiers, and other areas. Prior to eXmoor pharma, Evelien spent eight year as Director of Business Development at PharmaCell, a CMO in the Netherlands where she founded the GMP manufacturing, research and project management departments and helped the company grow from 5 to 50 employees. Evelien hold an MSc in Medical Biology from VU Amsterdam.

Stuart is the Professor of Transplantation and Regenerative Medicine at the University of Edinburgh, the Director of the Centre for Regenerative Medicine, and a Consultant Hepatologist in the Scottish Liver Transplant Unit. He is also Director UKRMP The Engineered Cell Environment HUB. Stuart has pioneered the research of macrophage cell therapy for liver disease, elucidating the underlying biology of macrophages and applying this learning to the development of novel treatments for liver disease. Stuart trained in Medicine at the University of Edinburgh, undertook a PhD at Imperial College, and worked in London as a Hepatologist before returning to Edinburgh in 2006.

John is Director of Tissues, Cells and Advanced Therapeutics at the Scottish National Blood Transfusion service in Edinburgh and holds academic appointments at the University of Glasgow and University of Edinburgh. He holds an honours degree in Cell and Immunobiology from Aberdeen University and a PhD in Pathology from the University of Edinburgh. He has worked on the therapeutic use of immune cells for 30 years, including his early research in parasite-infected macrophages at Roslin Institute/University of Edinburgh and subsequent lectureship in tumour immunology at University of Glasgow. John worked worldwide in the Biotech industry for 11 years, developing reagents and techniques to drive the adoption of cellular therapies in a variety of disease settings. Since returning to Edinburgh in 2013, John has led process development and manufacturing for the MATCH trials for the use of macrophage cell therapy to treat liver cirrhosis.

Ed is the CEO of Resolution Therapeutics. He is also a Senior Partner at Syncona, and Chairman of OMass Therapeutics. Previously, he was the first CEO and a board member of Autolus Therapeutics. He has also held the role of CEO of Biotica Ltd (Cambridge, UK), President & Chief Business Officer of BrainCells Inc (San Diego, CA), and VP, Business Development & Marketing at Tripos Inc (St Louis, MO). Ed’s early career was spent in research and management positions with Wyeth-Ayerst Inc and British Biotech. He holds a degree and DPhil in Chemistry from the University of Oxford, and is a former Chairman of the BIA, the UK’s trade association for innovative life science companies.

Bill Symonds joined Enzyvant as CEO in 2022. Dr. Symonds also serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Altavant Sciences since its inception in August 2018. Previously, Dr. Symonds was a member of the founding management team at Roivant Sciences, Inc. where he served as Roivant’s Chief Development Officer.

In that role, Dr. Symonds crafted the research and development plans for many products including rodatristat ethyl, Altavant’s lead asset for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension and was instrumental in the licensing and early development of RETHYMIC®. Earlier in his career, Dr. Symonds held senior positions at several pharmaceutical companies including Pharmasset, Inc. and Gilead Sciences, Inc. Based on their early success at Pharmasset, leading the development of Sovaldi® for hepatitis C virus infection, Dr. Symonds and his team were brought into Gilead after its acquisition of Pharmasset, where he continued to advance Sovaldi® through to FDA approval. Previously, he worked at GlaxoSmithKline and its predecessor companies on numerous approved medicines for HIV infection including Ziagen®, Agenerase® and Epzicom®.

He has authored or co-authored over 35 clinical articles and is named on nine patents related to the composition of matter and methods of use of drugs for hepatitis C infection.

Lisa joined the Board of Resolution Therapeutics in April 2021 and was appointed as Chair in November 2022. She has over 30 years’ experience in the Life Sciences in senior general management and commercial leadership roles, predominantly with responsibility for the launch and commercialisation of innovative speciality medicines Most recently Lisa served as President International and Chief Commercial and Corporate Affairs Officer for Intercept Pharmaceuticals Inc., where she established the global commercial footprint and launch for an orphan drug for Primary Biliary Cholangitis. Prior to that, Lisa held a number of Senior roles at Gilead Sciences including VP Head International Government Affairs, VP Head International Launch Planning HCV, and VP Head Northern Europe. Lisa also held senior roles at GSK plc and Sanofi. She is a Non-Executive Director for Ascendis Pharma AS, Dechra Pharmaceuticals Plc, Immedica Pharma AB and the Centre for Disease Analysis Foundation. She is also a strategic advisor to Syncona and DRI Capital. Lisa has a B.Sc. in Pharmacology from University College London.

Martin is Chari of Syncona Investment Management Ltd. He co-founded Syncona in 2012 alongside The Wellcome Trust. Since then, Martin has been closely involved in the foundation and development of multiple Syncona companies, including: Achilles Therapeutics, Autolus, OMass Therapeutics, Quell Therapeutics, Anaveon, Resolution Therapeutics, Neogene Therapeutics and Clade Therapeutics. He is Chairman of Quell and Anaveon and is a Director of Autolus, Resolution, and Clade Therapeutics. He was previously Chairman of Blue Earth Diagnostics (sold to Bracco Imaging for $476 million in 2019). Previously, he was a partner at MVM Life Science Partners LLP, a venture capital company focused on life science and healthcare, where he led their European operations. Martin has also held roles with 3i Group plc and McKinsey & Company. He has a PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Cambridge.

Stuart is the Professor of Transplantation and Regenerative Medicine at the University of Edinburgh, the Director of the Centre for Regenerative Medicine, and a Consultant Hepatologist in the Scottish Liver Transplant Unit. He is also Director UKRMP The Engineered Cell Environment HUB. Stuart has pioneered the research of macrophage cell therapy for liver disease, elucidating the underlying biology of macrophages and applying this learning to the development of novel treatments for liver disease. Stuart trained in Medicine at the University of Edinburgh, undertook a PhD at Imperial College, and worked in London as a Hepatologist before returning to Edinburgh in 2006.

Gonzalo is the Chief of Staff at Resolution Therapeutics, and a Partner at Syncona. At Resolution, his responsibilities include day to day management of company operations, hiring, and supporting the scientific team in their delivery of the company plan. Previously, Gonzalo was a Project Leader at The Boston Consulting Group in London, where amongst other responsibilities he advised clients in the biopharmaceuticals and biotechnology industry. Gonzalo holds a degree in Physics and a PhD in Protein Biophysics from the University of Cambridge, including a brief placement in the Department of Cell Biology at Harvard Medical School, and has co-authored 8 peer-reviewed publications published in high-impact interdisciplinary journals such as the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and Nature Communications.

Simon is an observer to the board on behalf of the University of Edinburgh. By background Simon is a qualified Chartered Accountant (ICAS) with varied commercial experience, having founded his own company and worked with a wide range of others as part of his roles in strategy consultancy, accounting, finance and early stage investment. Simon holds a degree in Economics and Management from the University of Cambridge.