Zoltan Spiró PhD

After having finished his Master studies in Biochemistry in Budapest, Zoltan moved to Lausanne, Switzerland, to pursue his PhD at the Swiss Institute for Experimental Cancer Research at EPFL. Thereafter, he was investigating different aspects of biology in Singapore and at IST Austria. In 2018, he switched to applied science by joining the Cancer Pharmacology department of Boehringer Ingelheim in Vienna, where he was coordinating a research team aiming at developing innovative cancer therapeutics using drug-loaded and tumor-targeted extracellular vesicles. Since November 2020, he is working as a Target Discovery Lead for Turbine AI – a start-up company aiming to identify novel cancer targets with the help of computer modeling and artificial intelligence. In his current role, he is leading a team and coordinating in silico target identification screens as well as the execution of target validation studies outsourced to CROs for various target candidates.

Stephen Harrison PhD

Steve joined Engine in May 2018 with over twenty years’ tenure in biotechnology and pharmaceutical discovery and development in the San Francisco Bay Area. A biochemist and molecular biologist, he is highly published and has extensive experience leading product-driven research organizations at all stages, from target identification to early clinical development.

Prior to joining Engine, Stephen was Senior Vice President and CSO at Relypsa (acquired by Galencia for $1.53 billion) where he developed a pipeline of gut-restricted polymer therapeutics targeting systemic diseases. Before that he was Vice President, Research Biology at Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ: NKTR), a leader in polymer conjugate therapeutics, where for four years he managed global oncology and pain research efforts. Prior to Nektar, he was Senior Vice President, Research at KAI Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Amgen for $315 million), a company focused on peptide modulators of protein interactions. While at KAI, Stephen generated one development candidate per year and led discovery efforts, including the company’s lead compound for the treatment of secondary hyperparathyroidism, which served as the basis for the company’s eventual acquisition by Amgen. Earlier in his career, Stephen held senior research positions at Chiron Corporation and Thios Pharmaceuticals.

He holds a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology, a M.A. and B.A. in Biochemistry, all from University of Cambridge, England.

Dr. Quin Wills

Quin initially trained as a medical doctor, later reading degrees in genetics, mathematics, computational biology, and a doctorate in systems genomics.

He started his first drug discovery liver genomics company 15 years ago, and over the years he has held numerous leadership positions, from co-steering Oxford University’s single-cell genomics consortium, to establishing the Cellular and Systems Genomics Department for a leading biopharma.

In this role as Head of Genomics, he focused on liver target discovery. However, frustrated by the lack of clinical translation, Quin teamed up with transplant surgeons to study perfused human livers, seeding the idea to co-found an RNA therapeutics company to improve outcomes in subpotimal donor livers.

Dr. Dave Madge

Dave is responsible for the preclinical discovery platform with which WuXi AppTec supports its collaborators in Europe and Israel. With a background in medicinal chemistry, Dave joined WuXi AppTec 7 years ago, after working in biotech (VP Research, Xention), founding NCE Discovery (now Domainex), and supporting an integrated biomedical research group at University College London. Dave started his career at the Wellcome Foundation and received his Ph.D in Chemistry from Imperial College, London.