Joana co–founded Exogenus Therapeutics in 2015, after a successful participation in COHiTEC program for technology commercialization. Having been awarded several honors, including three entrepreneurship prizes (Everis Foundation Award, Young Entrepreneur ANJE, and Prémio Empreendedor XXI BPI/CaixaBank), Joana has raised €3.5M in funds for R&D, and is currently a leader in the field of EV–based therapeutics recognized internationally. With a PhD in Human Biology, she dedicated 20 years of her career to R&D in the area of human diseases and healthcare, is inventor of two patents, has several publications in high impact journals, and is invited researcher of the Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology (CNC, Coimbra, Portugal). Joana is an enthusiastic entrepreneur and activist, with a creative mindset and a strong drive to solve healthcare challenges

With over 18 years of experience bridging science and markets, Pedro Vilarinho supported several start-ups that attracted over €50M in investments, and joined six scientific start-ups, as a board member. As a founding member of COTED Portugal, Pedro was responsible for several entrepreneurship programs, including COHiTEC, that launched Exogenus Therapeutics. In 2006, he was awarded with the Price Foundation Innovative Entrepreneurship Educators Award, from the Stanford Technology Ventures Program. Pedro now acts as Director General of HiSeedTech and lectured for nearly 20 years at the University of Aveiro (Portugal).

Walter is currently a Director at Caixa Capital, the venture capital and private equity arm of Caixa Geral de Depósitos, Portugal’s largest financial group. Walter has over twenty years of professional experience, both in Portugal and internationally. Walter began his career with KMPG Canada, having transferred to the Portuguese office in 1991, where he specialized in the financial services sector and Corporate Finance. He later moved to Banco Finantia, a Portuguese investment bank, where he acted as Head of Equity Research and later as a Director in the Corporate Finance department. In 2001, Walter moved to the CGD Group to help found a corporate venturing operation specialised in investing in and developing internet and technology start-ups. Walter has an MBA in International Management from Universidade Católica Portuguesa and an Honours Commerce & Finance degree from the University of Toronto (Canada)

Mario Pinto is the founder and leader of Change Partners, a Portuguese Venture Capital firm that is a shareholder in several innovative ventures, including in the healthcare sector and pharmaceutical industry. Mario’s expertise include business development within the life science sector, in which he helped several projects reach market, as a Board Member. He worked in credit, consulting, mergers & acquisitions and private equity, and was an Executive Board Member in one of the major financial institutions in Portugal, bank BPI (Banco Português de Investimento). Mario graduated in Economics from University of Porto and was a lecturer at the same university.

Luísa has expertise in Marketing and Business Development, with over 18 years of professional experience. With a focus on Innovation Management, Proposition Design and Partnership Development, Luísa supported nationally–and internationally–recognized projects, and raised over €2.7M in funds from investors and grants. She holds an MBA from Porto Business School and worked for major international firms, such as Barclays Bank and MasterCard.

An expert in stem cells and nanomedicines, Ricardo is a Group Leader at the Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology (CNC, Coimbra, Portugal) and co‑founder of Exogenus Therapeutics. He holds a PhD from the University of Oxford (UK) and has conducted post‑doctoral work at the Molecular Hematology Unit of the Medical Research Council (Oxford, UK). Ricardo is an inventor in two patents and has publications in high impact journals, such as Nature Communications, ACS Nano and Biomaterials.

Patricia’s research focuses on the pathological pathways involved in skin autoimmune diseases. She holds a PhD from the Medical University of Vienna (Austria) and has pursued post-doctoral training at the University Medical Center of Luebeck (Germany). Patricia has publications in top dermatology journals and has received awards for her work in the field of autoimmune blistering diseases.

Cláudia Oliveira is an experienced researcher with a broad scientific expertise in nanomedicine, including in carbon nanotubes, liposomes, exosomes and other types of extracellular vesicles and lipid carriers. Across these technologies, she has focused on studies at the molecular and cellular level, aiming to optimize them as tools for future clinical use.
She has graduated with honors from the University of Málaga (Spain) and have worked in leading international nanomedicine-related laboratories in The Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and UK

Tania´s research focused on the mechanical cues effect on oligodendrocyte differentiation.            She holds a master’s in Molecular and Cell Biology and performed her PhD at the Center for Neurosciences of the University of Coimbra (Portugal), in collaboration with the Karolinska Institute (Sweden). Her work contributed to several publications in oligodendrocyte biology in top journals, including Nature Communications. She also holds an MBA from University of Coimbra (Portugal).

Sílvio’s expertise are in Sales, Communication and Marketing, including online Marketing. He holds a degree in Economy from the University of Coimbra and worked for major Portuguese Companies, such as Páginas Amarelas. Sílvio’s work experience is complemented by frequent participation in complementary courses in pedagogy, group dynamics and human relations.

Graça Raposo is an internationally recognized expert in the field of extracellular vesicles, with over 220 original publications (HFactor: 92) and 3 patents. Her achievements include the CNRS Silver Medal and the Descartes Huygens Price from the Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences (2012), a Portuguese recognition for being among the most ground-breaking Portuguese scientists (2016), the ISEV achievement award (2018) and the Miller Professorship award from Berkeley University (2019-2020). With over 30 years of experience and numerous international and industrial collaborations, Graça is also actively involved in science outreach. She is currently a Research Director at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS, France) and Head of the Structure and Membrane Compartments research team in the Department of Cell Biology and Cancer (UMR144-CNRS) at Institut Curie.

David is a Marketing and Business Development expert, with over 15 years of experience in healthcare. He holds a BSc in Biology by the University of Nottingham (UK) and is a founder at the strategy and innovation consultancy firm LabToMarket. David has a broad international network and supported multidisciplinary projects in Europe and Africa.