Team
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Pekka Simula, M.Sc. (Tech), CEO and Co-Founder
Pekka Simula is an international business and management professional with extensive experience in working with clinical trials and the cancer treatment industry. Prior to co-founding Oncos, Simula was Global Program Manager at Varian Medical Systems (NYSE: VAR) responsible for the development and market roll-out of the company’s entire oncology product suite and also held a central role in development of RapidArc™, the latest revolution in radiation oncology. Before Varian, he worked as Project Director for CRF Health, a leading electronic Patient Reported Outcomes technology and services provider for clinical trials, and as Project Manager for Accenture.
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Research Professor Akseli Hemminki, MD, PhD, CSO and Co-Founder
Research Professor Akseli Hemminki founded the Cancer Gene Therapy Group at the University of Helsinki in 2002, currently the largest of its kind in Europe focusing on oncolytic viruses. Previously, Research Professor Hemminki was Research Team Leader at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He has been awarded JCI’s Outstanding Young Person of the World honoree 2006 and Young European Cancer Researcher Award of EACR 2001. Research Professor Hemminki is also a recipient of the prestigious European Research Council Starting Grant.
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Antti Vuolanto, D.Sc. (Tech), VP Manufacturing and Co-Founder
Dr Vuolanto is a manufacturing process and quality assurance professional with a strong background in both business management and research. Prior to Oncos, he was a management team member responsible for productization, product development and quality at Mobidiag, a company specializing in rapid nucleic acid -based infectious disease diagnostics. Dr Vuolanto has also held positions at Medicel developing and patenting biotechnology infrastructure equipment. During his academic tenure, Dr Vuolanto published widely on the subjects of protein chrystallization and cell cultivation.
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Lotta Kangasniemi, PhD, Research Director
Dr Kangasniemi represents research expertise with a solid background in both oncolytic viruses and drug development. Before Oncos, she was a researcher in Cancer Gene Therapy Group (CGTG) at the University of Helsinki, which is amongst the leading research groups worldwide studying oncolytic viruses. Dr Kangasniemi has also done vaccine research and development at the National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL). The academic publications by Dr Kangasniemi focus on preclinical optimization and clinical use of oncolytic adenoviruses.
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Timo Ahopelto, M.Sc. (Tech), VP Strategy via Lifeline Ventures
Timo Ahopelto is a diverse serial entrepreneur with business building experience and a strong track record. He was the Founding CEO for CRF Health, the global leader in electronic Patient Reported Outcomes technology and services for clinical R&D, today serving 18 of the top 20 pharmaceutical companies. At CRF Health, in addition to being part of implementing over 150 clinical trials, Ahopelto started two spin-outs in interactive drug marketing and corporate wellness technology. Prior to CRF Health, Ahopelto was Head of Strategy at Blyk, the world’s first ad-funded mobile operator, with key responsibilities in new country expansion, offering management, analyst relations and fund raising.
Oncos Therapeutics team maintains and writes the oncolytic virus and cancer therapy blog with the selected guest contributors at http://oncolyticvirus.wordpress.com.
