Dr Albert Agro is the Co-Founder and Chief Medical Officer for GRI Bio Inc, where he and the executive team secured the company’s IPO, NASDAQ listing via a reverse merger, and helped solidify GRI Bio’s near $25 million financing to move its NKT cell modulator platform into diseases of fibrosis and autoimmunity.
Dr Jacqueline Orian is an Associate Professor of Neuroscience and Head of the Neuroimmunology Laboratory at La Trobe University, Melbourne. She leads internationally recognised research aimed at defining the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying neurodegeneration and developing strategies for early intervention.
Dr John Parratt is a clinical neurologist at Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney and a Senior Lecturer at the University of Sydney. He is director of the Neuroimmunology service at North Shore and the Inaugural Neil and Norma Hill Practitioner Fellow for Multiple Sclerosis Research Australia.
Dr Itescu is the CEO and Managing Director of Mesoblast (ASX: MSB; Nasdaq: MESO). He is a globally recognised leader in biologics and stem cell therapies with extensive experience in late-stage clinical development and pharmaceutical partnering.
Dr Albert Agro is the Co-Founder and Chief Medical Officer for GRI Bio Inc, where he and the executive team secured the company’s IPO, NASDAQ listing via a reverse merger, and helped solidify GRI Bio’s near $25 million financing to move its NKT cell modulator platform into diseases of fibrosis and autoimmunity. The lead program is in Phase 2 for IPF. Previously, Dr Agro was the CEO and President of Sublimity Therapeutics Ltd, an Irish-based biotech developing novel therapeutics in the inflammatory bowel disease therapeutic area. He oversaw the $80M Series B financing for the Phase 2b-ready company by securing OrbiMed Partners as the lead investor in the syndicate.
Dr Agro has held executive positions at Colomba Therapeutics (CEO), which has filed an NDA in the area of Cardiovascular complications; KalGene Inc (CMO) an Alzheimer’s disease-focused company with a Phase 1-ready asset that targets toxic oligomers; Versanum Inc (CEO), a wasabi-based botanical company looking at the role of wasabi in memory and learning; Vivo Biopharmaceuticals (President) a Phase 2-ready oncology focused company developing a novel formulation of temozolomide in GBM; and Cynapsus Therapeutics Inc (CMO) where he was responsible for the clinical development and ultimate regulatory approval of a sublingual formulation of apomorphine for the management of OFF episodes for patients with Parkinson’s disease. The company was later sold to Sunovion for $850M. He also served at Ironshore Pharma (CMO), Trillium Therapeutics Inc. (CMO), Stem Cell Therapeutics (CMO) and TransTech Pharma (EVP of Clinical Development).
Dr Agro is a Non-Executive Board member at St. Elizabeth’s Foundation; Canada’s largest not-for-profit organisation involved in the provision of home care services and support to the elderly community across Canada.
He has maintained an adjunct position as Associate Professor, Department of Medicine at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario since September 1996. He is the recipient of a Michael J. Fox Foundation Clinical Scholarship for his work on Apomorphine.
Dr Jacqueline Orian is an Associate Professor of Neuroscience and Head of the Neuroimmunology Laboratory at La Trobe University, Melbourne. She leads internationally recognised research aimed at defining the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying neurodegeneration and developing strategies for early intervention.
Dr Orian is considered one of the World leaders in myelin biology, having played an important role in the development of IMX39. Her work has attracted support from major multiple sclerosis (MS) funding bodies, charities, and private benefactors, and she has partnered extensively with the pharmaceutical industry (Biogen and Novartis) on MS preclinical drug development and evaluation. Her current projects investigate the role of platelets in driving neuroinflammation and explore novel strategies to enhance myelin repair.
Dr Orian earned her Ph.D. at Monash University and completed postdoctoral fellowships in neurodevelopment at The University of Melbourne and Imperial College. Since her appointment as laboratory head at La Trobe in 2005, she has built a research program on neurodegenerative diseases, with a particular focus on MS. Under her leadership, the laboratory has developed advanced technologies for MS modelling, histopathology, immunology, and cutting-edge imaging, establishing it as a hub for innovation and collaboration.
Dr John Parratt is a clinical neurologist at Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney and a Senior Lecturer at the University of Sydney. He is director of the Neuroimmunology service at North Shore and the Inaugural Neil and Norma Hill Practitioner Fellow for Multiple Sclerosis Research Australia.
He is an honorary research fellow at the George Institute, a scientific board member for MS Research Australia and academic secretary for the Australian and New Zealand Neuromyelitis Optica Register. His Doctorate in Medicine was awarded with commendation from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland – a thesis investigating the epidemiological, infectious and immune factors in multiple sclerosis.
Dr Parratt has several research interests including the pathogenesis and pathology of multiple sclerosis and demyelinating diseases and has published widely on these topics. He is an author for the Therapeutic Guidelines, writing principally on MS. The current focus of his laboratory group (based at the University of Sydney) is on identifying novel autoantibodies in neuroimmunological diseases.
Dr Silviu Itescu is the CEO and Managing Director of Mesoblast (ASX: MSB; Nasdaq: MESO). He is a globally recognised leader in biologics and stem cell therapies with extensive experience in late-stage clinical development and pharmaceutical partnering.
Dr Itescu has been a faculty member of Columbia University in New York, and the University of Melbourne and Monash University in Australia. In 2013, Dr Itescu received the inaugural Key Innovator Award from the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Culture for his leadership in translational science and clinical medicine in relation to adult stem cell therapy. In 2011, he was named BioSpectrum Asia Person of the Year.
Dr Itescu has consulted for various international pharmaceutical companies, has been an adviser to biotechnology and health care investor groups, and has served on the Board of Directors of several publicly-listed life sciences companies.
