London Chapter

OBR moved to London in late 2011 with the first annual “Courage in Innovation” award being presented to Dr Lerner and Sir Winter at Imperial College London. King’s and University College London joined soon thereafter, with all three universities hosting events in early 2012. We look forward to expanding to the many world-class institutions still remaining in London and forging close ties with the many exciting firms in the London biotech cluster and the City. Please contact the chapter president Tommaso Poggioli for enquiries regarding industry partnerships and joining the OBR-London team.

London Chapter Members

OBR-London President

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Tommaso Poggioli

Tommaso is a third year PhD student at Imperial College working on cardiovascular regenerative medicine. He is investigating the beneficial effects of a therapeutical-like approach during the onset of cardiac hypertrophy using a cell delivery system in vivo. This work involves the use of molecular biology, cell culture and cardiac surgery techniques.

Events lead, London

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Francesco Pesce

Francesco is a medical doctor now PhD student at NHLI Imperial College London. His project aims at implementing a translational genomics approach to dissect mechanisms of heart failure and recovery integrating high-throughput -omics data. He is interested in technology transfer with main focus on patents and start-ups

OBR-Consulting Lead, London

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Mansi Vithlani

Mansi is a Post-doctoral Research Fellow in the Clinical Neurosciences department at the UCL Institute of Neurology. Her work focuses on the role of alpha-synuclein phosphorylation in the pathogenesis of Parkinson’s disease.

Chapter Correspondent, London

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Kiran Nandra

Kiran is a final year PhD student at Queen Mary University of London. Her research focusses on the development of novel treatments for the organ injury caused by trauma and severe blood loss. She is passionate about public engagement with science and volunteers as a STEM ambassador working in schools to encourage young people to take an interest in science. Kiran is currently working in the London editorial team.

Outreach and Marketing Lead, London

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Yari Fontebasso

Yari is a PostDoctoral Fellow at the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR), Chelsea site. He works on synthetic lethal approaches to treat cancer cells with underlying defects in DNA Damage Repair processes. Yari holds a MSc in Pharmaceutical Biotechnologies from the University of Padova and a DPhil in Biochemistry from the University of Sussex. In 2013, he joined OBR as an Outreach and Marketing Lead for the London chapter, a role which gives him the opportunity to connect academic realities with the biotech and pharma sectors.