About Us
Directors
John Lynch
John Lynch has extensive pharmaceutical industry experience, with a 25 year career of achievement in many facets of the industry. His experience covers strategy development, business development, investor relations, product development, sales & marketing and finance. Previously John was CEO at Merrion Pharmaceuticals plc., building the company from a start-up through IPO, completing large licensing deals, fundraisings and other key milestones. Prior to that he held senior commercial roles at Abbott Laboratories in the USA, UK and Ireland. As well as plc and private company Boards, he has served on State Boards, University Boards and on the Irish Government’s Innovation Taskforce.
Micheal Smurfit Jr.
Michael Smurfit Jnr is CEO of SF Investments, a private investment company based in Dublin. Prior to this role, he held a number of senior management positions within the Smurfit Kappa Group based in the United States and Europe. Michael is also Director of a number of private companies such as GameAccount Plc and Escher Group Plc. He is an MBA graduate from the Michael Smurfit Business School and is currently a member on the School’s Board.
Darren Cunningham
Darren Cunningham has 20 years of senior management experience in life science companies. Darren spent 8 years at Amarin Corporation plc in a range of senior positions with responsibility covering business and corporate development – comprising in-licensing, out-licensing, M&A, divestitures, deal negotiation; strategic planning, global intellectual property management, investor relations, fundraising, financial reporting and operations management. Prior to Amarin, Darren was an Associate Director of Strategic Planning at publicly quoted drug company Elan Corporation plc.Darren holds a Bachelor of Commerce Degree from the National University of Ireland Galway, and a Masters in Accountancy from the Michael Smurfit Business School, University College Dublin. He trained at PwC and is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland. He is also Adjunct Professor at the School of Biomolecular and Biomedical Science, University College Dublin.
Dr. Micheall O'Neill
Dr. O’Neill is the co-founder of Inflection Biosciences and has more than 20 years of experience working in the pharmaceutical industry. He was a Senior Research Scientist and Portfolio Manager at Eli Lilly for much of this time where he was responsible for developing project plans for the selection of projects and for their progression from discovery through to important development milestones. Dr. O’Neill established his own consulting business, Eolas, to help early-stage companies to organize their research along commercial lines. Previously Dr. O’Neill was Head of Laboratory at Almirall and a Research Neuroscientist at Merck. Michael has authored over 80 papers, book chapters, patents and abstracts and is Honorary Visiting Senior Lecturer at the Science Policy Research Unit at the University of Sussex. Michael holds a BA Psychology from UCC and a PhD from QUB Belfast
Conor Mallaghan
Conor Mallaghan is the Managing Director of Carton Demesne Holdings Ltd, an active development and investment group focusing on the Leisure and Property markets and comprising a portfolio of hotel, residential, commercial and leisure business and property assets. Conor led the redevelopment and restoration of Carton House, one of Ireland’s finest historical estates into a world renowned Hotel, Sports and Leisure resort and is home to the Golfing Union of Ireland. Conor has close links to NUI Maynooth and has plans for a Science Park on lands in Carton House. Conor is an active and supportive partner to other focused entrepreneurs and has invested in a number of high potential start-up companies in the Biosciences and ICT sector. Conor is Past President of the Castleknock College Alumni and is a graduate of University College Dublin.
Dr. Gregory I. Berk
Dr. Berk brings over 30 years of experience in medicine, industry and academia, with extensive expertise in oncology drug development and regulatory strategy. Prior to this, he served as Chief Medical Officer at Verastem Oncology. Previous to this he was President, Chief Medical Officer, and Board Member of Sideris Pharmaceuticals and Chief Medical Officer of BIND Therapeutics. Prior to this, Dr Berk was Chief Medical Officer at Intellikine, a company focused on the discovery and development of novel PI3 Kinase and mTOR inhibitors which was acquired by Takeda/Millennium.
Dr Berk obtained his medical degree from Case Western Reserve University, and completed his internship, residency, and fellowship in internal medicine, hematology, and medical oncology, at the Weill Medical College of Cornell University and New York Presbyterian Hospital.