Our Senior Management Team
Dr. Ana Panigassi
Head of Clinical Affairs and In-House Obstetrician
Ana specialises in Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Maternal-Fetal Medicine. She has several years of clinical experience as a consultant physician along with a strong academic background. She has tutored all levels of medical students and residents and is also a published author. Her most significant research was carried out with the First Trimester Screening Group at Unifesp (São Paulo, Brazil), of which she is one of the founding members. Ana moved to Ireland in 2015 and started a deep dive into Innovation in Healthcare helping teams to establish innovative start-ups.
Dr. Greg Fitzgibbon
Clinical Laboratory Director
Greg is a Clinical Laboratory Director with New York State Department of Health Certificate of Qualification and provides the clinical expertise required for Metabolomic Diagnostics expanding business and product portfolio. Greg has previously been the COO and Clinical Affairs Director of multiple Molecular Diagnostic Companies. He has led operations teams in performing product development for In Vitro Diagnostic (IVD) products under ISO 13485 quality management systems with a focus on women's health and prenatal testing portfolios. Greg holds a Doctorate in Molecular Genetics, he is a HCPC registered Clinical Scientist and a Diplomate member of the Royal College of Pathologists. Greg has over 8 years management experience within the NHS. He has also had over 8 years involvement with the inception, growth and development of Biotechnology businesses including Syngenta, Gen-Probe, Hologic, Epistem, Elucigene Diagnostics, Yourgene Health, MyHealthChecked, on top of validating technologies for corporate giants including GSK and Government Institutions.
Dr. Paloma Muñiz Ortea
R&D Manager
Paloma is trained as an analytical chemist and holds a PhD from the Cork Institute of Technology where she developed analytical methods for the detection of marine toxins using liquid chromatography- mass spectrometry. She previously worked in Fournier Laboratories Ireland (FLI, now Abbvie) where she worked as Development analyst and Senior Analytical Scientist at a later stage. During her time at NorthStar she worked as Product Quality Manager and was responsible for ensuring the overall quality of over 30 different products currently on the market under the NorthStar label and other several affiliated labels marketed in the USA and Canada. Paloma has an extensive knowledge in method development as well as in the regulated pharmaceutical manufacturing industry.
Elizabeth Berkelaar
Office Manager/ Executive Assistant
Elizabeth's diverse experience facilitates efficient functioning of a range of office environments which she has gained over the years in various industries. Encompassing multi-operational roles, Elizabeth supports Administration, Finance, Quality, Human Resources and Health & Safety. She is a self motivated individual committed to meeting deadlines and targets with a high degree of precision and quality and adept at handling the demands of a fast-paced work environment.
Dr. Robin Tuytten
Chief Executive Officer
Robin is a globally respected leader in the field of mass spectrometry and women’s health. Prior to his appointment as CEO Robin had been leading the Metabolomic Diagnostics R&D programs. Robin is trained as an analytical chemist and holds a PhD from the University of Antwerp where he developed methodologies for the mass spectrometric analyses of nucleosides and nucleotides. He joined Belgian biomarker company Pronota in 2006. Robin led Pronota’s Preeclampsia biomarker program until he joined Metabolomic Diagnostics. With more than 20 peer-reviewed scientific publications, co-inventorship on several technical and biomarker patent applications including protein biomarkers for PE, a solid track record in commercial biomarker development and a deep knowledge of the field of pregnancy diseases, Robin Tuytten is well positioned to lead the company’s current and future product development efforts.
Louise Kenny
Principal Investigator
Professor Louise Kenny (MB ChB (hons), PhD, MRCOG) is Executive Pro Vice Chancellor, Faculty of Health & Life Sciences, University of Liverpool. Louise’s post-doctoral work mainly investigated the use of metabolomic technology in the development of a screening test for pre-eclampsia. This work attracted the Society for Gynaecological Investigation President’s Award and Plenary Presentation at the annual meeting in Los Angeles, 2005. In 2007, Louise was appointed as a Health Research Board Ireland Clinician Scientist. This 4 year award (of €1.6 million) is underpinning the Screening for Pregnancy Endpoints (SCOPE) Study- a prospective longitudinal case cohort of pregnancy outcome which will also contribute to the world’s largest global pregnancy biobank (see www.scopestudy.net). Louise’s work has resulted in >200 peer reviewed original papers, reviews and book chapters. She is the co-Editor of the 19th Edition of `Obstetrics by Ten Teachers’- the world’s leading undergraduate textbook in obstetrics and senior Editor of the forthcoming 20th editions of ‘Obstetrics and Gynaecology by Ten Teachers’. In addition, Louise is a reviewer for a wide range of international journals including the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, the British Medical Journal, Clinical Chemistry, the European Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, the Journal of Perinatal Medicine and Reproductive Sciences and research funding bodies such as the Medical Research Council (UK), the Wellcome Trust, Action Research, the British Heart
Phil Baker
Principal Investigator
Professor Baker is Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Head of the College of Life Sciences, Dean of Medicine at University of Leicester. Prior to accepting the position in Leicester Professor Baker lived and worked in New Zealand where he served as Director of the National Research Centre for Growth and Development and held the position of Professor of Maternal & Fetal Health at the University of Auckland. Professor Baker also runs a dedicated pregnancy research centre based in Chongqing Medical University in Western China following his appointment as a National Distinguished Professor by the Chinese Government in 2013. Previously Professor Baker led the medical schools in both Manchester, UK and Alberta, Canada. He also established and then directed the Manchester NIHR Biomedical Research Centre. He has held visiting professorial appointments in Hong Kong, Toronto and Yale. In 2005 he was given the President’s Achievement Award of the Society of Gynecologic Investigation (The first time this award had been made outside North America). He was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences in 2008. He is a world authority in the aetiology and management of pre-eclampsia, having published over 300 scientific articles and 17 textbooks (including the leading UK undergraduate and postgraduate obstetric texts). He has been investigating screening tests for pre-eclampsia for over 20 years. He been awarded grants totaling over £20M for his own research portfolio, including an MRC program grant and a Wellcome Trust Translational award. He has led institutional research applications that have successfully accrued >£50M. Professor Baker was also the principal author of the position paper on “Health of Women and Children”, presented to The Science Academies of the G8 countries, and considered at the G8 Summit held in Huntsville, Ontario, in June 2010.
Diarmuid Cahalane
Director
Diarmuid Cahalane has been consulting to the technology and life sciences sectors for over 20 years. He is recognised for his strengths in risk analysis, remediation, cost reduction and compliance. In 1997, he established his own regulatory consulting company, and went on to work with many of the leading life science companies, including Pfizer, Schering Plough, and Glaxo Smithkline. He maintains contact with the FDA at a high level and recently visited Washington DC to discuss innovation concepts with the FDA, Patient Advocacy Groups and others. He is an expert member of the Irish mirror committee of ISO:TC276 and is also a member of the Preeclampsia Biomarkers Consortium in the United States.
Charles Garvey
Executive Chairman
Charles Garvey is a serial entrepreneur with extensive experience in growing Irish companies internationally. From 1990 to 2003 he was first COO and then CEO of Horizon Technology Group Plc. and took Horizon from a small privately held company to a major European multinational with significant global credentials. Charles took Horizon public on the London and Dublin stock exchange in 2000. Charles continued to work with Horizon right up to its sale to Avnet Corp in 2009. From 2006 to 2011 Charles was CEO of NitroSell Ltd., a SAAS based ecommerce platform, which has generated almost $1B in sales to date. Charles continues to serve as non-executive chairman of NitroSell. For the past six years, Charles has used his proven teambuilding and managerial skills to build a focused, motivated and successful team of life science professionals at Metabolomic Diagnostics. Charles has extensive experience at forging and managing partnerships with major multinational companies and in corporate finance and fundraising through angel investors, VCs, banks and public markets.
Our Advisory Team
Prof Jim Roberts
Declan O’Mahoney
Frank Walsh
Bill Liao
