Cristina Bertulli, PhD

I lead the Business division and I am part of the senior leadership team. Key responsibilities include: • Negotiation of commercial and licence agreements with clients in the pharmaceutical sector and academic partners • Manage and maintain relationships with industrial and academic partners and VC investors • Formation of industrial/academic partnerships and preparation of commercial proposals and research grants • Leading Due Diligence during VC funding rounds (Seed, Series A) until successful round closure • Line management of staff • Board Observer • Overseeing project management and administration of research and commercial activities • Development of company business plan and financial forecasting • Development of company growth plan in collaboration with the senior management team

Exactmer is a life sciences start-up company, spinout from Imperial College London, which uses an innovative technology to manufacture oligonucleotide therapies and exact polymers for the antibody-drug conjugates and pegylated-drug markets. Key responsibilities: • Supporting the formation of new partnerships and deal negotiations with clients in the pharmaceutical sector • Financial forecasting • Identify funding opportunities and support the team in the preparation of research proposals • Project management of UKRI and European R&D grants • Preparation of marketing materials (pitch deck, website, etc.) • Supporting the technical teams in setting up new R&D facilities

I was responsible for delivering R&D programmes in the Chemical Engineering Department. Programmes managed to date: - PharmaSEL (£5.5million) funded by the pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly and Company, aimed to develop optimisation/machine learning models for drug development and manufacturing. - ELEGANCY (£1.9million) funded by BEIS and the European Commission under the Horizon 2020 programme, in the field of carbon capture and storage technologies. Key responsibilities: • Managing the project plan, deliverables, risks. • Financial management of project budget and financial forecast. • Recruitment of team members. • Liaising with industrial and academic partners and key stakeholders in Europe and USA. • Preparation of technical project reports and project claims. • Dissemination of project results and public outreach.

Symphony Ventures (now part of Sykes Digital Services) is a management consulting firm delivering transformation through Robotic Process Automation, Artificial Intelligence and innovative resourcing solutions. In my role I worked with the COO and the senior management team to improve the company's operations and the portfolio of transformation projects for global clients in the finance, healthcare and communication sectors. I have been trained in Robotic Process Automation and in business process mapping.

I assisted the team in managing the organisation's funding stream for research fellowships and bursaries.

Dissertation title: "Cancer Extravasation Dynamics in a 3D In Vitro Blood Vessel Model". The aim of my research was to investigate breast cancer extravasation in vitro, using a microfluidic system to mimic the 3D in vivo vascular microenvironment. I have developed an in vitro organ-on-chip platform that mimics the blood vessel microenvironment in a microfluidic chip. I have then used this organ-on-chip device to perform dynamic studies of cancer cells during extravasation and to investigate their interaction with the surrounding microenvironment. Skills gained: Data analysis; Statistics; Image Analysis; Microfluidic Device Fabrication; Microscopy Techniques; Cell Culture Techniques.

I provided supervisions/tutorials to groups of undergraduate students to consolidate the lecture materials and to answer problem sheet questions on degree-level physics. I supervised a total of 25 students. I also supervised the research projects of 3 master's students. I conducted undergraduate admission interviews for the Natural Sciences degree course at Christ’s College.

I have been selected to participate to the Panacea Stars competition for biotechnology start-ups, with the aim to commercialise a new technology that I developed during my PhD, which could improve current drug screening methods using an in vitro organ-on-chip platform. I led the business team to the final round of the competition, I wrote the company business and financial plans, I liaised with regulatory and IP experts and I pitched the business idea to VC investors.