Katia Mellal, Ph.D.

• Gathered and analyzed medical insights from key opinion leaders (KOLs) to align strategic plans with medical objectives. • Provided scientific and strategic support to Market Access, Marketing, and Commercial teams by coordinating national and regional webinars, leading advisory boards, and developing educational initiatives. • Collaborated with Medical Research team to support Phase 3b clinical studies, ensuring adherence to timelines, compliance, and study excellence. Served as the primary scientific liaison between internal cross-functional teams and external medical experts, fostering collaboration and knowledge transfer. • Contributed to medical education and continuing professional development programs, enhancing patient care and stakeholder engagement across multiple therapeutic areas.

• Designing and directing all studies related to the macular transplantation program and small device application,
from in vitro to pre-clinical studies • Leading R&D initiatives for a new iPSC-based transplantation therapy for ocular diseases • Managing development and production teams as well as the retinal surgeon’s team and retinal imaging specialists • On-site supervision and monitoring of pre-clinical studies • Member of the scientific board to ensure decision-making regarding the evolution of projects • Managing sponsor relationship and delivery milestones including progress and outcome reporting with board of investors and scientific boards • Overseeing budgets and expenses of the different projects • Negotiating with project sponsors, investors, partners, providers and CROs (including scope shaping and contracts)

Teaching and giving lectures and exams to graduates and undergraduates students in PharmD, BSc Biopharmaceutical Sciences, Doctorat Optometry and DESS in Drug Development : - PHA1130 - Human Physiology (physiology online clips) - PHM2952 - Hypoglycemic drugs and insulin; - PHM2953 - Hypoglycemic and lipid-lowering drugs; - SBP2020 - Kinase receptors.

Project : Immunometabolic regulation and anti-inflammatory potential of CD36 ligands in the treatment of age-related macular degeneration • Published 7 scientific articles, wrote 10+ reports and research grants • Contributed to the launch of Mperia therapeutics, a start-up spawned from my doctoral project • Contributed to the generation of results of new synthetic CD36 ligands leading to 8 research grants and 2 patents • Presented my work at 30 national and international seminars and scientific conferences • Mentored and trained 3 graduate students and 6 undergrads • Development of candidate molecules for the treatment of age-related macular degeneration using inflammation models • Developed research protocols as well as experimental methods in cell biology and molecular biology related to inflammation and immunometabolism • Conducted in vitro experiments in cell lines/primary cells (macrophages) as well as in vivo animal experimentation

Projects : • Role of CD36 and proteins S100A8 / A9 to regulates polymorphonuclear leukocyte trafficking to acute inflammatory sites in mice • Induction of anti-idiotypic antibodies against extracellular matrix proteoglycans in the reduction of atherosclerotic lesions in mice deficient in apolipoprotein E • Effects of growth hormone secretins on reverse cholesterol transport Responsabilities: • Maintenance and management of transgenic mouse colonies • Study of the gene modulation involved in the inflammatory response at the endothelial microvasculature • Aorta isolations, aortic morphometric analysis, characterization of serum antibodies by ELISA, optical imaging and immunohistochemistry • Carrying out reverse cholesterol transport experiments in vivo, collecting samples and data analysis

The 6th Summer School on Medicines (SSM6) offers a unique 40-hour training program under a sponsorship in Barcelona, Spain. This consists in presentations and direct interactions with mentors (faculty + industry), including case studies and industry challenge sessions, covering the whole value chain of medicines, from idea to market. SSM6 is structured to cover the whole process that leads from ideas and projects to drugs reaching the market, including visits to research centers and pharmaceutical companies of the South of Europe, one of the most active regions in the world.

Project : Genetic determinants of corticosteroid toxicity used in the treatment of children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia • Developed a corticosteroid toxicology database for a cohort of patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia • Determination of genetic polymorphisms involved in the toxicity linked to corticosteroids by correlating patients genotype to the database • Skills: Clinical pharmacogenomics, genetic polymorphisms, databases, SPSS, SoftLab