About us

Jérôme Marzinski is a seasoned medtech leader, having held a variety of senior roles over a more than 25 year career, with significant experience in scaling venture capital and private equity-funded businesses in the sector, having completed 15 M&A transactions and raised over €50m of growth capital. Most recently Jérôme was the Interim Chief Executive Officer of Cimon Medical, overseeing the CE mark clearance for the Company’s lead product under new Medical Device Regulations. Prior to this, he spent three years as Chief Executive Officer at Visiometrics, spent six years in senior positions at ev3, and was Chief Operating Officer at Vexim. Jérôme has an MA in corporate financing and accounting from the University of Lille, and in 2012 completed the TRIUM Global Executive MBA, jointly issued by New York University Stern School of Business, London School of Economics and Political Science, and HEC Paris School of Management.

Nicholas has 30 years’ experience in the pharmaceutical/ biotech industry and for the past 16 years has led Business Development groups at, and been on the Executive Teams of, Antisoma, Clavis Pharma, Redx Pharma and most recently ReNeuron. Over this time Nicholas has led or been instrumental in a range of over 25 global deals (including in-and out-licensing, divestments, spin-outs, royalty buy-out and M&A) with Big Pharma and biotechs; the out-licensing and divestment deals generated over US$240m. He started his career in clinical development, mainly in oncology, with Ciba-Geigy, Eisai and Cephalon. Nicholas has a degree in Biology and post-graduate diplomas from the College of Law, London. Nicholas joined OxSonics as Chief Business Officer in August 2020.

Dr Christian Coviello has a B.S. Degree from Bucknell University and a Ph.D. from in The Pennsylvania State University both in Electrical Engineering. From 2000 to 2005, he was a research assistant at The Applied Research Lab-PSU in the areas of blind source separation, adaptive beamforming and applications of numerical linear algebra. From 2005 to 2009, he was employed as a senior scientist with SAIC in the Advanced Systems and Technology Division in Arlington, VA. There his work primarily focused on image and signal processing algorithm development applied to various sensor systems, from electro-optical to RF. From 2009 to 2015, he was a post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Oxford where he applied his extensive expertise in array beamforming techniques to the optimization of “Passive Acoustic Mapping” algorithms for real-time mapping of drug delivery, particularly using sparse arrays with low channel counts. In April 2015 he joined OxSonics as Head of Engineering and leads the company’s ultrasound systems development.

Dr. Marianna Lalla, MD PhD MPH CCT(PharmMed., PeadSurg.), has over 20 years clinical experience in oncology, medical devices, clinical trials and pharmaceutical medicine. Most recently, she was the Global Clinical Development lead in Translational Medicine at UCB, responsible for the development of multiple early-stage clinical-stage products.  Marianna has led or been instrumental in 90 clinical trials ranging from early-phase translational projects to global Phase 3 studies and has provided medical inputs for regulatory interactions with an array of regulatory bodies (MHRA, EMA including COMP and PDCO, FDA, PMDA, CFDA). She has established key-opinion leader networks and high value research collaborations for a variety of different products. Marianna originally trained as a paediatric surgeon, has a PhD in Medicine which utilised biomechanical methods including microscopic ultrasound, and a Master of Public Health with a thesis in health economics. Marianna is GMC registered as a specialist in pharmaceutical medicine. She joined OxSonics as Chief Medical Officer in June 2022.

Allison Jeynes, MD, FFPM (UK) is Chief Executive Officer at Avillion LLP, a London-based drug development company focused on the co-development and financing of late-stage pharmaceuticals. A trained clinician with more than 25 years of senior leadership experience in the pharmaceutical industry, she is now responsible for identifying high-potential opportunities to fund programs to approval. Previously, she led development at Wyeth, BMS, and Novartis and has secured numerous US and EU drug approvals. Allison also serves as a Non-Executive Director of Agenus Inc. and Anaveon AG and is a Senior Advisor to Blackstone Life Sciences and a Special Advisor to Abingworth. Allison became Non-Executive Chair of the OxSonics Board in April 2021.

Andrew Mullen has over 19 years’ experience in the medical device and life science industries. He has a strong background heading up operations, with extensive experience spanning product development, manufacturing, customer service, quality assurance and regulatory affairs. Andrew joined OxSonics from Creavo Medical Technologies, where he led the technical and operations functions delivering a novel technology within cardiology diagnostics. Prior to that he was Group Operations Director at Xstrahl Group Ltd, with P&L responsibility across the UK, Germany and North American business units. In his earlier career Andrew held a number of technical and project management positions in frontline and supporting units of the Royal Navy.

Gene Saragnese is a strategic business executive, technology thought leader and medical imaging technology industry expert. He has worked at the cross-section of business strategy, technology innovation and product development to build successful businesses and lead product commercialization and marketing on a global scale. Gene has held executive leadership positions as the Chief Executive Officer of Philips Imaging Systems, Vice President and head of GE’s Molecular Imaging and CT busines, and Chief Technology Officer and Vice President of Global Technology for GE Healthcare’s global business portfolio. He has served as a Board Director and Advisor to start-ups and emerging ventures, developing and commercializing new medical technology innovations including, artificial intelligence-based diagnostic solutions, dosimetry software, and progressive imaging and ultrasound therapy and drug delivery systems. Gene holds a bachelor’s degree in Engineering from Rutgers University and has completed advanced technical and executive development programs. He became a Non-Executive Director of OxSonics in January 2022.

David has over 25 years’ experience in financial, commercial and operational roles. After graduating with a BSc in Management from the University of Aston he joined Price Waterhouse (now PricewaterhouseCoopers) qualifying as a Chartered Accountant in 1993. He has broad, multi-sector experience in high-growth, entrepreneurial businesses from start-ups to listed companies. After an early career with Bryant Group plc and Homeserve plc, David has spent the last 10 years supporting early-stage technology businesses, most recently at Celixir plc (biotech) and Creavo Medical Technologies Ltd (medical devices). He has significant transaction experience including multiple fundraisings and acquisitions, and key outsourcing and out-licencing contracts. David joined OxSonics Ltd as Finance Director in September 2021.

Dr Cliff Rowe holds a BSc (hons) in Pharmacology from the University of Liverpool and a PhD in Molecular Toxicology from the University of Aberdeen. Cliff has worked on academic pharmacology and drug safety projects at the Universities of Aberdeen, Manchester and at the MRC Centre for Drug Safety Sciences (University of Liverpool). Cliff was previously Principal Scientist at CN BioInnovations where he managed internal research activities and worked on international multi-centre collaborative projects with partners across Europe and the USA. Cliff joined OxSonics as Principal Scientist in April 2015 to work on in-house development programs and co-development projects with strategic partners.

Glyn Edwards has held the position of CEO of Summit plc since April 2012 where he has restructured the business, taken the company through a NASDAQ listing and focused on its infectious and rare disease clinical development programs. Prior to joining Summit, he served as interim CEO of the BioIndustry Association (BIA), a UK trade organisation, from November 2011 to June 2012, and as CEO at Antisoma plc, a biotechnology company specialising in the development of novel drugs for the treatment of cancer, from 1998 to 2011. He received a BSc in Biochemistry from Bristol University and a MSc in Economics from the London Business School. Mr Edwards was awarded an MBE for his services to the biotechnology industry in 2006. In October 2017 he joined the board of OxSonics as a Non-Executive Director and as a member of the company’s Remuneration Committee.

Dr Matthew Frohn graduated from Oxford Brookes University with a BSc Degree in Cell and Molecular Biology followed by a D.Phil in Biochemistry from Oxford University. He worked on research collaborations with Zeneca, and a short research post with a British Biotech subsidiary before joining Oxford Technology Management in 1999. He is currently a partner of Longwall Venture Partners where he is particularly involved with its life science investments. He became a Non-Executive Director of OxSonics™ in November 2013.

George Robinson is a partner of Sloane Robinson LLP, an investment management business specialising in global equities which he co-founded in 1993. Prior to that, he worked in Asia for 15 years, initially for John Swire & Sons in Hong Kong, Korea and the Philippines, and then for Asia-based stockbroker WI Carr in Korea, Thailand and Hong Kong where he was Director of Regional Research. Mr Robinson graduated with a BA in Engineering Science from Keble College, Oxford in 1979, and is an honorary fellow of Keble College, Oxford as well as a former member of the Oxford University Endowment Investment Committee.

Professor Constantin holds BA, MEng, MA and PhD degrees in Engineering from the University of Cambridge, and was elected to the first statutory chair in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Oxford in 2011, where he serves as the Director of the Institute of Biomedical Engineering. He is the author of over 100 peer-reviewed publications and 16 patents in the fields of drug delivery, acoustic cavitation and therapeutic ultrasound. Prof. Coussios received the UK’s Institute of Acoustics’ Young Person’s Award for Innovation in Acoustical Engineering in 2007, was elected as Secretary-General of the International Society for Therapeutic Ultrasound between 2006-2010 and was honoured with the Society’s Fred Lizzi award in 2012. He was elected as the youngest ever Fellow of the Acoustical Society of America in 2009 for contributions to biomedical ultrasound, and received the Society’s Bruce Lindsay award in 2012. In 2022 Prof. Coussios was awarded of Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the Queen’s birthday honours list, for Services to Biomedical Engineering.

Professor Fergus Gleeson is a Consultant Radiologist and Professor of Radiology in Oxford. He trained in Cambridge, Papworth and London, and was a Fellow in Radiology at UCLA in Los Angeles. He was appointed to Oxford in 1992, and is head of academic radiology, the director of the Oxford Imaging Trials Unit, and a Divisional Director for the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust. He advises OxSonics on the clinical administration of ultrasound with regards to patient care, use and usability, and technical performance.

Hardev Pandha is a clinician scientist and medical oncologist who graduated in medicine at the University of Birmingham. He trained in internal medicine and subsequently in medical oncology at the Royal Postgraduate Medical School at Hammersmith Hospital, London. He completed his PhD (Imperial College) in the Imperial Cancer Research Fund labs at the Hammersmith. He was a visiting fellow at Stanford University prior to completing his medical oncology training at the Royal Marsden Hospital, London. He was a senior lecturer in tumour immunology and medical oncology at St Georges, University of London in 2000 before being appointed Prof of Urological Oncology at the University of Surrey in 2006. His areas of expertise include the management of patients with Urological cancers and malignant melanoma. He has a key interest in early phase clinical trials involving targeted agents and the translational aspects of novel therapies. His portfolio includes gene and viral therapy as well as immunotherapy and small molecule inhibitors. His laboratory interests reflect this and in particular a combination of novel and biological therapies with more conventional treatments. His lab team have evolved a robust infrastructure of patient sample procurement and biobanking for translational research.

Robert is a Consultant Hepatobiliary Surgeon and NIHR Researcher from Aintree University Hospital and the University of Liverpool. His main research interests are focused on optimising multidisciplinary decision making around advanced colorectal cancer, non-surgical liver-directed therapies as well as better methods of identifying patients who may benefit from surgical resection for metastatic disease – so called “precision surgery”.

Dr Colin Story has over 25 years of medical technology and life sciences industry experience. After graduating with a BSc degree in Biological Sciences and a PhD in Molecular Biology he started his career at Amersham plc (now GE Healthcare) progressing through Product Development and Project Management roles to a commercial role where he managed a £20m product portfolio. In 2005 he joined Isis Innovation Ltd, establishing a Business Development team to manage over 200 medical science innovations emanating from Oxford University. In 2011 he joined OrganOx Ltd as Operations Director, seeing the business take its class III medical device from prototype through to successful completion of first in human clinical trials. Dr Story co-founded OxSonics in 2013 and served as CEO from January 2014 through to January 2022. Under his leadership, a total of £25m was raised across three financing rounds, and OxSonics’ proprietary SonoTran platform technology transitioned into clinical use. He also led OxSonics through corporate restructuring in 2016 to form sister company OrthoSon Limited, raising seed capital and running the business until a CEO was hired in 2018. He currently serves as a Non-Executive Director to OrthoSon Limited.

Professor Robert Carlisle is the Head of the Drug and Vaccine Delivery Group within the institute of Biomedical Engineering, University of Oxford. After completing a BSc degree in Biochemistry, an MSc in Toxicology and a PhD in Gene Delivery at Birmingham University, he worked for 8 years within the Department of Clinical Pharmacology and the Department of Oncology at the University of Oxford. The majority of his work has been concerned with achieving systemic delivery of anti-cancer agents for the treatment of metastatic cancer. As a consultant to OxSonics, he leads oncology, toxicology and pharmacology.