Our People
At Biocentis, we employ a diverse and accomplished international team with unparalleled experience in the scientific and technological fields and an outstanding track record in company building and management.
Our Management Team
Giorgio Rocca
Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder
Giorgio is the CEO of Biocentis. Prior to joining Biocentis as a co-founder, Giorgio worked as a strategy consultant for Boston Consulting Group. Giorgio received a BSc and MSc in Mechanical Engineering from The University of Genova and an MBA from Collège des Ingénieurs and INSEAD.
Teodoro D'Ambrosio
Executive Chairman and Co-founder
Teodoro is the Executive Chairman of Biocentis. Serial entrepreneur with 20+ years of experience, Teodoro co-founded of a number of successful startup including, among others, Emaze, Hotelscan (acquired by JetCost ) and Prima, for a total value of >€3bn. He has attracted €300M+ in funding for co-funded companies from top VCs and PEs such as Goldman Sachs, Blackstone and Rocket Internet.
Emanuele Solidoro
Interim Chief Financial Officer
Emanuele is the CFO of Biocentis. A former investment banker with over 10 years of experience working for Lehman Brothers, Nomura and Goldman Sachs in London and New York, Emanuele received a BSc and MSc in Finance from Bocconi University and HEC Paris.
Federico Guelpa
Head of Strategy
Federico is the Head of Strategy of Biocentis. Prior to joining Biocentis, Federico worked in Milan as a strategy consultant for Oliver Wyman. Federico received a BSc and MSc in Economics from Bocconi University.
Our Scientific Team
Andrew Hammond
Head of R&D and Co-founder
Drew is the Head of R&D and a co-founder of Biocentis. His award-winning PhD research at Imperial College London led to the development of the world’s first gene drive system for genetic control of the mosquito, and his decade of contributions to the field earned him 2020 Biochemist of the year. Together with his colleagues, he is a co-inventor of Biocentis’ foundational IP. Between 2019 and 2021, Drew led a Wellcome Trust Funded project from John Hopkins University to shed light on the genes and neural networks that determine mosquitoes’ instinct to feed on humans.
Kyros Kyrou
Senior Team Leader and Co-founder
Kyros is a Senior Team Leader and a co-founder of Biocentis. He is also one of the inventors of Biocentis’ foundational IP. Before joining Biocentis, Kyros developed gene editing solutions for the control of the malaria mosquito for Target Malaria, a consortium financed by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Kyros graduated top of his class at the University of Thessaly, earning a BSc in biochemistry and biotechnology, before completing his Masters and PhD in molecular biology at Imperial College London.
Matteo Rucco
Data Science Manager
Matteo is the Data Science Manager of Biocentis. Matteo is a data scientist with over ten years of experience in bio-inspired system and medical industries. He holds a PhD in Information Science and Complex Systems from the University of Camerino.
Ioanna Morianou
Team Leader
Ioanna is a Team Leader of Biocentis. Ioanna is an expert in CRISPR/Cas9 based gene drive technologies. Ioanna earned first-class honours in her BSc and MSc degrees in Molecular & Cellular Biosciences at Imperial College London, where she is currently completing her PhD.
Our Founders
In addition to Giorgio, Teodoro, Andrew and Kyros, Biocentis founding team includes Prof. Andrea Crisanti, world leader and influential voice in disease control. His many contributions include co-invention of the doublesex technological platform that has been proven to be able to suppress mosquito populations and is the foundation of Biocentis’ IP portfolio. He is author of over 100 scientific publications in leading scientific journals.
Selected publications of our scientific team
Our scientific founders played a critical role in developing at Imperial College the most advanced gene drive technology for insect control to date and in addressing major technical hurdles and bottlenecks. See below publications on how they did it.