About Us

TheraCryf plc is a clinical stage therapeutics company developing a new generation of innovative therapeutics in oncology and behavioural brain disorders. TheraCryf’s strategy is to generate compelling data sets with a goal of partnering its programmes with mid-size to large pharma.

TheraCryf’s leadership team has decades of corporate, financial and scientific experience in biotech and pharma companies and is supported by an expert Scientific Advisory Board.

Dr Huw Jones, Executive Director

Chief Executive Officer

Toni Haenninen, Executive Director

Chief Financial Officer

Dr Helen Kuhlman

Chief Operating Officer

Dr Glen Clack

Chief Medical Officer

Dr Alastair Smith

Non-executive Chair

Dr Alan Barge

Non-executive Director

Edward Wardle

Non-executive Director

Expert Advisors

Dr Marjolein Geurts - Scientific Advisor

Marjolein is a neuro-oncologist at Erasmus University Medical Centre. She studied medicine in Utrecht, combining her training as a neurologist with... a PhD programme researching cerebral infarctions. Following her training she worked as a research fellow at The James Comprehensive Cancer Center at The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, USA. Marjolein actively promotes international cooperation with a view to identifying new treatments that can provide long-term survival and good quality of life for patients with a brain tumour. She is focused on scientific research and also aims to provide personal attention to patients.

Dr Sacha Howell - Scientific and Clinical Advisor

Sacha trained in medicine at Nottingham University and in medical oncology at The Christie NHS Foundation Trust. He gained his PhD in medical... oncology at The University of Manchester in 2006, studying the role of prolactin in breast cancer stem cell regulation. He was appointed Senior Lecturer in Breast Oncology at The University of Manchester in October 2010 and works closely with the basic scientists in the Manchester Breast Centre, focusing on the translation of novel approaches to targeting normal and cancer stem cells into breast cancer prevention and treatment respectively.

Dr Francesco Marampon - Scientific Advisor

Francesco is a researcher at the University of Rome Sapienza and is an associate professor of Radiotherapy. Francesco studies the molecular... mechanisms responsible for radioresistance, particularly in rhabdomyosarcomas. He is currently dedicated to the study of new radiosensitizing approaches.

Dr Fraser Murray - Scientific Advisor

Dr Fraser Murray is an experienced drug hunter and entrepreneur with over 30 years of experience in drug discovery and early development in both... pharma and biotech. Currently CEO of Pheno Therapeutics, previous roles have included Chief Scientific Officer of Chronos Therapeutics, CEO of Polleo Pharma and, most recently, CEO of Pandeia Therapeutics which was acquired by a mid-cap pharmaceutical company in 2022. Fraser began his career as a scientist at Merck’s Neuroscience Research Centre in the UK before moving on to roles at Astra Zeneca and Shire where he headed discovery biology for Speciality Pharmaceuticals. He has co-founded 5 biotech companies and consulted for multiple start-ups and venture capital firms since leaving a career in big pharma. Fraser studied Immunology and Pharmacology at the University of Strathclyde, undertook a PhD in Neuropharmacology at the School of Pharmacy, University of London and later studied for an executive MBA at Alliance Manchester Business School.

Professor Rob Clarke - Scientific Advisor

Rob is a Professor of Breast Biology and Director of the Manchester Breast Centre, based at the Oglesby Cancer Research Building. His undergraduate... BSc studies were in Biology at the University of Sussex and the Université de Grenoble. Following two and half years as a Research Assistant with Chris Potten at the Paterson Institute for Cancer Research, Professor Clarke studied the control of proliferation in the normal and neoplastic human mammary gland for his PhD at The University of Manchester (1995). Subsequently, his post-doctoral training was with Dr Liz Anderson in the Clinical Research Department of The Christie Hospital, Manchester, and in 2001, he returned to The University of Manchester as a Group Leader in the Division of Cancer Sciences. He was Lecturer and Cancer Research UK Research Fellow from 2001-2006, a Senior Lecturer and Breast Cancer Now Research Fellow from 2006-2011 and a Reader in Breast Biology from 2014.

Professor Albena Dinkova-Kostova - Scientific Advisor

Albena is a Professor of Chemical Biology at the Jacqui Wood Cancer Centre, Division of Cellular Medicine, University of Dundee School of Medicine.... She obtained her PhD degree in Biochemistry and Biophysics from Washington State University and then joined the research group of Professor Paul Talalay, who discovered the anti-cancer effect of sulforaphane at Johns Hopkins University back in 1992. She has a core research interest in oxidative stress and inflammation and has published over 100 research papers including many on sulforaphane as an activator of the Nrf2 pathway and as a potential therapeutic strategy for protection against chronic degenerative diseases.

Dr Mary Stuart - Medical Adviser

Mary is a Pharmaceutical Physician specialising in oncology, with specific expertise in breast cancer and with over two decades of experience in... large multinational pharmaceutical companies. She was the clinical lead for the set up of the positive MonarchE adjuvant breast cancer study for Eli Lilly and the successful Falcon, Olympiad and Olympia studies for AstraZeneca , and was the Breast Cancer Disease Area expert for AstraZeneca. Previously Mary was clinical lead for the early pertuzumab breast cancer development for Roche.

Dr Claudio Festuccia - Scientific Advisor

Claudio is a researcher at the University of L’Aquila and is an associate professor in pathology and biology. He started his scientific activity as... an immunologist with his interests switching to anticancer research, particularly prostate, breast and colorectal cancers and rhabdomyosarcoma. He is currently devoted to the study of new therapeutic approaches for glioblastoma. Claudio has also acted as a consultant for biopharmaceutical companies participating in numerous advisory board meetings.

Professor Anthony Chalmers - Scientific and Clinical Advisor

Anthony is Chair of Clinical Oncology at the University of Glasgow and Director of the CRUK RadNet Centre of Excellence in Radiotherapy Research. He... has a clinical neuro-oncology practice at the Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre and runs the Translational Radiation Biology laboratory in the Institute for Cancer Sciences. His main research interest is in improving outcomes for patients with glioblastoma by combining radiotherapy with targeted drug therapy, but his research interest in radiotherapy-drug combinations extend across tumour sites. He is Chief Investigator for a portfolio of early phase clinical trials evaluating novel DNA damage response (DDR) inhibitors in combination with radiotherapy in patients with glioblastoma. He was Chair of the NCRI Clinical and Translational Radiotherapy Research Working Group (CTRad) from 2016-19 and currently co-chairs the CRUK RadNet Radiotherapy-Drug Combinations Working Group. He sits on the Executive Board of the European Association for Neuro-Oncology (EANO) and the Radiobiology Committee of the European Society for Therapeutic Radiation Oncology (ESTRO). Since arriving in Glasgow in 2010 he has established the Scottish Radiotherapy Research Forum and is currently Vice-Chair of the Radiotherapy Programme Board in Scotland. He is currently a member of the Medical Research Council Molecular and Cellular Medicine Board.