Misha Denissenko

Director  & Treasurer

Releef’s Treasurer has vast experience as a senior manager in drug discovery and diagnostics. At BD Biosciences, he led a R&D group involved in the development and production of commercial bioreagents. At Sequenom he was part of the drug discovery management team. Dr. Denissenko is the author of over 40 peer-reviewed publications and several book chapters on cancer.

 

Jonas Ekblom

Director & Officer

Dr. Ekblom currently serves as the CEO of BOWS Pharmaceuticals AG, a Swiss pharmaceutical group. He has held senior management positions in Pharmacia, Sequenom and Invitrogen and has been the founder of several biotech start-ups. Dr. Ekblom has experience of portfolio management in several therapeutic areas. He has published more than 50 articles in pharmacology and pharmacogenetics.

Johan Kördel

Director & Officer

Dr. Kördel has a solid academic training at University of Lund, Scripps and Harvard. He has held several executive management positions in Pharmacia and as a founder of Biovitrum where he served as SVP of Business Development. He now works as a Senior Investment Manager at Lundbeckfonden in Denmark and is a member of the boards of several biotech companies including: Respiratorius, Index Pharmaceuticals and iNovacia.

Our Team

 

The organization is managed as a global network with representatives in US, Sweden and Russia. The corporate headquarter is in San Diego, California.

 

The organization has three principal constituents: its board of directors, it’s program management office, and the executive advisors. The Program Management Office (PMO) is ultimately responsible for the execution of operations and is maintained within The Releef Initiative. The project management approach employed by Releef is a stage-gated methodology streamlined to include five project phases each ending with a specific decision point (gate).

Board of Directors

 

 

Håkan Garpenstrand

Director & Officer, Swedish Subsidiary

Dr. Garpenstrand has more than fifteen years of experience in clinical work, academia and pharmaceutical industry. He has held several R&D and BD management positions at Biovitrum and Wyeth, and has vast experience from managing scientific as well as commercial efforts within several research fields. Currently, Dr. Garpenstrand leads a commercial operations department at Pfizer in Sweden. In this role he supports in-licensing and M&A in multiple therapeutic areas.

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Marcia de Souza Lima, M.D., Ph.D.

Board Observer & Chief Medical Officer

Dr. de Souza Lima has developed a successful career as a global pharmaceutical executive in clinical development and medical affairs, at Novartis, Pfizer and Bausch & Lomb, after almost 10 years as a practicing physician and surgeon in Brazil. At Bausch & Lomb, she led a global team of more than a 100 members in the planning and execution of an extensive portfolio of clinical studies. She managed organizational changes and instituted several initiatives to improve operational efficiency and compliance. Dr. de Souza Lima prides herself in her various roles in bridging relationships and furthering understanding across seemingly diverse worlds. She is particularly interested in managing partnerships and cross-functional collaborations.