Our Team

Our leadership team provides a unique combination of worldwide leading expertise in epilepsy research and in the development and commercialisation of gene therapy.

Nicolas Koebel

Chief Executive Officer

Dr Teresa Nunes

Chief Medical Officer

Prof. Dimitri Kullmann

Chief Scientific Officer and Scientific Founder

Dr Joanne Broadhead (BioCMC Consulting)

Consultant, CMC and Program Management

Dr Luiz Almeida Silva

Research Director

News

Nicolas Koebel

Chief Executive Officer

Nicolas has over 20 years’ leadership experience in pharma & biotech, at GSK (2005-2015), Orchard Therapeutics (2016-2022), and EpilepsyGTx (since 2022). As Global Commercial Lead at GSK, Nicolas was responsible for the commercialisation strategy for a pipeline of seven gene therapies, including Strimvelis, the first autologous ex vivo gene therapy approved by the EMA in 2016. He was one of the founders and the first employee of Orchard Therapeutics. He played a key role in the evolution of Orchard from an early clinical-stage biotech to a public, fully integrated company with two commercially approved gene therapies and pioneered the commercialization of Libmeldy in several European markets. Orchard was acquired by Kyowa in January 2024. In addition to Nicolas' experience in pharma and biotech, he also holds a Master’s degree in International Economics and Law from the Geneva Graduate Institute.

Dr Teresa Nunes

Chief Medical Officer

Teresa has over twenty years of global leadership experience in the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries, with expertise spanning gene and cell and small molecule therapies across a range of conditions including CNS disorders and epilepsy. Prior to joining EpilepsyGTx, Teresa led the medical and pharmacovigilance teams at Allucent, a global contract research organisation (CRO). Previously, she held senior medical roles at clinical research consultancy, Premier Research International, as well as Bial, where she led the development of eslicarbazepine acetate (brand: Zebinix), an antiseizure medicine, from early clinical phase to commercial approval.

Over the course of her career, Teresa has contributed to the design and delivery of over 100 Phase I-IV trials. Her experience also includes AAV-based gene therapies, covering protocol design and safety monitoring, and the management of immunosuppression and hepatotoxicity. Teresa holds an MD from the University of Coimbra, a Board Certification in Clinical Pharmacology, an MSc in Clinical Pharmacology from the University of Surrey, and an MBA from Fernando Pessoa University.

Prof. Dimitri Kullmann

Chief Scientific Officer and Scientific Founder

Dimitri is a Professor of Neurology at the UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, and a Fellow of the Royal Society and of the Academy of Medical Sciences. His career has focused on the fundamental mechanisms of synaptic transmission and neuronal and circuit excitability in epilepsy and other neurological disorders for over three decades. He has authored over 250 publications and was the Editor-in-Chief of Brain between 2014 and 2020. More recently, Dimitri has collaborated on several promising strategies for gene therapy of focal epilepsy. His work was recognized with the American Epilepsy Society Basic Science Research Award in 2023.

Dr Joanne Broadhead (BioCMC Consulting)

Consultant, CMC and Program Management

Joanne has over 25 years’ experience in the biopharmaceutical industry including over a decade at AstraZeneca (1996-2011) in various product development and clinical manufacturing roles, specialising in parenteral products. Joanne’s experience also includes roles of increasing responsibility at Freeline Therapeutics (2016-2021), most recently as Vice President, CMC Project Delivery, with responsibility for strategic leadership of the CMC aspects of Freeline’s adeno-associated virus (AAV) gene therapy portfolio. Her responsibilities also included CMO oversight and CMC regulatory submissions and health authority interactions. Joanne is a trained Pharmacist and holds a PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences.

Dr Luiz Almeida Silva

Research Director

Luiz has over 15 years of research experience in neurological disorders, including epilepsy and traumatic brain injury. He started his career researching the role of epigenetic mechanisms in epilepsy as part of his doctoral degree, which he completed at the Royal College of Surgeons, Ireland. For the past 10 years, his work has focused on trialling oligonucleotide and genetic therapies for the treatment of epilepsy, with a particular expertise in preclinical in vivo studies. Prior to joining EpilepsyGTx, Luiz was a Senior Research Fellow at UCL, where he led the design and delivery of large-scale industry-sponsored preclinical experiments, assessing the efficacy and tolerability of novel gene therapies for the treatment of chronic epilepsy.