A Call to Lead @LifeScience ORG

What do you do when a family member gets a life-changing diagnosis?

How do you convince investors to back the impossible?

And why should you ask every expert to kill your idea?

I’m joined by JP Latere, CEO of Esobiotec. Based in Belgium, Esobiotec pioneered in-vivo cell therapy and was acquired by AstraZeneca in a billion-dollar deal in 2025.

Of course, we’ll talk more about the deal (and the science) at the end of the episode.

About LifeScience ORG

It’s no secret that Europe is a glob...

Why is leadership development a bit like working out?

How does a self-confessed introvert and data-driven scientist rewire themselves to make high-stakes decisions with incomplete information?

What does it really mean to lead a biotech as an outsider – an immigrant, a woman, an introvert - who never set out to be a CEO?

Today I’m joined by Ola Wlodek, CEO of Constructive Bio based in Cambridge UK.

Constructive Bio is a biotechnology company specializing the manufacturing and design of proteins and peptides with new chemistries for pharma and other industries.

Why is celebrating failure in life science just as important as celebrating success?

How do you make the psychological shift from being one expert among many in the room to being a leader of experts?

And what does a near-industry wide clinical failure have to do with a potential new treatment for half a billion osteoarthritis patients?

Today I’m joined by Eliot Forster, CEO of Levicept based just south of Oxford in the UK, looking into novel treatments for the signs and symptoms of osteoarthritis.

About LifeScience ORG

It...

How do you lead a company that’s one of the first of its kind?

What can a geocaching game on a company retreat teach you about leadership style?

Can AI tackle the big challenges in drug discovery today?

Today I’m joined by Szabolcs Nagy, CEO of Turbine, based in Budapest, Hungary. Founded 10 years ago, Turbine is virtualising biology from the cellular level upwards using AI.

About LifeScience ORG

It’s no secret that Europe is a global leader in generating translational science. We’re grateful...

What do you do when entrepreneurship calls and your partner lives overseas?

How much can you really delegate as a CEO?

Why does a 50-year-old gene expression problem still exist – and what happens if we solve it?

I’m joined by Kart Tomberg, CEO of ExpressionEdits based in Cambridge, UK. ExpressionEdits is a seed-stage company taking on the challenging bottlenecks going from DNA to protein and convincing cells to make proteins for us.

About LifeScience ORG

It’s no secret that Europe is a global leader in generating translational scienc...

Why lead a company into the increasingly crowded obesity space?

How do you go from a career in veterinary surgery to CEO of a medtech company?

And what is so magical about Oxford when it comes to life science?

Today I’m joined by Camilla Easter, CEO of Oxford Medical Products (OMP), a late-stage medtech company based in Witney, Oxfordshire, in the UK. OMP’s lead product is a non-pharmacological treatment for obesity in overweight patients.

We’ll talk more about the science at the end of the episode, but first Camill...

Why does the perception of facts matter when talking to investors?

How do you attract a US-based chair to a European company’s board?

And what are the advantages of running a virtual biotech with no labs of its own?

Today, I’m joined by Victor Bustos, CEO of Refoxy Pharma. Refoxy is a "virtual biotech" located in Cologne, Germany, and is developing small-molecule drugs for the treatment of age-related disease.

About LifeScience ORG

It’s no secret that Europe is a global leader in generating translational science. We’re grate...

How does a United States Air Force officer end up leading a European biotech company?

Is there an advantage to leading a company that’s based half a world away?

And are you doing a regrets analysis as part of your decision-making?

This week I’m joined by Mark Gaffney, a Boston-based CEO leading Calluna Pharma. Calluna is a Norwegian company developing therapeutics for inflammatory and fibrotic diseases, such as IPF – but we’ll get into the science later in the episode.

First, Mark shares his story on what drew him into lif...

What inspires a theoretical physicist to start a drug invention company?

How do you choose the right co-founder when you're coming from academia?

And, in a multi-site, multi-cultural European organisation – how does a leader manage communication with the team?

I’m joined by Maximilien Levesque, physics academic turned entrepreneur, CEO and co-founder of Paris and London-based company AQEMIA. Aqemia uses a mix of physics and generative AI to invent therapeutics for poorly treated diseases.

More on the science towards the end of the episode, but first Max explains what inspired him to f...

This isn't Jack O'Meara's first rodeo.

As CEO of Ochre Bio, he saw the company bring in millions to develop pioneering RNA therapies for liver disease. With his new venture Aerska, he's looking at bringing the transformative potential of targeted RNA therapy to the realm of neurological disease.

In this episode of A Call to Lead, David Kirk speaks with Jack O’Meara, CEO and co-founder of Aerska, about his personal story behind tackling neurodegenerative disease and the realities of leading biotech companies in Europe.

Jack shares candid lessons on decision-making, context-driven leadership, an...

Biotech leader Avencia Sánchez-Mejías, CEO of Integra Therapeutics, joins A Call to Lead to share her leadership and entrepreneurship story, as well as her take on innovation in Europe’s fast-rising life sciences ecosystem.

In this episode of A Call To Lead, Avencia shares lessons on resilience, uncertainty, diversity, and the human side of leadership in science-driven entrepreneurship. Listen to her journey from academia to biotech CEO, her vision for safer gene editing, and how resilient leadership is reshaping European biotechnology.

How do you lead a company across continents and through uncertainty?

In this episode of A Call to Lead, David Kirk speaks with Samir Ounzain, CEO and scientific co-founder of Haya Therapeutics.

Samir shares how a lifelong curiosity about how cells “speak” to their environment led him from academia to building a company at the frontier of RNA-guided medicine.

He reflects on what it takes to lead through uncertainty, translate visionary science into tangible therapies, and build culture and alignment across continents. This conversation is a masterclass in marrying deep biology with purposeful lead...

The birth of Alexandre Le Vert's daughter amidst a global 'flu scare put him on the path to leadership.

Now, he's the co-founder and executive Chair of Osivax, a clinical-stage biotech company focusing on vaccine research and development based in Lyon, France. 

In this episode of A Call To Lead, Alex shares his series of fortunate events that led him to co-found Osivax, challenges he faced getting to grips with the legal obligations of leadership, and the lessons he learned from great mentors along the way.

Lisa Deschamps comes from a commercial, non-scientific background and now leads London-based CNS gene therapy company AviadoBio, following a highly successful career at Novartis Gene Therapies.

In this episode of A Call To Lead, Lisa shares her story of how a chance conversation drove her from a career in fashion into therapeutics, taking her across Europe and the US, from commercialising big-name therapies to leading in life science as a CEO.

Some entrepreneurial lessons are learned early – like the power of not going it alone.

In A Call To Lead, Dominik Schumacher, CEO of Tubulis shares his thoughts on the leaders’ role in European life science and why trust and partnership sit at the heart of every breakthrough.

Ros Deegan, CEO of OMass Therapeutics, reflects on starting her biotech career in a downturn — and why that might have been the best teacher.

In A Call To Lead, she shares why optionality has become central to her leadership, how she navigates constantly shifting paths, and what it takes to stay resilient when everything can change overnight.

Research is limited by our own thinking – until now.

James Field, CEO and co-founder of LabGenius, reflects on becoming a first-time CEO, the challenges that came with founding a company and the contrast between traditional research and what's possible using modern tools and technology in this episode of A Call to Lead.

A Call To Lead @ LifeScience ORG is our brand new podcast, showcasing the leadership, vision, and impact of European life science CEOs.  

Each week, a European life science CEO and member of the LifeScience ORG community sits down for a candid one-on-one conversation about the experiences that shaped them, their defining moments, and what drives them to be a leader.

Season One features eight episodes, including Ros Deegan (OMass Therapeutics), James Field (LabGenius Therapeutics), and Dominik Schumacher (Tubulis GmbH).