Our Team

FOUNDER and CEO

Elena is a clinical research scientist at the Department of Medicine University of Cambridge with more than 20 years of research experience in rare genetic diseases, cancer immunology and development of innovative therapies for rare diseases. Elena's extensive research background in glycosphingolipid biology and rare diseases is fundamental to Protalea Bio's focus on targeting the sphingolipid pathway ensures the scientific direction aligns with her deep knowledge in this novel therapeutic area.

SCENTIFIC ADVISOR

Dr Olga Ignatovich is a world‑class antibody engineer and an accomplished biotech leader with more than two decades of innovative research and development experience in the biopharmaceutical sector. Olga completed her PhD and fellowship at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, where she worked with Professor Greg Winter on dual‑specific antibodies and single‑domain antibodies - foundational work that continues to shape the field. She led the Lead Discovery Group within the Biopharm Innovation Unit at GSK, driving antibody discovery campaigns through to clinical development. Most recently, Dr Olga Ignatovich served as Senior Director of Antibody Discovery and Co‑Head of the Cambridge, UK site at Agenus, a biotechnology company focused on immunotherapy

BUISNESS ADVISOR

A geneticist and serial entrepreneur, passionate about transforming cutting-edge science into life-changing healthcare innovations. For the past five years, she was the CBO and co-founder of PharmEnable Therapeutics, a VC-backed drug discovery company reimagining small molecules through AI, with a discovery stage pipeline in oncology and neurology. Prior to that, she was CEO and co-founder of GeneAdviser, an online ordering platform for genomic medicine now owned by the UK NHS.