ORTHONIKA - Key Persons
Clare joined Orthonika in November 2023 and is focused on using her 10+ years of administrative experience to making the lives of the busy Orthonika team easier. Prior to joining Orthonika, Clare has worked in numerous industries including Software Development (Elemental Concept) and Cell Gene Therapies (Gyroscope Therapeutics, a Novartis company) supporting C-Suite executives with an operations and commercial emphasis.
Professor Daniele Dini, D.Phil., CEng, FIMechE, MASME and FHEA holds a post as a Professor in Tribology at Imperial College London. Prior to joining Imperial College in 2006, and after receiving an M.Eng. in Mechanical Engineering from the Politecnico di Bari (Italy) in 2000, Professor Dini studied for a D.Phil. in the Department of Engineering Science at the University of Oxford (2004). Professor Dini is Head of the Imperial College Tribology Group, one of the largest tribology groups in the world (about 60 full time researchers). Professor Dini's research centres on the application of advanced modelling strategies to applied mechanics, materials, physics, chemistry, biomechanics and structural integrity, with a particular focus on tribology. It consists of three basic elements: (i) development of advanced numerical tools for the solution of tribological and related problems, including molecular dynamics simulations and fluid and solid mechanics solvers (ii) development of multi-scale strategies to couple molecular-, meso- and macro-scale solvers, (iii) application of advanced numerical tools, both at a fundamental level to understand the underlying mechanisms governing tribological behaviour and for practical use in design, troubleshooting and virtual testing. His work is published in major international journals in the fields of tribology, solid mechanics, computational and experimental material science, soft matter physics, physical chemistry and biomechanics. Professor Dini has published over 140 journal papers presented a number of keynotes and invited talks and contributions at conferences on these subjects since 2003.
Job Titles:
- Chief Operating Officer
- Co - Founder
Dominique is COO at Orthonika since co-founding the company in 2015. She has wide experience of product, business and company development, starting as a Research Scientist for Unilever in the team that launched Clear Blue diagnostics through its Unipath subsidiary. She was Business Development Manager for GSK's Wellcome Diagnostics subsidiary, licensing-in new product lines and transitioning the business through acquisition by Murex and subsequent 10x sale to Abbott. In 1999 she joined Imperial Innovations to build a portfolio of spin-outs such as Acrobot (sold to Stryker) and Protexeon (sold to Air Products) and became Head of Life Sciences Technology Transfer in anticipation of the company's IPO in 2006. In 2009 she left Imperial to become CEO at London Genetics, raising £2m to deliver pharmacogenetic services in clinical development, and has since worked in various biotech executive and non-executive roles, including 2 years on the board of the BioIndustry Association and 5 years as a Trustee of the Genetics Society. She holds a BSc in Life Sciences and an MBA with a focus on Technology Entrepreneurship from Imperial College London. She is an LESi Certified Licensing Professional.
Job Titles:
- VP of Research at Cambridge Polymer Group
Dr Gavin Braithwaite is VP of Research at Cambridge Polymer Group in Boston, MA and manages the Research and Development efforts there. He has extensive experience in biomedical materials, with patents and journal articles covering bone cements to hydrogels in topics ranging from orthopaedics to cardiovascular and ocular. Supporting clients at CPG, he has been extensively involved with products and devices in orthopaedics, cardiovascular, pharmaceuticals and other applications. He has significant experience with all stages of the product lifecycle, including development, testing, regulatory and root-cause analysis and was extensively involved in the successful development and sale of a new polyethylene material for hip and knee applications. In his research role, Gavin has been PI over the last 20 years on eight Small Business Innovation and Research (SBIR) grants, two of which have moved to Phase 2, covering topics ranging from bone cements to tissue bulking, nucleus replacement and retinal tamponades (the last three all hydrogel-based). He also acts as a reviewer for the NIH on current SBIR submissions.
Gavin has a B.Sc. in Physics from Edinburgh University, specializing in acoustics and fluids, a Masters in Electronics from Southampton University, specializing in digital radio communication strategies, and a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Imperial College (London), where he worked on adsorbed polymer layers and colloidal stability. For this work, he built and used an AFM to probe the interparticle forces due to adsorbed polymer layers. He performed his postdoctoral work at Harvard University, and then MIT, where he designed a micro-shear rheometer to allow the study of the rheology of confined polymer solutions and melts. He has a 15 issued and pending patents on topics as diverse as an extensional rheometer (now marketed as the CaBER®) and tools to guide orthopaedic surgeons during surgery or mitigate intraoperative fracturing.
Kristina joined Orthonika in 2017 and is focused on leading product design, development and testing as CTO. Prior to joining Orthonika, Kristina was involved in designing and prototyping a low-wearing novel hip joint prosthesis for the Malta Hip Project in collaboration with the University of Malta, leading to the FUSION Programme award. She also gained experience in continuous process improvement and quality engineering at a multinational engineering company. Kristina holds a Ph.D. from Imperial College London focused on the biomechanical characterisation of a meniscus prosthesis, in collaboration with Prof. Andrew Amis and Prof. Daniele Dini, and has published in international peer reviewed scientific journals. She also holds an MSc in Biomedical Engineering with Distinction specialising in biomechanics and mechanobiology from Imperial College London and a First Class BEng in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Malta.
Job Titles:
- Co - Founder
- Executive Chairman
Mario serves as Executive Chairman of Orthonika, having previously led the company as CEO since formation. He is one of the key inventors behind the technology. Previously, Mario was a venture capitalist, most recently as a Venture Partner with Fort Rock Capital where he served on the Boards of vasopharm GmbH and GNS Healthcare. Prior to that he was part of the life sciences investment team at Entrepreneurs Fund whose notable investments include Optinose (listed on the Nasdaq) and Prosonix (acquired by Circassia). Mario started his career in strategy consulting with Deallus Consulting.
Mario holds a Postgraduate in Genomic Medicine, a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering and a First-Class Honours MEng Degree in Mechanical Engineering with a focus on Biomedical, all from Imperial College London. Mario's academic research focused on early diagnosis of osteoarthritis, regenerative medicine techniques and orthopaedic biomechanics. He is an inventor in several patents and has published in international peer reviewed scientific journals. Mario is also CEO and Co-Founder of Orexia Therapeutics (merged with Centessa Pharmaceuticals, NASDAQ: CNTA) and serves on the Board of Embody Orthopaedics and on the Strategic Advisory Board of G3 Therapeutics.
Max Graziosi has worked for over 20 years in Capital Markets in a number of financial institutions in London including Credit Suisse, Bear Sterns and Nomura. He recently left Bank of America Merrill Lynch where he was a Managing Director, EMEA Chief Operating Officer for Fixed Income Currencies and Commodities. He has a vast experience in investing across many asset classes and industry sectors. He is an angel investor in a number of projects including The Kinase Project with Imperial Innovations Group plc, advancing LMTK3 as a therapeutic target for breast cancer and Maternal Matters Plc, a service providing social care to single mothers and their infants.
Job Titles:
- Surgeon and Founder of Fortius Clinic
- Surgeon for Many of the UK
Andy Williams is an orthopaedic knee surgeon and founder of Fortius Clinic, London. He is a Reader at Imperial College London; and, until December 2015, was Honorary Senior Research Fellow, Nuffield Department of Orthopaedics, Rheumatology, Musculoskeletal Sciences, University of Oxford.
Andy qualified from King's College Hospital, London in 1987 and his orthopaedic training was completed at The Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, Stanmore followed by a year's Fellowship in Brisbane, Australia where experience with Sports-Related Surgery began. On his return to the UK in 1997, Andy became Senior Lecturer/Honorary Consultant at The Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, Stanmore until the end of December 1999. From January 2000 until end of 2014 worked as a consultant at The Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, London.
Andy's elective practice is now exclusively knee surgery, approximately 90% of which is soft tissue knee surgery. He undertakes around 100 Anterior Cruciate Ligament reconstructions per year and a multi-ligament reconstruction every two weeks. This latter work represents one of the world's largest experiences.
Andy is currently the primary knee surgeon for many of the UK's professional sports teams, including many Premiership teams, especially in football, and rugby. 70% of his patients are professional sportsmen and women, and 50% of all his operative cases are on professional athletes. With a group of colleagues he set up the Fortius Clinic (a new private practice clinic) in central London in 2011.
He was on the executive of The British Association for Surgery of The Knee and sits on the Editorial Board of the Bone and Joint Journal and Joint Surgery. He reviews scientific articles for The Bone and Joint Journal, and The American Journal of Sports Medicine.
Mr Tim Spalding is a specialist knee surgeon focussed on knee injuries, meniscal transplantation, articular cartilage repair, ligament reconstruction, osteotomy, and use of novel Ortho-Biologics. He spent the first part of his career with the Royal Navy, becoming consultant in 1995. Specialist training was in Oxford and his knee surgery fellowship was in Toronto. He subsequently joining University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust in 2000. He has pioneered several new techniques and currently has over 90 publications and 12 book chapters. He leads the UK National Ligament Registry for ACL surgery. Internationally he is President of the ACL Study Group, and co-leads the European Allograft Initiative and the ICRS Cartilage Foundation.
Oli joined Orthonika in April 2022 as a biomedical engineer after PhD research in the field of knee replacement, focusing on in vitro comparison of partial knee implants to total knee arthroplasty. His research involved cadaveric modelling of the performance of different implant designs and surgical techniques, and included the development of patient specific instrumentation and novel experimental methods. Collaborating with Prof. Justin Cobb and Prof. Andrew Amis, along other Imperial College researchers, this research has produced a healthy body of publications in the field. Before his PhD, Oli worked in industry, developing an external foot prosthesis for lower limb amputees. He gained his MEng from the University of Bristol, completing a Master's dissertation on the biomechanics of walking.
Sam joined Orthonika in July 2023 as a biomedical engineer after spending time in the surgical robotics industry at CMR Surgical. His main focus was on the improvement and reliability of surgical instrumentation, delivering tangible mechanical and electrosurgery upgrades across a suite of instruments. Prior to that, Sam achieved a First Class MEng degree in Mechanical Engineering from The University of Warwick, completing a Master's project on the design of a handheld biopsy device.
Sean joined Orthonika in March 2023 as a biomedical engineer, after gaining his PhD and conducting postdoctoral research at University College London in the field of orthopaedic implants. His research initially focused on the tribological performance of these devices, particularly the wear of hip replacements and its clinical impact. In collaboration with leading orthopaedic surgeons and industry partners, the focus of his work progressed to the design and computational modelling of additively manufactured implants, covering both conventional and patient specific devices. Sean also holds a first-class MEng degree in Biomedical Engineering from The University of Sheffield, after completing a master's project on the design of synthetic testbeds for evaluating vascular catheters.
Job Titles:
- Consultant
- Orthopaedic Surgeon
Simon is a consultant hip and knee surgeon at the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre, a world renowned specialist orthopaedic hospital in Oxford, UK. He treats patients with complex hip and knee problems from the UK and abroad. During his training he completed a PhD in knee replacement surgery at Imperial College London. He continues to have a strong interest in research and is involved in research trials at Oxford University, Bournemouth University and Imperial College London.