Team

Co-founder and CEO since 2011, Rui is a hands-on entrepreneur with experience in life sciences and medical devices. Since the creation of Stemmatters, Rui has been pivotal in the launching and strategic development of the company. Rui brings technical, business, managerial, and leadership experience from multiple innovation and technology projects.

Vitor is a co-founder, Partner and CFO of Pathena. He serves as a Board Member of several of Pathena's portfolio companies. Vitor started his career at Arthur Andersen in 1997 in the finance, accounting and controllership areas. In 2002 he joined Deloitte as a Manager. In 2003 he assumed the position of CFO at Enabler, a €30M systems integrator firm focused on Oracle retail implementations.

Miguel has a long track record of investment selection and board membership and has been in charge of several reference VC and PE investments in the Portuguese market. Before that, he worked as CFO and Member of the Board of a company listed on the Lisbon Stock Exchange. Currently, he is the Director of Portugal Ventures’ Life Sciences & Med Tech business unit.

Pedro holds a degree in Biochemistry from the University of Coimbra and a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the same university in cooperation with Columbia University, USA. He has over 10 years of experience in biomedical research, with a particular focus on nanocarrier development and functionalization for therapeutic application in human disease. Pedro has also solid experience in primary cell and stem cell isolation/culture, cell-based assays, genome editing, animal surgery, and implementation of laboratory sustainability practices.

Fernando holds a degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Porto. He began working as a hospital pharmacist at Hospital Pedro Hispano, while also completing a specialization in Hospital Pharmacy. Following that, he worked as Site Manager for GE Healthcare Medical Diagnostics, and later for Advanced Accelerator Applications (a spin-off company from CERN). At Stemmatters, Fernando held various positions including Quality Assurance, Pharmacovigilance, and Quality Control Management. He completed a specialization in Pharmaceutical Industry in 2014 becoming an EU-certified Qualified Person.

Cristiana graduated in Applied Biology from the University of Minho and has a Ph.D. in Biomedicine from the University of Porto in collaboration with Harvard University. She has a life sciences scientific background by training, with multidisciplinary experience in the fields of tumour biology, tissue engineering, and biomaterial-based medical devices. Cristiana is responsible for project management and implementation, coordination activities for technology transfer operations, guidance for R&D activities and pre-clinical development activities, and liaising communications with academic and business partners to promote collaboration projects.

Elsa holds a degree in Biochemistry from the University of Beira Interior. She has extensive expertise in the isolation, expansion, cryopreservation, and storage of umbilical cord blood cells and adipose stem cells. Elsa also has experience in developing, planning, and implementing new processes for contract manufacturing services for cell-based products and biologics, and experience in audits performed by DGS, Infarmed, and clients. She is currently attending the master’s in Molecular Medicine and Oncology at the University of Porto.

Paula graduated from the Polytechnic Institute of Cávado and Ave with a degree in Fiscal Law. She has extensive experience in administrative, financial, accounting, and management areas acquired by working as a consultant for the Financial and Administrative Departments. Paula has more than 8 years of experience in the management and control of various company processes, from the creation and management of customer and supplier accounts, credit risk analysis, receipts, and payments to the coordination of Human Resources teams.