Up against cancer
the teams
Operational team
Day to day, the Foundation is actively managed by a team made up of Jérôme Majoie (Chairman), Mathilde Jooris (Philanthropy), Coralie Lion (Communications), Natalia Cechagias (Finance and Administration) and Serge Schmitz (Fundraising Strategy and Marketing).
Scientific team
- Advisor to the management of companies and investors active in Life Sciences.
- 25 years of experience in business consulting (including at McKinsey & Co) and entrepreneurial experience.
- University education in immunology, with a particular interest in oncology.
- Functional expertise in corporate strategy development, investment evaluation and commercial excellence, with both large corporations and small innovative companies in Pharma, Biotech and MedTech.
- Certified in Board Director Effectiveness by Guberna and the INSEAD IN-Board Academy. Member of Women on Board.
- Supports the Foundation in evaluating potential investments and carrying out due diligence procedures, and coaches founding teams.
- Consultant in immunotherapy, cell therapy and intellectual property (patents), specializing in innate and adaptive immunity.
- Formerly Chief Scientific Officer (CSO), Vice President Research & Development and Intellectual Property at Celyad.
- Formerly Chief Operating Officer (COO) and founder of XCELLentis.
- Formerly Therapeutic Director at Innogenetics.
- Master of Science in physiology and biochemistry and PhD in molecular biology (Ghent University, Belgium (Department of Molecular Biology led by Prof. Dr. Ir. Walter Fiers, Belgian pioneer of biotechnology).
Scientific and Investment Board
- Senior consultant at the GUSTAVE ROUSSY institute, cancer campus in Paris
- Visiting professor of oncology at Yunnan University in China
- Co-founder and CEO of Pégascy (IGR cancer biotech)
- Former CEO of the Institut Claudius Regaud in Toulouse
- Active member of the medical oncology community
- Founder, previously head of early clinical phase new drug programs
- Medical Director of Research and Development at the Institut Gustave-Roussy (Villejuif)
- Involved in Phase I-II and III studies for the treatment of solid tumors, and ongoing support for oncology biotechs in France and abroad
- Board certified in medical oncology (Université de Toulouse III and Paris XI)
- Chairman of the fund management company “magellan” 2023
- Consultant in immuno-oncology and vaccines
- Venture Partner at LSP
- Formerly Senior Vice President, Member of the Executive Committee and Head of several immunotherapy Business Units at GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals (GSK)
- Member of the Scientific Board and Supervisory Board of several European life sciences companies (immuno-oncology, vaccines and diagnostics)
- Author of more than 100 scientific articles in leading international journals
- MD in oncology from the Université Catholique de Louvain (UCL Brussels) and the Institut Curie (Paris)
- PhD in tumor immunology (Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Brussels).
- Professor of oncology at the Université Catholique de Louvain (UCL Brussels)
- Executive MBA (Harvard Business School).
- Founding Chairman of the International Drug Development Institute (IDDI, Belgium & USA)
- Associate Professor of Biostatistics at the Center for Statistics of Hasselt University (UHasselt)
- Formerly Assistant Director at the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC)
- Past President of the International Society for Clinical Biostatistics
- Managing Partner of the LSP Health Economics Funds (private investment funds)
- Co-founder and Managing Director of VIB (Flanders Institute for Biotechnology)
- Board member of Sequana Medical AG (Belgium), Celyad SA (Belgium), Lumeon (UK) and Remynd NV (Belgium)
- Former board member of Devgen NV, CropDesign NV, Ablynx NV, Actogenix NV, Pronota NV, Flandersbio VZW, Bioincubator Leuven NV, Multiplicom NV and Curetis SA
- Professor Emeritus of Oncology at the Faculty of Biology and Medicine of the University of Lausanne
- Director of the Multidisciplinary Oncology Center (CePO) at the Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV), affiliated with the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research (1991-2004)
- Founder of the Laboratory of Oncology and Experimental Surgery at the Institut Jules Bordet
- Fellowship at the Institute of Cancer Research in London
- Chairman and CEO of Gamma-X Corporate Advisory
- Board member of several life sciences companies
- Former Senior Vice President Portfolio Analytics/Corporate Strategy at Sanofi
- Former Life Sciences Partner at Auriga Venture Partners
- Former strategy consultant at Accenture and Deloitte-Monitor
- Degrees: MD (Paris V), Business (Chicago), Computer Science (AUP)
- Head of the Department of Medical Oncology at Universitair Ziekenhuis Brussel (UZ Brussel)
- Clinical professor at the VUB Faculty of Medicine
- Scientific work awarded the Hilde Bruer Prize in 2013
- Current member of the medical oncology accreditation committee in Belgium
- PhD in medical sciences from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel
- Founder and Managing Partner of Valiance, an investment firm specializing in life sciences. Director of several Valiance entities and funds
- Director of MDxHealth, 4Tech and MyCartis
- Formerly CEO of La Fayette Investment Management, a leading investment fund
- Formerly head of investment management and research activities in Europe at the Permal Group
- Formerly Transaction Advisor at Lazard in the Corporate Finance M&A department
- Bachelor’s degree in Economics (Ghent University, Belgium)
- Master’s in Banking & Finance (Université d’Aix-Marseille, France).
- Managing Director of the Research and Development department of KU Leuven
- Chairman or board member of several high-tech companies
- Chairman of the Investment Committee of the Centre for Drug Design and Discovery
- Chairman of the Board of the Gemma Frisius Fund
- Board member of Quest for Growth (Euronext Brussels) and RZ Tienen (hospital)
- Supervisory board member of Brightlands Chemelot Campus (NL)
- Formerly an advisor at KPMG and at a venture capital firm
- Degrees in Law (KU Leuven), Tax Sciences (FHS Brussels) and Business Administration (KU Leuven)
- Senior biopharma executive with extensive experience in founding and growing biopharma and digital health companies.
- Executive, consultant and investor specializing in the development and commercialization of disruptive technologies at the intersection of digital and biology, and in supporting strategy and execution for small and large organizations.
- Formerly head of all commercial operations at Median Technologies.
- Previously Vice President at i3 (UnitedHealth Group), consultant at Accenture and PwC, and Director of Product Marketing at GSK.
- Chief Strategy Officer of Celata (an MIT spin-off biotech company), board member of FrenchTech Boston and mentor at MassBio.
- Doctor of Pharmacy from the Université de Normandie and graduate of ESSEC and the Wharton Business School.
The Board of Directors
Chairman of UP Against Cancer
- Former CEO of Laboratoires Fournier subsidiaries in the USA, UK, Sweden and Japan
- Graduate of ESDE
- MBA in International Management and Marketing from the University of Hartford, Connecticut (USA)
- Managing Partner of INTUITAE Suisse, a multi-family office with offices in Paris, Geneva, Brussels and Luxembourg
- Former Director at several banking institutions (WORMS, PARIBAS)
- Master’s in Business Law and Taxation (Université Paris II Assas)
- Postgraduate degree (DESS) in International Tax Management (Université Paris IX Dauphine)
- Managing Partner of the LSP Health Economics Funds (private investment funds)
- Co-founder and Managing Director of VIB (Flanders Institute for Biotechnology)
- Board member of Sequana Medical AG (Belgium), Celyad SA (Belgium), Lumeon (UK) and Remynd NV (Belgium)
- Former board member of Devgen NV, CropDesign NV, Ablynx NV, Actogenix NV, Pronota NV, Flandersbio VZW, Bioincubator Leuven NV, Multiplicom NV and Curetis SA
- Chairman and CEO of Gamma-X Corporate Advisory
- Board member of several life sciences companies
- Former Senior Vice President Portfolio Analytics/Corporate Strategy at Sanofi
- Former Life Sciences Partner at Auriga Venture Partners
- Former strategy consultant at Accenture and Deloitte-Monitor
- Degrees: MD (Paris V), Business (Chicago), Computer Science (AUP)
- Managing Director of the Research and Development department of KU Leuven
- Chairman or board member of several high-tech companies
- Chairman of the Investment Committee of the Centre for Drug Design and Discovery
- Chairman of the Board of the Gemma Frisius Fund
- Board member of Quest for Growth (Euronext Brussels) and RZ Tienen (hospital)
- Supervisory board member of Brightlands Chemelot Campus (NL)
- Formerly an advisor at KPMG and at a venture capital firm
- Degrees in Law (KU Leuven), Tax Sciences (FHS Brussels) and Business Administration (KU Leuven)
