Team

Dr. Gabriel Ocana Santero is the co-founder and CEO of Exin Therapeutics. He holds a BSc in Biochemistry from UAM (Madrid), an MSc in Neuroscience, and a PhD in Pharmacology from the University of Oxford. Prior to founding Exin, Gabriel conducted research across a diverse range of fields, including neurodevelopmental disorders, gene therapy for Friedreich’s Ataxia, pancreatic cancer, muscle regeneration, claustrum development, and neuroAI. A former Marie Skłodowska-Curie Early Stage Researcher and recipient of the "la Caixa" Foundation Fellowship, Gabriel is passionate about translating cutting-edge neuroscience discoveries into real-world clinical applications.

Dr. Ivan Lazarte is the co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Exin Therapeutics. He earned his PhD in Neuroscience from the University of Oxford as a Clarendon Scholar. Originally trained as a physicist, Ivan completed his BSc and MSc studies in the Philippines and Taiwan. His research spans a wide spectrum—from optical physics and biophysical modeling to neural networks, visual neuroscience, interneuron development, and long-range brain connectivity. Ivan brings a unique interdisciplinary perspective to neuroscience, blending quantitative rigor with deep biological insight.

Marko Tvrdic is the co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of Exin Therapeutics. He is currently on leave from his PhD in Neuroscience at the University of Oxford to focus on building Exin. Marko began his scientific career working on iPSC models, retinal disorders, and circadian and developmental neuroscience. During his doctoral studies, his focus shifted toward systems and computational neuroscience. He holds a BSc from the University of Edinburgh and an MSc from the University of Oxford.

Adam is a former group leader at the University of Oxford renowned for his contributions to the understanding of  neural circuitry underlying sensory processing.  He has pioneered techniques that enabling the precise mapping and manipulation of neural activity in vivo. Adam's interdisciplinary experience bridges the gap between cutting-edge technology and fundamental neuroscience, setting the stage for future breakthroughs in treating neurological disorders. He studied neuroscience and biomedical engineering at MIT, earned his PhD at Columbia University, and is currently a researcher in neural interfaces at Meta. 

Tom has over 30 years of experience bridging cutting‐edge neuroscience research with pharmaceutical innovation. Currently, he serves as the Chief Scientific Officer at Lario Therapeutics and holds a professorship in Neuroscience at University College London. His career spans academic roles—including the Edith Agnes Plumb Chair in Neurobiology at UCLA—and industry positions, notably as Vice Director at Roche. He received his BS, MS and PhD from Stanford University.

Alan currently serves as the Director of Biology at Science Corporation. Previously, Alan was Director of Biology at Neuralink where he contributed to pioneering advances in BMIs. His postdoctoral work spanned positions at Harvard Medical School and UC Berkeley, where he investigated molecular programs underpinning neural activity and developed a BMI that reads and writes neural activity at an unprecedented scale. He earned his BA from the University of Chicago and a PhD in Neuroscience from Harvard. 

Adam is a professor of Chemistry, Chemical Biology and Physics at Harvard University. He made fundamental advances technologies that enable the probing of neural activity. Adam is the academic founder of Quiver Bioscience - a company developing novel neurotherapeutics using a platform aimed at comprehensively understanding neural biology. Adam holds two PhDs - one from Stanford in experimental biophysics and one from Cambridge in theoretical physics. He was an undergraduate at Harvard. 

Mackenzie is a professor at EPFL, where her lab leverages cutting-edge machine learning and computer vision to decode neural activity in motor behaviours. She developed ML toolkits that enabled precise, markerless tracking of complex behaviors across species. By integrating large-scale neural recordings with advanced ML algorithms, her research is paving the way for novel computational models in neuroscience. Mackenzie earned her BS from the University of Oregon and completed her PhD at Harvard. She cofounded Kinematik.AI - an AI company working to enable large scale behavioural screens in drug discovery.

Carlos is a neuroscientist and clinician at UCLA whose research focuses on understanding how developmental defects in cortical network connectivity contribute to neurodevelopmental disorders. His laboratory employs state-of-the-art techniques—including in vivo two-photon calcium imaging, patch-clamp electrophysiology, and behavioral analysis—to unravel how sensory processing abnormalities relate to learning impairments and intellectual dysfunction. Carlos obtained his B.A. in Biochemistry & Cell Biology from UCSD, and earned his MD-PhD from Johns Hopkins.