Team
David Whitcombe - Chairman and Director
David’s experience includes 10 years academic research and 15 years in commercial R&D. During this time he has had a number of publications and patents including the Scorpions technology that formed the basis of his start-up business DxS Ltd in 2000. David was Head of Technology Development at AstraZeneca Diagnostics for four years where he led a team of up to 15 scientists working on new genomic technologies. David successfully developed DxS over 8 years before securing an exit in September 2009 for a total enterprise value in excess of £100M (13x money for Venture capital investors).
Hugh Ilyine - CEO and Director
Hugh Ilyine is the CEO and a co-founder of DestiNA Genomics Ltd. An entrepreneur with more than 20 years international experience in biotechnology and multinational corporations, he has covered start-ups through to multi-country fund raising and stock listings on UK AIM and the Australian Stock Exchange. Hugh brings a wealth of experience in industrial product marketing and negotiation of multi-million dollar technology licenses.
Juan J. Diaz-Mochon - CSO and Director
Juan J. Díaz-Mochón is a co-founder and CSO of DestiNA Genomics Ltd and the inventor of its core technology. He completed his PhD in Pharmacy from the University of Granada in 2001. He has enjoyed a distinguished academic career in Spain, Italy, and in the UK. As CSO of the company, he is responsible for on-time delivery of proof of concept studies, sign-off on experiments and scientific collaborations undertaken by the Company, and the quality and performance of the Company’s reagents and kits.
Salvatore Pernagallo - Operations Director
Salvatore has a B.Sc. and M.Sc. in cellular and molecular biology and a M.D in genetics from the University of Catania (Italy). He earned his Ph.D. degree in chemistry and PostDoc in tissue engineering from the University of Edinburgh. He joined DestiNA Genomics Ltd in April 2011 initially as a senior scientist and subsequently as product development manager. Currently, he is the operations director with the responsibility of identifying new product and application opportunities for the company, and ensuring the DestiNA technology development and management of collaborative projects.
Mavys Tabraue Chavez - Senior Assay Development Scientist
Mavys completed her PhD in Medicinal Chemistry from the University of Granada, working on the design and synthesis of new HDAC inhibitors as anticancer drugs. Her background includes chemical synthesis, microencapsulation, biosensors, biomaterials, scale up and optimization of processes. Mavys joined DestiNA in March 2013, after several years of experience in biotech companies. She has been responsible for the integration and development of DestiNA SMART Nucleobases and probes for colorimetric assays, including the Master Diagnostica detection platforms and DestiNA spin-tubes.
Barbara Lopez Longarela - Assay Development Scientist
Bárbara López Longarela completed her Degree in Biotechnology from the University of Oviedo (Asturias, Spain) in 2013, developing her final project in detection of viral strains using bioinformatics and multiplex PCR techniques. In 2014, she finished the Master in Molecular Biology Applied to Biotechnological Companies (BioEnterprise) at the University of Granada (Granada, Spain) and joined DestiNA to perform her master's thesis focused on the road-map of diagnostic products. Barbara became full DestiNA staff member in 2015.
Antonio Marin - Assay Development Scientist
Antonio graduated in Biochemistry at the University of Murcia. In 2016, he finished his Master in Molecular Biology Applied to Biotechnology Companies (BioEnterprise) at the University of Granada. During his master's thesis at DestiNA, he participated in the development of the DestiNA Spin-Tube products. In 2017, following an internship period in DestiNA, he became a full member of DestiNA staff. Within DestiNA, he is also doing an Industrial PhD in Biomedicine sponsored by the University of Granada.
Mario Antonio Fara - Senior Chemist
Antonio graduated in chemistry at the Universita’ Degli Studi Di Sassari, on the beautiful island of Sardinia (Italy). He then joined the research group of Professor Mark Bradley at the University of Edinburgh, where he was awarded a PhD degree in Chemistry in 2010. After gaining working experience in different companies, Antonio joined Destina Genomics in September 2014 with the responsibility for the chemistry R&D. Antonio has many years of experience in the design and synthesis of peptides, PNA and small molecules and has played a central role in negotiating with chemical suppliers for contract synthesis and materials supply.
Juan Jose Guardia Monteagudo - Chemist
Juan Jose completed his B.S. in Chemistry from University of Granada in 2008 and his Master Degree in Chemistry in 2009. He joined the group of Professor Alvarez-Manzaneda where he worked in the synthesis of natural products. In 2016, he received a PhD in Chemistry from the University of Granada. In February 2016, he joined DestiNA as a chemist for the synthesis of monomers and probes for DestiNA technology, including automatised solid phase synthesis, HPLC purification and MALDI-ToF characterization.
Javier Lopez Delgado - Chemist
Francisco Javier López Delgado completed his B.S. in Chemistry from University of Granada in 2006 and his Master's Degree in Biotechnology in 2011. In 2013 he did a predoctoral stay in Denmark under the supervision of Prof. Dr. K. A. Joergensen. In February 2015, he completed his PhD in Chemistry at the University of Granada, working on the synthesis of chiral ligands derived from carbohydrates. In January 2015, he joined the research group of Prof. Rosario M. Sánchez-Martín "NanoChemBio" at the GENYO Research Centre (Granada) working on the projects in collaboration with DestiNA Genomics Ltd.
Margaret Ilyine - Administrator
Margaret joined DestiNA in 2011 following its incorporation, and has an extensive career in government, banking and private sector business covering finance and administration, in Australia and the UK. Her role includes ensuring effective internal activities, as well as managing contact and documentary preparations for DestiNA operations.
Juan Enrique Cruz Romera – Administrator and Legal Representative of DestiNA Genomica S.L.
Juan Enrique received his BSc in Economy in 2010 and an Executive MBA in R&D Management at the University of Granada. He is a young entrepreneur who has set up of a number of startups, including the incorporation of the Spanish subsidiary DestiNA Genomica S.L. He is the legal representative of DestiNA Genomica S.L. and manager of the activities in Spain since he joined in February 2012.