Team
AMADIX has built a high-level specialized team, with many years of international experience in cancer diagnostics, pharmaceutical industry, biotechnology, artificial intelligence, and intellectual property.
Extensive experience, resilience, determination, well-balanced and highly motivated are ways to define the AMADIX team that represents one of the company’s major strengths.
Meet our
Rocío Arroyo
(PharmD, MBA) Chief Executive Officer
Rocío Arroyo is specialized in the management of innovative companies in early cancer detection, with a background in Medical Device, Diagnostics and Biopharmaceuticals. She has dedicated her professional life to find disruptive ways to prevent cancer. CEO of Amadix, a biotech company in the liquid biopsy space, focused on early cancer detection in blood before the symptoms appear. Extensive pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and public/private health-sector knowledge.
Board Member of different Business Schools, hospitals and Research Centers, she
participates in programs for mentoring and connecting innovators, researchers and
entrepreneurs. Board Member of the Spanish Biotech Companies Association (AseBio),
leading the Precision Medicine & Diagnostics National Group.
Winner of the National Innovation Award for trajectory in 2022 by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, EU Women Innovator Award 2022 by the European Commission, and selected by FORBES as one of the 22 leaders to drive change in 2022
Experienced and entrepreneurial executive with over 25 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry, with extensive knowledge of the public and private healthcare system. Her professional career has been aimed at promoting highly innovative projects and companies, having dedicated her professional life to finding disruptive ways to prevent cancer, and to implement them in the clinical routine, thus avoiding invasive procedures and complications derived from the current diagnostics methods. Prior to founding AMADIX, Ms. Arroyo filled the position of General Manager at Bionostra Biotechnology Applications in the Oncology area. She has been holding a range of positions at Eli Lilly, in a variety of therapeutic areas from oncology and gynecology to urology and endocrinology. Her expertise covers the full scope of the business, starting as a researcher in Pharmacology, moving to sales and marketing operations and then to business development, fundraising and P&L optimization, all with a strategic vision oriented to maximize profitability in biotechnology / pharmaceutical companies.
Rocío Arroyo is a strong promoter of science and technology at international events, promoting initiatives for encouraging women in science and entrepreneurship, mentoring disabled women in their professional careers (RADIA program by ONCE Foundation) and motivating them to become leaders (PROMOCIONA Program, by Spanish Ministry of Gender Equality). Rocío is a member of the Scientific Committee of the Spanish Association Against Cancer (AECC), mentoring pro bono research oncology projects and she is a strong promoter of science and technology at international events. She leads the Group of Diagnostics & Personalized Medicine within the Spanish Association of Biotechnology (Asebio).
Selected by FORBES list for her talent and leadership qualities as a Protagonist of Change 2022, Rocio is also a finalist of the EU Prize for Women Innovators 2021 and has been selected by Mariya Gabriel, European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth as the Spanish representative to join the newly created European Women Founders community in May 2022.
Rocío is also one of the 35 members of the Advisory Council for Spain as an Entrepreneurial Nation, a body set up in March 2022 to advise, collaborate and act as a channel for the participation of civil society in the development of the Spain Strategy, managed by the High Commissioner for Spain as an Entrepreneurial Nation.
Rocío holds a BSc in Pharmacy from the Complutense University (Madrid, Spain) where she also completed graduate courses in Pharmacology, and an MBA from the IE Business School (Madrid, Spain). She is a Board Member of different Business Schools and Universities.
Lourdes Planelles Carazo
(PhD) Chief Scientific Officer
Dr. Lourdes is a Ph.D in Chemistry and Biochemistry from University of Granada, where she completed her doctoral thesis at the Institute of Parasitology and Biomedicine “Lopéz Neyra” (CSIC). Shortly after, she worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Molecular Genetics in Montpellier (CNRS). She returned to Madrid in 2006 to work at the National Biotechnology Centre (CSIC) as a Ramón y Cajal researcher in the Department of Immunology and Oncology, where she led a research group for 10 years. In 2016, Dr. Lourdes joined Bioncotech Therapeutics (now Highlight Therapeutics), a company specialising in the development of new immunotherapy drugs for the treatment of cancer, as scientific director. In 2020, she began collaborating with Professor Cesare Stefanini’s group at the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Khalifa University, in Abu Dhabi, working on the development of the Lymph-Node-On-A-Chip. Dr. Lourdes has a long career leading lines of research and directing teams: She has several patents and numerous publications in scientific journals and has been project evaluator for various national and international programmes. She is a member of the Spanish Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (SEBBM) and associate editor for the journal Frontiers in Pharmacology.
Elena Sánchez-Viñes
(BSc, MBA) Chief Operating Officer
Elena holds a degree in Pharmacy (specializing in biochemistry) and an MBA from the Instituto de Empresa Business School. She has 22 years of experience in the Pharmaceutical Industry (Pfizer and Roche in Spain) and has held positions of responsibility and team management, as well as positions in the Medical Department, Marketing and Access. She has overseen the creation of a new Business Unit focused on Personalized Medicine (biomarkers, genomic sequencing, and digital health), achieving a differential value contribution for the company and for patients by generating a new business based on personalized diagnosis, all while working in a very transversal way in the company and linking all of the company’s business units (oncology, hematology, CNS, inflammatory diseases).
Noemí Hernandez
(BBA, BL) Corporate Development Director
Ms. Hernández has more than 20 years of extensive experience in multinational companies, leading Corporate, Financial Control, IT and Purchasing Departments. Throughout this period, she has been responsible for several projects aligning corporate processes and strategies within the different business units and the application of Big Data in new business models. Ms. Hernández has a degree in Business Administration and a Law Degree from the University of Valladolid, and she completed the Innovation in the Health Sector Management Program at IE, Madrid and the Artificial Intelligence in Health Care Executive Program at MIT.
Lucía Reinoso
(PharmD, MBA) Chief Financial Officer
Ms. Reinoso has over 20 years of experience in the Biotechnology industry. Before joining AMADIX, she held the positions of Financial Controller at Vivia Biotech, S.L, a biotech company focused on drug development and personalized medicine; Financial Analyst at Triple A Capital Partners, a firm specialized in Corporate Finance, and Financial Controller at Genoma España, a biotechnology public foundation. Ms. Reinoso has a Degree in Business Administration and a Law Degree from Comillas Pontifical University-ICADE (E-3) (Madrid, Spain). Lucía holds a Master’s Degree in Medical Management (UNED -ISCIII) and an MBA from the IE Business School (Madrid, Spain).
Eva Mª Sastre
(Administrative Specialist Technician) – Administrative Manager
Ms. Eva has over 20 years of experience in the administrative and accounting area. Before joining AMADIX, she worked in various positions, such as in administrative accounting, 4 years in an important company in Madrid (Spain), and 5 years in a company located in Boecillo Technology Park in Valladolid (Spain), among others. Eva holds a higher degree as an Administrative Specialist Technician, besides several training courses in the accounting area.
Carmen Monsalve
(PhD) Clinical Affairs Manager
Dr. Monsalve has 13 years of experience in basic and clinical research. She is specialized in the design and operational management of clinical studies. Before joining AMADIX, she spent more than 3 years working for Medical Affairs in a pharmaceutical company specialized in the development of diagnostic tests for gastrointestinal pathologies (Venter Pharma S.L.). She successfully managed conducting a phase IV clinical trial and provided support in all the activities of the Medical Department. Before that, she held a predoctoral researcher position at the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Department of the Biology Faculty at the Complutense University (Madrid, Spain). She holds a BSc in Biochemistry and a PhD in Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Biomedicine from the Complutense University (Madrid, Spain).
Ipek Guler Caamaño
Data Analysis Director
Ms. Guler has over 10 years of experience as a Biostatistician in different organizations: at the Biostatistics Department at the University of Santiago de Compostela, at IMIBIC in Cordoba and lastly at the renowned Biostatistics Department at the University of Leuven (KU Leuven) in Belgium. Her PhD research focus lies on longitudinal and survival data, and she has collaborated in several different projects such as cancer studies, research in new biomarkers, diagnosis, and publications in miRNA studies with predictive models.
Agathe Cortes
Communications Director
Agathe is a journalist specialized in science and corporate communications for biotech companies. Before joining Amadix, she has been leading the communication of AseBio (Spanish Association of Biocompanies) for almost three years. Her career also includes her experience as an editor in the Science section of the newspaper EL PAÍS, where she has published some 150 articles. Agathe has a BA and MA in Modern Literature from La Sorbonne in Paris (France) and the University of Quebec in Montreal (Canada). After six years of travelling and studying, she returned to Madrid and took a Master’s Degree in Journalism at UAM-EL PAÍS to fully immerse herself in science writing and communication.
David Salas Coronado
(Bsc. Computer Sciences) - Data Scientist
David Salas is graduated in Computer Sciences from the University of Huelva. He has over 3 years of experience in the development of computational tools. Since he started growing an interest in bioinformatics and research, he has specialized in Artificial Intelligence methods applied to life sciences. His Final Degree Project, in collaboration with the laboratory of genetic manipulation of organisms of the chemistry department of UHU, was on virtual screening tool for drug discovery and their application in the search for bioactive compounds from Archaeas. Currently, he is studying a Master’s Degree in Bioinformatics at European University of Madrid (UE).
Lourdes Castillo
(Bsc. in Biochemistry) – Researcher
Ms. Castillo has more than 4 years of experience and expertise related to Oncology research in AMADIX. She graduated in Biochemistry from the Complutense University of Madrid (2017). She did the Final Degree Project at the Institute of General Organic Chemistry (CSIC), on sulfotransferases for the regeneration of the nervous system. Later, she studied a Master’s Degree in health biotechnology at the Center for Higher Studies of the Pharmaceutical Industry (CESIF) (2018).
Ignacio Aguirre
(Bsc. in Biotechnology) – Business Development Lead
Mr. Aguirre has over 3 years of experience in the biotechnology and diagnostic field. Ignacio studied a bilingual degree in Biotechnology at the University of San Pablo CEU in Madrid. During his degree he spent his third year in Scotland as part of the ERASMUS programme at the University of Dundee. In addition, as part of his degree he spent 5 months in his final year at the University of Chicago, where he completed a course called Business of Biotechnology and also had his first internship experience working at the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the University of Chicago. He has a Master’s Degree in Big Data & Data/Analytics, EAE University, Madrid, Spain.
Julia Duarte
(BSc in Biology) – R&D Projects
Julia holds a degree in Biology and a Master’s Degree in Cellular and Molecular Biology (Master’s thesis “Expression of functional markers in B-lymphocyte leukaemias: Changes in senescence), both degrees from the University of Salamanca. She took the Project Management course (Gestidi 2018) offered by the Instituto de Competitividad Empresarial (ICE) and the Universidad CEU San Pablo in Valladolid. Julia has experience in regional, national, and European funding instruments.
Pablo Gómez
(BL) – Legal Counsel
Pablo has a broad experience in legal Biotech and Life Science sector. He holds a Law Degree at University of Valladolid, and a Master´s Degree in Business Law at Garrigues School and he is pursuing the Advanced Course in VC & Entrepreneurship at the Spanish Institute of Capital Risk. His main areas of expertise are: Legal advice in corporate matters such as investment funding rounds, M&A and Intellectual Property,
specifically coordinating the patent protection strategy and drafting License Agreements. He has an extensive experience in negotiation biotech sector specific agreements such as Clinical Trial, Technology Transfer Agreements, Material Transfer Agreements or Service & Consultancy Agreements.
Marta Jiménez
(PhD) – Clinical Affairs Lead
Ms. Jiménez has more than 12 years of experience and expertise related to Oncology research. Marta obtained a PhD in Molecular Biology and Biomedicine in 2017 (PhD thesis ” DUSP10 phosphatase is a Cox 2-induced gene, involved in colorectal cancer development through YAP1 regulation”) at Centro de Biología Molecular “Severo Ochoa”, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. She holds a degree in Biology completed in 2011 at Universidad Autónoma de Madrid and a Master’s Degree in Genetic and Cell Biology in 2012 from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. She obtained an MBA in Health Biotechnology Companies in 2020 from Centro Estudios Superiores Industria Farmaceutica (CESIF, Madrid). She has published some scientific articles in high-impact journals related to colorectal cancer and inflammation.
Esther Arias
(BSc Biology) – Quality Control Lead
Esther holds a degree in Biology from the Universidad Autónoma of Madrid and a Master’s Degree in Management and Development of Biomedical Technologies from the Carlos III University of Madrid (Master’s thesis “Definition and development of the regulatory strategy for the market access of a software as a medical device for the early diagnosis of colorectal cancer”). Esther has been working at AMADIX for 2 years.
Marietta de Miguel
(BSc in Pharmacy and MBA) – Product Leader
After more than 16 years in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry, she has developed her professional career, among others, at Abbot Laboratories, Pfizer, MSD, Allergan, and KAM, as well as hospital negotiation and introduction of drugs in Hospital Pharmacy. She is an expert in developing technical arguments for the evaluation and use of medicines to improve their access to the market. She also has experience as a community pharmacist in London and Spain.
She has a degree in Pharmacy from San Pablo CEU University, a Master MBA in the pharmaceutical industry and a postgraduate degree in drug and medical device registration.
David Salas Coronado
(Bsc. Computer Sciences) - Data Scientist
David Salas is graduated in Computer Sciences from the University of Huelva. He has over 3 years of experience in the development of computational tools. Since he started growing an interest in bioinformatics and research, he has specialized in Artificial Intelligence methods applied to life sciences. His Final Degree Project, in collaboration with the laboratory of genetic manipulation of organisms of the chemistry department of UHU, was on virtual screening tool for drug discovery and their application in the search for bioactive compounds from Archaeas. Currently, he is studying a Master’s Degree in Bioinformatics at European University of Madrid (UE).
