Team
The team at HS LifeSciences brings together a wide range of skills that provide the foundation for successful partnerships in the life science industry. Our team includes biotech entrepreneurs and scientific experts from academia.
Dr. Karsten Henco, Managing Partner
Karsten started his industrial career in the 1980s when he was involved in the establishment of the molecular biology and recombinant DNA technology facilities of BASF AG in Ludwigshafen, Germany. He is co-founder or co-founding investor of fourteen biotech companies in Germany, USA, Canada and Austria, such as Qiagen NV, Evotec AG, NewLab AG, Coley Pharmaceuticals Inc, U3 Pharma AG, Neurimmune Therapeutics AG, HS LifeSciences and QureInvest. He acted as CEO, Chairman or Board member in several of these companies and others, too. Karsten serves as an advisor for HighTech Gründerfonds of the German government. He studied biochemistry in the University of Hannover and at the University of Darmstadt where he was awarded his PhD. Karsten completed his post-doctoral training at Prof. Charles Weissmann’s lab in the University of Zürich, Switzerland.
Dr. Edward Stuart, Managing Partner
Ed started his industrial career as COO of DeveloGen AG before co-founding and becoming the Managing Director and CBO of U3 Pharma AG. Subsequently, Ed became the founding CEO of Neurimmune Therapeutics AG. He also acted as the founding CEO of CT Atlantic AG (Zurich, Switzerland), an oncology-focused spin-off from the University of Zurich and the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research and is a co-founder of HS LifeSciences and QureInvest. He studied pharmacology in University College Dublin, Ireland, where he was awarded his PhD and was a post-doctoral scientist at the Max Planck Institute in Gottingen followed by his appointment as a Lecturer in Medical Genetics in Imperial College London, UK. Ed also holds an MBA from The Business School of Imperial College London, UK.
Mr. Justin Duckworth, Managing Partner
Justin has spent the last 10 years working for venture capital funds within life sciences, most recently as a Partner at Nomura Phase4 Ventures. During this period he invested as a Lead or Co-Lead investor in 7 new company financings in addition to numerous follow-on financings. Prior to Nomura, Justin worked as an investment advisor at HBM Partners in Zurich and a Vice President in the Private Equity group of Dresdner Kleinwort Capital in London. Prior to 2000, Justin worked in a number of roles within Arthur Andersen in London and gained his ACA qualifications. He is a member of the ICAEW and has an MA (Oxon) in Biochemistry from the University of Oxford, UK.
Dr. Christina Hertel Reinke, Associate
Christina is an associate at HS LifeSciences having joined the team in 2010. Prior to joining us she completed her post-doctoral training at the Center for Integrative Genomics, University of Lausanne, where she worked on aspects of the molecular control of cell division. She graduated in Molecular Biology from University of Aarhus, Denmark and received her PhD from University of Munich.
Dr. Camila Teixeira Mendes, Associate
Camila is an associate at HS LifeSciences and joined the team in 2011. Prior to joining us she completed her post-doctoral training at the Department of Clinical Research, University of Bern, where she worked on a European Consortium for Inflammatory Bowel Disease. Camila studied Biology and Business Administration at the Federal University of Uberlandia, Brazil and later she received her PhD in Biotechnology at the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Maximiliane Köster, Controller
Maximiliane is a controller at HS LifeSciences GmbH and joined the team in 2011. Prior to joining us, Maximiliane spent 3 years working in audit for Deloitte & Touche GmbH. After completing a banking apprenticeship in Düsseldorf, she studied Business Administration in Freiberg and Düsseldorf and holds a MBA from the Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf, Germany.
Scientific Advisors
Dr. Adrian Hayday
Adrian Hayday is Kay Glendinning Professor of Immunobiology at King’s College London; co-lead of the Clinical Academic Grouping in Genetics Rheumatology, Immunology, Infection, and Dermatology at Kings’ affiliated hospitals; and a Senior Group Leader at the London Research Institute, Cancer Research UK. He graduated in Biochemistry from Cambridge; earned a PhD in virology from London University; and undertook post-doctoral training at M.I.T., before his appointment (at age 28) to the Yale University faculty, where he rose to Full-Professor and was awarded the DeVane Medal, Yale’s highest honor for scholarship and teaching. He returned to restructure immunology at King’s in 1998. He co-discovered the unanticipated “gamma-delta” T cell antigen receptor, provoking widespread interest in immune cell function within tissues, and tumor immunosurveillance. His active research team has published almost 200 papers, with 33 published in cross-disciplinary journals, Nature, Science, Cell, or Proceedings of the National Academy. He won the King’s College Award for Business in 2009; has served on numerous scientific advisory and investor advisory boards, and has chaired funding panels for the Wellcome Trust and the American Cancer Society.
Prof. Dr. Alexander Knuth
Alexander Knuth, is a full professor (Ordinarius) at the University of Zürich, holds the Chair of Internal Medicine/Oncology since 2003. Prior to his appointment in Zürich he established and chaired the Department of Oncology/Hematology at Krankenhaus Nordwest, an academic teaching hospital of the Johann-Wolfgang Goethe-University in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. He completed his medical training at academic institutions in Berlin, Zürich and Mainz, and his clinical and research training at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) in New York, (USA). His research is focused on ‘cancer immunology and cancer immunotherapy’.
Prof. Dr. med. Dr. h.c. Reinhard Kurth
Reinhard Kurth is a virologist and physician and was Director of the Paul Ehrlich Institute, the Robert Koch Institute and the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices in Germany. His scientific work is focused on retroviruses and their interactions with animals and humans. He has been the recipient of many scientific awards and is, for example, a member of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences, the Leopoldina and the American Philosophical Society. In 2005, he was awarded the Commander’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany by the German President. He is now Chairman of the Foundation Council of the Ernst Schering Foundation, Berlin.
