About Us
Company
Overview
Founded in 2019, Relevium Medical is a fast-growing start-up biopharmaceutical company. We are a spinout from the University of Galway Bioinnovate programme and have been recognised nationally and internationally as one of Europe’s leading start-up companies.
Mission
Our mission is to improve the lives of people with debilitating chronic pain conditions by developing superior, long lasting treatments.
Our Team
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Alison Liddy
BSc (Hons) MSc PhD GradDip
CEO & Co-Founder
Alison is the CEO and manages the overall company. As an entrepreneur with both a scientific and engineering training she was born to solve problems. Following the Bioinnovate fellowship and seeing patient frustrations with the lack of effective pain treatments, Alison became consumed with finding superior solutions, leading to the creation of Relevium Medical.
Alison loves the wildness of the Irish western Atlantic and enjoys sea swimming at the crack of dawn by the famous Blackrock tower in Galway. In her spare time she loves nothing more than a good period drama, listening to jazz, and spending time with family.
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Martin O'Halloran
BEng MSc PhD
Scientific Advisor & Co-Founder
Martin is Executive Director of the BioInnovate programme (Europe’s only affiliate of Stanford’s BioDesign programme). He has received 7 successive research awards from the European Research Council (Europe’s equivalent of the NIH), is a named inventor on 20+ medtech patents, and was selected as the inaugural Irish Research Council’s Senior Researcher of the Year. Martins's experience in both the start-up innovation space and R&D, has been invaluable to Relevium Medical. He frequently inputs and trouble shoots with the team around a variety of topics.
Martin is keen karate enthusiast and holds a black-belt in Shotokan Karate, won several national titles, and taught karate for over 20 years.
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Damien Kelly
BSc (Hons) MBA
CFO
Damien controls the overall financial strategy of the company. As former managing director of Bioniche and CFO of Mylan Global, he brings over 25 years' experience of financial management in the pharmaceutical sector to his role as the CFO of Relevium Medical.
Damien lives in a village west of Galway on the coast, and you'll often find him helping out with the local football team or enjoying a game of golf.
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Kevin McDonagh
BA MBA
Commercialisation Advisor
Kevin is Commercialisation Advisor to Relevium Medical. Kevin is a recognised leader in the pharmaceutical sector bringing 25 years of extensive international experience in market access and commercial leadership roles across Europe and the UK. The key to his success is a commitment to a patient centric approach in securing access and uptake across all markets.
Kevin is a native Irish speaker and his love for Connemara, Galway, West of Ireland and all things Irish remain close to heart. As a sports enthusiast he can be seen cycling the roads of Ireland or attending any live sporting event.
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Mehnaz Ferdousi
BSc (Pharm) MSc PhD
Principal Scientist
Mehnaz is a neuroscientist, passionate about translating her expertise on pain into new treatments. As our Principal Scientist, she is heavily involved in R&D particularly preclinical study design and data analysis - critical steps in the translation of our candidate drug.
Mehnaz is also a self-proclaimed foodie. In her spare time, she loves reading crime fiction, cycling around Galway, trying out new recipes, or watching all-things-food videos.
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Sahar Avazzadeh
BSc (Hons) MSc PhD
Principal Scientist
Sahar is a Principal Scientist at Relevium Medical with a passion for translational research. She makes strong contributions across all the R&D aspects, but her speciality is modelling the preclinical work in a “dish”, and investigating our therapeutic hydrogels using complex cell models in-vitro.
Sahar’s non-science passion is hiking in Ireland and across the globe. She also calls herself a “paper artist” and enjoys reading and writing blogs on books.
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Kevin Behan
BSc (Hons) MSc PhD
Senior Research Chemist
Kevin is a Senior Research Chemist funded by the EIC Transition partnership grant between Relevium Medical and the University of Galway. His PhD and postdoctoral work focused on the development of smart hydrogels for clinical applications. Kevin’s expertise is focused on physicochemical testing and chemical optimisation of our lead candidate for the treatment of osteoarthritis.
When at home in Kildare, Kevin enjoys cooking for family and friends. Apart from science, he is also a bit of a history nerd. Time permitting, he volunteers with the Irish Red Cross.
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Simona Cacciapuoti
BSc MSc
Development Chemist
Simona is a medicinal chemist funded by the EIC Transition partnership grant between Relevium Medical and the University of Galway. Simona has a passion for applied organic chemistry and drug discovery. She is involved in the R&D side of Relevium, contributing to several aspects of the chemical development of drug candidates, with a strong focus on the chemical design and synthesis of prototypes.
In her free time, she enjoys walking along the beach with her dog and spending most of her downtime at Galway’s Long Walk. She also enjoys spending time with family and friends, and watching good reality shows.
Clinical Advisors
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Prof Peter Schmidt
Clinical Professor, Anaesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine
Stanford Medicine, USA
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Prof Paul Lee
Regeneration and Sports Doctor, Knee and Hip Consultant
MSK Doctors, UK
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Prof Salim Hayek
Chief of the Division of Pain Medicine and Professor in the Department of Anaesthesiology
University Hospitals and Case Western Reserve University, USA
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Prof Stephen Kearns
Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon and Honorary Lecturer
Bon Secours Hospital and University of Galway, Ireland
We have done this before!
Our team has a proven track record of developing and commercialising life science products for the top global pharmaceutical companies.
We Aren’t
Conventional
Quitters
Delicate
Unreliable
Insincere
Slow
We Are
Innovative
Courageous
Resilient
Committed
Honest
Proactive