About Us

Paolo Rizzardi, MD, internist, is Co-Founder and Managing Partner of AurorA-TT, a Technology Transfer initiative fully focused in the biotech sector, and Co-Founder, Chairman&CEO of Altheia Science. He combines a strong scientific background with managerial skills gained in substantially contributing to successfully develop biotechnology companies and to achieve the market approval of advanced therapy medicinal products in the cell&gene therapy and oncology field. After spending more than 10 years in academia in Italy, UK, and Switzerland in developing programs for innovative immune-based/vaccination strategies in patients with HIV/AIDS, he worked for more than 15 years in the cell&gene therapy biotech sector, developing a unique expertise in R&D, CMC, clinical and business development, development, engineering, and IP from target validation to market approval.

He published over 90 peer-reviewed manuscripts and textbook chapters (4500+ citations, h-index 32), including seminal contribution to the field of immunopathogenesis and innovative treatment of HIV infection.

Rita Milazzo, PhD, is a senior researcher with over 10 years of experience in the field of hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) gene therapy for neurodegenerative diseases.

She advanced in her carrier working with the San Raffaele Telethon Institute for Gene Therapy in Milano (SR-TIGET), where she focused on the identification of critical factors enhancing HSC-based transplant procedures for diseases with severe nervous system involvement.

Her research contributed to the development of innovative strategies for the treatment of neurological genetic diseases and in the translation of pre-clinical data into the design of human clinical trials as in the case of metachromatic leukodystrophy.

Her work is published in peer-reviewed journals in the field of cell and gene therapy.

Pierluigi Paracchi is Co-Founder and Venture Consultant of AurorA-TT, a Technology Transfer initiative fully focused in the biotech sector, and Co-Founder, Board Member of Altheia Science.

He has more than 15 years of experience as Venture Capitalist and Biotech Entrepreneur. He was Founder & CEO of Quantica, the first Italian VC firm exclusively dedicated to research and academic spin-out companies and Venture Consultant at Sofinnova Partners. He was investors and Board Member at EOS – Ethical Oncology Science, acquired by Clovis Oncology for 470M.

He is Co-Founder and CEO of Genenta Science, spin-out from San Raffaele Hospital: gene therapy for tumor treatment; Board Member at Assobiotec and Chairman of the SMEs group.

Moufida Ben Nasr M, PhD, is an immunologist. She is Research Fellow at Nephrology Division, Boston Children’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School.

She published over 20 peer-reviewed manuscripts. She is focused in immunology and stem cell biology to develop strategies for transplantation and the treatment of hematological malignancies and autoimmune diseases.

Her publication track record includes important contribution to the field of immunobiology and immunotherapy of type 1 diabetes, identifying mechanisms to be targeted to prevent the attack of autoreactive T cells.

Paolo Rizzardi, MD, internist, is Co-Founder and Managing Partner of AurorA-TT, a Technology Transfer initiative fully focused in the biotech sector, and Co-Founder, Chairman&CEO of Altheia Science. He combines a strong scientific background with managerial skills gained in substantially contributing to successfully develop biotechnology companies and to achieve the market approval of advanced therapy medicinal products in the cell&gene therapy and oncology field. After spending more than 10 years in academia in Italy, UK, and Switzerland in developing programs for innovative immune-based/vaccination strategies in patients with HIV/AIDS, he worked for more than 15 years in the cell&gene therapy biotech sector, developing a unique expertise in R&D, CMC, clinical and business development, development, engineering, and IP from target validation to market approval.

He published over 90 peer-reviewed manuscripts and textbook chapters (4500+ citations, h-index 32), including seminal contribution to the field of immunopathogenesis and innovative treatment of HIV infection.

Alessandra Biffi, MD, is a pediatric hematologist and stem cell transplant physician. She is Professor of Pediatrics, University of Padua and Chief of the Pediatric Onco-hematology Unit of Padua Hospital; until September 2018, Director of the Gene Therapy Program, Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, Principal Scientist at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, Chair of the Scientific Review Committee for Gene Therapy at Boston Children’s Hospital, and Associate Professor of Pediatrics Harvard Medical School.

She published over 60 peer-reviewed manuscripts and textbook chapters. She is actively involved in gene therapy trials for neurological genetic diseases, hemoglobinopathies and immunodeficiencies and has developed a unique expertise in the pre-clinical development and clinical testing of hematopoietic stem cell gene therapy approaches.

Her publication track record includes seminal contribution to the field of cell and gene therapy.

Pierluigi Paracchi is Co-Founder and Venture Consultant of AurorA-TT, a Technology Transfer initiative fully focused in the biotech sector, and Co-Founder, Board Member of Altheia Science.

He has more than 15 years of experience as Venture Capitalist and Biotech Entrepreneur. He was Founder & CEO of Quantica, the first Italian VC firm exclusively dedicated to research and academic spin-out companies and Venture Consultant at Sofinnova Partners. He was investors and Board Member at EOS – Ethical Oncology Science, acquired by Clovis Oncology for 470M.

He is Co-Founder and CEO of Genenta Science, spin-out from San Raffaele Hospital: gene therapy for tumor treatment; Board Member at Assobiotec and Chairman of the SMEs group.

Gaurav serves as CEO and President of Rocket Pharma (NASDAQ:RCKT), a publicly traded clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing first-in-class gene therapy options for rare, devastating diseases with a market cap ranging from $600Mil to $1Bil in recent months. He is co-founder of Rocket and sits on the Board of Directors. Prior to this role Gaurav was a Global Program Head in the Cell & Gene Therapies Unit at Novartis, where he had strategic oversight of 12 functions and helped spearhead pivotal trials with CART-19 for patients with Leukemia and Lymphoma – later approved by the FDA as Kymriah. Earlier roles at Novartis included lead physician for Biosimilars and for Afinitor. Gaurav started his career in the pharmaceutical industry at ImClone/Eli Lilly as a Medical Director overseeing oncology trials focused on monoclonal antibodies. This work in industry has led to multiple drug approvals for children and adults with malignancies and other devastating disorders.
Gaurav graduated from Harvard University (summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa) with a degree in Behavioral Neuroscience and currently serves as an interviewer for Admissions for Harvard College. He received his MD from Columbia (AOA), completed his internal medicine residency at Brigham and Women’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School and hematology/oncology fellowship training at Memorial-Sloan Kettering. After receiving board certification in medical oncology, he served as an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Oncology at Columbia.
Gaurav has a passion for Indian classical music and has toured extensively with his wife Falu including performances at Carnegie Hall and on National Geographic TV, and was a featured songwriter in the Smithsonian. Falu’s Bazaar is currently nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best Children’s Album category. They are the proud parents of an 8 year old son, who also had his debut at Carnegie Hall at age 5.

Gaurav recently was invited to join the following organizations as a Board member to support their efforts going forward:
The Way of the Rain, a non profit organization run by Sibylle and Robert Redford which is organized exclusively for charitable , cultural and educational purposes , including the specific purpose of developing , producing and performing educational and artistic performances themed and designed to promote public awareness and support for the protection of our Earth.
The Foundation for Primary Immunodeficiency Diseases - which was established in the US to support the education, early diagnosis, genetic counseling, therapy, and research of PID in both India and the U.S.

Raffaele Petrone obtained his pharmacy degree in 1986. Chairman of Petrone Group, holding of 30 companies actively trading worldwide and operating in the pharmaceutical, para-pharmaceutical and health care sector since 1965, with its main office in Italy and branches in Spain, Singapore and Ireland.
CEO of Fin Posillipo S.p.A., a financial and commercial consulting firm that offers financial planning, credit management, accounting, and corporate consulting services.
Chairman of the board of Pierrel S.p.A., listed on the Italian Stock Exchange (MTA: PRL) - with more than 60 years of experience within the pharmaceutical industry and one of the leading European manufacturers of local and dental anesthetics.
Raffaele Petrone also serves on the Board of Directors of a number of companies such as Bcnfarma Distribución y Almacenaje de Medicamentos S.L., a pharmaceutical wholesaler based in Barcelona, Spain and he is supervisor of the Board of Pharmaidea which provides sales and distribution to almost the totality of Italian pharmacies.
He is also involved in not pharma-related companies such as Quick No Problem Parking S.p.A. and Neahelipolis Srl, a company dedicated to create a balance between the human being, the city and the sun energy through an integrated, sustainable, developing model.

Gaudenzio Roveda is a chartered accountant, having qualified in 1993 and auditor, registered in the Register of Chartered Auditors since 1995.
He is the co-founder and the managing partner of an Italian firm, based in Milan, providing accounting and audit services, tax and legal consultancy.
Over the years he has been active as venture capitalist or investor, mostly focused on companies developing innovative technologies, such as bio-tech and clean-tech.
Among others, investor (since inception) in AAA - Advanced Accelerator Applications: an innovative radiopharmaceutical company developing, producing and commercializing molecular nuclear medicine theragnostics, recently acquired by Novartis.

Enzo Adamo is lawyer and senior partner of Adamo & Partners Law Firm, with offices in Bergamo, Milano and Brescia.

He is specialized in judicial and extra-judicial assistance, corporate law, M&A, insolvency law, commercial law, taxation and real estate law. He is assisting several start-ups and several groups, in diagnostic and biotechnology sector too.