Executive Team
Massimiliano Paganelli, MD, PhD
Co-Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer
Max is a pediatric transplant hepatologist, head of the Liver Tissue Engineering and Cell Therapy Laboratory at CHU Sainte-Justine and associate professor of pediatrics at the Université de Montréal. He earned his medical degree at the Sapienza University of Rome, and trained in pediatrics in Rome and in pediatric hepatology and transplantology in Naples and in Brussels. Max also has a Ph.D. in hepatology and cell therapy from the Catholic University of Louvain. Expert in cell therapy of liver diseases, he is a Stem Cell Network investigator and a CIHR/FRQS-funded scientist. Driven by the needs of his young patients, Max is seeking better ways to treat liver disease using novel stem cell therapies. Max has been leading Morphocell as president and CEO since 2019.
Claudia Raggi, MD
Co-Founder, Chief Scientific Officer
Dr. Claudia Raggi is a physician-scientist and internationally recognized expert in human development, stem cell biology, and regenerative medicine. Trained in medicine at Sapienza University of Rome and the Catholic University of Louvain, she has dedicated her career to translational research since 2009, bridging fundamental science and therapeutic innovation. As the inventor of Morphocell’s proprietary iPSC-based platform technology, Dr. Raggi has pioneered novel approaches to engineering functional human tissues for therapeutic applications. She brings deep expertise in cell therapy development, stem cell differentiation, manufacturing, and preclinical translation. As Chief Scientific Officer, she has built and leads Morphocell’s multidisciplinary team of scientists and engineers, driving the advancement of the company’s breakthrough regenerative medicine programs from discovery toward clinical application.
Sandra Alves, CPA
Chief Financial Officer
Sandra Alves has more than 19 years of global financial leadership experience in the biotechnology industry. She has extensive expertise in building and scaling finance, accounting, and corporate infrastructure for emerging biotechnology companies, supporting organizations through periods of rapid growth, public offerings, and public-company operations. Most recently, Sandra served as Senior Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer of Repare Therapeutics Inc., a precision oncology company advancing novel synthetic lethality-based therapies, through its acquisition by Xeno Therapeutics. Prior to Repare, she served as Corporate Controller of Clementia Pharmaceuticals Inc., a biotechnology company focused on rare diseases, through its acquisition by Ipsen S.A. Sandra holds a Bachelor of Commerce in Accountancy from Concordia University and is a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA).
Vincent Ling, PhD
Chief Business Officer
Vincent is a biotech and pharma leader with 30 years of experience driving innovation at the intersection of cell therapy, biologics, genetic engineering, biomaterials, and cellular delivery systems. Based in the Boston-Cambridge area, he has held leadership roles at leading biotechnology companies, including Genetics Institute (now Wyeth), Adnexus Therapeutics, and Neurotech Pharmaceuticals. Vincent joined Morphocell after 12 years at Takeda Pharmaceuticals, where he led the identification, financing, and development of early-stage programs across multiple therapeutic areas and major franchises. Notably, he identified and supported the Karikó-Weissman mRNA technology at the University of Pennsylvania, which later enabled the first COVID-19 mRNA vaccine and contributed to the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Throughout his career, he has focused on advancing transformative therapies, including for liver diseases, with a strong patient-centered approach. Vincent also advises the Gates Foundation and several academic and non-profit organizations. He holds degrees from UC Berkeley (BA), the University of Illinois (MS, PhD), and completed postdoctoral training at Harvard University.
Bruno Marques, PhD
Senior Vice President, Technical Operations
Bruno Marques is a biopharmaceutical executive with 20+ years of experience leading Chemistry, Manufacturing, and Controls (CMC) across biologics, cell therapies, and gene therapies, from development through commercialization. Most recently, he served as Vice President of Technical Development at Century Therapeutics, where he built and led Process, Drug Product, and Analytical Development teams supporting the clinical supply of iPSC-derived therapies for oncology, autoimmune diseases, and Type 1 diabetes. He also helped design Century’s GMP facility and led Manufacturing Science & Technology and GMP operations. Previously, Bruno spent 14 years at Merck and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), advancing and commercializing biopharmaceutical products. At GSK, he held leadership roles in process development and portfolio management, contributing to launches including NUCALA (mepolizumab), and later served as Director of Manufacturing Strategy within the Cell & Gene Therapy platform. Bruno chairs the ECI Advancing Manufacture of Cell and Gene Therapies conference and holds a PhD in Chemical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University.
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Calley Hirsch, PhD
Vice President Preclinical Development
Holding 18+ years of international experience, Calley is a specialist in cell and gene therapy development with a Ph.D. and Postdoctoral training in cellular reprogramming and stem cell biology. Built on this foundation, she has advanced numerous stem cell-derived and primary cell therapies to the clinic during her appointments at CCRM, BlueRock Therapeutics, and Artisan Bio. Calley has cemented herself as an expert in the translation of cell therapy product concepts to clinical products, having built and led world-class process development and translation sciences programs and teams. Driven by her learnings and passion for innovation, Calley is highly committed to developing next generation products and strategies that address unmet clinical need and streamline product access to the clinic and beyond.
Patrick Bedford, BHSc, MBHL, RAC
Vice President Regulatory Affairs
Patrick is a regulatory expert with 18+ years of cell & gene therapy clinical translation experience. He holds a Health Sciences degree from the University of Western Ontario, a Master’s of Bioethics and Health Law from Otago University, and an MBA from the Jack Welch Management Institute. Patrick previously led Health Canada’s regulatory initiatives for biosimilars, transplant materials, and cell & gene therapies, and has continued to be actively involved in North American policy development while supporting dozens of cell & gene therapy companies at the preclinical, clinical, and commercial stages of development. An active contributor to the cell & gene therapy ecosystem, Patrick is well known for lecturing at multiple Universities, mentoring many early-stage companies, and regularly supporting Canada’s cell & gene therapy ecosystem. Patrick lead’s the Company’s strategies for efficiently navigating regulatory requirements throughout development.
Janahan Arulmoli, PhD
Vice President Product Engineering
Janahan is an expert in cell encapsulation technologies with a focus on implantable medical devices, drug delivery systems, and combination product development supporting cell and organ replacement therapies. Prior to joining Morphocell, he held leadership roles at Vertex Pharmaceuticals and ViaCyte, Inc., where he led development and scale-up of encapsulation platforms for Type 1 diabetes, and built next-generation device R&D, process development, and surgical delivery teams to support clinical translation. His expertise spans device engineering, biomaterials, and translational medicine, with contributions to multiple first-in-human programs and global clinical trials. Janahan’s work centers on integrating biological insight with engineering strategy to guide technical execution, regulatory alignment, and clinical readiness that position emerging therapies for long-term clinical success. He holds degrees from U.C. San Diego (BS in Chemical Engineering) and U.C. Irvine (MS and PhD in Biomedical Engineering), where he founded and continues to serve on the university’s Industry Advisory Board.