Neil holds a BA (Hons) in Economics from University College Dublin (UCD) and a Masters in Business Administration from Columbia University, New York.

Jeanne has over 35 years of pharmaceutical industry experience in management roles across R&D, Commercial and Business Development (BD) and Venture Investments.  She spent 11 years in Licensing and Acquisition (L&A), including Global Head of Scientific Licensing for Johnson & Johnson’s Pharmaceutical business, and before that as Director in the Business Development group at GlaxoSmithKline.

Jeanne spent nearly 10 years (2012-2022) as Vice President Venture Investment in J&J’s corporate venture fund, Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC. During that period, she was based in London, leading investments across Europe in start-up and early stage life science companies in areas of strategic interest to J&J’s business sectors in Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology, Medical Devices and Consumer.  She represented JJDC on the Board of Directors of over a dozen companies, including Aelix Therapeutics, Asceneuron SA, Aviado Bio, Biocartis, Calypso Biotech, Inivata, Merus, Pulmocide, S-Biomedic, Syndesi, T-Rex.  Dr Bolger also represented JJDC’s LP investments in multiple Venture Capital Funds in UK and Europe as well as representing J&J’s interests in other funding vehicles including incubators and accelerators.

A serial entrepreneur in a technology and innovation focused career spanning over 30 years, John has held executive-level positions in R&D, Operations, Sales, and General Management in both the SME and MNC environment. During this period he has been a founder or co-founder of several ‘Blue Ocean’ technology start-ups, the last three of these in the life-science sector.

John has led the company from a start-up in 1997 through a US merger, NASDAQ IPO, trade sale and return to a privately held company by MBO in 2008. Today, Aerogen is recognised as a pioneer and the global leader in ICU ventilator/hospital-based aerosol drug delivery. Its award-winning products are employed in over 75 countries throughout the world, helping to provide life critical interventions from the emergency department through to the NICU. Aerogen’s proprietary technology permits proteins, peptides, suspensions and solutions to be nebulized, paving the way for targeted drug delivery to the lung.

Under John’s Leadership Aerogen has achieved circa 30% CAGR since 2008 and in recognition of its export success, Aerogen was awarded the prestigious European Business Award Ruban d’Honneur in 2011 and again in 2016, when John was also named the European Entrepreneur of the Year. As a leader within the Irish life-science sector, Aerogen was named both The Irish Med-Tech Company of the Year and The Irish Exporter of the Year. The Company has received the highest award granted by the US respiratory community, the American Association of Respiratory Care, the Zenith Award, for ‘providing products and services that enable respiratory care physicians and therapists to achieve clinical excellence’.

A Chartered Engineer, John is recognized as a technology innovator and is credited with over a dozen commercialized international patents in products ranging from robotics to life-support ventilation. He holds an MBA from Oxford Brookes University and as an Adjunct Professor at the National University of Ireland, Galway (NUIG), he guest lectures on his core business interests of Innovation Strategies and Technology Entrepreneurship.

He is a founder faculty member of the NUIG Bio-Innovate program (run in conjunction with Stanford University Bio-Design), an incubator unit that promotes entrepreneurial start-ups in medical technologies where he has actively mentored several early-stage companies. In 2016, in recognition of his contribution to the development of the Irish Medical Device sector, John was conferred with an Honorary Doctorate by the National University of Ireland, Galway.

John is a Board member of Kedalion Therapeutics Inc. a pioneering ophthalmic drug delivery company based in San Francisco. He is a former member of the Board of the Irish Med-Tech Association and The Irish Research Council for Science, Engineering, and Technology and has represented Ireland as an industry expert in the European Competitive Council in Brussels.

John is a very active social entrepreneur in his local community where he long-term member of his Community Development Association and a founder member of The Connemara Greenway Alliance. An ardent supporter of International charities such as World Vision and Their Life’s Matter’ he continues to lead significant fundraising initiatives for irrigation / agricultural, healthcare, and local enterprise creation in the developing world.

Cathal Friel is a seasoned serial entrepreneur with a long and successful history and to date has listed five companies on the London Stock Exchange. Cathal serves as Chair and co-founder of hVIVO plc (formerly named Open Orphan plc), where he brings extensive experience in successfully growing public companies, particularly in navigating through M&A transactions. Cathal is also co-founder and Chairman of Poolbeg Pharma plc, a publicly listed biopharmaceutical company which was demerged from hVIVO plc in 2021. Cathal also co-founded and sits on the Board of European Green Transition plc, which listed on London Stock Exchange in April 2024. Cathal co-founded Amryt Pharma plc which listed on the London Stock Exchange in 2016 and dual listed on Nasdaq in 2020 and was later sold to Chiesi Farmaceutici for $1.48bn in 2023. Prior to that, he was co-founder and Chairman of Fastnet Oil & Gas plc, which listed on the London Stock Exchange in 2011. In 2001, Cathal was part of the team that successfully established Merrion Stockbrokers in Dublin. Following Merrion’s trade sale in 2006, he founded Raglan Capital which is renowned for building in-house companies that are listed on the public stock markets. Cathal was a finalist in the international category of the EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2020.