Erkko Ylösmäki, PhD and Adjunct Professor in Biological Drug development, has 20 years of experience in the development of novel oncolytic viruses and virus and bacteria-based cancer immunotherapy platforms. In 2019 he received the Young Virologist of the Year award from the Foundation for Research on Viral Diseases. Before joining Rokote Laboratories Finland Oy, he worked as an Academy of Finland-funded researcher at the Immunovirotherapy Laboratory lead by Professor Vincenzo Cerullo. He earned his PhD in virology from the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Helsinki in 2013.

Terhi Reunama is a clinical research expert with nearly 30 years of experience in both the pharmaceutical industry and CRO companies. She is a registered nurse and holds a Bachelor of Health Sciences degree, majoring in Nursing Management. She has worked in several roles: research nurse, CRA and study manager both locally and globally in Phase I–IV studies in several therapeutic areas, including vaccines. Terhi has experience in leading multicultural teams and large multi-center studies on all continents, as well as in audits and numerous regulatory inspections (including Fimea, FDA, MHRA, EMA).

Tuula Wallén has worked for more than 40 years in the pharmaceutical industry in various positions, e.g. in marketing, clinical trials and quality assurance with pharmaceutical products, X-ray contrast media and medical devices in Finland and in Nordic organizations. She has also worked as a clinical trial associate, clinical trial manager and quality manager in both contract research organizations and in pharmaceutical companies. She holds a Master of Science degree in biochemistry and has also completed a marketing degree.

Seppo Ylä-Herttuala is a world leader in viral gene therapy for cardiovascular diseases as well as brain and bladder tumors. His team was the first to use adenovirus-mediated gene transfer to human arteries already in 1995. Since then, he has conducted nine Phase I–III clinical trials in cardiovascular and cancer gene therapy. He has also been heavily involved in the development of new gene transfer vectors and led large scale manufacturing process development of gene therapy products. He has served as President of the European Society of Gene and Cell Therapy (2010–2012) and as Editor-in-Chief of the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy’s leading journal Molecular Therapy (2015–2019). Currently, he is the head of the National Virus Vector Laboratory in the University of Eastern Finland. He is one of the original founders of Rokote Laboratories Finland Oy.

Kalle Saksela is Professor and Chairman at the Department of Virology, University of Helsinki. He received his MD and PhD in 1989 from the University of Helsinki. After that he was a postdoctoral fellow in the USA in the laboratory of Nobel laureate David Baltimore (the Whitehead Institute, later the Rockefeller University). In 1994 he was appointed as an Assistant Professor at the Rockefeller University. In 1996 became Professor of Molecular Medicine at the University of Tampere, and in 2005 was appointed to his current position at the University of Helsinki. He has a strong track record in basic research on cellular and molecular biology of virus–host cell interactions, as well as in different aspects of applied virology, such as phage-assisted protein engineering and design of viral vectors for therapeutic use. He is an inventor of several patents and has been actively involved in biotech start-up companies. He is one of the original founders of Rokote Laboratories Finland Oy.

Aki Prihti joined the Board of Rokote Laboratories Finland in the summer of 2021. He is CEO of Aplagon Oy and serves as a board member in Herantis Pharma Oyj, Medtentia International Ltd Oy and Dassiet Oy. He is also one of the founders of Inveni Capital, a life science focused venture capital fund. Aki has more than twenty years of experience in building life science growth companies, both in operational and board roles.

Tuija Keinonen is PhD (Pharm) focused on Pharmacology and Toxicology from University of Eastern Finland. She has extensive experience in business management, especially in contract research business, its establishment and working with international pharmaceutical industry. She has been working in Oy Medfiles Ltd (CRO) over 30 years and acted as CEO for 15 years as well as clinical research director and quality director, and has led Oy Medipharmia Ltd (CDMO) as CEO. She has held several positions of trust both in the private and public sectors as well as board memberships (eg. TILT Biotherapeutics Ltd, where acting also as Chair of the Board). She has also certified board member and chair of the board status (CBM). In addition, she works as an advisor in several healthcare and health technology companies. Additionally, she has been Honorary Consul of the Republic of Estonia since 2012.

Pasi Kemppainen is co-founder of Rokote Laboratories Finland Oy. He has extensive experience of early-stage technology venturing and has held leadership positions in life science and high-tech industries including Santen Pharmaceutical, Novo Nordisk, Epista Life Science, Nokia and Telia. Currently he is working as a global supply chain strategy director at Santen Pharmaceutical and as an advisor for various high-tech startups.

Kari Varkila is the Chief Medical Officer at TILT Biotherapeutics and an independent consultant and an advisor at several biopharmaceutical and health technology companies as well as in organizations governing healthcare. He has obtained MD/PhD and specialist in clinical microbiology degrees at the University of Helsinki. He has also an MBA from the University of Lausanne/IMD in Switzerland. He has also certified board member (CBM) status. During his early career he worked in academic and biopharmaceutical research in Finland and in the US. Following that he held for more than 20 years leadership positions in pharmaceutical industry and in healthcare institutions. In addition, he has worked as a senior strategy consultant in an insurance company and in a multinational consulting company. One of his areas of special expertise is vaccine research and development. He is also an experienced influencer in the healthcare policy arena and an active Board member in several startup companies and research foundations.

Jenni Vuola has a PhD in general microbiology and an associate professorship in infection research from Helsinki University. She has worked as a research scientist in vaccine development at the Finnish National Public Health Institute (later Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare), and at Oxford University in the UK. She then moved to the international pharmaceutical industry where she worked in several leadership positions both on local and global levels. She has also held Board memberships at Pharma Industry Finland and at Federation of Finnish Special Commodity Trade ETU. Alongside her work Jenni Vuola has completed a Post Graduate Diploma in Health Economics at University of York in the UK, a Minor in Accounting at Aalto University in Finland, and a Certified Board Member degree (CBM). Currently she works as an independent consultant and advisor.Jenni Vuola on yleisen mikrobiologian tohtori ja infektiotutkimuksen dosentti Helsingin yliopistosta. Hän on työskennellyt rokotekehityksen tutkijana Kansanterveyslaitoksessa (myöhemmin Terveyden ja hyvinvoinnin laitos) ja Oxfordin yliopistossa Englannissa. Tämän jälkeen hän siirtyi kansainvälisen lääketeollisuuden pariin, jossa hän toimi useissa johtotason tehtävissä sekä paikallis- että globaalitasolla. Hän on myös ollut hallituksen jäsenenä Lääketeollisuus ry:ssä ja Erikoiskaupan liitto ETU ry:ssä. Työnsä ohella Jenni Vuola on suorittanut terveystaloustieteen tutkinnon Yorkin yliopistossa Englannissa, laskentatoimen sivuaineopinnot Aalto Yliopistossa ja hyväksytty hallituksen jäsen -tutkinnon (HHJ). Nykyään hän toimii itsenäisenä konsulttina ja neuvonantajana.

Laura Suoranta has graduated from the Helsinki University of Technology (Aalto) and holds a Master of Science (tech) degree in bioengineering. She has worked for more than a decade in the clinical development of oncolytic viruses at Targovax Oy (formerly Oncos Therapeutics Oy, now Circio Holding ASA) in various CMC positions. In recent years, she was responsible for the development and implementation of an industrial-scale GMP manufacturing process for oncolytic adenoviruses as well as the related comparability demonstration. Previously, she was responsible for the adenovirus GMP production for phase I and II clinical trials. Before her career with viral vectors, she has worked in the plant biotechnology research group at VTT Technical Research Center of Finland Ltd, where her work focused e.g. on producing active pharmaceutical compounds in plant cell and tissue cultures.