Events & Presentations

Professor Irfan Lodhi

Irfan Lodhi, PhD, is a leading researcher in cellular and molecular metabolism, with deep expertise in adipose tissue biology, lipid metabolism, peroxisome biology, and metabolic disease. He received his PhD in Cellular and Molecular Biology from the University of Michigan Medical School, where he studied insulin-stimulated glucose transport in adipocytes under the mentorship of Dr. Alan Saltiel. He later completed postdoctoral research in Dr. Clay Semenkovich’s laboratory at Washington University School of Medicine, focusing on lipid metabolism. Dr. Lodhi joined the faculty in the Department of Medicine at Washington University School of Medicine in 2011 and was appointed Assistant Professor of Medicine on the tenure track in 2014. His research investigates the role of peroxisomes in metabolic disorders such as obesity and diabetes, with a particular focus on their interactions with lipid droplets and mitochondria, adipose tissue development and function, and the cellular mechanisms that regulate energy balance and thermogenesis.

Dieter Hemmer

Board Member

Dieter Hemmer is a seasoned executive with 40 years of experience spanning pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, and global consumer industries. Before joining MetaShape Pharma, he served as CEO of SynDermix AG (2017–2021), a Swiss developer of innovative health technologies in the biotech, pharma, and MedTech industries. Mr. Hemmer spent the majority of his career as a senior executive at Nestlé, first as Senior Vice President and Head of the Strategic Business Unit for Food Services (1998–2006) and Chairman of the Nestlé Pro Gastronomia Foundation (1999–2014), and later as Senior Vice President of Global Branded Food at Nestlé Professional (2008–2014). Prior to Nestlé, he spent 22 years in senior executive roles at Lufthansa, including Head of Global Inflight Service and Managing Director for Lufthansa Service (LSG) Asia. Mr. Hemmer holds a BSc in Economics from FHS Heidelberg and has completed postgraduate programs in management at INSEAD, London Business School, and IMD.

Steve Mittleman, MD, PhD

Professor Mittelman is Chief of Pediatric Endocrinology at UCLA Mattel Children’s Hospital and Professor of Pediatrics at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. His laboratory has pioneered research into the metabolic interactions between adipocytes and cancer cells, helping to establish new understanding of how obesity alters cancer metabolism, chemotherapy response, and disease progression. In parallel, Dr. Mittelman has contributed extensively to the development of next-generation obesity interventions and metabolic therapies in children and adolescents, including translational research involving GLP-1-based therapies, continuous glucose monitoring, and metabolic disease prevention. At MetaShape Pharma, Dr. Mittelman advises on metabolic disease biology and translational development strategies supporting the advancement of MS 001, the Company’s first-in-class oral metabolic co-therapy for obesity and cardiometabolic disease.

Vincenzo Sorrentino, PhD

Vincenzo Sorrentino is an Italian-born scientist in the fields of aging, mitochondrial biology and neuromuscular degeneration. He obtained his PhD Cum Laude at the University of Amsterdam, in the lab of Prof. Noam Zelcer, on LDL-cholesterol regulation by the ubiquitin-proteasome system, with publications including in European Heart Journal and Circulation Research. Subsequently, he moved to Lausanne, Switzerland, for his postdoctoral research in Prof. Johan Auwerx’s lab at the EPFL. His work there focused on the understanding of mitochondria and NAD+ metabolism in neurodegeneration and muscle aging, with his research discoveries on Alzheimer’s disease and muscle aging published in Nature (2017) and Cell Reports (2021). He then obtained a position as Group Leader at the Nestlé Institute of Health Sciences in Lausanne, to lead research focused on integrating basic discoveries on nutraceuticals and their effects on mitochondria and protein homeostasis with their translation into novel clinical applications. Since December 2022, he is an Assistant Professor, Department of Biochemistry & Health Longevity Translational Research Program, University of Singapore, to continue to develop his research on how metabolism, nutrition and proteostasis are linked and impact on health and aging.

Caius Radu, MD, PhD

Caius Radu is Professor in the Departments of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology and Surgery at University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). He also serves as a Vice Chairman of the Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology, and Co-Director of the Cancer Molecular Imaging, Nanotechnology, and Theranostics Research Program (CMINT) Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center. Dr. Radu received his M.D. from the University of Medicine, Craiova, Romania and completed his postdoctoral training in immunology and cancer biology at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, and at UCLA with Dr. Owen Witte.

Professor Shingo Kajimura

Scientific Advisor

Professor Kajimura is an Investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and Faculty Member at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC). His contributions to metabolic science have been recognized through numerous prestigious honors, including the 2025 Outstanding Scientific Achievement Award from the American Diabetes Association, the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, and recognition as a Pew Scholar. At MetaShape Pharma, Professor Kajimura advises on the scientific and translational development of MS 001, the Company’s first-in-class oral metabolic co-therapy designed to enhance fat-selective energy expenditure and improve the quality and durability of weight loss in obesity and cardiometabolic disease.

Jessica Kourniaktis, DPhil

Chief Operations Officer

Dr. Jessica Kourniaktis has 10 years’ experience leading strategic and external communications for life sciences startups, having collaborated with industry-leading communications’ agencies, as well as major branding, storytelling and design agencies. Prior to joining the industry, Jessica was a Teaching Fellow at the University of Oxford, where she also completed her DPhil in Cold War History and published original research in peer-reviewed academic journals and collective volumes. Since, she has served as COO of three life sciences startups (2019-present: SynDermix AG, Laevoroc Medical AG, and metaShape Pharma AG) and as a Board Member of a Swiss investment company formerly listed on Bx Swiss (ESGTI AG, 2022–24), focusing on market research, asset valuations of pre-revenue life sciences assets and key stakeholder reporting (at the Board and shareholder levels). In 2020, she founded her own Company, KOJENT, where she is responsible for orchestrating a wide array of communications initiatives, from press releases and industry-specific articles to investor decks, shareholder communications and communications’ project management.

Pooran Chand, PhD

Chief Development Officer, Board Member

Pooran Chand, PhD (PhD in Organic Chemistry), has an outstanding career spanning over 22 years in the field of drug discovery and medicinal chemistry, principally at BioCryst Pharmaceuticals and Therachem Research Medilab, India. He is a highly accomplished scientist who discovered several drug candidates in the areas of antiviral, anticancer and cardiovascular diseases. In one of his most noted accomplishments, Dr. Chand led the research team that discovered peramivir, a broad-spectrum antiviral neuraminidase inhibitor with activity against multiple strains of flu, including the H1N1 virus that causes the swine flu and H5N1 virus that causes the Asian flu. He is also credited for the development of the first synthesis of peramivir at BioCryst. Peramivir was approved for treatment of influenza in Japan under the commercial name RAPIACTA®. Dr. Chand has a distinguished scientific track record and he is the inventor of 14 issued US patents and several pending applications. In addition he authored and co-authored 55 publications.

Shanta Bantia, PhD

Chief Scientific Officer, Founder, Board Member

Shanta Bantia (PhD in Biochemistry) has over 25 years’ experience in drug design, discovery biology and early clinical development and has worked on purine nucleoside phosphorylase inhibitors for almost two decades. Prior to co-founding metaShape, Shanta served as Head of Discovery Biology at BioCryst Pharmaceuticals for 20 years, where she was involved in drug design, discovery and development of several candidates and advanced a number of compounds to clinical trials in the areas of oncology, virology and inflammation. In particular, she supervised pre-clinical biological work and was actively involved in the clinical development of RAPIVAB, approved for the treatment of influenza, and MUNDESINE, approved in Japan for the treatment of relapsed/refractory peripheral T-Cell lymphoma. In addition, she discovered a novel use for a compound on-shelf, Galidesivir (a viral RNA polymerase inhibitor), as a broad spectrum anti-viral agent that demonstrated efficacy in preclinical models of various viruses, including Ebola and Marburg. Subsequently, she founded her consultancy, Nitor Therapeutics, and discovered small molecules that activate the innate immune system through modulation of pattern recognition receptors like TLR and STING. Her discovery led to the development of STING inhibitors for the treatment of neurological diseases and the award of a grant for a Phase I study in Parkinson’s Disease. Shanta has authored more than 50 publications in peer-reviewed journals and is an inventor of over 15 patents.

Thomas Mehrling, MD, PhD

Chief Medical Officer, Founder, Board Member

Thomas Mehrling (PhD in Pharmacology and MD) has over 20 years’ experience in multinational Pharma companies developing novel oncology compounds from preclinical research through to registration. Prior to entering the industry, he spent 13 years as an MD at the University Hospital in Frankfurt, working on preclinical and translational projects. He served as Director of European Oncology at Mundipharma International (2003–2013), building the company’s first European oncology business from the ground up out of Cambridge, UK, and completing the clinical development, registration and launch of two major products in Europe, DepoCyte® and Levact® (Ribomustin® and Treanda®). In 2013, he led the establishment of the Mundipharma Group’s start-up, Mundipharma EDO, developing anti-cancer therapeutics for solid tumours out of Basel, Switzerland. Thomas’ work with PNP inhibitors began during his tenure at Mundipharma, during which he was responsible for the clinical development of a specific inhibitor for the treatment of aggressive blood cancers. The development of this compound was later discontinued for commercial reasons. However, since 2020, Thomas has devoted much of his time and resources to investigating the properties of PNP inhibitors, together with his colleague, Dr. Shanta Bantia.

Randall Riggs, MBA

Chief Executive Officer, Chairman

Randall B. Riggs obtained his undergraduate degree from Texas A&M University and received an M.B.A. in Management and Finance (cum laude) from the University of Houston. He began his career at Eli Lily & Company and later became Sr. VP for corporate development at Lexicon Pharmaceuticals. As a member of the Executive management team, he was intimately involved in raising $220 million for an initial IPO. He served as the Sr. Vice President of Corp Development for Biocryst Pharmaceuticals and was responsible for approximately $1 billion in strategic partnerships. From October 2007 to January 2017, he was president and CEO of Advanced Cancer Therapeutics (ACT), where he created the infrastructure, in-licensed several novel anti-cancer products and raised capital. He organized a successful Phase I trial for their small molecule anticancer drug and then joined Gibson Oncology as President and Chief Executive Officer.