Experienced. Skilled. And passionate about iPSCs.

Experienced life sciences executive with a background in strategic growth, life sciences services, and corporate development

Jason Conner is the Chief Executive Officer of Cellistic and its affiliate company, Ncardia. Jason brings more than 25 years of experience in the life sciences industry across both service and product organizations, with a strong focus on strategy, commercial growth, and operational leadership.

Jason most recently served at Kiniciti, a strategic investment platform and majority shareholder of Cellistic, where he worked closely with the company’s leadership team. He has also served on the Board of Directors of Cellistic since 2022. Prior to this role, Jason held executive leadership positions at Patheon and its acquirer Thermo Fisher Scientific. He began his career in corporate development and strategy at Becton Dickinson.

An experienced bench scientist with extensive leadership experience

Jeroen de Groot is a highly accomplished R&D and business executive who has an extensive background leading international contract research organizations, with particular experience in innovation, drug discovery and development. Jeroen was previously Chief Operation Officer Early Discovery at Charles River Laboratories, where he spent almost a decade. He also worked at contract research firm Galapagos and, prior to that, spent 13 years at TNO, where he began his career as a bench scientist and was involved in research into bone & joint diseases, inflammatory & degenerative diseases, ADME, pharmacokinetics & human studies.  

He studied biology at Leiden university, and earned a PhD at Utrecht University Medical Center & TNO.

Co-founder, patent-holder and visionary who sets and blazes the scientific course for Ncardia innovations

Stefan Braam is the co-founder and Chief Technical Officer of Ncardia and its sister company, Cellistic. Stefan brings Ncardia over a decade of experience in stem cell technology, product development and general management. He co-founded Pluriomics/Ncardia in 2011, and, as the inventor of its core technologies, has been instrumental in the establishment and growth of the organization. Stefan earned a MSc and PhD (both cum laude) in stem cell biology under supervision of Prof. Dr. C.L. Mummery and obtained international experience in labs in the UK and Australia. Stefan won the NGI venture challenge (2009), the Niaba biobusiness Masterclass (2010), published in multiple leading scientific journals, is an inventor on multiple patent families, secured multiple grants and commercial research collaborations and was instrumental in Ncardia pre-seed, seed, Series A and B financing rounds.

Molecular and cellular neurobiologist who directs Ncardia’s drug discovery technology group

Shushant Jain, PhD, directs Ncardia’s drug discovery team, helping develop biological phenotypic assays in representative model systems to improve the translation of therapeutic strategies. He brings a rich diversity of expertise to his Ncardia role, having led large, multiyear research programs to aid several drug discovery initiatives spanning numerous therapeutic areas through the use of automation and high-content methodologies. He has managed, mentored, and trained scientists of all levels, both as a scientist and manager. Shushant’s research has been published in Neuron, Genome Biology, the Journal of Biomolecular Screening and the Journal of Biological Chemistry, among others.

Mariana holds a PhD in molecular biology from the University of SanMartin (Buenos Aires) and has worked at several universities in the US for more than eight years, specializing in stem cell biology. Throughout her experience in academic research, she gained distinct knowledge and expertise in both disease modeling and biobank building and in the differentiation of iPSCs into cardiac and neuronal cell types.

In 2022, Mariana joined the manufacturing team at Ncardia, where she pursues new iPSC manufacturing procedures and scale-up processes to support their application in regenerative medicine and drug discovery.

Bringing experience and scientific rigor to the essential task of project management

Astrid is Head of Project Management, leading the global project management function for Cellistic and its affiliate Ncardia. She is responsible to provide harmonized project management practices and a consistent customer experience across both organizations.

Astrid has a strong technical background in cell biology and drug development. Her experience in the pharmaceutical industry reaches from commercial to consulting and project management. Before joining Cellitsic, she worked at Celyad Oncology in Alliance Management. She founded Upcyte technologies in 2015, supplying ready to use cells, cell line development and services, which Astrid sold by 2022. Astrid holds a Ph.D. in Biotechnology from the Medical University of Hannover.

With over 10 years of experience in immuno-oncology and translational research, Sanne specializes in advancing large molecules and cell therapies from early discovery to IND-enabling studies. At Ncardia, she manages scientific teams and drives innovation in efficacy and toxicity testing of novel drug therapies on human iPSC-derived cell models.

Previously, she held leadership roles at Merus N.V. and Charles River Laboratories, where she managed cross-functional teams and delivered impactful research solutions. She holds a PhD from King’s College London and is passionate about supporting the translation of cutting-edge science into real-world therapies.

Silke holds a PhD in cell biology and immunology from the University of Hannover, Germany, and has over 20 years of experience in stem cell-based models for drug discovery. She is passionate about developing and applying functional iPSC cardiomyocyte assays to assess the efficacy and safety of novel drug therapies.

Before joining Ncardia, Silke led cross-functional teams at stem-cell technology companies and worked as an independent scientific consultant for eight years, providing expertise in assay development for drug discovery and toxicology.

At Ncardia, Silke applies her extensive experience to advance innovative toxicology solutions, supporting the development of safer and more effective therapeutics.