Management Team
Dr Michelle Papadimitriou
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR
Michelle Papadimitriou joined Certa Therapeutics as a Research and Commercialisation Associate in 2018. She has been Research and Development Director since 2022.
Michelle has more than 5 years of experience in drug development, managing pre-clinical efficacy, safety, and toxicology studies to progress drug candidates to Phase 1 and Phase 2 clinical trials. She also has more than 15 years of experience in biomedical research.
Concurrent to this role, Michelle was Head of Research and Development with OccuRx (2020-2024).
Michelle has a PhD from the University of Melbourne in immunogenetics and has completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the Centre for Regenerative Therapies Dresden (Germany).
Dr Simona Carbone
Director of Business Development and Operations
Simona Carbone joined Certa Therapeutics as Program Manager in 2024. She has been Director of Business Development and Operations since 2026.
Simona has more than 15 years of experience in biomedical research in the field of neurogastroenternology. She holds a concurrent role as Senior Research Fellow at Monash University (Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences), where she leads an industry-facing research laboratory. Simona’s research laboratory receives funding from industry, government, and philanthropic sources. Simona brings to Certa Therapeutics her expertise in external relationships management with academics, clinicians, and industry professionals.
In addition, Simona holds consultancy roles with international biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. She is producer and host of ‘The Lead Candidate,’ a podcast aimed at understanding what makes for a great leader in science.