Our People

Chief Executive Officer Ph.D.,

Keats has an extensive range of experiences in founding and managing start-ups, research and development, and the delivering of high value commercial research programs as well as leading strategic and commercial transactions and projects. His work as delivered over $1B in commercial, research and investment funding and revenue.

Prior to Macrobiome Therapeutics, was Executive Director, Science Operations and Innovation Strategy as well as a founding Director at Samsara Eco, an innovative Australian biotech company creating commercial circularity through infinite plastic recycling catalysed by designed enzymes.

Previously, Keats has been Chief, Research & Innovation Services, and Director of the Office of Business Engagement and Commercialisation at the Australian National University; founder and CEO of Beta Therapeutics Pty. Ltd.; founder and Director of Phenomix Australia Pty. Ltd. and its parent, Phenomix Corporation (San Diego, USA); and Senior Scientist in Discovery Oncology at G.D. Searle, a Monsanto Company.

Keats was a Jane Coffin Childs post-doctoral fellow at the Laboratory of Immunology, National Institutes of Health (Bethesda, USA) and a Fulbright scholar at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology (Cambridge, UK).

Co-founder & Co-CSO

Prof. Alex Loukas was awarded a BSc Hons in 1990 and a PhD in 1995 from the University of Queensland. He has worked on the secretomes of parasitic helminths and their utility as vaccines, diagnostics and immunotherapeutics for most of his career. Alex conducted postdoctoral work at The University of Edinburgh and was an Assistant Research Professor at George Washington University before relocating back to Australia. In 2010 Alex relocated his group from Queensland Institute of Medical Research to James Cook University (JCU) in Cairns, QLD, where he is currently a Distinguished Professor and Deputy Director of the Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicine. Alex’s laboratory at JCU was developed with a view to capturing the translational aspects of research on helminth-derived therapeutics for treating inflammatory diseases. He has published more than 350 peer reviewed articles, holds numerous awards, international fellowships, and patents for helminth vaccines, diagnostics and immunotherapeutics, and has raised more than $100M in collaborative grant funding.

Co-founder & Co-CSO

Dr. Paul Giacomin is a Senior Research Fellow in the Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicine at JCU Cairns. Since completing his PhD studies at the University of Adelaide in 2008, his research interests have focused on understanding the molecular and cellular mechanisms by which immune responses to parasitic helminths (worms) are initiated and regulated. Dr. Giacomin underwent his postdoctoral training at the University of Pennsylvania between 2008 and 2012 in the laboratory of Dr. David Artis, where he was awarded fellowships from the American-Australian Association, as well as the NHMRC, to conduct his research. Dr. Giacomin continued his fellowship at JCU Cairns in 2012, was then awarded an Advance Queensland mid-career fellowship in 2015 and continues to investigate the key immune cells and cytokines involved in immunity to intestinal worms, as well as exploring the potential beneficial effects that worm infection may have in alleviating inflammation associated with autoimmune diseases.

CEO

Co-founder & Co-CSO

Main Sequence Ventures

Chair

Matthew Moyle is a biopharma veteran with a solid record of building and leading high-performing teams in the quest to deliver breakthrough medicines to patients. Dr Moyle has held executive-level positions at Boehringer Ingelheim, Amgen, Theraclone and Tanox, among others, resulting in the delivery of more than 20 drug candidates that have advanced to clinical testing, with several in late-stage development and two approvals thus far. During his tenure in industry, Dr Moyle has also led research programs that resulted in high-impact publications in immunology and virology. Dr Moyle received his BSc and PhD degrees in Biochemistry from the University of Toronto and completed postdoctoral studies at Genentech. Currently, Dr Moyle is engaged in new company creation within the venture capital community.

Professor Trent Munro is currently Senior Vice President of Therapeutics at Microba Life Sciences. Professor Munro has over 25 years’ research and development experience, including with multinational biopharmaceutical company Amgen.

Professor Munro was based in California with Amgen for over six years, including in the role of Executive Director leading a global team. During this time, he played key roles in the translation of molecules from research, through clinical trials, regulatory approval, and global licensure. This included a diverse range of programs spanning novel biologics, small molecules, nucleic acid-based, cell-based and gene-based therapies across multiple therapeutic areas. Professor Munro has also held several leadership roles in Australia including Director of the National Biologics Facility (NBF), Program Director of the CEPI funded Rapid Response Vaccine pipeline, Director of the ARC Centre for Biopharmaceutical Innovation (CBI) and Senior Group Leader at the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN) at the University of Queensland. Professor Munro completed postdoctoral studies in cell biology and developmental genetics at Harvard Medical School and the University of Cambridge, and has a PhD in Protein Biochemistry from the University of Queensland.