Leadership and Advisors

The people behind Syngenis.

A leadership team and scientific advisory board with deep pedigree in nucleic acid science, medicine and enterprise.

Team and advisors

Built for science and execution.

Deep nucleic acid science, paired with experienced company builders and capital markets governance.

The people behind Syngenis combine scientific leadership at the very highest level with the practical experience of forming, governing and scaling companies. This depth is not decoration. It means the strategy behind a Syngenis program is anchored in real world manufacturability, molecular understanding and regulatory experience.

Leadership

Board of Directors.

Professor Rakesh Veedu

Founder and Chief Technology Officer

Professor Veedu is the founder of Syngenis and an internationally recognised expert in DNA and RNA chemistry, oligonucleotide therapeutics, and nucleic-acid modification. He serves as Professor and Head of the Precision Nucleic Acid Therapeutics Group within Murdoch University's Personalised Medicine Centre and the Perron Institute for Neurological and Translational Science.

Professor Veedu has more than two decades of experience in basic and translational research in nucleic-acid technologies, focusing on advancing DNA and RNA science from laboratory research into practical diagnostic and therapeutic applications. His leadership has spanned state-of-the-art synthesis facilities and long-term research programs in Australia, with direct operational experience in specialist oligonucleotide synthesis laboratories.

He is co-founder and director of ProGenis Pharmaceuticals, a Perth-based biotechnology company dedicated to developing precision RNA medicines for a range of inherited and acquired diseases. In this role, Professor Veedu has worked alongside scientific and industry leaders to shape strategy, guide early therapeutic design, and support the translation of novel RNA chemistry into technologies aimed at improved patient outcomes.

Professor Veedu has published more than 115 peer-reviewed scientific articles in leading international journals, authored a specialist scientific text, and is an inventor on multiple patents and patent applications relating to nucleic-acid chemistry and therapeutic design. His work covers antisense oligonucleotides, RNA therapeutics, chemical modification strategies, and delivery optimisation, with applications across neurology, oncology, metabolic disorders, and broader human health challenges.

As founder of Syngenis, Professor Veedu provides deep scientific and technical leadership across manufacturing, discovery, and therapeutic strategy. His Board role ensures that decisions are anchored in real-world manufacturability, scientific rigour, and long-term platform viability, reinforcing the company's commitment to bridging early research with regulated healthcare applications.

Dr Martin Blake

Non-Executive Chair

Dr Blake is a practising radiologist and experienced healthcare executive with a strong background in medical technology, diagnostics, and governance. He brings extensive board-level experience across listed and private healthcare companies, with particular expertise in regulated clinical environments.

Dr Blake is currently Chair of the WA National Imaging Facility Advisory Board, and until recently served as Chairman of Resonance Health Ltd (ASX:RHT), a listed medical technology company specialising in advanced imaging and diagnostic software. His experience includes oversight of regulatory strategy, clinical adoption, commercialisation, and engagement with hospital networks and healthcare providers.

Across his board roles, Dr Blake has been involved in mergers and acquisitions, capital markets activity, and the scaling of technology-enabled healthcare businesses. His clinical background as a radiologist provides practical insight into how diagnostic technologies are adopted, validated, and used in real healthcare settings.

As Chair of Syngenis, Dr Blake provides strong governance discipline and ensures the company's diagnostic and clinical strategies remain aligned with regulatory expectations, clinician needs, and healthcare system realities.

Thomas Hanly

Managing Director

Thomas Hanly is a biotechnology executive with experience forming and scaling science-led businesses across diagnostics and life sciences, with a strong focus on translating early-stage research into commercially viable platforms.

Mr Hanly was recently a founding director of Nexsen Limited (ASX:NXN), a biotechnology diagnostics company that has since listed on the ASX. During its early stages, he was closely involved in hands-on operational execution, including working with university research groups, structuring collaboration and licence agreements, and progressing early research outcomes into defined diagnostic technologies suitable for commercial application.

He also brings practical experience in securing and managing government grants, research funding, and innovation support programs, including the successful securing of up to approximately $7 million in non-dilutive funding to support early-stage technology development.

Previously, Mr Hanly served as the inaugural Managing Director of Singular Health Group Limited (ASX:SHG), an ASX-listed healthcare technology company. In this role, he established the foundational strategy, operating model, and commercial framework that positioned the business for scale. His tenure set the platform that has enabled Singular Health to progress its technology, expand its market presence, and begin delivering the commercial outcomes it is achieving today.

As Managing Director of Syngenis, Mr Hanly is responsible for executing the Company's strategy, with a focus on infrastructure expansion, diagnostics and therapeutic development pathways, commercial partnerships, and preparation for future public market engagement.

Gavin Ball

Director & Chief Commercial Officer

Gavin Ball is an experienced business executive and director with more than 30 years of hands-on experience in company formation, commercial development, growth strategy, and operational management across ASX-listed and private companies.

Mr Ball has extensive experience in ASX-listed agribusiness through his involvement with RLF AgTech Ltd (ASX:RLF), where he has supported strategy, governance, and commercial execution within a regulated, export-focused agricultural technology business. He also brings listed resources sector experience as a founding and original board member of McLaren Minerals Limited (ASX:MML), contributing to early-stage company development and public market governance.

In the life sciences sector, Mr Ball was a founding director of Nexsen Limited (ASX:NXN), a recently listed biotechnology diagnostics company, providing early-stage governance, commercial input, and capital markets experience during its listing process.

In addition to his listed company roles, Mr Ball has been involved in a range of private businesses, both in Australia and internationally, across sectors including agribusiness, human resources, telecommunications, and retail. His background spans governance, finance, capital structuring, sales and marketing strategy, and operational execution.

As a Director of Syngenis, Mr Ball provides practical commercial oversight, ASX governance experience, and an execution-focused perspective, supporting management as the Company scales its regulated life sciences platform and prepares for future public market engagement.

Scientific advisory

Scientific advisory.

Dr Sudhir Agrawal

Advisory Board Chair

Dr Sudhir Agrawal is a globally recognised pioneer in oligonucleotide therapeutics and RNA-based drug development, with more than three decades of leadership spanning scientific innovation, biotechnology entrepreneurship, and regulated clinical translation.

He is the Founder and President of ARNAY Sciences LLC and the Founder of Idera Pharmaceuticals, where he served in multiple senior leadership capacities including Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, President of Research, and Chief Scientific Officer. Under his leadership, Idera became one of the early publicly listed biotechnology companies dedicated to the development of nucleic-acid-based therapeutics, advancing antisense and RNA-targeted drug programs into clinical development and regulatory engagement.

Dr Agrawal has played a foundational role in shaping the commercial and regulatory landscape for oligonucleotide medicines. His work spans antisense technology, immune-modulatory oligonucleotides, RNA-targeted therapies, and precision nucleic-acid drug design. He has been directly involved in the advancement of multiple drug candidates from laboratory discovery through preclinical development, clinical trials, and regulatory interaction with agencies including the FDA.

In academia, Dr Agrawal serves as a Visiting Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School and is a member of the Business Advisory Board for Harvard Medical School's Initiative for RNA Medicine. These roles reflect his continued influence at the intersection of translational science, clinical application, and commercial strategy.

His scientific contributions are extensive. Dr Agrawal has edited four authoritative books on oligonucleotides and antisense technology, published more than 300 peer-reviewed scientific papers, and is co-inventor on over 400 patents and patent applications worldwide. His work has materially contributed to the global understanding of therapeutic oligonucleotide chemistry, immune activation pathways, and RNA-targeted drug development.

Beyond research, Dr Agrawal brings rare experience in building biotechnology companies that operate within complex regulatory environments. His career bridges discovery science, GMP-aligned manufacturing strategy, clinical trial governance, capital markets engagement, and long-term product development pathways.

As Chair of the Syngenis Scientific Advisory Board, Dr Agrawal provides strategic guidance across nucleic-acid chemistry, RNA therapeutics, diagnostic platform development, and regulated clinical translation. His experience in progressing oligonucleotide technologies from concept through to human clinical evaluation directly aligns with the Company's focus on building sovereign, regulated DNA and RNA infrastructure capable of supporting both diagnostics and therapeutic programs.

His appointment reinforces the Company's scientific depth, global relevance, and commitment to execution within regulated life sciences markets, positioning Syngenis alongside the leaders who have shaped the modern RNA therapeutics industry.

Professor Marvin H Caruthers

Patron

Professor Caruthers is one of the most influential scientists in the field of DNA and RNA technology.

He pioneered the chemical synthesis of oligonucleotides, creating the methods that made it possible to reliably and repeatedly manufacture DNA and RNA. These techniques underpin virtually all modern DNA- and RNA-based applications, including molecular diagnostics, genomics, gene editing, and nucleic-acid-based therapeutics.

Professor Caruthers served as an inaugural Director of Syngenis, providing scientific leadership and helping to establish the technical direction and long-term platform vision of the Company. In 2025, he transitioned from this formal governance role to become Patron of Syngenis. This evolution reflects the Company's progression into a regulated, execution-focused phase while ensuring that his influence, authority, and scientific insight continue to support the business at the highest level. As Patron, he remains closely aligned with the Company's mission and will provide ongoing strategic guidance during its next stage of growth.

Professor Caruthers is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of Colorado, where his laboratory developed the DNA synthesis chemistry that became the global industry standard. His work transformed DNA synthesis from a specialised academic process into a scalable industrial capability, enabling the rapid growth of modern molecular biology and biotechnology.

Beyond academia, Professor Caruthers has played a foundational role in building the biotechnology industry itself. He is a co-founder of Applied Biosystems, which commercialised automated DNA synthesis and sequencing technologies, and a co-founder of Amgen, one of the world's leading biotechnology companies. These achievements reflect his rare ability to translate fundamental science into globally successful, regulated commercial platforms.

His contributions have been recognised with numerous international honours, including the United States National Medal of Science, the highest scientific award in the United States.

As Patron of Syngenis, Professor Caruthers continues to provide strategic guidance across DNA and RNA manufacturing standards, regulated laboratory design, diagnostics development and long-term platform strategy. His ongoing association brings unmatched credibility and insight, reinforcing the Company's position as a serious, execution-driven life sciences platform built on the same scientific foundations that created the modern DNA/RNA industry.

Professor Caruthers's solid-phase phosphoramidite chemistry is the foundation upon which every FDA approved oligonucleotide therapeutic has been synthesised.

From Vitravene, the first antisense drug, approved in 1998, to Spinraza, Amvuttra, and the full catalogue of approved RNA and DNA medicines that followed, his chemistry underpins them all. Having Professor Caruthers as Patron of Syngenis is not a ceremonial appointment.

It is a direct connection between the founding chemistry of the field and the company building the next generation of RNA manufacturing and discovery infrastructure.

Contact the team Explore the platform

Work with us

Ready to work with an integrated life sciences company?

Talk to our team about your program, from candidate design to trial ready material.

One Platform. Three Connected Pillars.

One engine, working across the whole business.

Discovery AI

Design RNA and DNA candidates from target to synthesis ready oligo in one workflow.

Manufacturing

Australia's only commercial RNA facility. Custom oligonucleotides, ordered through Discovery AI.

Platform

The ecosystem that takes programs from discovery through to trial and investment