About us

Ikaika Founder and CEO. Dr. Elizabeth McNally is the Director for the Center for Genetic Medicine at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine and the Elizabeth J. Ward Professor of Genetic Medicine. She serves on the Board of Directors for the Muscular Dystrophy Association and was the chair of the American Heart Association’s Basic Cardiovascular Sciences Council. Dr. McNally is a practicing cardiologist with expertise in cardiovascular genetics. As a clinician, she developed one of the first cardiovascular genetics clinics in the nation, integrating genetic information into cardiovascular care for patients and families with inherited forms of heart disease. She is a former president of the American Society for Clinical Investigation and former president of the Association of American Physicians. Dr. McNally’s research team at Northwestern identifies genetic causes of cardiac disorders and then defines the mechanisms of how these genetic variants cause disease. By developing a deeper understanding of how these genetic mutations exert their effects, she uses genetic signals to drive the development of new treatments for cardiovascular disease. She has a special interest in neuromuscular genetic diseases, including myopathies and muscular dystrophy, since these disorders often have accompanying cardiovascular complications. Dr. McNally’s translational accomplishments have been recognized through an award from the Burroughs Wellcome Foundation, as a recipient of a Distinguished Clinical Scientist Award from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, and through the Distinguished Scientist Award from the American Heart Association. In 2021, she was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Medicine. Dr. McNally received her M.D. and Ph.D. from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

Ikaika CSO. Dr. Alexis Demonbreun is an Associate Professor in the Center for Genetic Medicine, Department of Pharmacology at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine and holds a secondary appointment as a Research Scientist at the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab in Chicago. Her current research focuses on understanding the genetic mechanisms of myopathies and using these genetic signals to drive therapy development. Dr. Demonbreun conducted her early research as an Associate Professor at The University of Chicago Medicine’s Section of Cardiology. She holds multiple technological patents for the treatment of muscle membrane injury. Dr. Demonbreun has received numerous honors, including the Halo Science’s 40 Chicago Scientists under 40 in 2019. She was also the recipient of the departmental award for Outstanding Performance in the General Field of Developmental Biology at The University of Chicago, as well as the NIH Cardiovascular Training Grant for research at The University of Chicago. In addition to multiple other research grants and awards as a PI or co-PI, she is the recipient of the Chicago Biomedical Consortium (CBC) Catalyst award that supports biological/biomedical research with transformative potential. Dr. Demonbreun obtained her Ph.D. in Developmental Biology from the University of Chicago, where she developed her interest in muscle regeneration and repair.

Ikaika CBO. Dr. Dimitra Georganopoulou serves as Chief Business Officer (CBO) at Ikaika and is a General Partner for Qral Ventures. She is an experienced biotech professional with a deep knowledge of personalized medicine and therapeutics. She has expertise in Business Development, licensing, and fundraising for multiple companies in the Life Sciences. She was the Director of Commercialization at Northwestern University, where she supported the launch of multiple startups and helped establish multiple strategic partnerships and licensing deals. She is on the investment committee for various investment programs and has been a commercialization mentor for many early-stage companies and prestigious innovation education programs. She had previously worked at Baxter supporting late-stage technology scouting and tech assessment for due diligence of M&A deals. She was Chief Business Officer for MyGenomeRx and in multiple leadership roles of Ohmx. Prior to that, she worked for Nanosphere (now Luminex) and Inverness Medical (now Alere / Abbott). Dimitra is also the founder for board leadership programs for the Executive Committee in Chicago of Women in Bio (WIB), an organization dedicated to promoting careers, leadership, and entrepreneurship of women in the life sciences. Dimitra earned a Ph.D. in Bioelectrochemistry from University College London (UCL) and an M.Sc. in Biosensors from King’s College London; her post-doctoral work focused on nanoparticle-based diagnostics. She is the author of numerous peer-reviewed publications and patents.

Board Member. Dr. Chih-Kao Hu is the managing partner of Qral Ventures and founder of Qral Group, a life-sciences management consulting firm. He is also the CEO of the biotech companies Bluedot Bio and Window Therapeutics. Dr. Hu has expertise from pre-commercial strategy to commercial launch and operations in the pharmaceutical space. Dr. Hu’s background includes conducting scientific research for EGF-like peptides with Nycomed Pharma AS, out of which led to the discovery of the anticoagulant Angiomax (bivalirudin). Dr. Hu has also conducted research evaluating the pharmacokinetic properties of the anti-fibrinolytic protein, Retavase (BM06.022, recombinant tissue plasminogen activator). He received his Ph.D. from Carnegie Mellon University and MBA from Tepper Business School.