Meet the Abzoids.
The Abzu team is a friendly and intellectually promiscuous group of AI researchers, scientists, and entrepreneurs.
We don’t have any bosses, which means we don’t have a set hierarchy. Each Abzoid is listed in alphabetical order by first name.
Andrés Salazar
Senior Product Designer
Andrés is originally from the northern region of Mexico, but finds himself in Copenhagen as Abzu’s Senior Product Designer. Andrés’s background is in industrial design, and has spent many happy years designing innovative and user-friendly products. Andrés also enjoys playing the guitar and collecting comic books and graphic novels, which he finds to be a great source of inspiration.
Arturo Lidueña
Software Engineer
Arturo Holds a BS in Industrial Engineering and a MSc in Computer Science and Data Science, specializing in web development. He has 5+ years’ experience in software development. When Arturo is not immersed in the world of programming, you can often find him on the tennis court, engaging in his favorite sport.
Casper is the founder and CEO of Abzu, the Danish/Spanish startup building AI to answer the world’s unanswered questions in science, business, and everyday life. Casper is the inventor of the QLattice® symbolic AI algorithm. He has 20+ years of experience building large scale systems for data processing, analysis, and AI, and is passionate about the impact of AI on knowledge work and the intersection of AI with philosophy and ethics.
Christine Søholm Hansen, PhD
Bioinformatician
Christine is a data analyst and molecular detective with a focus on genetics and omics data at Abzu. She holds a PhD in Bioinformatics from the University of Copenhagen and concluded her post doctoral work at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, bridgging the gap between common and rare variation in disease.
Daniel Vilanova
Software Engineer
Daniel holds an MSc in AI from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia and has 7+ years’ experience in software development. When he’s not coding, Daniel loves climbing, reading fantasy and science fiction books, and playing board games. He considers ChatGPT his best friend.
Disa Tehler, PhD
Lead Bioinformatician
Disa is an RNA expert and drug designer with 14+ years’ research experience in academia and pharma. She holds an MSc in Biotechnology Engineering and a PhD in Molecular Biology. Disa prioritizes family when not training cross-fit or ballet, and her greatest pleasure is to cruise around in her vintage Volvo on a sunny day.
Elizabeth Gil-Roldan
Grants + Innovation
Elizabeth holds a BSc in Environmental Science from the University of East Anglia. At Abzu, she applies her wide variety of experience (at the Big Four, European Parliament, and SMEs) on business development and managing projects. Elizabeth adores her two kids and cat.
Elyse Sims, EMBA
Marketing + Communication
Elyse holds an EMBA from Georgia State University and wrangles Marketing and Communications for Abzu. She has 15+ years’ international marketing experience and prefers fast-paced startup environments. Elyse is an avid runner, CrossFit-er, gardener, reader, and swearer.
Emil Larsen
Software Engineer
Emil holds an MSc in Computer Science and Engineering from the Technical University of Denmark, specialising in algorithms and AI. At Abzu, he writes clean and efficient code that helps keeping things running smoothly. Emil enjoys board games, the Discworld novels, and rock music from the 70’s and 80’s.
Eoin Galligan, PhD, MBA
Senior Business Developer
Eoin holds a PhD in Computational Biophysics from Nottingham University and an MBA from the Open University in the UK. He has 18+ years’ experience in pharma consultancy and industry-academic partnerships. Eoin loves teaching his two boys about life in the 1980s, Northern Soul music, and enjoying expat life.
Product Strategy
Esben is a computer scientist and tech entrepreneur with 15+ years’ experience building, commercializing, and scaling B2B tech businesses. He uses his experience to create product strategies and execute on commercial go-to market plans. Esben loves to compete in padel – or anything, really.
Federico Musso, PhD
Pharma Business Development
Bioinformatician
Helena holds an MSc in Bioinformatics and loves solving scientific problems. She especially enjoys combining her experience within biochemistry and data science to explore patterns in data. Helena is a very passionate knitter, graceful ballet dancer, and she absolutely loves dogs — she even sits dogs in her spare time!
AI Engineer
Jaan has an MSc in Theoretical Physics from the University of Copenhagen. He helps bridge Abzu’s mathematical framework with implementation in code and is invested in Abzu’s long-term goals of developing AGI. He is inspired by sci-fi and philosophy, and he runs pretty fast.
CFO + COO
Jonas holds an MSc in Economics from University of Copenhagen and has 11+ years’ experience in strategy, finance, and public affairs. He manages Abzu’s finances and investor relations. Jonas is a major Trekkie and loves most things sci-fi.
Mad Scientist
Kevin graduated from the Technical University of Denmark. He spent 6+ years as an agile consultant, and at Abzu, he applies his skills in high-performance computing, parallel programming, and distributed systems. Kevin is a talented singer/songwriter, musician, and artist.
Lykke Pedersen, PhD
Chief Pharma Officer
Lykke was awarded her PhD in Biophysics from the University of Copenhagen and conducted research at the Niels Bohr Institute. Family and close friends matter most to Lykke. She has kept her sourdough starter alive for a full year and taught her 8-year-old son about prime numbers.
Head of Target + Biomarker Discovery
Marco received his PhD in Bioinformatics from Stockholm University, focusing on protein sorting and subcellular localization using ML algorithms, after obtaining a MSc in Bioinformatics from the University of Bologna. Family first for Marco, then motorbikes and football!
Office Lead
Maria is an organizational whiz and semi-OCD. She spent 6 years in London working for hotels, marketing, and private equity firms, and excelled at keeping track of people and office bits and bobs. Maria loves terrible jokes, musicals, sneakers, and craft beer. She only runs when chased.
UX/UI Designer
Marta received her PhD in Bioinformatics from the University of Münster, which is where she discovered her passion for design. At Abzu, she combines her creative and visual skills with her scientific background to create beautiful, problem-solving platforms. Marta loves to learn, and has way more hobbies than she’s comfortable admitting.
Business Development + Pharma Partnerships
Product Analyst
Originally from sunny Italy, Matteo received his MSc in Entrepreneurship and Data Analysis in cold Finland, and now he lives in rainy Copenhagen . Matteo loves training in the gym and learning new stuff. He used to hate the rain, but has come to lov—well, it’s manageable.
Data Person + Physicist
Meera holds a PhD in Physics from the University of Copenhagen in High Energy Physics, specializing in Heavy Ions. At Abzu, Meera explores how machine learning is applied in physics and science. She reads web comics, devours podcasts, pole dances, and is a secretly competitive cyclist.
Business Development
Product Marketing
Prajakta holds an MBA from Copenhagen Business School and brings 15+ years’ experience in business, development, marketing, and communications to Abzu. You can find Prajakta binging on podcasts and taking long walks. Current obsession: Physical and mental-strength training.
Software Engineer
Roger holds a BSc in Physics, Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology from the University of Barcelona and spent many years working in meteorology. The only things he loves more than data visualization is his many kids. He likes to share weird videos and animated gifs. He talks too much, so say hello!
Tin is a multi-faceted designer with a ton of experience in different creative fields, including over 5 years in UX/UI and product design. She’s worked in finance, fintech, hospitality and now in STEM. Tin is a design systems, sci-fi, and board game nerd.
Software Engineer
Tom is an experienced engineer in architecture and system design. He has 14+ years’ experience in software development, mostly with distributed systems, and quietly applies that knowledge at Abzu. Tom is addicted to bicycling. His new bicycle is named Rosa, and his old bicycle is named Mia.
Biomedical Engineer
Valentina is a Biomedical Engineer with a strong software development background. She’s worked with neural networks, embedded systems, and web applications for 7+ years. Originally from Buenos Aires, she is an avid nature-lover who enjoys spending time in the mountains, camping, and going on road trips.
Victor is an Industrial Engineer by education, working in chemical and materials research. He has 10+ years’ experience developing software, concentrating on translation, fintech, and marketing recommendations. Victor loves to go jogging with the company of his loving dogs.
