Welcome to Rinri
Founded in 2018, Rinri Therapeutics Ltd. is a therapeutic discovery and development company working in the field of hearing loss supported by Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund and UCB Ventures, BioCity and The University of Sheffield.
Rinri Therapeutics has been founded on pioneering research into auditory stem cells led by Professor Marcelo Rivolta at the University of Sheffield.
The Company has a team of experienced management, strong academic pedigree and excellent potential for clinical development.


Our Technology
Rinri’s lead therapeutic candidate is Rincell-1. It is a novel stem cell product and a first-in-class regenerative cell therapy that seeks to reverse auditory neuropathy, a form of sensorineural hearing loss specifically affecting the transmission of nerve signals from the inner ear to the auditory centres of the brain.
Our Technology
Rinri’s lead therapeutic candidate is Rincell-1. It is a novel stem cell product and a first-in-class regenerative cell therapy that seeks to reverse auditory neuropathy, a form of sensorineural hearing loss specifically affecting the transmission of nerve signals from the inner ear to the auditory centres of the brain.
Media
Our latest press releases
Meet Doug Hartley, Chief Medical Officer
Press Release March 7th, 2023
Hearing Loss Therapies Made Possible by Unlocking Access to the Inner Ear
Technology Networks January 9th, 2023
Meet Doug Hartley, Chief Medical Officer
Press Release March 7th, 2023
Meet Gerry O’Donoghue
Press Release March 7th, 2023
Our Therapy Area
Patients with sensorineural hearing loss, and their families, are at the heart of our work here at Rinri. We are developing an innovative and life-changing cell therapy, and bringing it from the laboratory to patients, to address a large and unmet clinical need.
Our Team

Professor Marcelo Rivolta
Founder and Chief Scientific Officer
Marcelo is a globally recognised Professor of Sensory Stem Cell Biology. He has been based at the University of Sheffield (UK) since 2001 and has written over 40 papers on the subject, many of which have been published in peer-reviewed journals. The Rivolta laboratory is dedicated to studying the biology and behaviour of auditory stem cells, and to exploring their potential to regenerate the damaged inner ear.
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Dr. Simon Chandler
Chief Executive Officer
Simon has been involved with Rinri since its inception, working closely with Marcelo Rivolta, Rinri’s founder and is responsible for the strategic direction and operation of the company.
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Dr. Terri Gaskell
Chief Technology Officer
Terri has over 20 years of research and development experience within life sciences, in both academic and industry roles, with a focus on the development and translation of cell and gene-based therapies.
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Professor Doug Hartley
Chief Medical Officer
Doug is a Professor of Otology at Nottingham University and a consultant ENT surgeon at Nottingham University Hospital’s NHS Trust – Queen’s Medical Centre. He qualified, with distinction, from Newcastle Medical School in 1995, and was awarded a DPhil from Oxford University in the field of hearing research in 2001.
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Rachel Haines
Director of Clinical Operations
Rachel Haines joined Rinri Therapeutics as Director of Clinical Operations in October 2022. She is a hearing scientist by training and has worked in translational research and clinical trials within both the domestic and international markets and public and private sectors since 2007.
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Ben Stephens
Director of Finance
Ben has 25 years’ experience at board level finance and operational roles in the Pharma and Industrial sectors. For the last 10 years, Ben has worked in Pharma, drug development and licensing and then more recently in early-stage Biotech businesses. These include University spin outs from the UK’s leading institutions, with companies’ initial formation through to Clinical trial stages.
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Dr. Leila Abbas
Pre-Clinical Manager
Leila has been working as a post-doctoral researcher in the field of auditory development and hearing restoration for nearly 20 years. She has a broad and in-depth knowledge of the auditory system and has published research in high-impact, well-renowned journals.
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Dr. Faizah Mushtaq
Clinical Manager
Faizah is a clinically qualified audiologist who has previously provided hearing care to patients within both NHS and private settings. Subsequent completion of an MSc in Cognitive Neuroscience and a PhD in translational hearing research facilitated her transition from a clinician into a researcher.
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Sophie Price
Clinical Trial Associate
Sophie joined the Rinri theraputics as a Clinical Trial Associate in March 2023. She comes from a clinical research background within the NHS focusing on lymphoma, this research involved complexities such as cellular therapy and first in human trials.
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Dr. Maryam Shariatzadeh
Senior Scientist
Maryam has over 15 years of translational research experience including 5 years within commercial projects on advanced therapies. These projects focused on the development of scalable manufacturing processes for T cell, stem cell and hPSC based technology, gaining expertise in the differentiation and expansion of cells, their scale up and transfer back to CDMO's.
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William Sherlock
Senior Scientist
Will has previously worked at several MHRA and HTA licensed cell therapy manufacturing facilities where he contributed to the development and manufacture of different cell therapies for administration on the UK Specials programme. He has extensive experience with the use of embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cells in a GMP environment and has supported the establishment of a new GMP manufacturing facility in Cambridgeshire.
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Dr. Aurelien Bunga
Senior Scientist
Aurelien has 10 years life science R&D experience gained from both academic and industry positions with a particular focus on stem cells and neuroscience. Aurelien graduated with a First class (Hons) in Biochemistry from the University of Leeds in 2013 and subsequently was awarded a Wellcome Trust PhD studentship at Cardiff University, where he pursued his interests in stem cell modelling and neuroscience, helping establish a protocol for the differentiation of iPSCs into microglia to study immune dysfunction in neurodegenerative diseases. He completed his PhD in 2018 and subsequently joined Charles River Laboratories as a neuroimmunologist, taking a leading role on assay development and a broad range of client studies.
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Gerry O’Donoghue
Gerry is Professor of Otology and Neurotology, and the Research Lead for Cochlear implantation at the University of Nottingham.
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Hubert Löwenheim
Prof. Dr. med Hubert Löwenheim is Medical Director of the Department of Otolaryngology at the Tübingen University in Germany and Principal Investigator of Translational Research Group. Hubert studied human medicine at the Goethe University in Frankfurt and Harvard University in Boston. After completing his doctorate in hearing research, he continued his training as a specialist in Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery – and continued his scientific work at the University of Tübingen.
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Dan Jiang
Professor Dan Jiang PhD FRCSI FRCS(ORL-HNS) is a Professor of Otology and Auditory Implant Surgery at King’s College London and a Consultant Otologist and Skull Base Surgeon at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital, Evelina London Children’s Hospital and King’s College Hospital. He is the lead clinician at St. Thomas’ Hearing Implant Centre in London. Dan was trained in Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery at Guy’s and St. Thomas’ Hospital, King’s College Hospital and The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery (Queen Square).
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John Grienwald
Dr. John Greinwald is a Professor of Otolaryngology and Paediatrics with over 20 years of experience in the genetic causes and treatment of deafness. Dr. Greinwald co-founded the Ear and Hearing Centre at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Centre . He has pioneered the establishment of diagnostic evaluation algorithms for children with sensorineural hearing loss and developed a next-generation sequencing platform to determine the genetic causes of hearing loss in children.
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Dr. Hans E. Mülder
Dr. Hans E. Mülder studied nuclear physics at the Free University in Amsterdam and medical physics and audiology at the University Hospital Utrecht. He practised audiology in the Netherlands, fitted the first multichannel cochlear implants, kickstarted the usage of oto-acoustic emissions as a hearing screening tool for newborns and was a teacher of audiology, politician, and researcher.
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Nick Higgins
Independent Chair
Nick is an experienced life sciences executive with significant business and corporate development achievements. He has over 35 years in the life sciences industry with extensive knowledge of UK and US markets in both private and public sectors. With a special interest in advanced therapies he has worked actively in the field of cell and gene therapies for many years.
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Dr. Erica Whittaker
Investor Director
Erica is Head of UCB Ventures, a strategic corporate venture fund. She also serves on the Boards of StrideBio (Durham, North Carolina) and Ally Therapeutics (Cambridge, Massachusetts). She joined UCB in 2010 as VP Strategy & Partnering, New Medicines (discovery to clinical proof of concept), developing and leading the UCB-Harvard Research Alliance. In 2012, she joined the internal strategy team shaping UCB’s current Patient Value Strategy.
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Frank Kalkbrenner
Investor Director
Frank is the Global Head of the Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund. He served as board member of STAT Diagnostica (acquired by Qiagen in 2018), Hookipa Biotech (IPO at NASDAQ in 2019) and Amal Therapeutics (acquired by Boehringer Ingelheim in 2019). Currently, he is on the Boards of Rinri Therapeutics, T3 Pharma, eTheRNA, Aelin Therapeutics, Acousia Therapeutics, and Brainomix.
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Professor Marcelo Rivolta
Founder and Chief Scientific Officer
Marcelo is a globally recognised Professor of Sensory Stem Cell Biology. He has been based at the University of Sheffield (UK) since 2001 and has written over 40 papers on the subject, many of which have been published in peer-reviewed journals. The Rivolta laboratory is dedicated to studying the biology and behaviour of auditory stem cells, and to exploring their potential to regenerate the damaged inner ear.
Read more
Dr. Simon Chandler
Chief Executive Officer
Simon has been involved with Rinri since its inception, working closely with Marcelo Rivolta, Rinri’s founder and is responsible for the strategic direction and operation of the company.
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Dr. Natalie Mount
Non Executive Director
Natalie is currently the CEO of Adaptate Biotherapeutics Ltd. focused on developing therapeutic antibodies to drug targets to modulate the activity of gamma delta T cells. Previously, Natalie was Chief Scientific Officer of GammaDelta Therapeutics Ltd.
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