Dr. Elena Matsa is Professor and Principal Investigator in iPSC Cell Therapies at the School of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, University College Cork, and at the National Institute for Bioprocessing Research and Training (NIBRT), where she leads a research group established under the strategic UCC–NIBRT collaboration in advanced therapies. Prof. Matsa completed her PhD in stem cell biology at the University of Nottingham, following a BSc in Biochemistry and Genetics at Nottingham and an MSc in Human Molecular Genetics at Imperial College London. She held postdoctoral positions at the University of Nottingham and at Stanford University School of Medicine, where she was subsequently appointed Instructor in Cardiovascular Precision Medicine, working on patient-specific iPSC models of inherited arrhythmia, cardiomyopathy and drug-induced cardiotoxicity.

Prof. Matsa spent seven years in the biotechnology industry before returning to academia. As Director of Discovery Technology at Ncardia, she led iPSC-based drug discovery and safety pharmacology services and introduced new differentiation protocols and high-content imaging assays for predictive toxicology. As Senior Vice President for Cell Therapy Research at Cellistic, she set the scientific strategy for allogeneic iPSC-derived immune cell therapies, delivering the Pulse, Echo and Allo Chassis manufacturing platforms and filing patents on large-scale iPSC-derived haematopoietic manufacturing.

Prof. Matsa’s research now focuses on the purity, yield and reproducibility of iPSC-based cell therapy manufacturing, including the use of image-based AI for monitoring iPSC health and differentiation processes. Her research is funded by Research Ireland and Rinn Advanced Therapies, and through collaborations with industry partners in the cell therapy sector. She is founder and Director of iPS Cell Ireland and participates in EU COST actions on iPSC standardisation and regulatory pathways.