About · Leadership

Leadership & Scientific Advisory Board

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Furnetics is led by a cross-disciplinary team of clinicians, geneticists, operators, and counsel, headquartered in Ulaanbaatar and working with clients worldwide. Our executive team is advised by an independent Scientific Advisory Board drawn from research institutions across four continents, whose members review protocols, publications, and the ethical framework governing our services.

Executive Leadership

The people running Furnetics

Six executives lead operations, science, medicine, legal, and finance for the corporation. Each is deeply rooted in their expertise and conviction to our mission, clients, and local community.

  • Portrait of Dr. Alastair R. Vellacott

    Dr. Alastair R. Vellacott, MD, PhD

    Founder & Chief Executive

    Edinburgh-born clinical geneticist and one of the 1992 founding partners. Led the corporation's 2010 relocation to Ulaanbaatar and has served as chief executive since.

  • Portrait of Nomin Batbayar

    Nomin Batbayar, MBA

    President & Chief Operating Officer

    Former head of foreign investment at the Mongolia Ministry of Economy. Joined Furnetics in 2011 to build out the 300,000 sq/m Ulaanbaatar facility.

  • Portrait of Dr. Ines Marchetti-Roux

    Dr. Ines Marchetti-Roux, PhD

    Chief Scientific Officer · Director, Hephaestus Group

    Recombinant DNA researcher, formerly of the Pasteur Institute. Architect of the Phenotype Renovations sequencing pipeline.

  • Portrait of Dr. Kenji Arai

    Dr. Kenji Arai, MD

    Chief Medical Officer

    Reconstructive surgeon and clinical bioethicist. Oversees all patient-facing therapeutic protocols and the corporation's clinical-review board.

  • Portrait of Priya Ravindran

    Priya Ravindran, LLM

    General Counsel & Chief Privacy Officer

    International biotech regulatory attorney. Leads the client confidentiality program and cross-jurisdictional compliance.

  • Portrait of Aleksandr Volkov

    Aleksandr Volkov, CFA

    Chief Financial Officer

    Former partner at a Swiss private banking firm. Joined in 2015 to structure the corporation's cross-border capital and confidentiality trusts.

Dr. Alastair R. Vellacott

Founder & Chief Executive

MB BS, University of Edinburgh (1988) · PhD, Imperial College London (1994)

Edinburgh-born Alastair Vellacott founded Furnetics with three colleagues in Cambridge in 1992 to translate the emerging tools of recombinant DNA into private-clinical practice. As chief executive, he led the corporation's 2010 relocation from the United Kingdom to Ulaanbaatar and has personally overseen its expansion into whole-body genetic transformation services.

Education
  • MB BS, University of Edinburgh Medical School (1988)
  • PhD, Human Molecular Genetics, Imperial College London (1994)
Career
  • Clinical Registrar in Medical Genetics, Guy's Hospital, London (1988–1992)
  • Co-founder & Managing Partner, UK operations, Furnetics (1992–2010)
  • Founder & Chief Executive, Furnetics Unlimited Ltd. (2010–present)
Affiliations
  • Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (RCPE)
  • Member, Human Genome Organisation (HUGO)
  • Trustee, Ulaanbaatar School of Medicine Foundation

Nomin Batbayar

President & Chief Operating Officer

BA Economics, National University of Mongolia (1999) · MBA, INSEAD (2004)

Nomin Batbayar joined Furnetics after a decade at Mongolia's Ministry of Economy, where she led the country's foreign investment program for medical technology and life sciences. She oversees day-to-day operations of the 300,000 sq/m Ulaanbaatar campus, as well as the corporation's Brussels and Nairobi client-services offices.

Education
  • BA Economics, National University of Mongolia (1999)
  • MBA, INSEAD, Fontainebleau (2004)
Career
  • Analyst, then Senior Analyst, Mongolian Development Bank (1999–2005)
  • Senior Advisor for Foreign Investment, Mongolia Ministry of Economy (2005–2011)
  • Chief Operating Officer, Furnetics (2011–2018)
  • President & Chief Operating Officer, Furnetics (2018–present)
Affiliations
  • Chair, Ulaanbaatar Chamber of International Commerce (2019–present)
  • Board member, Mongolia Biotechnology Council

Dr. Ines Marchetti-Roux

Chief Scientific Officer · Director, Hephaestus Group

PhD, Institut Pasteur (2001) · Max Planck Institute postdoc (2001–2003)

Ines Marchetti-Roux directs the Hephaestus Group, Furnetics' research and development arm, and leads the corporation's sequencing and genome-engineering pipelines. Her work at the Institut Pasteur on in-vivo recombinant DNA delivery informed the architecture of the Phenotype Renovations v2 service line she re-launched at Furnetics in 2015.

Education
  • MSc Biochemistry, École Normale Supérieure, Paris (1996)
  • PhD Molecular & Cell Biology, Institut Pasteur, Paris (2001)
  • Postdoctoral Fellow, Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics, Berlin (2001–2003)
Career
  • Senior Researcher, Molecular Genetics Unit, Institut Pasteur (2003–2012)
  • Head of Sequencing R&D, Furnetics (2012–2017)
  • Chief Scientific Officer & Director of the Hephaestus Group, Furnetics (2017–present)
Affiliations
  • Member, European Society of Human Genetics
  • Honorary faculty, Mongolian Academy of Sciences

Dr. Kenji Arai

Chief Medical Officer

MD, Keio University (1995) · MA Bioethics, Kyoto University (2008)

Kenji Arai leads all patient-facing therapeutic protocols at Furnetics and chairs the corporation's clinical-review board. A reconstructive surgeon by training, he holds a graduate degree in bioethics and has written on the ethics of elective genetic modification in East Asian medical practice.

Education
  • MD, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo (1995)
  • Residency, Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery, Kyoto University Hospital (1995–2001)
  • Craniofacial Reconstruction Fellowship, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm (2001–2003)
  • MA Bioethics, Kyoto University Graduate School (2008)
Career
  • Attending Surgeon, Osaka University Hospital (2003–2013)
  • Head of Reconstructive Practice, Furnetics Ulaanbaatar (2013–2019)
  • Chief Medical Officer, Furnetics (2019–present)
Affiliations
  • Editorial board, Asian Journal of Bioethics
  • Member, Japan Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery

Priya Ravindran

General Counsel & Chief Privacy Officer

BA LLB (Hons.), NLSIU Bangalore (2003) · LLM, Georgetown Law (2005)

Priya Ravindran leads Furnetics' legal, regulatory, and client-confidentiality functions across every jurisdiction where the corporation operates. Before joining Furnetics she spent eleven years as a cross-border life sciences attorney based in Singapore, counseling multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology clients on regulatory strategy and patient-data privacy.

Education
  • BA LLB (Hons.), National Law School of India University, Bangalore (2003)
  • LLM, International Health Law, Georgetown University Law Center (2005)
Career
  • Associate, then Senior Associate, life sciences practice, Singapore (2005–2013)
  • Partner, cross-border life sciences practice, Singapore (2013–2016)
  • Deputy General Counsel, Furnetics (2016–2021)
  • General Counsel & Chief Privacy Officer, Furnetics (2021–present)
Affiliations
  • Member, International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP)
  • Advisory Council, Asia-Pacific Health Law Institute

Aleksandr Volkov

Chief Financial Officer

MSc Finance, University of St. Gallen (2004) · CFA Charterholder (2007)

Aleksandr Volkov leads Furnetics' finance, treasury, and client-structuring functions. He joined the corporation from a Zurich private bank where he spent eleven years advising ultra-high-net-worth clients on cross-border wealth structures: the skill set now underpinning Furnetics' confidentiality-trust program for private-client engagements.

Education
  • BA Economics, Higher School of Economics, Moscow (2001)
  • MSc Finance, University of St. Gallen, Switzerland (2004)
  • CFA Charterholder (2007)
Career
  • Analyst, Corporate Finance Group, Zurich-based private bank (2004–2010)
  • Partner & Head of Client Structuring, same firm (2010–2015)
  • Chief Financial Officer, Furnetics (2015–present)
Affiliations
  • Member, CFA Institute
  • Member, Swiss Association of Corporate Treasurers

Scientific Advisory Board

Independent scientific advisors

Our independent Scientific Advisory Board reviews protocols, publications, and the ethical framework governing our services. Members serve three-year terms and are drawn from leading research institutions across the world.

  • Portrait of Prof. Hiroko Tanaka

    Prof. Hiroko Tanaka

    Chair of Human Genomics

    Kyoto Institute of Life Sciences

  • Portrait of Prof. Emeka Okonkwo

    Prof. Emeka Okonkwo

    Chair of Molecular Bioethics

    University of Cape Town

  • Portrait of Prof. Margarethe Lindqvist

    Prof. Margarethe Lindqvist

    Director, Center for Somatic Cell Engineering

    Karolinska Institute

  • Portrait of Prof. Sofia Herrera

    Prof. Sofia Herrera

    Chair of Clinical Psychology & Identity Studies

    Universidad de Buenos Aires