Rafail Tasakis - Personal Website

About

Blending Science and Business Skills

I am a biologist and bioinformatician by training, with a strong interest in groundbreaking projects at the intersection of life sciences and deep tech. Through my work in interdisciplinary teams, I have gained management experience and contributed to ventures that push the boundaries of innovation.

Location: Antwerp, Belgium
Subject-matter Expertise: Bioinformatics, Oncology, Life Sciences
Passion: Health/Med-Tech

Email: [email protected]
Degree: PhD
Alma Mater: University of Heidelberg, Germany

I blend 9+ years of science and business experience across life sciences, bioinformatics, and technology in Europe and the United States. Trained as a PhD in Bioinformatics, I have since built expertise in business development, fundraising, and strategy, working at the interface of science, innovation, and investment.

During my time in the New York entrepreneurial ecosystem, I transitioned from the bench to roles in product strategy and business development, supporting VC-backed biotech ventures and gaining exposure to fundraising and deal making. These experiences sharpened my ability to evaluate scientific opportunities not only for technical merit but also for commercial viability and long-term impact.

Now based in Belgium and equipped with an MBA Essentials certificate from the London School of Economics, I am pursuing the next step in my career: contributing to venture capital as an analyst, where I can leverage my analytical mindset, global network, and cross-disciplinary expertise to support investment decisions in life sciences, med-tech, and deep tech.

My core skills: Cross-functional Collaborations, Strategic Business Development, Scientific Due Diligence, Venture Capital, Bioinformatics & Life Sciences

Facts

I excel at analyzing and interpreting complex data from various resources to extract actionable insights that drive strategic decisions. I am passionate about transforming data patterns into compelling narratives, ensuring accuracy, completeness, and adherence to ethical standards. I firmly believe in the power of data visualization to simplify complexity and unlock valuable insights. My standards have been shaped thanks to the following experiences:

Publications in scientific journals, international conferences, and preprint servers. Check them out here!

Years Of Experience working in multicultural & diverse teams

Languages. Fluent in English & Greek, Conversational in German, Learning French & Dutch

Countries I have worked and lived in: Greece, France, Germany, the United States and recently relocated to Belgium!

Skills

Venture Strategy & Innovation

Venture Development & Innovation Scouting
Strategic Planning & Execution
Technology Transfer & Product Development
Market Access Analysis (US & EU)
Fundraising, Negotiation & Due Diligence

Business Development & Operations

Strategic Partnership Development
Deal Flow, CRM & Account Management
Marketing campaigns: Design, Ad, Targeting
Agile Project Management & Delivery Optimization
Cross-Functional Team/Stakeholder Coordination
Tools: Asana, Hubspot, MS & Google Workspaces

Communication & Leadership

Eloquent Communicator and Public Speaker
Experienced in Academic–Industry Mediation
Inclusive Leadership and Team Player
Cross-Cultural Collaboration and Diplomacy
Active Networker in Bio/Tech and VC Communities

Bioinformatics & Data Science

Pipeline Development & Validation
Expert: R/RStudio, Data Visualization, Prompt Engineering, VS Code
Advanced: Bash/Shell, Git, AWS, HPC
Working Knowledge: Python, SQL, HTML, Docker, Nextflow, Snakemake, Tableau
Confident with Digital Twins

Experimental Biology Expertise

Data-driven Translational Research
Proof of Concept & Prediction Validation
Dataset Generation & Experimental Design
Methods/Techniques: Cell culture, DNA/RNA/protein handling, CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing, mRNA editing, Molecular cloning, Flow cytometry, HPLC-DAD

Regulatory Sector Knowledge

GDPR (EU) & HIPAA (US) Compliance
Clinical Diagnostics & Biopharma Standards

Resume

Professional Experience

Solvuu, Inc., New York, NY

Aug 2024 - Present

Head of Business Development

Led bioinformatics projects and managed a team. Spearheaded marketing, account management, and business development.

Jul 2023 - Jul 2024

Bioinformatics Scientist

Provided consulting services to early-stage drug discovery ventures, managing a team and interfacing with clients.

The Mount Sinai Hospital, New York, NY

Jan 2022 - Jul 2023

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Conducted translational research on dissecting chemotherapy and CAR-T resistance in 1500 Multiple Myeloma patients through analysis and integration of genomics (WES & RNA) and real-world data.

German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany

Aug 2017 - Dec 2021

Doctoral Researcher

Developed and deployed bioinformatics pipelines to analyze in-house genomic data from patients and mouse models to elucidate the impact of mRNA and DNA editing on hematological and solid tumors.

European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), Heidelberg, Germany

Sep 2016 - Aug 2017

Visiting Scientist

Trained in gene expression analyses for modeling personalized treatment of human infections.
Trained under the supervision of executives at Bayer Pharma for effective leadership and communications. See Otto Bayer Fellowship award.

Honors, Awards & Highlights

1st CAROTS Startup School

2021

Chosen as one of the top 10 applicants by the program "CAROTS" (DESY, Hamburg, Germany); attended their inaugural startup school. During the 6-month program, training was undergone to translate scientific ideas into products and to gain practical knowledge in business development and management.

'Fotis Kafatos' Greek National Award for Excellence in Science

2018

Award finalist and invitation to speak at the University of Athens, Greece. Nominated by a third-party institute within my field of research.

Otto Bayer Fellowship

2016

Recipient of the Otto-Bayer Fellowship by the Bayer Foundations, Germany (25 awards, 500 international applicants), which funded my research at EMBL-Heidelberg, Germany (2016-2017).

Education

MBA Essentials

Nov 2024 - Feb 2025

The London School of Economics & Political Science, London, UK

10-week rigorous certificate course building foundational skills across key areas of business administration. The course spanned strategic leadership, economics, competitive and corporate strategy, finance, and organizational behavior.

Grade: 95%

Doctorate of Natural Sciences & Mathematics

Aug 2017 - Nov 2021

University of Heidelberg, Germany

Thesis: Collateral genomic damage due to aberrant RNA editing activity in cancer

Distinction: Magna Cum Laude

Bachelor of Sciences

Oct 2012 - Sep 2016

Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece

Major: Molecular Biology, Genetics & Biotechnology

Minor courses: Mathematics & Statistics, Economy

Thesis: Identification of bacteriocins upon qualitative and quantitative amino-acid composition analyses with HPLC and Bioinformatics

Internships at CNRS-Montpellier, France (2014), EMBL-Heidelberg, Germany (2015), CERTH-Thessaloniki, Greece (2016)

First-Class Honors

Professional Certificates

Google Data Analytics Certificate

Oct - Dec 2022

Skills: Data Aggregation, Data Analytics, Data Calculations, Data Cleaning, Data Ethics, Data Visualization, Presentations, Problem Solving, R, Spreadsheets, SQL, Structured Thinking

Data Security & HIPAA training

Nov 2022

CITI Program

Skills: Data management and best practices for security of Private Health Information (PHI)

Volunteer work

Student & Graduate Mentoring

2017-Today

Pro bono mentor to students and young science graduates from underrepresented groups. Activity in Germany, the United States and Greece.

Bio AUTh Team (BAT)

2014-2016

Co-founder and communications manager of student group ‘Bio AUTh Team’ (45 active members) in Thessaloniki, Greece. Co-organized awareness events about HIV prevention, climate change & women in STEM.