Avencia Sánchez-Mejías is CEO and co-Founder of Integra Therapeutics, a global leader in creating next generation gene writing tools to make advanced therapies safer and more effective. Avencia has experience in business management and transferring technology of excellence from academia to industry to be turned into therapeutic solutions for patients. Since 2020, Avencia has led Integra Therapeutics with a talented team of 20 professionals and scientists, achieving fast, efficient early-stage growth and positioning the company with key sector stakeholders. Over this time, Integra Therapeutics has secured €12.5 million in public and private investment and has developed its FiCAT gene writing platform with positive ex vivo and in vivo preclinical results, moving towards the regulatory phase. She also has a strong scientific background in clinical genetics, molecular oncology and synthetic biology at research centers tied to university hospitals in several countries, including Spain, the United States and Singapore. Before founding Integra Therapeutics in 2018, Avencia was a senior researcher in the Translational Synthetic Biology Lab at Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona, led by Dr. Marc Güell. Earlier in her career, she worked as a postdoc researcher at the National University of Singapore (2014-2018) and University of Miami Miller School of Medicine (2010-2014), and as a PhD candidate at the Institute of Biomedicine of Seville (2006-2010). Avencia is committed to helping develop female talent and encouraging coming generations to go into STEM fields. In 2021, she was chosen to take part in the Academy for Women Entrepreneurs program promoted by Foment del Treball and the US Consulate in Barcelona. In 2022, she received Women and Leadership Award by Deusto Business School, Cinco Días and Banco Santander