Sónia Ventura has dedicated over 20 years to understanding the immune system and turning that knowledge into real-world impact. At Epitopea, she guides translational biology efforts to support the company’s first clinical trial in ovarian cancer, driving assay development, CRO coordination, and scientific mentorship.

Her current focus includes optimising immunogenicity assays to assess antigen reactivity, which will inform pre-clinical vaccine programs and monitor immune responses in patient samples.

Sónia earned her PhD in Immunology and trained at the National Institute of Medical Research and The Francis Crick Institute, exploring how innate immunity shapes adaptive responses in infection, allergy, and autoimmunity. Prior to joining Epitopea, she worked at Achilles Therapeutics, where she collaborated closely with Manufacturing and QC to align and optimise processes, and advanced mRNA-based strategies to boost immune recognition of cancer neoantigens.