Dr Terry McWade is a senior executive and founder with experience spanning healthcare leadership, life sciences innovation, and corporate governance. He is a Board member of the Health Research Board and formerly served as CEO of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland.
As a co-founder of Fijak Capital, Terry draws on his experience as the former Chairman and co-Founder of ValitaCell, a biotechnology innovator acquired by Beckman Coulter Life Sciences. His career as a technology CEO also includes leading Exceptis Technologies, a software company in the dispute management space, and IntuMed, which launched the world’s first online surgical training programme.
Terry’s international perspective was forged early in his career with Servier Laboratories in Paris and Copenhagen, and as a Principal at The Boston Consulting Group in London. He previously served as Deputy CEO of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and has held numerous international board positions.
He qualified in medicine at Trinity College Dublin and holds an MBA from INSEAD, alongside postgraduate qualifications in healthcare ethics/law and corporate governance.
Dr Jerry Clifford
Dr Jerry Clifford is a scientist, entrepreneur and strategic leader with over 20 years of experience in biotechnology innovation and commercial strategy.
As a co-founder of Fijak Capital, Jerry brings a founder-operator perspective gained during his time as CEO of ValitaCell and previously Castel Education. In ValitaCell he led the operational scaling of the company through its successful exit to Beckman Coulter Life Sciences, where he subsequently transitioned into a global leadership role as Director of Open Innovation. Similarly, in Castel Education he led the development, growth and exit to Cambridge Education Group.
He brings foundational commercial expertise from his time as Commercial Director for the Technopath Group, where he led international growth across manufacturing and distribution sectors.
Jerry holds a PhD in Neuroscience from RCSI and an MBA from University College Cork, alongside specialised executive education from MIT Sloan in Artificial Intelligence for Pharma and Biotech. He combines a rigorous technical foundation with a proven track record of scaling life science startups into global commercial successes.
