Excelsus Structural Solutions' Team

• M.S. in Physics, Universita' degli Studi, Bari, Italy
• Ph.D. in Physics, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland
• Postdoctoral fellow, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratories, Berkeley, California, USA
• Research scientist, Intel Corp., Santa Clara, California, USA
• Project Leader of the spin-off company "Swiss Light Source Techno-Trans AG", Paul Scherrer Institute, Switzerland
• Senior Researcher and beamline scientist, Swiss Light Source, Paul Scherrer Institute, Switzerland
• CEO and Founder of Excelsus Structural Solutions S.P.R.L.
• CEO and Founder of Excelsus Structural Solutions (Swiss) AG

Dr Gozzo has more than 30 years of practical experience with synchrotron facilities, in developing complex instrumentation and using it for the study of pharmaceuticals, pigments, food components, concrete and semiconductors. At the Paul Scherrer Institute, she has contributed to the growth of the Swiss Light Source synchrotron facility where she has developed for more than 10 years a state-of-the-art powder diffractometer, recently acknowledged in several scientific publications as one of the best ones in the world. Dr Gozzo has built there a substantial industrial and academic user community, including some large pharmaceutical companies. She is recognized as a synchrotron- and powder diffraction expert and as such, is regularly invited at the international level as a speaker, lecturer and scientific advisor. She is author and co-author of more than 80 scientific articles and book chapters. More on Linkedin.

Thibaud joined Excelsus as COO in August 2023.

Previously, he served as the Senior VP Global Biologics Operations at Lonza AG, overseeing 8 sites across Asia, Europe and USA, in charge of technical development, clinical manufacturing and commercial manufacturing of biologics drug substances (DS) and drug products (DP) using diverse technologies such as mammalian, microbial, drug-conjugation, and mRNA. During the COVID pandemic, he spearheaded the industrial scale-up and worldwide supply of one of the first mRNA-based COVID vaccines. He also led the Lonza Group's supply chain organization.
Thibaud is a seasoned biopharmaceutical executive with over 25 years of experience in R&D, Operations and Quality. He has held various positions of growing management responsibilities in medium and large biopharma companies and CDMOs. Notably, he played a pioneering role in the technical development of biosimilars and has contributed to the successful commercial launch of the very first 3 products in Europe and USA. He has extensive experience and a passion for Operational Excellence, Lean leadership and the digital transformation of Operations.
Thibaud holds a MS degree in Chemical Engineering from MIT and a PhD in Biotechnology from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL).

 See more on LinkedIn.

o M. S. in Physics, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland
o Ph.D. in Experimental Physics, University of Zurich and Paul Scherrer Institute, Villigen, Switzerland
o Postdoctoral fellow, Paul Scherrer Institute, Villigen, Switzerland
o Scientist, Excelsus Structural Solutions (Swiss) AG, Villigen, Switzerland

Dr Reinle-Schmitt joined Excelsus in 2016 and has more than 11 years of practical experience with synchrotron radiation instrumentation and technique, particularly in the field of powder and surface diffraction. She is involved in the development of methods and measurement strategies mostly related to quantitative phase analysis and pair distribution function measurements of pharmaceuticals via synchrotron-radiation x-ray powder diffraction.
During her postdoctoral appointment at the Swiss Light Source Materials Science beamline she contributed to the automatization of the powder diffraction endstation by programming a graphical user interface that allows one to execute a variety of remote controlled measurements. At Excelsus, besides her everyday involvement in several industrial projects in collaboration with Excelsus' customers, Dr Reinle-Schmitt contributes at several long term R&D projects. She is also the radiation safety reference person as well as responsible for the quality management system in place at Excelsus Stuctural Solutions. More on Linkedin.

• B.Tech in Chemical Engineering, University of Kerala, India
• M.Tech in Materials Science, IIT Bombay, India
• Ph.D. in Chemistry, University of Basel, Switzerland

Dr. Rohan Pokratath joined Excelsus in 2024 and has hands on experience with X-ray total scattering and pair distribution function (PDF) analysis. During his Ph.D., he worked on several projects involving the structural characterization various inorganic and organic materials using X-ray PDF. He also has experience in the nucleation and growth mechanism of inorganic nanocrystals. More on linkedin.

• B.Sc. in Chemistry, University of York, UK
• M.Sc. in New Materials, University of Aberdeen, UK
• Ph.D. in Materials Chemistry, University of Birmingham, UK
• Postdoctoral Fellow, National Research Council Canada, Ottawa, Canada
• Assistant/Associate/Senior Research Officer, National Research Council Canada, Ottawa, Canada
• Instrument Scientist, Spallation Neutron Source, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, USA
• Chemist/Materials Scientist, Excelsus Structural Solutions (Swiss) AG, Villigen, Switzerland

Dr Whitfield has over 25 years of practical experience with powder diffraction using both X-rays (laboratory and synchrotron) and neutrons (constant wavelength and time-of- flight). She developed and managed the largest XRPD facility at the National Research Council, supporting groups across Canada, developing custom sample environments and new analytical methodologies with samples ranging from battery materials and cements, to polymers and organic molecules. Later she was an instrument scientist on the POWGEN time-of- flight neutron powder diffractometer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, USA.

Dr Whitfield is known internationally as an expert in powder diffraction techniques and instrumentation. She has served on numerous national and international bodies, including as chair of the International Union of Crystallography Commission on Powder Diffraction for 9 years. She is a frequent instructor at schools and workshops, and regularly invited to present at international meetings. She is author and co-author of more than 80 scientific publications.

• B.Sc. in Chemistry, University of Tours, FR
• MSc in organic and analytic chemistry, University of Orleans, FR

Mrs Melanie Garnier joined Excelsus Structural Solutions in 2024 as a laboratory manager. She has over 15years of experience in organic synthesis, sample preparation, pharmaceutical analysis and management of laboratory instrumentation. More on Linkedin.

• M.S. in Earth Sciences, University of Bern, Switzerland
• Ph.D. in Material Sciences, University of Cambridge, UK
• Postdoctoral fellow, Empa, Thun, Switzerland
• Sales & Applications Scientist, Alemnis AG, Thun, Switzerland
• Scientist, Excelsus Structural Solutions (Swiss) AG, Villigen, Switzerland

Dr Widmer joined Excelsus in 2024, bringing rich experience in synchrotron-based experiments with a focus on non-ambient conditions. During his PhD, he worked on polymorphism, amorphization, and recrystallisation of metal-organic frameworks using high-temperature and high-pressure in situ synchrotron powder diffraction. This effort led to essentially the first pressure-temperature phase diagram for this new class of materials. More synchrotron work followed while studying fundamental deformation mechanism of amorphous materials at the nanoscale during his postdoctoral studies at Empa, using ptychographic X-ray computed tomography (PXCT).