Dr Silviu Itescu has consulted to various international pharmaceutical companies, an advisor to biotechnology and health care investor groups, and a board member of several public-listed life sciences companies.
He founded Mesoblast in 2004, was executive director from 2007 to 2011, and became chief executive & managing director in 2011. Prior to Mesoblast, Dr Itescu established an international reputation as a physician scientist in the fields of stem cell biology, autoimmune diseases, organ transplantation, and heart failure.
He has been a faculty Member of Columbia University in New York, and of Melbourne and Monash universities in Australia.
In 2011, Dr Itescu was named BioSpectrum Asia Person of the Year. In 2013, he received the inaugural Key Innovator Award from the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Culture for his leadership in translational science and clinical medicine in relation to adult stem cell therapy.