The RNatives team
Working for a brighter future
Executives
Jeff Abbey, CEO
Jeff Abbey has been CEO of RNatives since May 2025.
He brings over two decades of leadership experience in the biopharmaceutical industry with a successful track record in company building, business development, and fundraising across both public and private global markets.
Jeff spent over 16 years at Argos Therapeutics, serving as CEO for over eight years and, prior to that, as VP, Business Development and then CBO.
He led Argos through completion of a pivotal phase 3 trial, raised over $250 million in equity financings, including an IPO on NASDAQ, and completed numerous partnering transactions with international biopharmaceutical companies.
Mikko Turunen, CSO
Mikko Turunen, PhD, Docent of Molecular Medicine at the University of Eastern Finland, has +25 years of experience in the development of gene therapies.
Throughout his career, his research focus has been non-coding RNAs, cardiovascular disease, and gene delivery to animals. He was the first to show transcriptional gene activation by small RNAs in vivo (2009).
Turunen has 67 scientific articles, over 3100 citations, and H-index of 26.
Tiia Turunen, CDO
Tiia Turunen, PhD, is a co-founder of RNatives. She has +14 years of experience in the research and development of Epigenetherapy.
She obtained her PhD from University of Eastern Finland and completed her post-doctoral training in Samir EL Andaloussi’s laboratory in Karolinska Institutet, Sweden.
She has strong expertise in non-coding RNAs, epigenetics, extracellular vesicles and laboratory leadership.
Juhani Lahdenperä, CFO
Juhani Lahdenperä, M.Sc., is a seasoned COO with over 15 years of experience in biotechnology business management and leadership.
He was previously CEO of PlexPress and Hermo Pharma, and afterward, he has been helping early-stage programs in their commercialization via Biotech Start-Up Management.
He has received five innovation awards personally or for the companies he has represented. During his early academic career, he published in Nature among other peer-reviewed journals.
Scientists
Stef Bosch
Stef Bosch is an R&D scientist with a background in cell biology, nanoparticle delivery, and RNA interference.
He’s work is centred around developing and optimising delivery systems that make RNA-based therapeutics more precise, stable, and effective.
Yasin Arafat
Yasin Arafat is a molecular biologist with extensive experience in microbiology, biomedicine, and molecular diagnostics.
He’s proficient in advanced laboratory techniques such as PCR, CRISPR gene editing, quantitative imaging (N&B microscopy, FLIM), and mammalian cell culture.
