Citrin Foundation (UK)

Barbara believes strongly in the long-term vision of finding a cure for citrin deficiency by bringing together world leading experts to work collaboratively on it, and to provide support for patients globally with this rare condition. It is with such belief that she co-founded Citrin Foundation with her husband Yen How Tai. Together, they have provided all the funding for the Foundation.

Barbara Yu is also the co-founder and co-CEO of YH2 Capital, an investment firm that adopts a long-term investment approach. The firm’s investment return has constantly outperformed the market since its inception.

Prior to founding YH2 Capital, Barbara was the Head of Asia and Partner of Eton Park Capital Management from 2006 to 2010 and was responsible for Eton Park’s public and private investments in Asia. In her role, Barbara founded, built, and managed the Asia investment business of Eton Park since its inception in 2006.

Prior to joining Eton Park in 2006, Barbara spent five years at Goldman Sachs in Hong Kong where she rose to the position of the Head of the firm’s Principal Strategies Group in the Asia Pacific region. The Group encompassed the proprietary investing business of the equities division at Goldman. Prior to joining Goldman Sachs, Barbara worked at Morgan Stanley in New York and Hong Kong, where she focused on mergers, acquisitions, and restructuring.

Barbara graduated from Magdalene College, Cambridge University, with a BA in Law, double first-class honors. Barbara was awarded the N. Diaz Scholarship for Law and Norton Rose Prize for Commercial Law. She was also a Jardine Scholar which provided a full scholarship for her undergraduate study.

Yen How Tai is the co-founder, co-CEO, and CIO of YH2 Capital, an investment firm that adopts a long-term investment approach. Prior to founding YH2 Capital, Yen was an entrepreneur and investor. In 1999, he founded an online real estate company and grew it to be the biggest online property business in Hong Kong. After selling the business, Yen branched out into real estate investment and development in Shanghai, Beijing, Hong Kong and Singapore.

Before becoming an entrepreneur, Yen worked at Investor AB’s private equity arm in Asia. Yen started his career as a management consultant at McKinsey & Company’s in Greater China office, where he advised governments and leading multinational corporations in China, Japan and Southeast Asia, in the telecommunications, consumer products, information technology, government policies and retail sectors.

Yen graduated from Harvard University with a BA in Economics. Yen was an ASEAN Scholar.

Su Kit leads the Foundation’s translational research efforts, to advance discoveries and programmes through preclinical validation, biomarker development and regulatory approval for the clinic. He is also focused on building effective partnerships across academic researchers, clinicians, industry partners, regulators and patient communities.

Prior to joining the Foundation, Su Kit worked in the biotechnology industry developing gene therapies for rare monogenic diseases, Parkinson’s disease and heart failure. He led the computational design of gene therapies and contributed to multiple programmes, from lead discovery and preclinical development, through to supporting clinical proof of concept studies.

Su Kit holds a BA in Biological Sciences from the University of Oxford and a PhD from UT Southwestern Medical Center. His academic research explored the genetics of programmed cell death, functional validation of cancer gene targets, and understanding the evolutionary and genomic mechanisms driving cancer progression and therapy resistance.

sukitchew@citrinfoundation.org

Yurika assists with various projects from patient and clinician outreach to working with clinicians and scientists in different institutes. She will be working on the development of the Japan Foundation website and social media platforms, aiding on diet consultation, as well as communicating with and supporting patients and their families.

Yurika obtained her bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Chemistry from Kwansei Gakuin University in Hyogo, Japan. She spent her time researching the effect of Sulforaphane (a compound rich in broccoli sprouts) on anti-ageing and life span extension.

She moved on to do further research and laboratory work at Imperial College London, UK where she completed her master’s degree in Molecular and Cellular Biosciences. She joined two laboratories and worked on research topics such as immunology and cancer, working with cells and mouse models.

Yurika was born and raised in Tokyo, Japan and is fluent in both English and Japanese. In recent years, she has also acquired the basics of the Korean Language.

Yurika is currently based in London.

yurikaasami@citrinfoundation.org

Harriet Deakin is the Legal Director at YH2 Capital International, where she advises on legal and regulatory matters across the firm’s investment activities. She brings a decade of experience in financial services and international contract law, having previously held in-house legal roles at Citigroup Global Markets, Amazon, Total and Unipec.

Harriet also advises Citrin Foundation on a wide range of legal, regulatory, and governance matters across the Foundation’s operations internationally. Her work spans charity law compliance, philanthropic structuring, data protection, cross-border grant making, and contractual arrangements with research partners and grantees.

Harriet qualified as a solicitor in England and Wales in 2013. She holds a BA in Law from the University of Cambridge.

harrietdeakin@citrinfoundation.org

Dr. Tai, MBBS MRCP PHD, is a consultant neurologist and Clinical Senior Lecturer at Charing Cross Hospital, Imperial College London. He graduated with first class honours from the University of Sydney medical school.

He underwent clinical neurology training in Cambridge and London, and obtained his PhD at Imperial College London.

He has a research background in using functional imaging to study the pathogenesis and treatment responses of neuroprotective therapy in neurodegenerative diseases. More recently, he is also interested in using technology and neuromodulation, including deep brain stimulation, to improve the treatment of movement disorders. He is also experienced in setting up open access patient registry for clinical trials.