Entering its thirteenth year, Pharma Integrates is a premier event uniting leaders across the pharmaceutical pipeline to address their needs, exchange insights, and engage in discussions on critical issues shaping the future of patient outcomes. As the flagship event within Life Science Integrates, Pharma Integrates has established itself as an essential occasion for senior leadership in the pharma and healthcare sectors.
Pioneer Group
Corporate Development Director
Pioneer Group’s purpose is to provide the environment in which ambitious life sciences and healthcare companies are more likely to be successful. We support entrepreneurs from early stage business concept onwards, helping them to test their commercial viability, raise money, launch and grow within our community.
I am part of a team of committed professionals dedicated to making this happen. In particular I am responsible for contributing significantly to the growth of Pioneer Group by leading on the recruitment of new companies to Pioneer Group’s sites and by helping the growth of existing client companies.
I started professional life at the British Consulate-General in Lyon and was appointed Commercial Consul heading up the life sciences sector for France.
I have worked in UK bio-incubators since 2005 and am chair of the UK Bioincubator Forum, representing 24 bioincubators across the UK.
Moderna
Country Medical Director, UK
Country Medical Director at Moderna UK, Dr Philip Cruz, has over 15 years of experience in medical affairs in the field of vaccines and paediatrics within the pharmaceutical industry. At Moderna in the UK, Dr Cruz is responsible for the development and execution of the medical affairs strategy for Moderna’s infectious disease franchise and drives scientific leadership for the vaccine portfolio, while ensuring compliance with applicable policies and procedures. He also ensures effective interactions with key UK scientific leaders, public health experts, scientific and medical associations and healthcare authorities at the national level, providing country insight-gathering activities to meet the company needs around the clinical development and innovation in the field of vaccination.
Dr Cruz worked at GSK Vaccines for over 11 years, eventually assuming the role of Vaccines Medical Director for the UK and Ireland. Following his time at GSK, he was appointed as Senior Global Medical Affairs Leader (Vaccines) at AstraZeneca. He has a breadth of experience in clinical development and continues his involvement in clinical trials as a local medical lead. His role as an ABPI final signatory has given him established knowledge in medical governance and he has extensive experience in pharmaceutical medical affairs.
A paediatrician by training, Dr Cruz is actively involved in clinical research, research and development and pharmaceutical medicine.
Microsoft
Global Business Leader, GM Healthcare, Pharma and Life Sciences
Elena is Microsoft’s Global Business Leader for Healthcare, Pharma Life Sciences. In this capacity she is responsible for go-to-market, commercial and industry pharma strategy and commercial go-to-market, enabling co-innovation and strategic partnerships to accelerate transformation with cloud and AI. She leads as the executive sponsor of digital transformation initiatives in a number of providers, payors and life Sciences’ organisations. In 2023 Elena was elected as Member of the DIA Europe, Middle East & Africa Regional Advisory Council. She is the Vice Chair of the DIGITALEUROPE Executive Council for Healthcare since it’s creation in 2021. She recently joined the Board of The Movement Health Foundation, an organization founded by Roche, Siemens Healthineers, Microsoft and CIFS to build strong and sustainable healthcare systems. A signature outcome of her work – together with a core team across engineering and research – was the design and launch of the AI R&D partnership with Novartis in 2019, and the AI for Leprosy initiative with Novartis Foundation and Fiocruz, recently published in The Lancet/Elsevier. Elena co-chaired the Health Cloud Council for Microsoft and partners from 2015-2019 where she led work on secondary use of health data and championed the initiative on data collaboratives, leading to the creation of the first global data collaborative in cardiovascular population health. Elena has been working in the health sector for 18+ years, first in health policy at EU level and then as regional business leader in public healthcare across EMEA. In July 2017, Elena was elected to the HIMSS Europe Governing Council. In 2020 she was nominated one of the top 50 AI Innovators by Intelligent Health. Elena is one of the founding members of the Holomedicine Association. She is an active advocate and public speaker, invited to represent the approach of Microsoft for Healthcare and AI and how “Data help save Lives”, and a contributor to the creation of the Healthcare Data Innovation Council, a partnership of healthcare actors to progress regulatory frameworks for data sharing in health and life sciences. She is also a champion for the transformational impact of meditation in personal and professional development, working with the Centre for Evolutionary Learning; and the empowerment of women in leadership as founding member of WiL Network and as champion for Diversity and Inclusion at Microsoft.
Novo Nordisk
Senior Vice President Global Drug Discovery
Karin Conde-Knape is Senior Vice President for Global Drug Discovery within Novo Nordisk, where she is responsible for driving the early pipeline and innovation within the areas of Diabetes, Obesity, Cardiovascular, Renal, Rare endocrine and metabolic diseases. She has more than 20 years of executive experience within the pharmaceutical industry within different areas of responsibility, including project leadership, line management, strategic planning and execution as well as business development.
Karin spent 11 years at Hoffman-La Roche in the Cardiovascular and Metabolism Discovery and early development areas, responsible for pharmacology teams as well as discovery and biomarker teams. Before joining Novo Nordisk, she worked four years at Johnson and Johnson, responsible for external innovation in Europe and Asia Pacific in Cardiovascular and Metabolism. During these years she led cross functional teams in the evaluation for external opportunities and creating the business cases to support deal making for different external opportunities.
Wellbeing of Women
Member Board of Trustees
Dr Indra Joshi has a unique portfolio with experience stretching across data/AI strategy and implementation.
A world-leading expert in digital health and AI technologies, she worked across the global health and AI portfolio of Palantir Technologies to enable better use of data to impact health and care. In 2020 she created the NHS AI Lab a £250m investment leading to the development and deployment of over 100 AI technologies into UK health and care, whilst determining the right ethical guidance and regulations to protect patients.
She is a Founding Member of One HealthTech – a network which campaigns for the need and importance of better inclusion of all backgrounds, skillsets and disciplines in health technology. Alongside she is an associate editor for BMJ Leader, a former member of the WHO digital health expert group, a consultant on digital health, and most importantly a mum to two wonderful little munchkins.
House of Commons
Member of Parliament
Elected to Parliament in 2010 after a 15yr career in technology venture capital, George has held a number of key Science & Technology Ministerial roles under 4 Prime Ministers over the last 14years: as first UK Minister for Life Science, first Minister for Decarbonisation & Digitalisation of Transport and Minister of State for Science & Technology shaping the UK’s programs for Quantum, EngBio, Fusion & Space.
As first UK Minister for Life Science in the Coalition he led the UK’s Life Science Industrial Strategy launching Genomics England, the Dementia Research Institute & the Accelerated Access reforms.
Representing the UK at successive G7 & G20 Science Summits, in 2023 he oversaw the UK’s renegotiation to the European Horizon R+D & negotiated the UK’s S+T Collaborations with Canada, Japan, Israel & Switzerland.
In Parliament, George continues to lead and support science and technology initiatives. He currently serves as the Deputy Chair of the Science, Innovation, and Technology Select Committee. He is also the Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Groups (APPGs) for Science and Technology in Agriculture, as well as the Science in Parliament Committee, where he champions policy for research and development that benefits both the UK’s economy and society.
Pioneer Group
Corporate Development Director
Pioneer Group’s purpose is to provide the environment in which ambitious life sciences and healthcare companies are more likely to be successful. We support entrepreneurs from early stage business concept onwards, helping them to test their commercial viability, raise money, launch and grow within our community.
I am part of a team of committed professionals dedicated to making this happen. In particular I am responsible for contributing significantly to the growth of Pioneer Group by leading on the recruitment of new companies to Pioneer Group’s sites and by helping the growth of existing client companies.
I started professional life at the British Consulate-General in Lyon and was appointed Commercial Consul heading up the life sciences sector for France.
I have worked in UK bio-incubators since 2005 and am chair of the UK Bioincubator Forum, representing 24 bioincubators across the UK.
Amgen UK and Ireland, ABPI
General Manager, Acting President
Russell Abberley has been the General Manager of Amgen UK & Ireland since May 2020.
Russell has over 25 years of life science industry leadership expertise across a range of geographies and covering country, regional and global roles. His expertise spans all stages of the product life cycle and he has worked across multiple therapy areas on originator medicines and biosimilars in commercial and operational roles at companies including AstraZeneca, MSD and Schering Plough.
Russell has served on the Association of British Pharmaceuticals Industry (ABPI) Board since July 2020, chairing both the Clinical Trials Board Sponsored Group (BSG) along with the Commercial and VPAG BSG. He is a member of the Governance Committee and was part of the Negotiating Team for the recently signed 2024 VPAG scheme.
Russell is a member of the American Pharmaceutical Group and served as Chair from August 2021 to October 2023.
Russell became the Vice President of the ABPI on 16 May, and Acting President on 4 September 2024.
House of Commons
Member of Parliament
Elected to Parliament in 2010 after a 15yr career in technology venture capital, George has held a number of key Science & Technology Ministerial roles under 4 Prime Ministers over the last 14years: as first UK Minister for Life Science, first Minister for Decarbonisation & Digitalisation of Transport and Minister of State for Science & Technology shaping the UK’s programs for Quantum, EngBio, Fusion & Space.
As first UK Minister for Life Science in the Coalition he led the UK’s Life Science Industrial Strategy launching Genomics England, the Dementia Research Institute & the Accelerated Access reforms.
Representing the UK at successive G7 & G20 Science Summits, in 2023 he oversaw the UK’s renegotiation to the European Horizon R+D & negotiated the UK’s S+T Collaborations with Canada, Japan, Israel & Switzerland.
In Parliament, George continues to lead and support science and technology initiatives. He currently serves as the Deputy Chair of the Science, Innovation, and Technology Select Committee. He is also the Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Groups (APPGs) for Science and Technology in Agriculture, as well as the Science in Parliament Committee, where he champions policy for research and development that benefits both the UK’s economy and society.
Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine
Managing Director UK & Ireland
With nearly 20 years’ experience through varying roles at Janssen, I have led teams across medical and commercial functions. I have worked in both advanced and emerging markets at a local and regional level. Prior to joining Janssen, I worked as a clinician in South Africa. At the heart of my work is a focus on patients, and ensuring they can access the best care according to their needs, irrespective of their geography or background.
As the Managing Director for Janssen UK & Ireland, I now lead the region’s business strategy, with the aim to improve healthcare and ensure timely access to innovative treatments for patients.
Amgen UK and Ireland, ABPI
General Manager, Acting President
Russell Abberley has been the General Manager of Amgen UK & Ireland since May 2020.
Russell has over 25 years of life science industry leadership expertise across a range of geographies and covering country, regional and global roles. His expertise spans all stages of the product life cycle and he has worked across multiple therapy areas on originator medicines and biosimilars in commercial and operational roles at companies including AstraZeneca, MSD and Schering Plough.
Russell has served on the Association of British Pharmaceuticals Industry (ABPI) Board since July 2020, chairing both the Clinical Trials Board Sponsored Group (BSG) along with the Commercial and VPAG BSG. He is a member of the Governance Committee and was part of the Negotiating Team for the recently signed 2024 VPAG scheme.
Russell is a member of the American Pharmaceutical Group and served as Chair from August 2021 to October 2023.
Russell became the Vice President of the ABPI on 16 May, and Acting President on 4 September 2024.
Genomics England & Oxford University Innovation
Chair
Baroness Nicola Blackwood is a leader in science and entrepreneurship. She is Chair of Oxford University Innovation and Genomics England, as well as Board Member of the biotechnology company, BioNTech and investment fund RTW Biotech Opportunities. Nicola is also a member of the House of Lords, the Oxford Harrington Rare Disease Centre Advisory Board and the Royal Society Science Policy Expert Advisory Committee.
Nicola served as a Minister in the Department for Health and Social Care under two Prime Ministers. As Minister for Innovation, she led on Life Sciences, NHS Data and Digital Transformation, and Global Health Security.
She was the first female Member of Parliament for Oxford and was elected by MPs of all parties as the first female Chair of the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee. She remains one of the youngest committee chairs in British history.
Wellbeing of Women
Member Board of Trustees
Dr Indra Joshi has a unique portfolio with experience stretching across data/AI strategy and implementation.
A world-leading expert in digital health and AI technologies, she worked across the global health and AI portfolio of Palantir Technologies to enable better use of data to impact health and care. In 2020 she created the NHS AI Lab a £250m investment leading to the development and deployment of over 100 AI technologies into UK health and care, whilst determining the right ethical guidance and regulations to protect patients.
She is a Founding Member of One HealthTech – a network which campaigns for the need and importance of better inclusion of all backgrounds, skillsets and disciplines in health technology. Alongside she is an associate editor for BMJ Leader, a former member of the WHO digital health expert group, a consultant on digital health, and most importantly a mum to two wonderful little munchkins.
Lund University Diabetes Centre, American Diabetes Association
Professor of Genetic Epidemiology, Co-Chair, Precision Medicine in Diabetes Initiative
Paul trained in physiology, biostatistics, and human genetic, graduating from the University of Cambridge in 2003. In 2010, he was jointly appointed professor at Lund University and the Harvard School of Public Health (Boston, USA). He has been a visiting professor at the University of Oxford since 2017.
From 2016-2021 Paul was the deputy-director of Lund University Diabetes Centre (Sweden), and from 2021-2024 he was Scientific Director and head of the department of Translational Medicine at the Novo Nordisk Foundation (Denmark).
Paul is interested in precision medicine in cardiometabolic diseases, including multimodal AI for multi-omic integration and causal inference. He has expertise in designing, implementing, and analysing data from clinical trials and epidemiological cohorts. Paul has led innovations in human intervention studies, including recall-by-genotype and randomized cross-over trials for precision medicine.
Paul currently co-chairs the ADA/EASD Precision Medicine in Diabetes Initiative, the NIDDK Working Group of Council on Heterogeneity of Diabetes, and the International Guidelines Committee on Reporting of Precision Medicine Research of Clinical Relevance. In these roles, he has spearheaded the development of consensus standards (Tobias et al. Nature Medicine, 2023; Chung et al. Diabetes Care, 2020), guidelines (Lim et al. Nature Medicine, 2024), and translational frameworks (Cefalu, Franks et al. Nature Medicine, 2024; Franks et al. Lancet Diab Endo. 2023; Misra et al. Lancet Diab Endo. 2023; Leslie et al. Lancet Diab Endo. 2023).
Paul has an H-index ~130, with >500 peer reviewed publications, cited ~80,000 times, and ranks within the top 1% of all research scientists globally based on research impact.
Novo Nordisk
Senior Vice President Global Drug Discovery
Karin Conde-Knape is Senior Vice President for Global Drug Discovery within Novo Nordisk, where she is responsible for driving the early pipeline and innovation within the areas of Diabetes, Obesity, Cardiovascular, Renal, Rare endocrine and metabolic diseases. She has more than 20 years of executive experience within the pharmaceutical industry within different areas of responsibility, including project leadership, line management, strategic planning and execution as well as business development.
Karin spent 11 years at Hoffman-La Roche in the Cardiovascular and Metabolism Discovery and early development areas, responsible for pharmacology teams as well as discovery and biomarker teams. Before joining Novo Nordisk, she worked four years at Johnson and Johnson, responsible for external innovation in Europe and Asia Pacific in Cardiovascular and Metabolism. During these years she led cross functional teams in the evaluation for external opportunities and creating the business cases to support deal making for different external opportunities.
Patients are taking an increasingly proactive role in the development of new treatments. With an increase in patient and public involvement across research, trials and government initiatives, how are we ensuring we design treatments for the people who need them? And how can we navigate the newly revised transparency rules for the Clinical Trials Information System to avoid intellectual property challenges whilst better supporting patients?
Drug Discovery Solutions
Managing Director
Richard founded Drug Discovery Solutions in March 2023 and holds two NED positions at Aelius Biotech and ImmuONE, both of which are growing UK CRO’s
An experienced DMPK scientist and entrepreneur, Richard founded XenoGesis in 2011 after spotting a gap and opportunity in the market.
Having grown the company organically and through reinvestment, and building a team of over 40 skilled scientists, in September 2020, Richard successfully led the sale of XenoGesis to Sygnature Discovery, creating an enviable team of DMPK scientists. Following the acquisition, Richard moved into a new role within Sygnature focused on bridging the gap between discovery and development, improving the quality of compounds and getting closer to the clinic.
A highly motivated problem solver, Richard has provided consultancy support on multiple projects since 1997, and was keen to dedicate his time to support businesses by drawing on his own experience of running and growing a business, combined with his in-depth chemistry knowledge, extensive DMPK and broad R&D experience, to create the powerful platform of Drug Discovery Solutions.
Richard brings strategic insight, energy and continuous drive to improve and offer help and advice by drawing on his own entrepreneurial approach to a growing clientele of drug hunters and investors.
Precisia C2-Ai
Chief Medical Officer and Business Unit Director
Sheuli is a highly experienced and respected leader in life sciences.
Sheuli originally trained in medicine at Cambridge and Oxford then worked in the NHS before moving to pharmaceutical medicine. Sheuli has worked internationally in medical affairs, clinical development and life science policy.
She is the Vice President of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine, a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of London and a Global Fellow in Medicines Development with IFAPP.
Sheuli is a member of the Steering Group for the UKRI Multiple Long-Term Conditions Programme, the AoMRC Genomics Professional Partnerships Group and the UK Pharmacogenetics and Stratified Medicine Network Steering Group.
Sheuli is also a visiting lecturer at King’s College London.
NanoGenics
Advisor
Dr Suzanne Dilly
Suzy is an experienced scientific entrepreneur, participating in biotech leadership teams since 2006. Scientifically, she has taken therapeutic candidates from concept through to Phase 2 clinical trials, demonstrating a broad understanding of translating innovative science through to viable commercial prospects. Covering oncology, inflammation and ophthalmology, Suzy brings a breadth of therapeutic experience.
With initial training provided from the award of the prestigious Royal Society of Edinburgh Enterprise Fellowship enabling transition from lab bench to boardroom, Suzy has founded services companies as well as therapeutic development companies as independent companies, joint ventures and multiple group subsidiaries as part of strategic corporate activity. Serving as CEO of AIM-listed biotech ValiRx for four years demonstrated her broad understanding of financial regulation, corporate governance, investor relations and fundraising in addition to the scientific and commercial reality of establishing a preclinical pipeline through in-licensing contracts.
J A Kemp LLP
Partner
Ravi is a European and UK Patent Attorney and Head of J A Kemp’s Pharmaceutical Practice Group. Ravi is known for his practical and commercial approach to patent work. He handles cases in both organic and inorganic chemistry, for startups as well as medium-sized and large pharmaceutical companies. He has an impressive track record in defending patent estates protecting innovative pharmaceutical products but is equally at home advising on freedom to operate and due diligence matters and drafting, filing and prosecuting patent applications at the European Patent Office (EPO) and elsewhere. In addition to his experience at the EPO, Ravi is a qualified litigator and holds the Higher Courts Litigation Certificate. This enables him to conduct IP litigation in the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court and the High Court and on appeal to the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court. Ravi is also a registered European Patent Litigator, able to represent clients before the Unified Patent Court (UPC). Ravi was named among the world’s top private practice experts in the field of patents in the 2023 and 2024 editions of IAM Global Leaders and is ranked in the top tier of Chambers and Partners, Legal 500, IAM Patent 1000 and Managing Intellectual Property (MIP).
LifeArc
Principal, Patient Engagement
Dr Natasha Ratcliffe
Principal, Patient Engagement
Natasha Ratcliffe is a specialist in patient and public involvement in research. Her work is focused on embedding lived experiences from the earliest stages of research development, and supporting the development of effective, equitable, and sustainable partnerships with patients and communities to improve and maximise the impact of research.
Natasha joined medical research charity LifeArc in February 2024, where she leads on the development of strategies for patient engagement and supports colleagues across the organisation to ensure LifeArc’s work is shaped by patients, communities and people with lived experience.
Natasha has extensive experience working with the charity sector, academia and industry, and previously led the Research Involvement programme at Parkinson’s UK. Natasha is also a visiting lecturer at King’s College London, working within the Centre for Pharmaceutical Medicine Research to advance research and education on patient engagement in medicines development.
GENIXICONSULTING
Founder and Director
Martin Braddock has over 40 years experience of basic science, drug discovery and drug development from concept to approved product. He has held academic positions at the Universities of Dundee and Oxford and in large Biopharma at Glaxo SmithKline and AstraZeneca. From his near 30 year industrial career he has worked in all phases of drug discovery and development and more recently in AstraZeneca led a Global Product Team supporting 9 respiratory brands. In September 2024 he founded GENIXICONSULTING LTD offering consulting services to university departments, research organisations, SMEs and large multi-national companies where he helps drive the Science Behind Their Business. He is an elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology.
‘Artificial intelligence’, ‘data’ and ‘digital’ are still very much the buzz words of innovation. From accelerating drug discovery, to improving diagnosis, right through collecting health data through apps, how are these new tools transforming healthcare?
UKRI Science and Technology Facilities Council
Head of Clusters (NW)
For the last couple of years Phil has had the pleasure of working with colleagues and stakeholders in developing High-Tech. regional innovation clusters, in key strategic sectors for the UK. This includes setting up and leading the North West of England’s Health and Life sciences Cluster (HealthTech) and establishing other clusters in sectors such as Space.
The clusters exist to connect key capabilities between stakeholders, national science facilities and innovators in the wider ecosystem to support collaboration, cross-sector innovation and community building.
A scientist by background, he undertook a PhD for the European Space Agency at King’s College London, conducting numerous studies on a SkinSuit which was designed to support astronauts in space and reduce the risk of spinal issues post flight. This has subsequently been used on several astronaut missions.
Passionate about cross sector opportunities, including Health & Space, for 5 years he coordinated the UK’s Space Life and Biomedical Science Association, which among other core activities he led the development of the UK Position Paper ‘Why Space? The opportunity for Health & Life Science Innovation”. He currently chairs the UK’s Regional Space Cluster Advisory board and at a European Level serves as the elected President for the European Low Gravity Research Association (ELGRA).
BiologIC Technologies
Chief Executive Officer
Richard is co-founder, CEO and Chair of BiologIC Technologies Limited. BiologIC’s integrated processing development platform enhances yields, process robustness and scalability of advanced biology products. The platform, enabled by novel biocomputer technology, is a new category of machine built from fluidic processing chips designed like computer chips. Our vision is to help customers engineer biology to solve enormous challenges faced by humanity (feeding 9.8 billion people by 2050, mitigating climate change and reducing the threat of diseases) in an environmentally sustainable, economically accessible way.
An authentic and passionate leader, Richard inspires transformational change through the alignment of purposeful vision, high performing talent and quality capital. He creates significant value through executive leadership, vision and strategy, commercialisation of science, capital market expertise, cultural and organisational change and building operational scale.
In seven valuable years as interim CEO, deputy CEO, CFO, COO and Company Secretary, Richard was instrumental in growing Horizon Discovery Group plc from an emerging private company of £3m revenue in 2012 to a recognised global leader in gene editing delivering revenue of £60m at a valuation of £350m. Richard delivered one of the most successful ever Life Science listings on AIM raising £68.6m in a heavily oversubscribed IPO at the top of its valuation range within 3 months, fundraisings in the UK and the US, four acquisitions and hostile bid defence.
Richard was previously Vice President, Finance at CSR plc, a dual listed FTSE 250 semiconductor company with $1bn of revenues, and a director in Deloitte’s life sciences practice. Richard is a qualified chartered accountant with a first class degree in biological sciences from Durham University.
Moderna
Country Medical Director, UK
Country Medical Director at Moderna UK, Dr Philip Cruz, has over 15 years of experience in medical affairs in the field of vaccines and paediatrics within the pharmaceutical industry. At Moderna in the UK, Dr Cruz is responsible for the development and execution of the medical affairs strategy for Moderna’s infectious disease franchise and drives scientific leadership for the vaccine portfolio, while ensuring compliance with applicable policies and procedures. He also ensures effective interactions with key UK scientific leaders, public health experts, scientific and medical associations and healthcare authorities at the national level, providing country insight-gathering activities to meet the company needs around the clinical development and innovation in the field of vaccination.
Dr Cruz worked at GSK Vaccines for over 11 years, eventually assuming the role of Vaccines Medical Director for the UK and Ireland. Following his time at GSK, he was appointed as Senior Global Medical Affairs Leader (Vaccines) at AstraZeneca. He has a breadth of experience in clinical development and continues his involvement in clinical trials as a local medical lead. His role as an ABPI final signatory has given him established knowledge in medical governance and he has extensive experience in pharmaceutical medical affairs.
A paediatrician by training, Dr Cruz is actively involved in clinical research, research and development and pharmaceutical medicine.
Pfizer UK
Director Portfolio Excellence
Nicola Clear, is a leader of global RD teams and external digital partners to deliver innovative digital solutions to accelerate drug development and enhance operational efficiency. Improving access to data, automation, data analytics, embedding new systems and predictive models to workflows, Nicola understands the importance of connecting people, process, and technology to a compelling destination, across scientific lab and OpEx disciplines.
Nicola has a background in drug discovery and development, having initially trained as a pharmacologist/microbiologist, she transitioned into formulation drug delivery/CMC sciences, and latterly to digital transformation. Most recently, she has delivered a resource management system and process responsible for portfolio level prioritisation of over $350M internal and sourced resources. Passionate about female leadership, Nicola joined MenopauseX, not for profit, to deliver data insights and influence employers on menopause policies.
Mills & Reeve
Partner and Head of Life Sciences
James heads Mills & Reeve’s multi-disciplinary life sciences practice. He supports businesses across the full product lifecycle, from start-up to commercialisation.
A key focus of his work is supporting clients on strategic contracting covering technology / IP in and out- licensing transactions, research collaborations, clinical trial agreements and long term partnering agreements. James also advises on sector regulation including pharma and medical device regulation, market access, borderline products, advertising and clinical trials.
Monument Therapeutics
Chief Executive Officer
Jenny is a cognitive neuroscientist and CEO of Monument Tx. She was previously Chief Scientific Officer at Cambridge Cognition where she led clinical trial, healthcare and R&D functions before spinning out Monument in 2021. She has an MA in Experimental Psychology from Oxford University, a PhD in the Epidemiology of Schizophrenia from the University of Cambridge, and completed post-doctoral work at Massachusetts General Hospital and the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT. She is the author of more than 70 papers, six patents, and two popular science books and is an honorary member of the University of Cambridge Department of Psychiatry.
The rapid adoption of GLP-1’s have made this class of drugs a blockbuster. With indications from diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular and dementias, these drugs offer great promise to patients and healthcare systems. There are current supply chain shortages and around 150 new GLP-1 projects have been initiated.
– how will GLP-1’s impact treatment of chronic conditions?
– how will the rest of the healthcare system need to adapt [eg mental health support, resistance training and gyms to help manage potential side effects?]
– how will supply chains need to adapt to the massive demand for the current injectable products and further oral therapies. How will the regulatory manage non prescribed use?
IQVIA
Vice President, EMEA Thought Leadership
Sarah Rickwood has 30 years’ experience as a consultant to the pharmaceutical industry, having worked in Accenture’s pharmaceutical strategy practice prior to joining IQVIA. She has an extremely wide experience of international pharmaceutical industry issues, having worked most of the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies on issues in the US, Europe, Japan, and leading emerging markets, and is now Vice President, European Thought Leadership in IQVIA, a team she has run for 13 years.
Sarah holds a degree in biochemistry from Oxford University.
Closed Loop Medicine
Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Dr Hakim Yadi OBE is a co-Founder and chief executive of Closed Loop Medicine. He joined CLM from the Northern Health Science Alliance Ltd, the pan-Northern health partnership which brought together for the first time 20 research-based NHS hospitals, the North’s Academic Health Science Networks and Universities to collaborate on improving health outcomes across the North.
As the founding CEO of the NHSA, Hakim was instrumental in raising the profile of the region in parliament, with investors and the media to help focus resources on improving healthcare services for the 15 million population living in the North and its eight great cities. Central to the NHSA’s mission was to raise awareness of the region’s high mortality rates and to seek national solutions to improve these morbidity levels by working with all local agencies to improve health – and therefore wealth and well-being -outcomes.
Hakim was also highly successful in working with companies in the North to attract substantial domestic and overseas investment into the region’s life science sector, one of the most vibrant in the country.
Having worked with specialist drug and digital companies all around the world, he has a deep understanding of innovation systems integration. Hakim started his career at PA Consulting, where he co-managed the company’s translational medicine team. During his time at PA, he was seconded to the UK Government where he worked as the Chief Operations Officer and was a founding member of the UK Department of International Trade (DIT) Life Sciences Organisation (LSO).
He holds a PhD from the University of Cambridge and in 2017 he was awarded an OBE for services to Healthcare Technology and the Economy.
Quotient Sciences
Chief Scientific Officer
Dr. Andrew (Andy) Lewis is the Chief Scientific Officer at Quotient Sciences. As the leader of Quotient Sciences’ scientific teams and drug development consultants, Andy is responsible for driving efficiency and innovation within our scientific organization, both to better serve our customers and drive growth for the Company.
Andy has over 15 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and drug delivery industry and is a member of the Academy of Pharmaceutical Scientists of Great Britain. Additionally, Andy has served on the board of directors of the Controlled Release Society, most recently as secretary.
Prior to joining Quotient Sciences, Andy was Director of Novel Drug Delivery Technologies at Ipsen. He holds a Ph.D. in Tissue Engineering and a Bachelor of Pharmacy, both from the University of Nottingham.
MoreLife (UK)
Clinical Director
Sophie is a Health Psychologist with over 9 years experience working in mental and physical health settings, specialising in the psychological aspects of weight loss including emotional, binge and disordered eating. She has also worked in drug and alcohol treatment, smoking cessation, exercise for serious mental health conditions and HIV services.
Overseeing service delivery and clinical provision as well as being Safeguarding lead. Responsible for the oversight of service delivery and clinical provision, Sophie serves as the Safeguarding Lead at Morelife, entrusted with establishing and upholding organisational quality assurance and clinical safety protocols, as well as driving company-wide research and evaluation initiatives.
Strategic partnering with CDMOs and CROs is changing. With a rise in equal partnership models, ‘one-stop shop’ solutions, and collaborative risk management, what is the future of partnering?
Sai Life Sciences
Associate VP Business Development, CMC,
For the last 15 years, Nathalie has held various leadership positions in both tactical and strategic marketing and, more recently, in sales and business development, successfully building/deploying territorial strategies to support revenue growth for companies offering discovery, development, manufacturing, nonclinical/clinical and commercial solutions for Biotech/Pharma innovators in Europe, the Middle East and Asia Pacific.
She is also a Strategic Advisor Board member at BioNow and a career mentor for young science graduates with the Society of Chemical Industry (SCI).
In 2020 and 2021, she was named one of the Northern Powerhouse Export champions for successfully building and deploying export strategies for a UK entity (Arcinova) leading to market penetration in new/unexplored territories.
She holds an executive MBA with Entrepreneurship Specialism from Warwick Business School, BSc and MSc degrees in Chemistry from the University of Strasbourg (France) and a PhD in Organic Chemistry from the University of York.
Vitarka Therapeutics
Chief Executive Officer, Chief Scientific Officer
As the founder and functioning CEO and CSO of Vitarka Therapeutics, Vineeta has more than 15 years’ experience in drug development. She has led multi-million-pound multi-site projects at UCL, Boehringer Ingelheim and Ipsen Bioinnovation. As an asset leader, she has delivered 2x therapeutics being tested in 7x clinical trials and 3x therapeutics for clinical development. She is a co-inventor on 13x granted patents. At Ipsen Bioinnovation, she was the strategic alliance leader for collaborations with Harvard Medical School (Isaac Chiu and John Collier), Boston Children’s Hospital (Min Dong) and Broad MIT (David Liu) where she sat on the Joint Steering Committee with the tech-transfer offices for in-licensing negotiations and research contracts. Previously, as a member of Prof Chris Shaw’s team she co-discovered mutations and functional properties of TDP-43 and FUS genes. These are breakthrough discoveries, with an entire disease pathology now termed as “TDP-43 proteinopathies”. Her work as first author and co-author is published in several imminent journals such as Science, Nature, Nature Neuroscience, PNAS, etc. with a citation record of >7000. Outside of work, Vineeta is a professional dancer with a Bachelors in Bharatnatyam and Post-Diploma in Indian Classical Dance form Kathak. A fun fact about her is that she has the memory of an elephant!
BDD Pharma
Chief Executive Officer
Carol Thomson is CEO of BDD Pharma, an integrated development and clinical trials company. With more than 20 years’ experience of management in the sciences sector, Carol co-founded formulations company Drug Delivery International prior to becoming CEO of BDD. Carol has strong operational management and leadership skills and has led the growth of BDD including three successful funding rounds. Carol has a degree in Genetics from the University of Glasgow and a PhD from the University of Sheffield.
Almac Group
Director, Manufacturing Science and Technology
Terry Ernest joined Almac Pharma Services in April 2024. He has extensive experience within the pharmaceutical development and manufacturing industry, including a deep knowledge of a variety of dose forms including modified release formulations, tablets, capsules, oral liquids and sterile liquids. Terry joined Almac from GSK where he held a number of senior positions over his 30-year tenure, including his most recent role as Director, Product Development at its site in Ware, UK.
UCB
Business Lead
David Harrison sits on UCB’s external manufacturing leadership team and is also responsible for partnering with device and technology companies. He builds high-level relationships with key external partners and provides strategic market insights to inform UCB’s long term manufacturing strategy. David believes in partnerships, and these alliances have already brought several successful combination products to the market. Away from his professional life, David is a fledgling novelist, with several projects nearing completion. He is married with two children and lives in Cambridge, UK.
Vicore Pharma AB
Vice President and Head of CMC
With a diverse background in large pharma and biotech companies, Helen leads the successful technical and strategic development of novel compounds, devices, and businesses.
Helen is the Vice President of Global Tech Ops & CMC at Reneo Pharma Ltd., a clinical-stage company focused on the development and commercialisation of therapies for patients with rare, genetic, mitochondrial diseases. She is also the founder and managing director of Project-ion Ltd, which advances the development of small and large molecules with biotech organisations.
She has a proven track record in developing innovative project strategies and their delivery to critical milestones. A leader of global, multidisciplinary teams in CMC, diagnostics, clinical research, and across R&D.
She enjoyed a range of positions within Pfizer, Bristol-Myers Squibb, multiple start-up companies, and the University of Oxford, enabled by degrees in Chemical and Pharmaceutical Science and an MBA. She was Head of Pharmaceutical Development at Ziarco, which Novartis acquired in 2016.
Helen is a Faculty Fellow of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, a Chartered Chemist, Chartered Scientist and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry.
Areas of particular expertise include rare and orphan, infectious, and respiratory diseases. Further interests include business strategy development, supporting emerging pharmaceutical scientist leaders, and patient and public involvement in research.
If we’re to hit the UK target of Net Zero by 2050, all sectors must take action now. As an industry built on innovation, how can the pharma sector lead this change?
Aji Bio-Pharma Services
Strategic Marketing Manager
After a study as engineer in environmental technologies, I started my career in an environmental agency with a clear vision on a sustainable industry serving our society. Since then I’ve worked as environmental and safety manager in the chemical/pharma industry, continuously improving the SHE management systems.
Since 2018 I have the opportunity to support our CDMO business even closer in its mission to help improve the health of humankind. Through innovation, compliance, continuous improvement, communication and teamwork, we do our part to make the world a better place by resolving issues of health and well-being, food resources and global sustainability.
The Ajinomoto group recognizes Climate Change a significant issue, and is committed to reduce its emissions with 50% by 2030. also within Ajinomoto Omnichem we are as a team structuring our strategic transition to a climate neutral CDMO .
As this is close to my values, I’m a co-founder of Claire (www.claire-co2.com) which is a platform for local CO2 compensation. This enables our local industrial ecosystem to give an answer to the aspiration of climate neutral supply chain of many big corporations, while doing good for your own neighbourhood.
PwC
Partner, ESG Reporting and Assurance
Laura is a Director in ESG Reporting and Assurance PwC who is passionate about the transformational power of an organisation ( whether private or public) focused on broader societal value creation and supporting clients to navigate the complex ESG reporting journey both now and in the future.
She has experience in ESG reporting, assurance, governance risk and controls including the development of reporting frameworks over complex subject matters and building an assurance map against key ESG risks. She works across the FTSE 350, private business, International Development Sector and Central Government and has experience of green bonds, social bonds and innovative funding models in sustainable finance.
Prior to her experience at PwC she has hands on on the ground experience building and running a variety of climate change adaptation and mitigation funds across East, Southern and West Africa including the Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund and the Strategic Climate Institutions Programme in Ethiopia.
Her experience includes TCFD, EU Taxonomy, SASB, GRI, ICMA Green Bond Principles, IFC OPIM Principles.
Emerson UK & Ireland
Business Director, Sustainability & Decarbonisation
Paul has worked in the process manufacturing industry since graduating as an Electrical Engineer from Brunel University in 1992. The roles and projects he has been involved with have taken him throughout Europe, Middle East and Asia Pacific including living for half of this time in Singapore and United Arab Emirates. With Emerson since 2012, Paul is now responsible to develop sustainable, carbon reducing and energy efficient solutions for clients in the UK and Ireland. Outside of work, he is a registered FA football coach, a British Cycling BMX Race coach and maintains an active interest in several cycling disciplines.
GSK
Medicine Development & Industrialisation, Sustainability Head
Experienced Vice President with a demonstrated history of working in the pharmaceuticals industry. Strong research, industrialisation and operational professional, skilled in the global leadership of Technical Transfer, Verification and Validation (V&V), Change Control, CMC, GMP, Product Lifecycle Management and Commercial Manufacturing. Responsibilities include, API (Internal & External), Secondary Antibiotic manufacture (Sterile, Oral Solid Dose, Sachets and Suspensions), Materials Science, Biological and Genetic Engineering, Chemical Synthesis, Process & Cleaning Validation and Data & Informatics.
EN:ABLE Sustainability
Sustainable Innovation Consultant
I came to sustainability as an undergraduate industrial design student, where the opportunities for innovation that it presented, totally inspired me, and set the course for my working life.
After a relatively short stint as an industrial design consultant, and a bout of travel, I took on/fell into a PhD in sustainable design with Electrolux at Cranfield University, and I’ve been working in Sustainable Innovation ever since. I’ve taught thousands of undergraduate and postgrad design students to consider sustainability in all that they create, giving them the tools to make a meaningful difference.
I have also consistently worked with companies and organisation to show them how to think, adapt and operate with sustainability in mind, using my experience to bridge their knowledge gaps and enable the transition. My ethos is very much around making things happen in real time, creating change through practical action.
The panel will explore what the next generation of digital technology will look and feel like from users’ perspective and will touch on the following questions: Will R&D and manufacturing business processes become more autonomous? How will digital technology and automation technologies come together? Will the patient notice anything different about their medicines?
NGT BioPharma Consultants
Head of Digital Services
Mark Buswell is an experienced pharma life sciences leader with a unique blend of experience in pharma late-phase development and manufacturing, and digital transformation strategy and system delivery. He is noted for his blend of deep life sciences knowledge and strategic business thinking. He has proven skills delivering technology-driven business transformation. His functional expertise includes:
· Late-phase development and manufacturing strategy
· Advanced manufacturing technologies
· Digital life sciences transformation
· IT transformation to a product-centric agile philosophy
· Creative and inspirational leadership
Mark worked at GSK from 2002 to 2023 where he held senior roles in R&D, manufacturing and IT. He currently provides consulting and advisory services, through NGT Biopharma Consultants where he heads up Digital Services, and he also consults independently. He has experience across a range of modalities including small molecules, large molecule biologics, oligo’s, cell and gene therapies and vaccines. He has a PhD in Chemical Engineering from University of Cambridge and an MBA from Cranfield University. His interests include information technologies, synthesis of APIs using novel methods, novel formulation technologies, fermentation technologies, advanced analytical technologies and automation. He is a chartered Chemical Engineer, a Fellow of the Institute of Chemical Engineering and a
TetraScience
Co-Founder, CTO
Siping “Spin” Wang is the Co-Founder and CTO of TetraScience, the Scientific Data and AI company with a mission to improve and extend human life radically. TetraScience works with half the world’s top 25 drug companies, providing a platform to design and industrialize AI-native scientific datasets to power a growing suite of lab data management products, scientific use cases, and AI-based outcomes. Spin helps oversee the company’s product and corporate strategy. He graduated from Cornell with a B.S. in applied physics and electrical engineering and an M.S. in electrical engineering and computer science from MIT.
Microsoft
Global Business Leader, GM Healthcare, Pharma and Life Sciences
Elena is Microsoft’s Global Business Leader for Healthcare, Pharma Life Sciences. In this capacity she is responsible for go-to-market, commercial and industry pharma strategy and commercial go-to-market, enabling co-innovation and strategic partnerships to accelerate transformation with cloud and AI. She leads as the executive sponsor of digital transformation initiatives in a number of providers, payors and life Sciences’ organisations. In 2023 Elena was elected as Member of the DIA Europe, Middle East & Africa Regional Advisory Council. She is the Vice Chair of the DIGITALEUROPE Executive Council for Healthcare since it’s creation in 2021. She recently joined the Board of The Movement Health Foundation, an organization founded by Roche, Siemens Healthineers, Microsoft and CIFS to build strong and sustainable healthcare systems. A signature outcome of her work – together with a core team across engineering and research – was the design and launch of the AI R&D partnership with Novartis in 2019, and the AI for Leprosy initiative with Novartis Foundation and Fiocruz, recently published in The Lancet/Elsevier. Elena co-chaired the Health Cloud Council for Microsoft and partners from 2015-2019 where she led work on secondary use of health data and championed the initiative on data collaboratives, leading to the creation of the first global data collaborative in cardiovascular population health. Elena has been working in the health sector for 18+ years, first in health policy at EU level and then as regional business leader in public healthcare across EMEA. In July 2017, Elena was elected to the HIMSS Europe Governing Council. In 2020 she was nominated one of the top 50 AI Innovators by Intelligent Health. Elena is one of the founding members of the Holomedicine Association. She is an active advocate and public speaker, invited to represent the approach of Microsoft for Healthcare and AI and how “Data help save Lives”, and a contributor to the creation of the Healthcare Data Innovation Council, a partnership of healthcare actors to progress regulatory frameworks for data sharing in health and life sciences. She is also a champion for the transformational impact of meditation in personal and professional development, working with the Centre for Evolutionary Learning; and the empowerment of women in leadership as founding member of WiL Network and as champion for Diversity and Inclusion at Microsoft.
IDBS
Head of Product Management
Melanie is Head of Product Management, where she leads the global product strategy, roadmap and innovation.
Melanie has been part of the Danaher family for nine years, working at Sciex where she started in the applications team, focusing on solving customer challenges in BioPharma and omics workflows. She then held a variety of roles across the organization, including the commercial sales team and BioPharma business unit driving market growth in the life sciences markets through direct sales, marketing and product management.
Melanie has a PhD in Chemistry & Biochemistry from George Mason University where she worked on physico-chemical characterization and mass spectral identification of therapeutic proteins. To further her knowledge of mass spectrometry in other biological applications she continued on to do a post-doc.
Emerson
Vice President Sales Europe
Slawek Suchomski has 30+ years of experience in Process Automation with Emerson, a global technology and software company providing innovative solutions for the world’s essential industries. Through its leading automation portfolio Emerson helps hybrid, process and discrete manufacturers optimize operations, protect personnel, reduce emissions and achieve their sustainability goals.
Slawek currently serves as Vice President Sales Europe of Emerson with focus on such industries as Life Sciences and Metals & Mining as well as Industrial Software and Sustainability & Decarbonization initiatives.
GSK
Senior Director, Head of CMC Digital and Tech
Experienced Technology leader with over 20 years of expertise delivering innovative commercially impactful solutions in the Pharmaceutical and Life Sciences sector. Skilled in digital strategy, automation, and transformation helping accelerate medicine pipelines and drive cost efficiencies. Strong leadership in delivering IT projects, translating business needs into technical deliverables, and leading teams. PhD in Bioinformatics and MSC in IT, with subject matter expertise in cell and gene therapy, biopharmaceuticals and pharmaceuticals R&D. Adept at communicating technical concepts to diverse audiences and fostering business performance through technology.
Speed of development is increasing and demand forecasts becoming more uncertain due to pricing, market access and competitive behaviour. Governments have been on-shoring and nationalising supply chains and shortages of key drugs remain. How do we optimise manufacturing networks to be nimble and fit for the future? What can we learn from supply chains in other industries to help manage uncertainty and innovation? (semiconductors, aerospace, automotive)
University of Cambridge
Director of Research
Jag is a Director of Research at the Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge, where as Head of the Centre for International Manufacturing, Institute for Manufacturing, his research brings an engineering and strategic operations management perspective to the design, analysis and operation of international supply chains. Research projects explore the disruptive impacts of new production and digital technologies on supply chain configurations involving advisory roles and close collaborations with industry, government and international institutions, including UNCTAD, UNIDO, and the World Economic Forum where he co-Chairs the Council on Advanced Manufacturing. Previous roles were in industry with Unilever, as a Supply Chain Director of a multinational regional business, Technical Director of a national business and other senior management positions. Jag holds a first-class honours degree in Chemical Engineering (Aston), a PhD in International Supply Networks (Cambridge), is a Chartered Engineer and Fellow of the Institute of Chemical Engineers.
Magnitude Biosciences
CEO
Fozia is the CEO of Magnitude Biosciences, one of the world’s leading contract research organisation (CRO) for age-related diseases, providing services to pharma, health and nutrition sectors for determining the effects of drugs and products targeting healthy ageing, longevity and neurodegeneration. Fozia has a proven track record of delivering profitable innovations to the market and has worked in the FMCG and pharmaceutical industry for 15+ years. Fozia’s professional journey includes transformative leadership roles steering high growth commercial strategies, regulatory submissions and global product launches. Beyond her role as CEO, Fozia is a fervent advocate for empowering women, championing diversity, and catalysing social change. Fozia recently appeared on the ‘We Are Power’ Future List 2024 and was recently appointed as Regional Vice Chair (North East) Growth Board for Lifted Ventures, an organisation that supports and helps to secure funding from VCs and angel investors for high growth female led businesses. Fozia has a 1st class honours degree in Pharmacology from the University of Manchester and a PhD in Molecular Neuroscience from the College of Medicine at the University of Edinburgh.
Marsh Advisory
Managing Director, Global Head of Multinational Clients
James leads Marsh’s global advisory support to multinational clients, working to bring the very best expertise from across their global consulting teams to support clients to address some of their most complex risk management challenges. His sector experience spans nuclear, government, manufacturing, financial services, life sciences and retail and consumer goods businesses. James previously worked for PwC where he was responsible for building the firm’s enterprise resilience advisory services. He has also held Head Risk Management roles for the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority in the UK and for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).
Outside of his day-to-day role, James chairs the International Standards Committee (ISO) responsible for the development of all global Business Continuity and Organizational Resilience Standards. In 2021, James also published a book, Business Continuity Management, a practical guide to organizational resilience and ISO 22301. A second addition was published in 2024. Prior to his consulting experience, James worked for the UK Cabinet Office where he was responsible for planning for terrorism events during the London Olympic Games in 2012. This role also involved working to support Government Ministers in responding to national emergencies as part of the UK’s crisis response structures (known as COBR).
DHL Supply Chain UKI
VP Business Development & Account Management, Life Sciences & Healthcare
Richard Dunn is a seasoned logistics professional with over 24 years of experience in the supply chain industry and further into Life Sciences and healthcare within the supply chain. Throughout his career, he has demonstrated an unwavering drive for progress and a strong commitment to helping customers and colleagues succeed. Richard’s expertise lies in transforming supply chains through strategic partnerships and innovative solutions.
Richard has been instrumental in the development and deployment of global supply chain solutions for both new and existing customers. His deep understanding of sales strategy and his passion for continuous improvement have led to the successful implementation of innovative approaches that deliver enhanced value to customers.
In addition to his accomplishments in supply chain management, Richard has also been actively involved in the development of sales and account management processes. He has played a key role in the creation of digital tools and resources that have streamlined operations and enhanced overall customer experience.
McKinsey estimate generative AI to produce $60-100bn in annual value across the harm a value chain. $15-28bn is estimated in drug discovery and we have seen the greatest adoption in this area. A further $38-67bn value is estimated across the rest of the value chain
– how will AI impact clinical development, manufacturing, commercial and medical affairs?
– what regulatory framework do we need to support the effective application of AI? What are the risks and opportunities?
– how do we organise for success?
Discovery Park
Chairman
Martino is Chairman of Discovery Park and an Independent Consultant, based in
Manchester. From June 2011- July 2017, Martino was the first CEO of the Stevenage
Bioscience Catalyst an ambitious concept to develop an Incubator and Accelerator,
followed by a world class Science Park for the Life Sciences sector Having been
CEO at Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst, Martino was recently Entrepreneur in
Residence at UMIP, Manchester (2017-2020) and was working part-time with the
NHS in Manchester, also as an Entrepreneur in Residence.
Martino has a PhD in Biochemistry from Cardiff University and spent 4 years at
Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX in Cardiovascular research. Martino joined
Amersham International in 1991 and subsequently went on to manage the R&D
Technology Transfer Group, based in Cardiff and developing high throughput
screening technologies for the Pharmaceutical sector.
Following the merger of Amersham with Pharmacia Biotech, Martino became the
Science Director for the Cardiff site, Martino then became a Business Manager for
Manchester Biotech Ltd. and subsequently Manchester Innovation Ltd. in June 1999.
When the Universities of Manchester and UMIST merged, he became Managing
Director of UMIC and MICL and was also a Board member of UKBI (UK Business
Incubation).
Martino has also been a Board member of the Hertfordshire LEP. Most recently,
Martino was appointed to the Board of BIONOW, the Northern member Organization
for Life Sciences, as a non- Executive Director (2018-2023). He is currently
Chairman of Discovery Park Ltd., Vitarka Therapeutics Ltd and Evidential Ltd. He is
also a Director of Discovery Park Ventures.
Vertual
CEO
Debra has worked in technology companies and the pharmaceutical industry for the past 35 years, leading companies in the US, Asia-Pacific, and Europe. During her career she has held various C-level and senior positions in large multinational companies, including Pfizer, GSK and GE Healthcare. She is a serial entrepreneur and investor and has led 4 start-up companies.
She is currently CEO at Vertual Ltd, a leading international supplier of virtual reality software systems. Prior to that she was CEO at Physeon in Switzerland, and prior to that Managing Director for Avita Medical, Cambridge.
For the past decade she been a business adviser for university start ups and has mentored and supported early stage founders to take their research-led innovations to commercialisation, supporting their pre-seed, seed and series A fundraising activities along the way.
In April she accepted the position of Regional Chair (North East) Growth Board for Lifted Ventures, which is an organisation that supports and helps to secure funding from VCs and angel investors for high growth female led businesses.
She holds public and AIM listed board roles including RemCom Chair and Non Executive Director for Cambridge Cognition Ltd, RemCom Chair and Non Executive Director for Spectrum X and she holds the post of Visiting Professor of Innovation and Enterprise at the University of Newcastle Business School.
She has a degree in Pharmacy, an MBA from Warwick Business school and is a part-qualified Management Accountant (CIMA).
Genomics England
Strategic Partnerships Director
Dr James Duboff is a Strategic Partnerships Director at Genomics England, driving the translational impact of National genomic and clinical data by partnering with global Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology companies working in Cancer and Rare Disease. He has previously worked in Biopharmaceutical R&D at GlaxoSmithKline and consumer health R&D management at Procter & Gamble, as well as executive leadership roles within a number of UK-based life science focussed start-up and scale-up organisations. Dr Duboff has an Undergraduate and Masters degree in Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry from the University of Oxford and a PhD in Genetics from the University of Cambridge.
CPI
Director of Digital Business Systems - Pharma
Dr. Dave Berry is Director of Digital Business Systems for CPI’s Pharma facing businesses, leading our market facing digitalisation. He started his career as a pharmacist for the NHS specialising in oncology, completed his PhD and moved to AstraZeneca to develop novel cancer treatments. After his time at AZ he led a research group at Durham University and set up the Complex Powders facility in the National Formulation Centre. Dave is passionate about collaborative innovation and leveraging digital technology to drive the effective development and delivery of new medicines.
PrecisionLife
Chief Business and Investment Officer
Rowan has over 30 years of experience working in innovative businesses applying computational methods to life science and patient data to understand disease and find new medicines and treatments for unmet medical needs. She is an experienced entrepreneur and advisor to fast growing companies and is a Co-founder and Chief Business and Investment Officer of PrecisionLife, expanding precision medicine in chronic disease.
She is also on the board of Digital Health and Care Wales a strategic health authority tasked with the digital transformation of NHS in Wales, and is responsible for oversight of the digital governance and safety committee.
Rowan holds a Masters in biochemistry from the University of Oxford and played a part in one of the university’s first spinouts, Oxford Molecular Group, when it listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1994. She collaborated with the pioneering team at CERN to disseminate the applications to cloud computing frameworks in healthcare and pharmaceutical research.
Cassette Group
Chief Executive Officer
Ben Taylor is the Co-founder and CEO of Cassette, an immersive technology studio that uses AI to create bespoke learning and communication solutions for the healthcare sector. Cassette’s “learning by doing” philosophy ensures users learn faster, retain more information, and achieve better outcomes. Ben believes that “Simpler is Smarter.”
Under Ben’s leadership, Cassette has developed award-winning solutions for companies like Pfizer, Baxter, Bayer, Novartis, Regeneron, Sobi, and Takeda.
Before founding Cassette, Ben was a board member of TRO Group, an Omnicom business specialising in global experiential marketing. His extensive experience in communications, experiential marketing, and technology drives Cassette to create engaging and effective learning and communication content.
Victoria House, located in the heart of Bloomsbury, London, is a Grade II listed venue with state-of-the-art laboratories available for rent, designed to support scientific research and innovation. The laboratories are fully equipped with advanced technology and facilities, making them ideal for startups, established companies, and research institutions. In addition to labs, Victoria House also features flexible event spaces, advanced AV technology, and professional on-site support.
As part of the Pioneer Group, Victoria House is connected to Europe’s largest collective of scientists, technologists, and entrepreneurs. This dynamic environment supports collaboration with universities, high-growth enterprises, large corporates, healthcare providers, and local government. Pioneer Group offers a range of programmes, including Pre-Accelerator Workshops, Accelerator Programmes, and Launch support, to help businesses grow and innovate. Companies also benefit from expert networks, investment opportunities, and tailored events that foster a unique culture.
