Future skills for the life sciences

John Skehel has provided major insights into the molecular basis of how viruses recognise and infect their host cells. John focusses on the virus that causes influenza, of which there are 3–5 million cases a year worldwide, resulting in up to 500,000 deaths. 

To infect a cell, the influenza virus must bind to a sialic acid-containing receptor on the cell surface, which it achieves through its own haemagglutinin glycoprotein. John was able to isolate, crystallise and subsequently determine the three-dimensional structure of this molecule. He also observed that under conditions of low pH, haemagglutinin changes shape — allowing the virus to fuse with and enter the cell.

John has been a leader in virology research for over thirty years. He headed the WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza between 1975 and 1993 and was the Director of the National Institute for Medical Research from 1987–2006. His pioneering research was recognised in 1996 when he received a knighthood.

Sir Patrick Vallance is the UK Government Chief Scientific Adviser, National Technology Adviser and Head of the Government Science and Engineering profession. 

Previously, Patrick worked at GSK where he started in 2006 as Head of Drug Discovery, before becoming Senior Vice President, Medicines Discovery and Development and subsequently President, R&D at GlaxoSmithKline until 2017.

Prior to this, Patrick was a clinical academic, Professor of Medicine and led the Division of Medicine at UCL. He has over 20 years’ experience of basic and clinical research. His personal research was in the area of diseases of blood vessels and endothelial biology.

Professor Sir John Bell GBE FRS is Regius Professor of Medicine at Oxford University. He served as President of the Academy of Medical Sciences from 2006 to 2011 and chaired the Office for the Strategic Coordination of Health Research until 2017. As a Rhodes Scholar (1975-78), Sir John undertook his medical training in the UK and then went on to Stanford University, returning to the UK in 1987. His research interests are in the area of autoimmune disease and immunology where he has contributed to the understanding of immune activation in a range of autoimmune diseases. In 1993, he founded the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, one of the world’s leading centres for complex trait common disease genetics. In 2001, he was appointed non-executive director of Roche Holding AG and in 2008 he joined the Gates Foundation Global Health Advisory Board which he has chaired since 2012. In December 2011, Sir John was appointed one of two UK Life Sciences Champions by the Prime Minister. He sits on the board of Genomics England Limited and chairs its Science Advisory Committee. He was appointed Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire (GBE) in the 2015 New Year Honours for services to medicine, medical research and the life science industry. In August 2017, the UK Life Sciences Industrial Strategy, written by Sir John, was published. The report, written in collaboration with industry, academia, charity, and research organisations, provides recommendations to HM Government on the long-term success of the life sciences sector.

Sherry Coutu is a serial entrepreneur and angel investor who serves on the boards of companies, charities, and universities.

She is currently a non-executive Director of Pearson plc, London Stock Exchange plc, DCMS and Raspberry Pi Trading. Sherry has decades of experience chairing Remuneration Committees of FTSE plcs, acting as Senior Independent Director and Nominations Committee chair and serving on audit committees. Philanthropically, she supports Founders4Schools, Digital Boost, Raspberry Pi Foundation and Cancer Research UK.

Sherry has an MBA from Harvard, an MSc (with distinction) from the London School of Economics, and a BA (Hons with distinction) from the University of British Columbia, Canada. She has been awarded Honourary PhDs from The University of Bristol, Manchester University and the Open University for her work in Education and the Economy.

She was appointed Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) for services to entrepreneurship in the New Year's Honours List 2013.

Clare is a Chartered Scientist and Chemist with almost 20 years’ experience in the science community and not-for-profit sector. She is passionate about investing in future generations and those from diverse backgrounds and experiences, empowering people to realise their potential and achieve their career and development goals. Prior to her role at CRAC Clare was with the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) for 16 years in a variety of roles ensuring that the RSC remained the most influential voice for chemistry in the UK, Europe and beyond.

CRAC provides research, intelligence and innovation to all those who support the career development of people of all ages and in all sectors. We work in partnership with government agencies, education organisations and providers and employers and professional bodies. A registered UK charity, CRAC has been operating since 1964. You can follow her at @clare_viney and @vitae_news.

Dr Woolard is Associate Professor in Cardiovascular Pharmacology and Deputy Director of the COMPARE unit at the University of Nottingham. Her work has focussed on elucidating the molecular pharmacology of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF-A) isoforms and VEGFR2 receptors, where she has been involved in developing novel NanoBRET approaches to monitor ligand/receptor interactions. Dr Woolard is lead of the Nottingham Haemodynamic Laboratories, where her expertise in cardiovascular physiology and pharmacology has facilitated an interrogation of the mechanisms underlying the hypertensive actions of receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors, particularly those that inhibit VEGF. Her work has been supported by an MRC Programme grant, project grants from BBSRC, BHF and MRC, and collaborative grants with Heptares, Promega and AstraZeneca.

Adam Isle is AstraZeneca’s Global Talent Acquisition Lead for Early Talent & MBA Programmes. His team is responsible for recruitment into programmes ranging from short-term summer placements through to longer-term strategic talent programmes aimed at developing the next generation of leaders. These programmes run in AstraZeneca’s major hubs (UK, US & Sweden) and large international markets, covering all major disciplines (Drug Discovery & Development, IT, Operations & Supply Chain, HR, Data Science & AI).

Adam is a Talent Acquisition specialist with over twenty years’ experience in attracting, assessing and hiring talent into global companies internationally. He holds a Master’s degree in Human Resources Management, and is a Chartered Member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (MCIPD).

Sarah Scott is 28 and lives in Bedfordshire. She suffered a stroke at school when she was 18 and just about to complete her A Levels and take up a university place to study biology. The stroke caused paralysis and affected her ability to read, write, swallow and speak. Sarah could not take up her university place, so gained voluntary and work experience as a pathway to a scientific role. Sarah will describe the career path she has taken which has lead her to become a Senior Upstream Technician at Adaptimmune, working in the field of immunology to treat solid cancers, and the challenges of taking an ‘alternative route’ into industry with a disability.

Charlotte Hughes is an Associate Scientist and former apprentice working within Biopharm Process Research in the analytical team at GSK. Charlotte started her Level 5 apprenticeship at GSK in September 2015 studying at the University of Kent for a foundation degree (FdSc) in Applied Bioscience Technology and progressed onto the Level 6 qualification earlier this year. In January 2018 Charlotte was awarded with Higher or Degree Apprentice of the Year 2017 which introduced her to the Young Apprentice Ambassador Network (YAAN). Charlotte is currently the East of England Chair for YAAN which is an initiative to utilise current and former apprentices and their inspirational stories to promote apprenticeships nationwide.

Katie became Chief Executive of the Daphne Jackson Trust in 2011, having previously worked at the Trust for 8 years as Trust Manager. She is a physicist with a background in science communication and holds a degree and PhD in Physics from the University of Surrey, where she worked with Professor Daphne Jackson.

Katie manages the Trust’s activities at a strategic level and liaises closely with the Board of Trustees. She works with and develops relationships with a range of stakeholders and sits on a number of national committees addressing diversity issues in STEM careers.

Katie’s drive, commitment and ability to successfully engage with key stakeholders has transformed the Daphne Jackson Trust. Under her leadership, the Trust has become a proactive and dynamic organisation that, in addition to successfully returning career-break scientists and engineers to work, also helps set the agenda for policy developments for women in scientific careers.

Simon McQueen-Mason left school at 17, and worked in boat yards in Southern California, before returning to the UK as a professional fisherman, eventually owning his own boat. At 26 he returned to education, obtaining a 1st class honours degree in Biological Sciences from Portsmouth Polytechnic. He received a PhD in Plant Physiology from the Pennsylvania State University in 1993, and returned to the UK to take up a Royal Society University Research Fellowship at The University of York in 1994. In 2001 he became Chair of Material Biology in the Centre for Novel Agricultural Products (CNAP), at York, and became CNAP Director in 2014. His research encompasses understanding the biosynthesis and mechanical properties of plant cell walls, understanding and modifying the digestibility of lignocellulosic biomass, and the discovery of enzymes for lignocellulose digestion. He is currently Director of the BBSRC-funded Lignocellulosic Biorefinery Network (LBNet).

Chas is Professor of Translational Medicine in the Nuffield Department of Clinical Medicine and Associate Member of the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Oxford. He is also a Visiting Professor in Neuroscience and Mental Health at Imperial College, London. Chas is an invited expert on several government and charitable research funding bodies, and an advisor for many academic, biotech and pharma drug discovery programmes. He is currently working with 9 pharmaceutical companies, 8 disease foundations and more than 100 academic labs to develop new drugs for a range of common and rare diseases. He’s been also building stronger links with local hospitals, regulatory agencies, private investors, CROs and biotechs to create a new, more efficient ecosystem for pioneer drug discovery. Chas believes the Structural Genomics Consortium (SGC) has become a leader in human protein structural biology and epigenetics chemical biology, and is arguably one of the most successful open innovation, public-private partnerships in the world, sharing new tools, data and knowledge freely and immediately. Chas has recently been appointed as Oxford’s Pro Vice-Chancellor for Innovation.

Jonny is CEO and Founder of Touchlight, a London based biotechnology firm, which has developed the world’s best platform for DNA manufacture. He is a member of the UK BioIndustry Association’s Synthetic Biology Advisory Committee. His previous positions include board director at Saatchi and Saatchi Advertising Ltd, Managing Director of Griffin Bacal Advertising, Chairman of the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising Society, main board director of Soho House Ltd. He also founded the UK-registered charity The Reconstruction Project.

Roger was appointed CEO of IBioIC in January 2014. Roger, a chemical engineer by profession, is an experienced international business leader with a proven track record in business turnaround, growth and leadership. He has worked 26 years in the Chemical and Fine Chemicals Sectors (ICI, Johnson Matthey) located in UK, Australia, Germany and USA. He then moved on to focus on using his experience to support SMEs with strategy, business development and management, before taking up his current role.

IBioIC is an industry-led membership organisation that funds research in Scottish universities that de-risks and accelerates its members' Industrial Biotechnology (IB) activities. IBioIC also funds pre-university and post graduate skills programmes and supports the National Plan for IB in Scotland to create a £900 million industry by 2025. IBioIC has recently won its second phase of funding to secure its activities to 2023. 

In addition, Roger is Chair for the Scottish IB Development Group, sits on the Leadership Team of Chemical Sciences Scotland, the Scottish Cabinet Minister’s Expert Panel for “Environmental Charging and other measures”, the advisory board of European Federation for Industrial Biotechnology, the industrial advisory board of the National Biofilms Innovation Centre, a member of the UK Resources Council, the Bio-futures Steering Team of the Institute of Chemical Engineers (and Chair of the Skills Group), he is also an Honorary Associate Professor at Heriot Watt University.

Delyth has a PhD in Molecular Biology and several years’ research experience as a postdoctoral fellow both in Wales and London. She later worked as a Programme Manager for the UK’s Medical Research Council in the area of clinical neurology and imaging before being seconded to the UK Age Research Forum to create a strategy to bring relevant research funders together. Delyth then moved to Cardiff University to head up the Medical School’s Research Office where part of her role involved working on the school’s submission to REF 2014. Delyth transferred to Welsh Government with the appointment of the previous Chief Scientific Adviser for Wales, Professor Julie Williams, to develop the research capacity building programme, Sêr Cymru II, where she is now responsible for the pre-award management of the scheme in the Welsh Government Office for Science.

Aidan Courtney is Chief Executive Officer of Censo Biotechnologies. Over the last 14 years he has created and developed a series of companies focussed on the commercial use of stem cell technologies for both cell therapy and drug discovery. In 2013, he led the creation of the 28 partner EBiSC consortium which established the European Bank for induced Pluripotent Stem Cells to meet the rapidly growing needs of the research community. At Censo, Aidan provides the strategic vision and leadership to translate leading edge science into a commercially successful business.

Censo was created in 2016 by the merger of two companies previously created by Aidan to focus entirely on the application of stem cell and gene editing technology for drug discovery. With facilities in Edinburgh and Cambridge UK, it has established an end-to-end platform capable of performing all functions from for the creation of new stem cell lines through to the drug testing. Its mission is to use the technology to accelerate drug discovery, enable the stratification of medicines so that they are used for the right patent first time, and to apply these technologies to rare diseases.

Aidan holds an MA in economics, a Masters degree in Law and is a qualified accountant. He has worked in a diverse range of industries leading multi-discipline teams to develop commercially focussed businesses based on new technologies.

Andy works closely with Cambridge and national stakeholders to develop the local infrastructure, promoting the life sciences sector and inspiring the next generation of scientists through MedImmune and AstraZeneca’s extensive local community outreach activities.

With the arrival of AstraZeneca’s global head office and new strategic R&D Centre in Cambridge, Andy has been an active contributor to evolving Cambridge’s thinking in areas like transport, skill development, amenities for the community and affordable housing.

Andy joined MedImmune, formerly Cambridge Antibody Technology (CAT), in 1993 as a Senior Scientist and quickly took on a number of increasingly senior roles within CAT prior to its integration into MedImmune in 2007. These included the leadership of several drug discovery and technology development projects for CAT and also responsibility for strategic management.

Anthony Hollander is Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research & Impact and Professor of Stem Cell Biology at the University of Liverpool. He provides strategic leadership for the development of research policy and for ensuring impact of the university’s research programmes in Liverpool and around the world. He is also responsible for commercialisation of research, for developing partnerships with companies and other external stakeholders and for the training of postgraduate research students.

Anthony’s research career has focussed on the development of stem cell therapies for treating diseases of cartilage. His spin-out company, Azellon Ltd, is developing a stem cell treatment for torn knee cartilage and he was previously part of a team that created the world’s first tissue engineered airway. He is former President of the International Cartilage Repair Society and is Chair of Utrecht University’s International Scientific and Societal Advisory Board for Life Sciences.

Professor Tim Dafforn studied Biochemistry at the University of Cardiff before gaining a PhD in Protein Engineering at the University of Bristol. He continued his studies at the Cambridge Institute for Medical Research where he developed a novel diagnostics technology for infectious diseases. Over the next 15 years he commercialised this work alongside a conventional academic career at the University of Manchester and Birmingham. More recently Professor Dafforn became Entrepreneur in Residence with responsibilities for Synthetic Biology at the Department of Business Innovation and Skills and then Chief Scientific Advisor where he co-wrote an influential report on the importance of Student Entrepreneurship in the UK. In 2017 he became Chief Entrepreneurial Advisor at the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy where he contributed to thinking on the UK Entrepreneurial environment.

Barbara has worked on the commercial side of life sciences for thirty years, first in a large organisation (ICI/Zeneca/AstraZeneca), before transitioning to the entrepreneurial world of biotech. 

At Autifony, Barbara is responsible for strategic partnering and commercial aspects of drug development for CNS disorders.  In December 2017 Autifony signed a major collaboration with Boehringer Ingelheim. Barbara was also Chair of Puridify, a UCL spin-out with a breakthrough biotherapeutics purification technology, which was acquired by GE in November 2017.  She chairs the LifeArc Seed Fund investment committee, and is on the Cambridge Enterprise Seed Fund Investment Committee. Barbara joined the Francis Crick Institute in January 2018 as Entrepreneur-in-residence. 

Previously, Barbara was CEO of Stabilitech, and she was Commercial Director at Arrow Therapeutics until the company was acquired by AstraZeneca. Barbara was also Senior Business Development Manager at Celltech. 

Barbara has a BA and D Phil in Chemistry from the University of Oxford, and is a Sloan Fellow from London Business School.

Chemical engineer by training with a doctorate in electrochemical engineering; expert in nanomaterials and electrochemistry, currently a senior postdoc in behavioral neurophysiology at The Francis Crick Institute. He is the inventor and founder of the jULIEs Bioelectronics venture.

Zoe Ford (Oxford iGEM Team 2017, University of Oxford):

Zoe Ford is a final year Biochemistry student at the University of Oxford. They are currently working in the computational biochemistry unit at Oxford, studying mechanosensitivity using molecular dynamics. In the autumn they will be starting a DPhil in Structural Biology at Oxford, and they plan to stay in research and one day help mentor the next generation of young scientists.

Zoe was the social media manager and a wet-lab coordinator as part of the Oxford iGEM team in 2017, while also contributing heavily to the outreach activities performed by the group. They gave a lecture as part of Pembroke College’s access summer school, and helped design activities for Oxford’s Curiosity Carnival. Zoe hopes to continue to nurture their science communication skills throughout their career.

Zoe Catchpole (Oxford iGEM Team 2017, University of Oxford):

Zoe Catchpole is a final year Biochemistry student at the University of Oxford currently completing her Masters project in the department of Pharmacology. Her research explores the mechanisms by which Lithium (a treatment for Bipolar Disorders) modulates circadian rhythms.

Zoe was the outreach and human practices coordinator for the iGEM project and was involved in organising interviews with international experts in the field of Chagas disease, as well as organising the Oxford Curiosity Carnival stand, and Oxford summer school activities. Zoe has a keen interest in science communication and wrote an article for the Oxford Student newspaper summarising the 2017 Royal Society synthetic biology conference.

In the team image Zoe Ford is fourth from the right in the bottom row, and Zoe Catchpole is second from the right in the bottom row.

As Director of the Alderley Park Accelerator, Ned is responsible for the strategic direction and leadership of the Accelerator, helping to build the ecosystem and cluster, supporting all aspects of company development from start-up to scale-up. Ned is also the founding director of an ophthalmic drug delivery company at Alderley Park, sits on the advisory board of Alderley Park Ventures, is on the General Committee of ELRIG, and has been significantly involved in the development of 7 start-ups.  With proven sector expertise and awareness of market dynamics, he has been involved in excess of $500m of equity fund raisings for North American and European companies, which have a market value of over $2b today. Previously, Ned conducted primary research in neuropsychopharmacology, psychoneuroimmunology, and neuroscience at Yale Medical School and the University of Oxford.

Partner in SROne’s London office for 8 years. Invested across a wide range of disease areas from cancer to sepsis, company formation through to drug approval. Previously 8 years in mergers and acquisitions and private equity; academic background in molecular biology at Oxford, Drug Discovery at UCL and finance at London Business School.