James has operated at the highest levels of government, including as a Minister at the
Department for Health & Social Care, as Director of the No.10 Policy Unit, and as an advisor to
DHSC Ministers during the COVID-19 crisis. As Minister his responsibilities included
implementing the Life Science Industrial Strategy, delivering a new pricing scheme with the
pharmaceutical industry, chairing the National Genomics Board, and driving the digital
transformation of the NHS. He was also responsible for preparing the health and social care
sectors for Brexit and helping to design the post-Brexit regulatory regime.

James is co-founder and Senior Partner of Newmarket Strategy, a consultancy dedicated to
improving access to health innovation by providing strategic advice and technical support to
the healthcare, life sciences and health tech sectors. He is also a non-executive director at
HDR-UK and the Albion Development VCT plc. In early 2023 James was commissioned by the
Government to carry out an independent review of commercial clinical trials in the UK, which
was published in May.

Experienced strategic leader with extensive experience of operations, business transformation and introducing digital systems. Systems-thinker with focus on delivering cross-sector improvement. Deep knowledge of health and care research regulation and governance.

Nigel is responsible for Cancer Research UK's early drug development activity, translating novel agent scientific programmes through to clinic. Currently, Nigel and his team at CR-UK Centre for Drug Development manage a diverse portfolio of ~16 novel agents at various stages of development from GMP production, regulatory preclinical studies, through to first-in-human, phase I and early phase II clinical trials. Nigel joined Cancer Research UK in May 2009, having previously worked in a variety of senior management roles in the pharma and biotech sectors

As Head of Clinical Sampling at AstraZeneca, Abi is accountable for Clinical Sampling within all AZ sponsored drug projects, across all AZ therapy areas and all clinical phases from first time in human through to post marketing. Clinical Sampling are >50 people based in UK, USA, Sweden, Poland, Spain, Canada and China.

Ian Bruce is Professor of Rheumatology and Vice Dean for Health and Care Partnerships, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, the University of Manchester. He is Director of the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) Manchester Biomedical Research Centre (BRC). ). Manchester BRC seeks to address the major causes of health inequity across our diverse urban, rural and coastal settings by providing infrastructure to support early translational research in Greater Manchester, Lancashire and South Cumbria with a focus on delivering ‘personalised health and care for all’. It is the largest BRC outside the Greater South-East.

Professor Bruce qualified in medicine from Queen’s University Belfast in 1988 and gained his MRCP in 1991. He trained in medicine and rheumatology in Northern Ireland and completed his MD thesis on the pathogenesis of systemic vasculitis in 1995. He was the Geoff Carr Lupus Fellow at the University of Toronto with Murray Urowitz and Dafna Gladman (1996-98) before moving to Manchester in 1998.

He is former Chair of the Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics (SLICC) group and a member of the British Isles Lupus Assessment Group (BILAG). He leads the BILAG Biologics Register for SLE and is Chief Investigator on the SLICC/LFA/ACR Damage Index Renewal Project. He is Chair of the Astra Zeneca Anifrolumab in SLE Global Steering Group.

Professor Bruce’s research is focused on the association between inflammatory rheumatic diseases and premature atherosclerosis/coronary heart disease as well as personalised medicine in SLE.

Experienced Board level Director and leader within the health and care sector. A values driven leader centred around people, continually striving for innovation and improvements that enhance patient, colleague and customer experience.

My career demonstrates senior positions in the portfolios of organisational development, culture, operational management and delivery, consultancy and quality and improvement transformation roles.

I have purposely gained experience both in the public and private sector, thus operating business and population based leadership and delivery. I am therefore experienced in both commercial and public facing businesses.

Innovation-driven clinician and an enterpreneurial enthusiast based at the Manchester Academy of Health Sciences Centre, Manchester University Hospitals. Recognised as an influential health technology leader with major contributions to innovation in healthcare technology, dialysis and delivery systems.

Passionate about transforming clinical services and patient pathways through enabling technology.

In various leadership roles as Deputy Director of NIHR MedTech Cooperative Devices for Dignity, Vice Chair for EUDIAL, ERA-EDTA, Chair of the Haemodialysis Study group for UK Kidney Research Consortium. Driving safe and value based health care with national organisations as CQC Speciality Advisor, and as Clinical Reference Group Member for NHS England.

Managing a diverse portofolio of translational clinical academic research with a global network of collaborators. A trainer, educator and mentor for health professionals at the University of Manchester. Several publications, patents, authored book chapters and media reports of the work in the field.

Sverre Bengtsson started in the clinical trials industry over 30 years ago. He started as a statistician/statistical programmer, later into data management and since over 20 years into business development. He has been working in both CRO’s as well as in clinical trials technology companies, including the global first ePRO company. Sverre is very interested in making clinical trials efficient, in both study design but also in the processes and technologies used. Sverre co-founded Viedoc Technologies 19 years ago and is responsible for some of the major accounts but also the vision around the company. He’s on the board of both some industry organisations and in clinical technology companies.

CEO of a clinical trials unit that was founded from scratch in 2017 at a state hospital in Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine and now developed into an organization with 15-20 multi-specialty trials running simultaneously with a potential to grow. One of the founders and current Board member of the Ukrainian Association for Clinical Research. Adept ENT doctor and principal investigator in otolaryngology with ability to work in a multidisciplinary team, experience in delivering patient care in both public and private settings with the use of the latest industry equipment and technology, as well as establishing own private practice. Proactive and dedicated to seeking opportunities for cooperation with international specialists. Strong knowledge of Ukrainian medical policy landscape through working with the Ministry of Health of Ukraine on reforming healthcare services. Proven track record of planning and executing projects in medical sphere.

Dr Martin Edobor is an NHS GP and Clinical Lead for Digital transformation at North East London ICB. He is the former clinical director for North Newham Primary Care Network and former Chair of the Fabian Society

Nina is the co-founder and CEO of Avenna Ltd. Her mission is to make healthcare for chronic inflammatory disease (CIDs) more preventive and personalised. By developing more effective, affordable, and accessible precision medicine solutions we can enable early detection and treatment personalisation for variety of CIDs. Nina has background in finance, business, and healthcare and worked in large multinational companies including Nomura, Bloomberg and Schlumberger, as well as several entrepreneurship ventures.

Nina’s main ability and expertise is to connect the worlds of scientific research and business. She uses this experience to translate the most promising, research-grade technologies into practical solutions for individuals, clinicians, and biopharma. Nina works in collaboration with leading scientists, clinicians, and patients to translate R&D stage technologies into practical clinical solutions. This includes design and execution of clinical studies and trials, development of bioinformatics infrastructure to facilitate the translation of precision health programs for chronic disease prevention into clinical practice.

Experienced Medtech executive with track record of successfully leading multifunctional teams to develop prototype device towards clinic ready product.

Specialised in identifying and progressing innovative healthcare assets towards commercialisation.

Suki Balendra a senior leader in the NHS with a 20-year background in facilitating, growing, and promoting health research in the U.K.  She has substantial, in-depth experience across sectors including industry, academia, NHS, and central government.

She is currently the Director of Strategic Partnerships for Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust in Northwest London. She leads the strategic work with the Life sciences industry in the region with an emphasis on a new life sciences cluster in Paddington. Suki created and leads the North West London Clinical Trials Alliance. She started her career in the Biotechnology Industry at Abbott Diagnostics Ltd. Within a Good manufacturing practice (GMP) environment she worked on several operational projects to improve efficiency, cost, and reproducibility.

In 2018 she was seconded to the Office of Life Sciences within the Department of Business and Industrial Strategy. where she attracted and negotiated new business to increase the UK’s market share of health and care research activity. During the pandemic she provided operational leadership to the NHS covid vaccine research response in Northwest London.

Suki has PhD from the University of Warwick, and she is accredited to black belt in Lean Six Sigma. She is a passionate advocate for UK PLC as the number one destination to conduct clinical trials.

Marisa, MD, Internal medicine, is currently Honorary Professor at Imperial College London, Lecturer in pharmacogenomics at the University of Tor Vergata Rome, and member of the Editorial Board of Precision NanoMedicine Journal.

Former European Medicines Agency Senior Scientific Advisor, Marisa is expert in pharmaceuticals regulatory science with established professional track record in strategies for advanced and innovative health products pipelines. Liaison with regulators, sponsors, clinicians, patients and public health professionals, constitutes important elements of Marisa’s professional asset.

Oliver Buckley-Mellor is a Research Policy Manager at the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry. He has spent most of his career working on the policy environment for clinical research, having previously served as a Policy Advisor at Cancer Research UK. Oliver has an MA in Public Administration and Public Policy and a BA in History.

Neelam has recently stepped down from being the CEO of MedCity, the life sciences cluster organisation for London, which plays a pivotal role in bridging industry, NHS and academia to boost innovation and economic growth. Neelam’s extensive experience spans the private, public and not-for-profit sectors. She has worked with the Association of British Pharmaceutical Industries, the European Innovative Medicines Initiative and collaborated with NHS England, NICE and Public Health England.

Neelam regularly supports companies with R&D, advising on the UK regulatory and access landscape, and is actively working to shape delivery of appropriate real estate infrastructure for life sciences companies. Other roles include seats on the advisory board of the Innovation Centre in Digital Molecular Technologies at the University of Cambridge, and she is a Non-executive director on the board of the Health Research Authority.

I am an innovative senior change management professional with significant experience of end-to-end delivery on large complex projects and transformation programmes. I spent the first 20 years of my career in Banking, starting out in my home country of New Zealand before moving to Ireland and then onto the UK. Working in the same industry across multiple countries and cultures has given me a strong appreciation for the different life experiences and perspectives that individuals contribute.

Greig is a subject matter expert at Medidata, focusing on Clinical Trial Innovation solutions, with over 10 years working with world-leading cloud-based software solution providers, helping to streamline the clinical operations processes - enabling organisations to get better oversight of their trials and make them faster, safer, and smarter. Greig works collaboratively with global sponsors, CROs, sites and researchers to advance the use of decentralization technologies for hybrid and virtual clinical trials.

Neuroscientist and social entrepreneur with nearly 20 years of experience in turning data into knowledge that can change lives in academic, industry and startup settings. After nearly losing a family member to depression, he decided to set up BRAINCURES to passionately enable better treatments and prevention of brain diseases that affect at least 1 in 10 people worldwide. The BRAINCURES Discovery Engine (BDE) Platform algorithms can deliver at least 6 fold higher drug discovery success rates and shorten the 12 year development life cycle by at least 4 years without deep learning steps associated with trendy artificial intelligence (AI) techniques. The biology powered technology has been recognized by invitations to speak worldwide and the Beanstalks 2017 Best Mental Health Startup Award. www.braincures.com

Having two sons diagnosed with a rare disease (MPSII) changes your perspective and priorities in life. Having spent over 20 years in construction, many of which were at Board level, Bob decided to pursue a career in the Charity sector. At first becoming a Trustee, then progressed to Managing Director and Group CEO of various patient organisations, supporting those living with rare diseases and complex needs. Bob wanted to bring together his family experiences of a "Rare life lived" and commercial attributes in order to improve the lives of those most marginalised in society whilst, at the same time, helping to create a more sustainable financial future for patient organisations both in the UK and globally. As well as being Group CEO of the MPS Society/Rare Disease Research Partners he is proud to serve as Vice Chair of the LSD Collaborative, Board Member of the worldwide International MPS Network, Acting Chair of the New Born Screening Collaborative and work as a patient representative for MPS in various global charitable access programs that provide a possible lifeline to treatments in selected areas of the world. These are not job roles, but a way of life!

I am an experienced leader and people manager with experience in Alliance management, clinical operation, sample management, scientific and laboratory management. I have a track record of delivering studies, projects, process improvements, innovative solutions and cohesive, high performing teams.

I thrive on interacting and collaborating with clients and/or stakeholders and being able to use my creative mindset to understand and exceed their expectations.

Finally, I love a challenge, something to get my teeth into, and a chance to learn and develop.

Specialties: Alliance management, People management, coaching, resource management, stakeholder management, Project management, client communication, GLP, GCP, immunology, sample management, system development, process improvement/optimization

Nicola Yallup is National Head of Business Development and Marketing (BD&M) at the NIHR
Clinical Research Network (CRN). She leads the national and international promotion of the
CRN, wider NIHR and UK ecosystem as a prime place for undertaking clinical research. Nicola
is passionate about partnership and growth, working with commercial and non-commercial
organisations and across the UK's research infrastructure to attract research that enables
access to innovative treatments for patients.

Nicola has held a number of cross-NIHR roles including programme leadership for the NIHR
Digital Strategy and delivery of COVID-19 Vaccines Research. Prior to this she led change
delivery within both private and public sector organisations, notably NHS Digital, Ford Motor
Company and Citibank.

Dr. McMorn is an experienced clinical development researcher with over 25 years of industry experience and has a strong focus in CNS and paediatric drug development. She has worked for both Pharmaceutical Companies and Contract Research Organisations including holding positions at SAR Monitoring Services Ltd, Mundipharma International Ltd and Shire Development Inc. Starting her career at SAR as a Clinical Research Associate (CRA) she subsequently moved to Mundipharma where she was responsible for initiating the first paediatric clinical research program for the company. At Shire Dr. McMorn led, planned and managed global paediatric and adult clinical development programs for a wide variety of indications including psychiatry, pain, gastrointestinal and hepatology across all phases of development (Phase 0 to Phase 4). In addition she was responsible for harmonizing Clinical Trial Administrator (CTA) working practices across all regions for the company. In 2015 Dr. McMorn joined AMO Pharma Ltd, a virtual pharmaceutical company focused predominantly on paediatric neurodevelopmental rare diseases, as VP of Clinical Development. She holds an undergraduate degree in Pharmacology and a PhD in Psychology from the University of Leeds, UK.

Jennifer Duff has over 25 years of experience in the Life Sciences industry with specialization in enabling and scaling industry-leading services and technology solutions for biopharma clients.  She has collaborated with teams across the Life Sciences industry, from large to mid-sized companies, as well as many of the major technology providers over her career.

Jennifer has an MBA in Biotechnology and Healthcare Management.  Her focus is on challenging industry norms and seeking powerful, novel solutions that drive business growth and deliver improved outcomes for Life Sciences clients and the patients they serve.

Professor Lucy Chappell FMedSci is the Chief Scientific Adviser for the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), with overall responsibility for the department’s research and development, including the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), the government’s major funder of clinical, public health, social care and translational research.

Reporting to the Chief Medical Officer, the Chief Scientific Adviser provides science advice and analysis to ministers across the range of health topics and is involved in cross-government science policy.

Professor Chappell is Professor of Obstetrics at King’s College London, Honorary Consultant Obstetrician at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust and an NIHR Senior Investigator. She will undertake the Chief Scientific Adviser role on secondment into government, while continuing some of her clinical and academic work.

DHSC Chief Scientific Adviser

Achilleas has 12+ years of experience in software industry involving software demonstrations, managing a team of 15+ developers, hands-on coding in Microsoft .Net platform and Business Intelligence Suites like QlikSense. He has enjoyed a progressive career in diverse roles including responsibilities of a Sales Engineer, Team Manager, Software Engineer and Business Intelligence Analyst in various industries like Banking, Retail and now the Pharmaceutical industry with eClinical Solutions.

Angela has been working for the biopharmaceutical Industry for the past 19 years in various roles including clinical development , post marketing research , business operations and real world evidence . She held senior position in Real World Evidence generation at  both Sanofi and Bayer and has recently joined EMMEs as head of Real World Evidence. Prior to embarking on a career in the pharmaceutical Industry Angela worked as an Epidemiologist at the LMU Institut of Epidemiology in Munich. Angela holds a Doctorate degree in Environmental Epidemiology as well as a Masters Degrees in Public Health , Nutrition and Business Administration.

Rachel is the Director of Clinical Operations at Rinri Therapeutics, a biotech realising the potential of cell therapies to treat hearing loss. A hearing scientist by training, Rachel has worked in translational research and clinical trials within both public and private sector since 2007. She has extensive experience leading teams in the delivery of multi-centre, multi-national , drug, interventional and surgical trials.

Shaun is a highly experienced and skilled, MSP qualified healthcare executive and academic scientist with over 15 years of corporate, non-profit business and academic experience. From roles, as Assistant Professor through to Chief Executive Office, I have a multi-disciplinary skill set, knowledge and the experience to make highly valuable contributions to healthcare organisations. Successes include the effective increase in market share and new-market entry of pharmaceutical products, the development of a new biologicals manufacturing plant, marketing and awareness campaigns for heart disease and the inspiration and empowerment of medical science students.

Dr. Claudia Hesselmann, a chemist by training, with a PhD in molecular biology. Claudia has twenty years of expertise in the early phases of drug development. Her experience includes co-founding and holding management positions in various CROs. Her extensive background and social acumen, along with her first-hand knowledge of the industry, led Claudia to co-found ARENSIA Exploratory Medicine in Düsseldorf, Germany. Her primary aim is the contribution of innovative approaches to bring about substantial acceleration to the drug development process and enable more agile patient access to novel therapeutics.

Willie is a successful clinical trial technology optimist who co-leads the SAFIRA team to improve patient experience one system at a time. He is an award-winning thought leader, recognised by PharmaVoice100, CenterWatch Top 20 Innovator awards, and the eCOA consortium Vice Chair appointment (2011-2013). Willie co-authored the industry-leading ePRO implementation handbook to support a mindful adoption of ePRO in clinical research. Current research activities include the application of AI to eCOA deployment and translations.  His work has recently been referenced in FDA Guidelines and ISPOR reports and is instrumental in paving the way for wide adoption and regulatory acceptance of the “bring your own device” modality for eCOA.

Callum Leavers is an Associate Portfolio Director at YPrime based in the UK with over 15 years of clinical research experience. In this leadership role, he is responsible for implementing operational excellence within portfolio management and ensuring quality and consistency across the project management teams. Callum is an eCOA subject matter expert. He has held varying operational roles in global organizations providing technology solutions to sponsors, CROs, sites, and patients.

Siobhan McKenna-Power has over 20 years of experience designing and delivering regulated systems, with over 8 years designing and delivering RTSM systems for clinical trials.   She first developed an interest in clinical trials when her father took part in multiple Phase III drug and device trials due to his progressive Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and was eager to contribute in her own way when the opportunity presented herself.

Siobhan is a strong believer in first time quality and works with our sponsors to understand complex protocols.  Siobhan has a keen understanding of what the needs of the end user are and works to ensure that even the most complex trials are easy for Investigators to work with, and that patient safety is the foremost priority of any RTSM system.

Siobhan is a graduate of Maynooth University (formerly National University of Ireland, Maynooth) with a BSc in Computer Science and Software Engineering. She is currently working on a Level 7 Diploma in Risk Management.

Results-driven senior business development bringing over 18 years of comprehensive achievements in strategic clinical development and operational analysis for biotechnology, pharma and life sciences companies. Recognized for the ability to influence business inflection drivers, develop efficient data strategies and align synergies across multiple stakeholders, which result in increased productivity and value creation.

Expertise in creating and maintaining successful strategic alliance partnerships between service providers and biopharma sponsors. Highly experienced in all aspects of clinical development both on the business and operation.

Diana Filipescu is from Bucharest, România. Diana has a regulatory background, with 11 years of experience in clinical trials. She worked in Regulatory for almost 8 years and then transitioned from Regulatory Line Manager to Business Development Manager. She has earned two BSc., one in Management and the other one in Law. In addition, she also has a MSc. in Health Management. She is very passionate about finding new ways to improve the healthcare industry by ensuring compliance with all applicable laws and regulations. Her goal is to make sure that all medical products are safe for consumers.

Dr. Brendan Buckley is a medical graduate of University College Cork (UCC) and a doctoral graduate in Biochemistry of Oxford University. He brings more than 40 years of experience in academic clinical practice as a physician in endocrinology, diabetes and clinical pharmacology.

Brendan is also a non-executive director of a number of biopharma development and services companies. He chairs the board of the leading Irish research charity, Fighting Blindness, and is a member of the board of Breakthrough Cancer Research. He was a member of the Board of Directors of the Irish Medicines Board (now the Health Products Regulatory Authority), chairing its statutory Advisory Committee for Human Medicines. In the past, he was also a member of the European Medicines Agency Committee for Orphan Medicinal Products (COMP) and of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) Scientific Advisory Committee on diabetes and metabolism.

Brendan is an Honorary Clinical Professor at UCC and an Adjunct Professor at University College Dublin in the respective medical faculties. He was Director of the European Collaborative Centre for Clinical Trials in Rare Diseases at UCC. With more than 150 scientific papers published in his career, Brendan also authored the opinion-leading book Re-Engineering Clinical Trials. He has directed a number of very large outcomes trials in metabolic/cardiovascular disease and chairs the independent data and safety monitoring boards for a number of large clinical development programs.

Harald Wagner, has 30 years of experience in drug manufacturing, research & development in various sponsor- and CRO functions with his background in pharmaceutical technology. During the recent decades his focus has been on Clinical Operations of large scale and long-term Clinical Studies, as well as pioneer projects establishing new processes and clinical systems early, such as EDC, Risk-based Monitoring, eTMF, CTMS, wearables, ePROs or Decentralized Clinical Trials, leading the Clinical Operations department of the European CRO AMS Advanced Medical Services

Ameeta is a Research fellow at the University of Birmingham based at the Centre for Patient Reported Outcomes Research and the National Institute for Health and Care Research Applied Research Collaboration West Midlands (NIHR ARC WM) Public Health theme, ARC WM EDI lead, EDI Representative for the Public Health Research for Health Consortium of the NIHR School for Public Health Research, the University of Birmingham Institute for Applied Health Research (IAHR) EDI lead, and leads the IAHR EDI in Research working group.