Lord David Willetts, president, Resolution Foundation

Lord Willetts FRS is president of the Resolution Foundation. He served as the MP for Havant from 1992-2015, as minister for universities and science from 2010-14 and previously worked at HM Treasury and the No. 10 policy unit. He has held a range of chair and board positions across the space and science sector, including chair of the British Science Association, member of the Space Policy Advisory Board for EU External Action Service and of the ESA expert group on the future of space in Europe. He serves on the board of UKRI. He is an Honorary Fellow of Nuffield College and chancellor of the University of Leicester.

Abigail Shapiro, senior vice president, head of office, retail and life sciences, Oxford Properties

Shapiro leads Oxford’s European office, retail and life sciences businesses, which have a current AUM of around $5bn. She is accountable for these businesses’ strategies, capital deployment/acquisitions, strategic asset management, platform set-up, strategic stakeholder relationships and total returns. Shapiro has 14 years of real estate experience across the US and Europe.

Dr Adam Stoten PHD RTTP, senior vice-president, academic partnerships, Evotec

Stoten is senior vice-president of academic partnerships at Evotec SE, a global multi-modality drug discovery and development company, where he is responsible for creating new international partnerships to accelerate the translation of academic science into new therapeutics. Prior to Evotec, Stoten was chief operating officer and board director at Oxford University Innovation. While at OUI he was a member of the team that negotiated the Oxford Covid vaccine partnership with AstraZeneca, was a founding director of Vaccitech and EvOx Therapeutics and was a co-architect of Evotec’s first BRIDGE; LAB282.

Dr Andrea Kells, director, research ecosystem, Arm

Kells has responsibility for Arm’s global portfolio of academic and industrial research collaborations. She also engages with relevant global funding agencies and policy-makers in order to promote Arm’s strategic research objectives, and to support academic research in aligned areas. Previously, she spent 10 years at the University of Cambridge where she managed large-scale industrial collaborations, and worked as a consultant leading international evaluations of government funding for university-industry partnerships.

Dr Andy Williams, vice president, Cambridge strategy, AstraZeneca

Williams works closely with regional and national stakeholders to develop the local infrastructure, promoting the life sciences sector and inspiring the next generation of scientists through AstraZeneca’s extensive local community outreach activities. With the arrival of AstraZeneca’s strategic R&D Centre and global head office in Cambridge, he has been an active contributor to evolving Cambridge’s thinking in areas such as transport, skill development, community amenity, housing and digital.

Anna Strongman, chief executive, Oxford University Development

Strongman is chief executive of Oxford University Development, a joint venture between Oxford University and Legal & General to build innovation districts and subsidised accommodation for graduate students and the university workforce. Strongman was previously managing partner at Argent, where she spent 12 years on a range of asset, development and business planning projects.

Dr Barbara Ghinelli, director of clusters and Harwell campus business development, UKRI-STFC

Ghinelli is responsible for the development of the Harwell Science and Innovation campus at UKRI-STFC. She has worked alongside the joint venture partners to establish Harwell as an exemplar public-private partnership model that has driven economic growth, fostered national and international collaborations, attracted inward investment and advanced the frontiers of science.

Dr Bruce Tomlinson, chief executive, HR Wallingford

Tomlinson became chief executive of HR Wallingford in 2014. He joined HR Wallingford from UK-based Fugro EMU, a marine survey and consultancy firm, where he was managing director. With more than 25 years’ experience in the maritime industry, and having extensive contacts and project experience in the oil and gas industry, Tomlinson brought high-level strategic business experience to HR Wallingford as well as a wealth of technical expertise in the international marine, environmental and energy sectors. 

Chas Bountra, pro-vice chancellor for innovation, University of Oxford

Bountra is pro-vice chancellor for Innovation at the University of Oxford, professor of translational medicine in the Nuffield Department of Clinical Medicine, director of the Centre for Medicines Discovery, and professorial fellow at Keble College, Oxford. Prior to coming back to Oxford in 2008, Bountra was vice-president and head of biology at GlaxoSmithKline. He is an invited expert on several government and charitable research funding bodies, and an adviser for many academic, biotech and pharma drug discovery programmes. In 2012 he was voted one of the “top innovators in the industry”, in 2014 received the Rita and John Cornforth Award from the Royal Society of Chemistry, in 2017 and 2018 was voted Master of the Bench from the Medicine Maker Power List, and was awarded an Order of the British Empire in the 2018 New Year’s Honours List.

Daniela Petrovic, co-founder, Darwin Innovation Group

Darwin Innovation Group is a highly successful R&D company based in in the UK (Oxford and Glasgow) and in Spain (Malaga Technology Park, Andalusia), focused on the implementation of ubiquitous communication solutions to connected autonomous vehicles. Petrovic believes in an important triangle between government, industry and academia to shape the future of innovation. Her academic research is focused on creation of frameworks for making successful innovation ecosystems.

David Lockyer, head of campuses, British Land

As head of campuses, Lockyer leads British Land’s strategy for assets at Broadgate, Paddington Central and Regent’s Place. He was previously head of Broadgate and head of property management. He joined British Land in 2010 and joined the executive committee in 2019. He has more than 25 years’ experience of leading real estate teams and projects. Prior to British Land he worked at Morgan Stanley, GE Capital and The London Development Agency.

David Marks, co-managing partner, Brockton Everlast

Marks co-founded Brockton Capital in 2005; the firm has raised £2bn of equity which has invested into a £7bn UK portfolio of more than 20m sq ft. In 2018, Marks co-founded Brockton Everlast as a new, permanent capital entity which owns office and life sciences assets in London, Cambridge and Oxford. Previously, he worked at The Blackstone Group and JLL, studied at MIT, Boston, was a member of the Bank of England’s Commercial Property Forum (2006-16), served as president of the British Property Federation (2013-14) and has been a trustee of the National Gallery and the Architecture Foundation since 2017 and 2018 respectively.

Douglass Cuff, vice president of U.K. real estate, IQHQ

Cuff has more than 20 years’ experience working in life science real estate sector. Prior to IQHQ, he had various roles at BioMed Realty during his 14-year tenure. Initially, he was responsible for overseeing the 1m sq ft life sciences real estate portfolio in Cambridge, MA. He then moved on to overseeing the completion and operation of The Center for Life Science in Boston, an 18-storey, first-class research facility which houses the various research groups of Children’s Hospital Boston, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. 

Dr Emma Stanton, vice president clinical, Oxford Nanopore

Stanton joined Oxford Nanopore in 2020 as clinical vice president. She is also head of Oxford Nanopore Diagnostics. In this role, she supports Oxford Nanopore’s ambitions for growth in healthcare applications. Stanton is excited about the opportunity to grow a diagnostics business that applies technology to health care in a targeted way. Over time, this will make a huge difference to patients and their families.

Professor Greg Clark, Global Expert on Innovation Economies, and Chair of Connected Places Catapult

Clark is an expert on cities, urban investment and sustainable urban transition. Over a 35-year career, he has advised more than 300 cities, 40 national governments, 20 multilateral institutions and multiple global corporates and investors. Clark is chair of the Connected Places Catapult, the UK’s innovation accelerator for cities, transport and place leadership, and chair of the UK Cities Climate Investment Commission, which convenes city leaders and investors to drive a just urban transition. He is a board member of Transport for London and the London LEP. He chairs TfL’s new land and property committee that oversees TfL’s new property and housing company ventures. He is an honorary professor of urban innovation at Strathclyde University, has written 10 books and 100 reports on cities, investment and place leadership. His monthly column, The Planet of Cities, is hosted by RICS. He is the global cities expert on the BBC World Service series My Perfect City. 

Dr John Baker, senior vice president, Abcam

Baker is senior vice president at Abcam. He leads a global team with accountability for Abcam’s market-leading product and service offering of life science tools and reagents. Following a spell in commercial animal practice, Baker moved to Oxford to complete a DPhil in clinical medicine, publishing on the molecular biology of the innate immune response.

James Sheppard, managing director for the UK & Ireland, Kadans Science Partner

Sheppard is managing director for the UK & Ireland at Kadans Science Partner where he is responsible for growing the UK platform. He joined Kadans from Cushman & Wakefield, where he was head of life sciences. Sheppard brings significant life science experience to Kadans, having worked on some of Europe’s largest and most advanced centres for scientific innovation such as The Francis Crick Institute and Imperial College’s White City Campus.

Prof Karen Holford CBE FREng, chief executive and vice chancellor, Cranfield University

Holford is chief executive and vice-chancellor at Cranfield University. She was previously deputy vice-chancellor at Cardiff University. In 2018, Holford received a CBE for services to engineering and the advancement of women in engineering, and in 2019 received the Suffrage Science award in Physical Sciences and Engineering.

Max Bryan, head of science & technology, Bidwells

Bryan is Bidwells’ head of science and technology and leads the laboratory and office agency team in Cambridge – the most successful office agency team in Cambridge, by space transacted, for more than a decade. He works with the UK’s pioneering innovators and entrepreneurs, leasing space to the world’s largest tech companies and supporting the scaling up of R&D businesses across the Cambridge cluster. He leads Bidwells’ specialist team of real estate advisers across Oxford, Milton Keynes, Cambridge and London.

Mark Kotter, chief executive, Bit.bio

Kotter is a stem cell biologist and neurosurgeon at the University of Cambridge. By combining synthetic and stem cell biology, his team has developed a benchmark technology for the efficient and consistent production of human cells for use in research, drug development, and cell therapy. He is the founder of bit.bio and co-founder of the cultured meat start-up Meatable.

Dr Michael Anstey, partner, Cambridge Innovation Capital

Anstey is a partner specialising in life sciences investments. Before joining CIC he was a principal in the healthcare practice area at The Boston Consulting Group’s Toronto office. He has experience in advising multinational businesses across North America, Europe, India, and Japan. Anstey was also co-founder of an early stage biotechnology company focused on developing small molecule drugs that target protein-protein interactions implicated in disease. Prior to BCG, he was an investment analyst at Oxford Capital Partners. He earned his DPhil in Zoology in the field of neurobiology from the University of Oxford.

Mike Derbyshire, head of planning, Bidwells

Derbyshire leads Bidwells’ planning practice and advocates for thoughtful, well-designed development across the Oxford-Cambridge Arc. He is actively advising on plans for 6.5m sq ft of R&D/life science space across the Cambridge region, approaching challenges with a blend of strategic and political instinct and forensic knowledge of planning.

Nicole Jadeja, life sciences partner, Pinsent Masons

Jadeja is a life sciences lawyer who advises a wide-range of companies across the life sciences sector, including innovative biotech companies developing cutting edge technologies. She enjoys resolving IP disputes and providing strategic IP advice, as well as working at the interface between IP, commercial and regulatory law. Jadeja is passionate both about science and the life sciences sector.

Richard O’Boyle, chief executive,  Pioneer Group

O’Boyle is a founding director of Pioneer Group and has more than 20 years’ experience in investment, having transacted in excess of £2bn. Prior to launching Pioneer Group, he co-founded First Step Homes and Trinity Investment Management, which now manages circa £1.5bn of assets. He previously worked at Invista REIM, Stockland, and Prudential.

Rebecca Todd, investment director, Longwall Venture Partners

Todd invests in early-stage life science and medical technology companies for Longwall Ventures. She for began venture investing in 2006 while at Oxford Capital, where she took responsibility for the Oxford Gateway Funds’ investments into healthcare and life science companies. She went on to become Director, Healthcare Ventures at Imperial Innovations (now part of IP Group). Her earlier career was as a marketing consultant to pharmaceutical and life science technology companies.

Dr Sally Ann Forsyth OBE, chief executive, Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst

Forsyth is chief executive of Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst, a leading life sciences cluster, and non-executive director of Life Science REIT, the first real estate investment trust focused on UK life science properties. She has been responsible for the strategy, growth and development of four internationally recognised science campuses: Harwell Oxford, Colworth Science Park, Norwich Research Park and Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst. Forsyth began her career with Unilever, had lead responsibility for strategic alliances and was part of the founding team of Unilever Ventures. She gained her property experience through Goodman International where she was director of science parks, with responsibility for the development and management of its UK portfolio.

Samantha McClary, editor, EG

McClary has almost 20 years experience in real estate and business journalism, covering a wide range of topics. Alongside making sure EG delivers the best, most helpful, most accurate and, of course, most interesting content to EG’s readership across all platforms – print, online and audio – she also plays a leading role in enabling and delivering a more diverse environment for the real estate community through EG’s REWIRE and tech initiatives.

Stuart Grant, chief executive, Advanced Research Clusters

Grant is the chief executive of ARC – a new 7m sq ft network of science and innovation clusters across Oxfordshire and London. He is also the chief executive of Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, a founder of Corelife partners and an adviser to Brookfield. Grant began his career in Asia-Pacific as an international executive with Jardine Matheson before starting his real estate investment career at Blackstone in London and Hong Kong. During his 18 years at Blackstone, he held a variety of leadership positions, playing a key role in building Blackstone’s real estate business in the region, including overseeing more than $20bn (£16bn) of investments in Greater China, India, Singapore, Japan, Korea and Australia. He returned to the UK in 2018 as managing director of Stanhope to help grow one of London’s leading developers. He is also a member of the investment committee and advisory board of Mitheridge Capital.

Thomas Renn, vice-president acquisitions & development, Breakthrough Properties

Renn is the vice-president of acquisitions & development Europe at Breakthrough Properties,  a joint venture between Bellco Capital and Tishman Speyer. Breakthrough Properties is a life science real estate investment firm that leverages cross-sector collaboration to deliver environments that foster innovation and scientific breakthroughs. Renn supports the firm’s expansion across key European life sciences markets, with recent acquisitions in Amsterdam, Oxford and Cambridge. He was previously managing director at Bruntwood SciTech, where his portfolio included Manchester Science Park, Citylabs 1.0 and 2.0 (QIAGEN’s global HQ for Precision Medicine), Circle Square and the £1.5bn ID Manchester redevelopment project. In April 2022, Breakthrough Properties announced the closing of its first fund, having raised $3bn, the largest dedicated life sciences investment fund raised to date (excluding portfolio recapitalisations).

Dr Tim Bestwick, chief technology officer, UK Atomic Energy Authority

An engineer by background, Bestwick joined UKAEA after leading commercialisation and innovation at the Science and Technology Facilities Council and guiding the development of research and innovation campuses. He has worked for IBM, Sharp Corporation and technology start-up businesses. He chairs the Harwell Campus Board, and is a past chair of Eureka – the world’s largest international business-to-business innovation network – and Venturefest Oxford. Bestwick has served as a director of 12 technology companies, and has been instrumental in starting and growing multiple successful technology businesses.

Tim Burke, deputy editor, EG

Burke joined EG as deputy editor in July 2019, before which he was property editor at Financial News, a Dow Jones publication. Earlier in his career he wrote for and edited magazines covering capital markets and businesses across developed and emerging economies, including titles at The Economist Group and Thomson Reuters.

Dr Tim Moonen, co-founder and managing director, The Business of Cities

Moonen is co-founder and managing director of The Business of Cities, an urban intelligence firm that advises cities, districts and companies worldwide. He has provided analysis and guidance to innovation districts and ecosystems for more than a decade, working closely with place leaders, senior decision-makers and investors on effective governance, narrative, development and inclusion.