Baroness Nicola Blackwood

Chair, Genomics England

Blackwood became chair of Genomics England in May 2020. She is also chair of Oxford University Innovation, a trustee of the Alan Turing Institute, member of the Royal Society Science Policy Expert Advisory Committee and a member of the House of Lords. She served as the minister for innovation in the Department for Health and Social Care under two prime ministers, where her responsibilities included research, life sciences and NHS innovation; medicines pricing and regulation; data, digital and technology, including cyber security; international health diplomacy and global health security; and rare diseases. She was first elected as an MP for Oxford West and Abingdon in 2010 and chaired the Science and Technology Select Committee, before becoming a minister. She also chaired the Human Tissue Authority before becoming Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford in 2019

Max Bryan

Head of science & technology, Bidwells 

Bryan leads Bidwells’ laboratory and office agency team in Cambridge, where 80% of take-up is driven by the science & tech sector. He’s negotiated purchase and lease transactions on behalf of a some of the largest tech businesses globally to grow their R&D presence in the Cambridge cluster.  Bidwells’ unrivalled market knowledge across the Oxford-Cambridge Arc enables on and off-market transactions and has made Bidwells the leading office agency team in Cambridge, by space transacted, for over a decade. Bryan advises occupiers and landlords across the thriving science, research and technology growth sectors. 

Emma Cariaga

Joint head of Canada Water & head of residential, British Land

Cariaga is the joint head of Canada Water and head of residential at British Land. Emma joined the executive committee in 2019. She is a non-executive director of Assura plc & a non-executive director of TEDI-London a new engineering University for London backed by Kings College London, Arizona State University & University of New South Wales. Cariaga joined British Land in 2014 from Landsec where she delivered a number of Central London developments. Prior to British Land, she held development and land management roles at Barratt and Crest Nicholson.

Dr Glenn Crocker

Executive director, Pioneer Group

Crocker is executive director of Pioneer, a company that creates human and planetary health ecosystems through venture building and real estate. With more than £1bn of life science assets under management it is the largest fully integrated business of its kind in Europe. At Pioneer, Crocker is responsible for the venture building and investment business. Over 30 years in the industry, he has co-founded and/or invested in many life science companies, especially in the discovery and development services sector. As founding chief executive of BioCity, he built a successful business that was acquired by Trinity Investment Management in 2021, providing an excellent exit for shareholders and leading to the formation of Pioneer group. He has a D Phil in immunology from Oxford University and qualified as a chartered accountant with EY, where he ran the UK biotech practice. In 2014 he was awarded an MBE for services to the biotechnology industry.

Sue Foxley

Research director, Bidwells

Foxley leads a dynamic programme of research working closely with academics and sector specialists. Much of her work is focused on the real estate implications of the science and technology sector. This includes the Bidwells life science 2030 research programme which encompasses a study, undertaken in conjunction with YouGov, investigating the location drivers of R&D businesses. She previously headed UK research at JLL and Cluttons, having also held property research positions with St Quintin and the Department of the Environment. She started her career in academia working on planning and urban design publications at the Centre for Urban Policy Research, a policy research institute at Rutgers University in the US. Foxley’s academic background spans the finance, planning and environmental fields. She holds an MSc in property investment & finance from Bayes Business School, an MS in planning and urban policy from Rutgers University and a BSc in rural environment studies. 

Karen Frieze

Head of healthcare, Life Sciences & Bioeconomy, Investment Services Team, Department for Business and Trade

Frieze works within the DIT Foreign Direct Investment Programme supporting companies with their ambitions in the UK of delivering growth and jobs to the UK economy.

Jenny Gardner

Director of development, ARC

Gardner has 15 years’ experience in the commercial real estate industry, primarily focused on development, redevelopment and repositioning of assets for the commercial life science industry, first in the US (13 years) and now in the UK. She is passionate about the asset class and has a great curiosity about all things science and innovation.

Dr Barbara Ghinelli

Chief scientific adviser, UKRI STFC

Ghinelli joined UKRI-STFC in 2010 as executive director of business development. Successes included the creation of ISIC (now Satellite Application Catapult) at Harwell and securing the initial government investment to establish the High Performance Computing Centre (Hartree) at Daresbury. She joined UKRI-STFC from EADS Astrium (now Airbus DS), where she managed business development across Europe for the €3.2bn joint ESA/EU Earth Observation Programme for Global Monitoring of Environment and Security (now Copernicus) and secured a number of large contracts. She graduated in electronic engineering at the University of York, completed her PhD in artificial intelligence and radar imaging at the University of Sheffield and holds a certificate in management from the Open University.

Sarah Haywood

Managing director, Advanced Oxford

Haywood is managing director of Advanced Oxford, a not-for-profit group of senior leaders from Oxfordshire’s major knowledge-intensive businesses, working together to support the long-term development of the Oxford region as a dynamic and prosperous place to work and live. She joined Advanced Oxford in July, 2019.  She sits on the advisory boards for TheHill Oxford, the University of Oxford IDEA programme and the Chemistry Department, Imperial College. Haywood studied biology at the University of Oxford and also has a post-graduate diploma in management (health) and an MA in human resources management and strategy. She is a chartered fellow of the Chartered Management Institute and regularly works as a mentor across a number of innovation related programmes. Haywood was named on the Progress 1,000 for 2019, The Evening Standard’s list of the most influential people in London, for her work with MedCity, the life sciences cluster organisation for London, which she helped to set up.

Sir Peter Knight FRS

Senior research investigator, Imperial College London, National Quantum Strategy

Knight is senior research investigator at Imperial College where, until 2010, he was deputy rector (research). He was knighted in 2005 for his work in optical physics. Knight was the 2004 president of the Optical Society of America and 2011-2013 president of the Institute of Physics. He is editor of Contemporary Physics, chair of the UK National Quantum Technology Programme strategy advisory board, chairs the Quantum Metrology Institute at the National Physical Laboratory, was until 2010 chair of the UK Defence Scientific Advisory Council and remains a UK government science adviser. His research centres on quantum optics and quantum technology. He has won the Thomas Young Medal and the Glazebrook Medal of the Institute of Physics, the Ives Medal and the Walther Medal and Prize of the OSA, the Royal Medal of the Royal Society and the Faraday Prize of the IET.

Artem Korolev

Founder and chief executive, Mission Street

Artem Korolev is the founder and chief executive of Mission Street. Over a five-year period, he built the company into one of the UK’s leading specialist investors and developers in science and innovation real estate, with a committed development pipeline in excess of 1m sq ft in Cambridge, Oxford and Bristol. Korolev was previously head of UK acquisitions and a member of the founding team of GreenOak Real Estate (now BentallGreenOak). Korolev’s track record spans development, asset management, real estate private equity and finance. This includes property acquisitions and corporate M&A, leading end-to-end delivery of complex development and asset management projects across the UK, and structuring debt and equity financing.

Professor Andy Neely OBE

Senior pro-vice-chancellor for enterprise and business, University of Cambridge

Neely is senior pro-vice-chancellor and professor of manufacturing at the University of Cambridge and a fellow of Sidney Sussex College. His previous appointments include head of the Institute for Manufacturing at the University of Cambridge, the Royal Academy of Engineering professor of complex services at the University of Cambridge, deputy director of the Advanced Institute of Management Research, a UK national research programme, and director of the Centre for Business Performance at Cranfield University. During his career, Neely has founded several major research centres and groups, including the Cambridge Service Alliance and the Centre for Digital Built Britain, both at the University of Cambridge, and the Centre for Business Performance at Cranfield University. He is co-founder of Anmut, the data valuation specialist, a non-executive director at the High Value Manufacturing Catapult and a member of the board of trustees of the American University of Sharjah. Neely has written more than 100 books and articles, including Measuring Business Performance, published by The Economist, and The Performance Prism, published by the Financial Times. In 2020 he was awarded an OBE for services to research and university-industry collaboration.

Greg Pada

Vice-president, head of engineering business, AVEVA

Pada is a professional engineer and project management professional with over 30 years of leadership, innovation, project and operations experience. He has worked as a business and project leader driving all scale of projects from multi-billion-dollar thermal heavy oil projects to smaller sustaining capital brownfield projects. Joining AVEVA in 2018, after running his own digital transformation consulting business, Pada now works as the leader of AVEVA’s engineering portfolio team, driving the product strategy for the engineering business.

Sharon Parker-Lines

Deputy managing director and operations director, Astroscale UK

Parker-Lines joins Astroscale with more than 20 years of experience in operations, specialising in human resources, finance, production, commercial, and strategic planning. Most recently, Sharon was centre director for the Oxford Centre for Innovation, where she was responsible for supporting SMEs and start-ups to achieve sustainable growth. Prior to that, she was group chief operating officer of a global publishing company for nine years. Parker-Lines will work closely with John Auburn, chief commercial officer and Astroscale UK managing director, to build a world-class multi-skilled engineering and operations team in the UK and ensure the commercial success of the company. She will manage and oversee the support functions of the Astroscale UK business, including finance, human resources, IT,  administration and procurement, whilst managing the resource requirements across the wider engineering team.

Neelam Patel

Chief executive, Med City

Patel is MedCity’s chief executive, responsible for leading the team, driving strategy and forging relationships with key stakeholders and funders. Patel’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. Patel regularly supports companies with R&D, advising on the UK regulatory and access landscape. Other roles include being on the advisory board of the pan-London NIHR Research Design Service, the advisory board of the Innovation Centre in Digital Molecular Technologies at the University of Cambridge, and the board of the Health Research Authority.

Sheelpa Patel

Chief marketing officer, Oxa

Patel is a global marketing strategist, communications expert and storyteller. Her purpose is to help entrepreneurs succeed and her passion is learning about and evangelising new technologies transforming the way we live, work and travel.

Sir John Peace

Chair, Midlands Engine

Peace is chairman of the Midlands Engine Partnership and Midlands Connect. Sir John is also the Lord-Lieutenant of Nottinghamshire and the chancellor of Nottingham Trent University. He has had a long and distinguished business career covering the technology, financial services and retail sectors. He has been chairman, chief executive and founder of Experian, chief executive of GUS, chairman of Standard Chartered plc, chairman of Burberry, and is currently chairman of Octo Telematics.

Steve Rees OBE

Vice-president of discovery biology, AstraZeneca

Rees is vice-president of discovery biology at AstraZeneca, with responsibility for reagent generation and assay development, functional genomics, and cell and gene therapy. Previously, he led the screening sciences department, with accountability for compound management, hit discovery and lead optimisation biology. Prior to joining AstraZeneca, he worked at GlaxoSmithKline for 24 years. He has served as chair of the European Laboratory Research and Innovation Group and chair of the European council of the Society for Laboratory Automation and Screening, and is industry trustee of the British Pharmacological Society. He was awarded an OBE in 2021 for services to science and the Covid-19 response.

Kristin-Anne Rutter

Executive director, Cambridge Biodmedical Campus

Rutter joined Cambridge University health partners as the organisation’s executive director in March 2021, with a remit to lead the vision for life sciences in Cambridge, harnessing the talent, expertise and potential of the city’s cluster to deliver breakthrough scientific discoveries and rapidly prove and scale these to improve healthcare outcomes for all.​

Neil Sachdev MBE

Chair, East West Railway Company

Sachdev is a chairman and non-executive director, with a passion for sustainability. He is an experienced generalist with portfolios including public service, education, property and retail. He also has experience in the public sector, IPO and capital-raising with FTSE and AIM-listed companies.

The Rt Hon Chloe Smith MP

Secretary of state for science, innovation and technology

Smith was appointed secretary of state for science, innovation and technology on 28 April 2023. She has previously been secretary of state for work and pensions, minister for disabled people, health and work, and minister for the constitution and devolution. Other positions held include parliamentary secretary at the Cabinet Office, parliamentary under-secretary of state for Northern Ireland and assistant government whip for the House of Commons. She was elected Conservative MP for Norwich North on 23 July 2009.

Professor Matthew Snape

Vice-president, paediatric and maternal vaccine clinical development, Moderna

Snape is a member of the Oxford Vaccine Group specialising in paediatrics and vaccinology. Recently, his work has involved analysing how children are affected by Covid-19, as well as what role they may play in spreading the virus. 

Grant Shapps

Secretary of state for energy security and net zero

The Rt Hon Grant Shapps was appointed Secretary of State for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero on 7 February 2023. He was appointed vice-chairman of the Conservative Party in 2005, before being made shadow housing minister in June 2007. Following the 2010 election, he served as minister of state for housing and local government in the Department for Communities and Local Government. Shapps was appointed to the Privy Council in June 2010. In September 2012 he was appointed as co-chairman to the Conservative Party. At the same time he held the position of minister without portfolio at the Cabinet Office. In 2015, he was appointed a minister of state in the Department for International Development. Following the 2019 election, he was appointed secretary of state for transport, a role he retained until 2022. After serving as the home secretary during 2022, Shapps was appointed the secretary of state for business, energy and industrial strategy, becoming secretary of state for energy security and net zero after the creation of the department. As of September 2023, he is secretary of state for defence.

Nick Shave

Managing director, UK and Europe, Astroscale

Shave was appointed managing director of the UK office, in June 2022. He brings more than 30 years of experience in the space sector to Astroscale, working as the current chair of the IOSM working group, and formerly the chair of UKspace, the trade association of the UK space industry; and vice-president of strategic programmes at Inmarsat. Prior to joining Astroscale, Shave delivered significant business growth and results while performing senior management, engineering and sales roles at Inmarsat, CGI, Logica and at the UK MoD Defence Research Agency. In addition, he serves as a councillor of the Royal Aeronautical Society, where he is also a fellow. Shave is educated to MBA level and holds an MSc in spacecraft technology & satellite communications from University College London.

Isobel Stephen

Executive director – strategy, performance and engagement, UKRI

Stephen and her job-share partner Emma Lindsell lead the strategy, performance, analysis and communications group within UKRI. This brings together the seven research councils, Research England and Innovate UK with a five-year strategy, published in March 2022, to sustain UK’s world-class research and innovation system, fuel an innovation-led economy and society and drive up prosperity across the UK. Stephen took up the role in August 2019 following a 20-year career as a civil servant, including leading teams within Department of Work & Pensions and as the housing supply director within the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.

Hitesh Thakrar

Partner, Syncona Investment Management

Thakrar has 24 years’ experience of global public equities. He managed innovation funds for several asset management companies, including Aviva and ADIA. He has an interest in the convergence of life sciences with other innovation-led sectors such as data sciences and the application of industrial technology in medical diagnostics. He has a degree in chemistry from King’s College London and is a CFA.

Rebecca Todd

Investment director, Longwall Venture Partners

Todd invests in early stage life sciences and medical technology companies for Longwall Ventures. She began venture investing in 2006 while at Oxford Capital, where she took responsibility for the Oxford Gateway Funds’ investments into healthcare and life sciences companies. She went on to become director of healthcare ventures at Imperial Innovations (now part of IP Group). Her earlier career was as a marketing consultant to pharmaceutical and life sciences technology companies. Todd has a PhD in Genetics from Nottingham University and an MBA from Oxford University. She joined Longwall Ventures in 2017.

Richard Todd

Head of Oxford, Bidwells

Todd and his team have delivered over 1,300 new student rooms in the last five years, supporting Oxford’s desperate shortage of student accommodation. His attention is now drawn to championing sustainable developments and elevating sustainable design within client briefs. He is committed and believes in communicating with project stakeholders to test and challenge a brief with a “no surprises” culture and deliver buildings which exceed the expectations of those involved, collaborating with passionate experts across the sector throughout.

Orestis Tzortzoglou

Vice-president of development, BioMed Realty

Tzortzoglou became vice-president of development in the UK market after serving as senior director of development. He joined BioMed in 2016 and has had direct responsibility for all of the company’s development activities in the UK. He has been an integral part of BioMed Realty’s portfolio expansion in the UK. Prior to joining BioMed, Tzortzoglou held development roles at London & Regional and Development Securities.

Lord David Willetts

Chair, Innovate Cambridge

The Rt Hon Lord Willetts FRS is president of the Resolution Foundation. He served as the member of parliament for Havant (1992-2015), as minister for universities and science (2010-2014) and previously worked at HM Treasury and the No.10 Policy Unit. He is chair of the UK Space Agency, a board member of UK Research and Innovation, and a visiting professor at King’s College London. He is the chair of Innovate Cambridge and an honorary fellow of Nuffield College, Oxford. Lord Willetts has written widely on economic and social policy. His book A University Education is published by Oxford University Press. A second edition of his book The Pinch, on fairness between the generations, was published in 2019.

Dr Andy Williams

Chair, Oxford-Cambridge Supercluster board

After 30 years within the biopharmaceutical industry, Williams recently established his own consultancy business advising clients such as AstraZeneca and Cambridge Biomedical Campus Limited in the areas of strategy, policy development and engagement. He is chair of the recently established OxCam Supercluster Board (SCB), comprised of globally recognised scientific enterprises, investors and world-leading universities alongside the local enterprise partnerships for the region. The board has been actively engaging with central government in support of the business case for East West Rail and policy to support growth across the region and the wider UK economy. In his previous role at AstraZeneca, Williams oversaw the move and integration of the organization into the Cambridge area ahead of their move onto the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, reporting directly into the senior executive team. As part of that role, he was an active contributor to evolving Cambridge’s thinking in areas like transport, skill development, community amenity, housing and digital. Williams remains active in the local Cambridge business community, sitting on the boards of Cambridge Ahead and Cambridge Network. He is a member of the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority Business Board and is the business representative on the Greater Cambridge Partnership Executive Board. Williams has a first degree in Biochemistry from Kings College London, a PhD in Molecular Genetics from QMW College London and post-doctoral experience gained at the University of British Columbia.