Dr Robin Brown

Robin was appointed Chairman of the Medicines Discovery Catapult in July 2018.

Most recently he was the Chief Executive Officer of KWS BioTest, a specialist immunology-based contract research organisation. In January 2018 KWS was acquired by Charles River Laboratories. Immediately before joining KWS, Robin spent eight years as a venture partner at Advent Healthcare Ventures (US) and was responsible for the scientific direction and corporate governance of a number of companies within the investment portfolios.

Prior to this he was the Chief Scientific Officer of Devgen (acquired by Syngenta) and Galapagos NV. Dr Brown also spent nine years at GSK, latterly as Head of Cell Biology and as an academic gained his PhD in the laboratory of Professor Alan Hall at the Institute of Cancer Research, London. He undertook postdoctoral work in the United States (Harvard) and London (Ludwig Institute).

Professor Chris Molloy

Professor Chris Molloy has a 30-year international board and executive career across a unique range of life sciences R&D disciplines.

His career began in preclinical research at Glaxo, where he was closely involved with the industrialisation of high throughput discovery. In 2004 he moved to Asia as COO of MerLion Pharmaceuticals, a Singaporean biotech that developed into an award-winning multinational anti-infectives R&D biotech. Chris then ran corporate development for the global informatics firm, idbs during which time it won a Queen’s Award for Enterprise, became a Fast-track 100 company, and the first UK firm to develop a stratified medicine software platform using real-world health data.

Chris spent three years as CEO of the RSA Group, the global life science executive search specialist before in 2016 becoming the founding CEO of Medicines Discovery Catapult (MDC); the national centre for innovation in drug discovery. During its first five years, under Chris’ leadership MDC has leveraged its Innovate UK grant fourfold, worked with over 150 UK companies and assisted the discovery of UK drug assets worth over £1bn. During the pandemic, Chris was the founding Director of the UK Lighthouse Labs Network – the largest diagnostics project in UK history – and chaired the industry-governmental consortium that increased UK lateral flow manufacturing capacity by twenty-fold.

Chris is the non-executive chairman of Exploristics and NorthWest EHealth: two UK tech companies using Real World healthcare data to improve clinical development. He chairs the IP Advisory Committee for the Association of Medical Research Charities and the Industry Advisory Board for Manchester’s Biomedical Research Centre & Health Innovation Manchester. Chris is a Member and Trustee of the Institute of Cancer Research and holds an honorary chair at the University of Manchester.

Chris is responsible for leading an experienced Executive Team and a cohort of over 130 specialists that make up MDC to achieve our vision of reshaping drug discovery for patient benefit.

Robert Sherville-Payne

With a professional legal and compliance background and over 25 years of commercial experience, Robert brings significant expertise as a solicitor to his role as General Counsel and Company Secretary at Medicines Discovery Catapult.

Having trained and worked at law firm Hogan Lovells in London, Robert spent 14 years at AstraZeneca in a range of legal roles focused on all aspects of drug discovery, development, operations and legal risk management. Robert subsequently moved on to leadership legal and compliance roles at BUPA, BAE Systems and other corporate and SME organisations, before joining MDC as General Counsel and Company Secretary in May 2022.

Having created and led legal and business focussed teams within life science and broader industrial sectors, Robert has driven improved governance and decision-making practices. Robert brings detailed experience of legal risk, corporate governance and risk management , combined with an understanding of the critical need to harness these tools to enhance financial performance, business development and commercial opportunity.

With responsibility for the Legal function, Board liaison, the Office of the CEO, risk management, Intellectual Property and oversight for MDC’s approach to ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance), Robert is centrally placed to support MDC’s mission of reshaping drug discovery for patient benefit.

Alistair Macdonald

Alistair is an Operating Partner with GHO Capital, and works as a Board member and Advisor to several organizations in the Pharmaceutical Service arena.

Alistair was formally the Chief Executive Officer at Syneos Health and has over 20 years experience in the biopharmaceutical industry and served as the Chair of the Association of Clinical Research Organisations.

Prior to Syneos Health, he served as CEO of INC Research since 2016, leading global operations, driving the company’s global expansion, overall project delivery and implementation of new technologies, processes and solutions.

Alistair joined INC Research in 2002 and served in multiple roles including INC’s Head of Global Business Development and Marketing, Head of Alliances Development and Delivery teams, head of Global Oncology, and President of Clinical Development Services. He has held management positions in the pharmaceutical industry across manufacturing, consultancy, business and corporate development, data management, and clinical operations.

Alistair has a Master of Science in Environmental Diagnostics from Cranfield University, a Bachelor of Science (Honors) in Applied Geology from Plymouth Polytechnic, and a Diploma from the UK Institute of Directors.

Graham Clarke

Graham holds a number of non-executive positions including:

Non-Executive member of the Department of Health and Social Care (“DHSC”), sitting on its Audit & Risk Committee.

Non-Executive Director of the NHS Health Research Authority (“HRA”), the regulator of human research in England and Wales.

Chairman of the board at Herts Urgent Care, a Social Enterprise CIC delivering high quality integrated urgent healthcare services to nearly 3 million people across the three counties.

He is also a governing member of the Institute of Cancer Research (“ICR”).

Previously, Graham was CEO of ImmBio Ltd, an immunology biotech in Cambridge, UK. During his 12 years as CEO Graham was instrumental in building a portfolio of development programmes, securing both private venture capital and grants, and establishing a number of partnerships with UK universities and in joint ventures.

Graham’s career has been in healthcare R&D, initially as a researcher and later in senior management positions. He has worked for SmithKline Beecham as VP Strategic Product Development and Glaxo SmithKline as Head of R&D Executive Decision Support. Subsequently at GE Healthcare, he was VP of Strategy and Business Development for the Life Sciences business. He also spent some time in consulting, as a partner in PA Consulting Group’s Pharma & Biotech Practice and previously at Deloitte.

Lynne Robb

Lynne began her career as a Chartered Accountant when she trained with Arthur Andersen & Co in London and Leeds. She then moved into the corporate world, working for many years with Tate & Lyle, where she had several Financial leadership roles. She also worked on major integrations and mergers, which led her to join Cancer Research UK at its formation in 2002.

She was Chief Financial Officer for 11 years, leading the technology, risk, finance and Treasury teams. Her interest in change and development meant she was involved in many developments there, including the Francis Crick Institute.

Recently, Lynne has worked with the YMCA, in a strategic support role to the CEO and Board and has taken on a Trustee role in the Tate & Lyle Pension Scheme. Lynne became Treasurer of Prostate Cancer UK in January 2018.

Paul Beastall

Paul is the nominated Director for Innovate UK on the Board of Medicines Discovery Catapult and was appointed in 2022. He is an engineer who has spent his career working at the interface between technical innovation and successful business, working with organisations from multinational corporations to venture-funded start-ups.

Prior to moving to build a portfolio career, Paul was a member of the Executive team at Cambridge Consultants, an outsourced R&D and technology strategy consultancy, part of Capgemini Group. Prior to that, he held a leadership role in PA Consulting’s Technology Practice.

He is currently Chair of Evonetix, a scale-up developing new instruments to allow the benchtop synthesis of custom DNA directly in researchers’ own laboratories, and Chair of HutanBio, a start-up that is looking to revolutionise the world of transportation through highly robust and innovate algal biofuels that will be grown in the tropical regions.

Paul is a Chartered Engineer and a Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology. He has a Master of Engineering from the University of York.

Sue Wallcraft

Sue is a qualified English solicitor and has over 25 years’ experience of advising life sciences companies and charities.

Most recently Sue was General Counsel and Company secretary at Vernalis plc, having previously held the same positions at the Wellcome Trust.

Sue’s career also includes holding the position of Assistant General Counsel for Pfizer’s primary Care Business in Europe, Canada, Australia and New Zealand

Sue began her career at CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang LLP in the City where she did her training and then practised Corporate law for several years before taking up her first in house role as UK Legal Director for Warner-Lambert.

Sue has been a Trustee of Amnesty International Charity Limited since 2017.

Professor Sir John Burn

Professor Sir John Burn obtained a first class honours degree in human genetics and an MD with distinction from Newcastle University, where he has been Professor of Clinical Genetics since 1991. He was appointed as a consultant specialist in Newcastle in 1984 and led the regional NHS Genetics Service for 20 years.

He helped to create the Millennium landmark Centre for Life, which houses an education, and science centre alongside NHS regional genetics and fertility services and University research. He was knighted in 2010 and chosen as one of the first 20 ‘local heroes’ to have a brass plaque on Newcastle Quayside in 2014.

He is founding chair of the Newcastle based DNA device company QuantuMDx Ltd which has developed a point of need portable multiplex DNA testing device, the QPoc. Previous commercial ventures include University spinout identity testing company Northgene Ltd and NHS Trust spinout genomic diagnostic company Newgene ltd.

He is a Trustee of the European Hereditary Tumour Group, UNESCO NGO Global Variome and HUGO (the Human Genome Organisation) London. He is Chair of Research and Innovation, NEY Genomics Medicine Service and Chair Elect of the Prevention and Population Research Committee of Cancer Research UK.

Former roles include General Secretary of the UK Clinical Genetics Society 1989-1996, founding Chair the UK Cancer Genetics Group (1997-2003) President of the International Society for Gastrointestinal Hereditary Tumours (InSiGHT 2003-5), President of the European Society of Human Genetics (2006-2007), Chair of the British Society for Genetic Medicine (2011-2013), Lead Clinician, Northern Strategic Health Authority (2010-2014), Non-executive Director NHS England (2014-2018) and Chair of Newcastle Hospitals (2017 -2023).

He leads the Cancer Prevention Programme research group at Newcastle University; CAPP2, an RCT in 16 countries, showed that aspirin reduces by half the risk of colorectal cancer in Lynch syndrome (Burn et al Lancet 2020) and resistant starch supplements reduce the risk of other LS cancers by more than half (Mathers et al Cancer Prev res 2022). CaPP3, a dose non-inferiority trial of cancer prevention with aspirin in 5 countries will report in 2025 on the optimal dose of aspirin. He will co-lead a new international CRUK Research Programme to explore the biological basis of cancer prevention with aspirin.

Professor Sir Mike Ferguson

Mike is Regius Professor of Life Sciences at the University of Dundee. He has served on the board of governors of the Wellcome Trust (2012-2021), including as deputy chair (2018-2021), and on the board of directors of Wellcome Leap (2019-2022). He also served on the board of directors of the Medicines for Malaria Venture (2012-2024). He currently serves on the board of UK Biobank and chairs the board of biotechnology start-up PhaSER Bio.

Mike obtained a BSc and PhD in Biochemistry from Manchester and London. He was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Rockefeller University, New York, and the University of Oxford and took up a lectureship at The University of Dundee in 1988. He was promoted to a personal chair in 1994 and appointed the first Regius Professor of Life Sciences in 2013.

His research takes a multidisciplinary approach to understanding the biochemistry of protozoan parasites that cause tropical diseases. With colleagues, he established the Drug Discovery Unit at the University of Dundee in 2006, which has resulted in several compounds in Phase 1 and 2 clinical trials and the generation of spin-out companies. Mike is also co-Director of the Dundee Proteomics Facility, one of the largest in Europe, that accelerates discovery and translational science.

Mike believes that academic research should generate new knowledge and, when appropriate, provide returns for its key stakeholders: the taxpayer and medical charities. He has contributed to the growth of the Life Sciences sector in Dundee through the provision of research laboratories and technologies and, most recently, has co-led the Growing the Tay Cities BioMedical Cluster component of the Tay Cities Deal – designed to anchor high-growth spin-out companies in an economically depressed region.

During the pandemic, he served on the oversight committee for the National Core Studies and chaired the scientific advisory group on antibody testing for UKHSA.

Mike is a fellow of the Royal Society of London, the Royal Society of Edinburgh, the Academy of Medical Sciences and a member of EMBO.