Lord Martin Rees
Astronomer Royal
Martin Rees, Baron Rees of Ludlow, OM, Kt, FRS is a Fellow of Trinity College and Emeritus Professor of Cosmology and Astrophysics at the University of Cambridge. His decorated career in science, covering topics as diverse as black holes and the development of ‘multiverse’ theory, led to his elevation to a life peerage in the House of Lords, where he sits as a crossbencher.
Martin holds the honorary title of Astronomer Royal, as well as being a visiting Professor at Imperial College, London and Leicester University. Lord Martin is the Chair of the Longitude Committee.
Professor Rifat Atun
Professor of Global Health Systems, Harvard School of Public Health
Rifat Atun is Professor of Global Health Systems at Harvard School of Public Health, Harvard University, and Director of the Global Health Systems Cluster. In 2006-13, he was professor of International Health Management at Imperial College London, where he led the Health Management Group and remains a Visiting Professor at the Faculty of Medicine.
In 2008-12 Professor Atun served as a member of the Executive Management Team of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria in Switzerland as the Director of the Strategy, Performance and Evaluation Cluster.
Andrew Cohen
Head of BBC Science Unit
Andrew Cohen is Head of BBC Studios’ award-winning Science Unit with teams based in London and Glasgow, producing hit shows such as Stargazing Live, Trust Me I’m a Doctor, Horizon and Sky at Night. As an Executive Producer he has been responsible for a wide range of high-profile science programmes, including BBC ONE’s Forces of Nature, Human Universe, Planet Dinosaur, Inside The Human Body and the multi-award-winning Wonders Of The Solar System.
As Editor of the Horizon strand (2005-2010) Andrew commissioned and Executive Produced over 100 films for BBC2 and has also Executive Produced a number of science series for CBBC. He has won numerous awards including RTS, Broadcasting Press Guild, Peabody and BANFF. He is also the co-author of five best-selling science books.
Kate Lee
CEO, Alzheimer’s Society
Kate joined Alzheimer’s Society as their Chief Executive in March 2020, and is dedicated to providing help and hope to people living with dementia and their carers to face some of the most frightening times of their lives. With a track record in transformational change Kate has overseen the launch of a new strategy, values and culture development programme. Over the pandemic period she ensured continuing support and advice for people with dementia, influenced fundamental changes to the health and social care system, and brought increased financial stability, and an inclusive, collaborative environment to the organisation.
Prior to this role, she was CEO at children’s cancer charity Young Lives vs Cancer, for four years. During this time, she rebranded the organisation and grew income from £20m to £30m, including overseeing the Morrisons partnership. She successfully lobbied Government to fund the funerals of all children under the age of 18 and founded the Children and Young People’s Cancer Coalition.
She was previously CEO of Myton Hospice, a large Adult Palliative Care Charity in Coventry and Warwickshire. Prior to this, she spent 16 years at British Red Cross leading UK service delivery, before becoming Director of UK and International Strategy and Deputy CEO in 2005.
Kate is passionate about the UK voluntary sector and has been award winning in her drive to increase transparency – publicly challenging misleading methods of reporting which distract from impact. She is currently a Trustee of World Child Cancer and advisor to Coppafeel! following nine years as a founding trustee. She has both won and been highly commended as the Charity Times and Third Sector CEO of the year.
Kate is a proud Yorkshire woman and lives in Coventry with her two teenage children and dog Luna; she loves gardening and tea.
Dame Wendy Hall
Professor of Computer Science at the University of Southampton
Dame Wendy is a Professor of Computer Science at the University of Southampton and Dean of the Faculty of Physical and Applied Sciences. She was Head of the School of Electronics and Computer Science (ECS) from 2002 to 2007.
In 2006, Wendy became one of the founding directors of Web Science Research Initiative, alongside Tim Berners-Lee. She became a Dame Commander of the British Empire in the 2009 UK New Year Honours list, and was recently elected a Fellow of the Royal Society.
Dame Sally Davies
UK Special Envoy on Antimicrobial Resistance
Professor Dame Sally Davies was appointed Chief Medical Officer in 2010. She was a key figure in the development of the National Institute for Health Research, and is a member of the UK Health Innovation Council. Sally also chairs the UK Clinical Research Collaboration, and is a fellow of the Royal Society. She was appointed Master of Trinity College, Cambridge in October 2019.
In 2013, she was listed as the sixth most powerful woman in the UK by BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour. She is the author of the recent book on antimicrobial resistance, “The Drugs Don’t Work”.
Professor David Delpy
Chair, Strategic Advisory Board, UK National Quantum Technologies Programme and Emeritus Professor of Biomedical Optics, UCL
Professor Delpy originally studied physics and after two years in industry, spent 35 years at University College London (UCL) developing techniques for monitoring newborn infants. He is best known for developments of NIR Spectroscopy and Imaging of brain oxygenation. Many companies have marketed devices developed by him and his team.
After seven years as Research Vice Provost, he left UCL in 2007 to become the CEO of the EPSRC, stepping down in 2014. He was then Chair of the Defence Scientific Advisory Council from 2014 to 2017 and is currently Chair of the Strategic Advisory Board for the UK National Quantum Technologies Programme and Emeritus Professor of Biomedical Optics at UCL.
David is a Fellow of the Royal Society, the Royal Academy of Engineering, and the Academy of Medical Sciences.
Dr. Tim Jinks
Head of Drug Resistant Infections Priority Program, Wellcome Trust
Dr. Timothy Jinks is the Head of Drug Resistant Infections Priority Program leading Wellcome Trust’s strategic plan to address antimicrobial resistance. He also serves as Wellcome Trust’s Non-Executive Director of the antiviral drug development company Reviral Ltd.
In his preceding role in Wellcome’s Innovations Division, he was responsible for a portfolio of over a dozen early stage product development projects covering therapeutics, diagnostic and devices spanning across therapeutic areas such as infectious diseases and oncology.
Prior to joining the Trust in 2012 he has over a decade of industry experience, most recently as a consultant providing business development, licensing and commercial research services.
Gisela Abbam
Chair, General Pharmaceutical Council, Global Goodwill Ambassador & Freelance Consultant
Gisela Abbam, FRSA, is the Chair of the General Pharmaceutical Council. The General Pharmaceutical Council is the independent regulator for pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and pharmacy premises in Great Britain.
Formerly, Gisela was Chair of the British Science Association. The British Science Association’s vision is a world where science is at the heart of culture and society.
Gisela is a global thought leader and Senior Executive who is passionate about making a difference in people’s lives. She is also a global advocate for the prioritisation of Health. She has worked in collaboration with governments, the World Health Organisation, the United Nations, the World Bank and other multilateral organisations to improve health outcomes for people across the world.
Gisela is the winner of the 2019 Black British Business Person of the Year by the BBBAwards. Previously, she was the Director of Strategic Partnerships and a Company Officer for Abt Associates, whose mission is to improve the quality of life and economic well-being of people worldwide.
Gisela was also previously the Global Executive Director for Government Affairs & Policy for GE Healthcare. She developed the global function. She was responsible for the strategic direction of government affairs and policy for GE Healthcare, the $18 billion business unit of GE that provides transformational medical technologies to health customers in over 100 countries.
Gisela has written over 45 white papers on various public policy issues and regularly presents at International conferences.
Roger Highfield
Science Director, Science Museum Group
As a boy, Roger was inspired by the science of the Space Race in the 1960s, and went on to secure a doctorate in physical chemistry from Oxford University. He was the Science Editor of The Daily Telegraph for two decades and the Editor of New Scientist between 2008 and 2011.
Today, he is the Science Director at the Science Museum Group and a Council Member for the UKRI MRC.
Roger has written and co-authored ten books and had thousands of articles published in newspapers and magazines.
Ravi Gurumurthy
Chief Executive Officer, Nesta
Ravi joined Nesta in December 2019, having previously founded and led the Airbel Innovation Lab at the International Rescue Committee where he was responsible for designing, testing and scaling products and services for people affected by crisis in over 40 countries, from reducing acute malnutrition to expanding employment for refugees.
Prior to joining the International Rescue Committee in 2013, Ravi held a number of roles in the UK Government, including Director of Strategy at the Department of Energy and Climate Change and strategic advisor to the Foreign Secretary. During this period, Ravi led a number of major social and environmental reforms including the development of the world’s first legally binding carbon emissions targets and the integration of children’s services.
Ravi has also worked as a researcher at the think-tank Demos and in local government in London.
Indro Mukerjee
CEO, Innovate UK
Indro Mukerjee is CEO of Innovate UK, the UK’s innovation agency and funder of the Longitude Prize on Dementia.
He is a highly experienced technology CEO and business leader with a track record of leading innovation and technology commercialisation in businesses of all sizes across the world – from publicly listed and multinational corporations to new venture and private equity backed technology companies.
Indro has extensive experience of leading fast growth; start-up; spinouts; restructuring; turnaround and successful M&A. Much of his time was spent in Asia and the US.
With a strong personal interest in the development of skills for industry, he cofounded the UK Electronics Skills Foundation (www.ukesf.org) and served on the SEMTA (now Enginuity) board for nine years, where he was also Chairman of the committee managing their investment fund. He is also a passionate advocate for diversity, equality, and inclusion.
Indro has a degree in Engineering Science from Oxford University, is a graduate of the Wharton Advanced Management Program and speaks several European languages.
Andrew Dunnett
Director, Vodafone Foundation
The Vodafone Foundation funds projects which use mobile communication technologies to address some of the world’s most pressing humanitarian challenges and to enhance people’s quality of life. Prior to becoming its Director, Andrew was an adviser to the Sustainable Development unit at the UK Department of Trade and Industry.
He has extensive experience in corporate responsibility, community investment and public affairs, assisting organisations as diverse as the BBC, the Commission for Racial Equality and Thames Water.
Dame Angela McLean
Government Chief Scientific Advisor
Professor Dame Angela McLean DBE FRS is the Government Chief Scientific Adviser having taken up the role in April 2023. She is also Head of the Government Science and Engineering Profession. Prior to this Angela was the Chief Scientific Adviser for the Ministry of Defence.
Until April 2023, Angela McLean was a Professor of Mathematical Biology in the Department of Zoology at Oxford University and a Fellow of All Souls College. Angela’s research interests lie in the use of mathematical models to aid our understanding of the evolution and spread of infectious agents.
