Are you a student or postdoc in Cambridge? Do you want to shape one of the largest innovation conferences in the UK? Are you excited by the latest paradigm shifts in life sciences, the pharmaceutical industry, biotechnology, engineering, renewable energy and smart cities? Do you have a passion for innovation and entrepreneurship?
The Innovation Forum organises an annual, two-day conference, which brings together top players from Industry, Venture Capital, Academia, and Start-Ups. We are currently recruiting PhD and postdoc volunteers to join our conference team.
All volunteers will receive complimentary passes to attend the conference. Working with the Innovation Forum will provide you with the necessary skills for a career in entrepreneurship or business environments and you will greatly develop your professional network.
If you would like to join our team, please send your CV and a short paragraph (max. 100 words) explaining why would you like to be part of the Innovation Forum conference team. Please email Helen at: [email protected] or [email protected]
We are delighted to announce our speakers line-up for the Innovation Forum 2016 conference. Follow us to keep up to date as we introduce our eminent speakers.
“As a CEO of a growing business you need to be able to refer to the expertise of others in order to make strategic decisions. Surrounding yourself with high quality people with the right expertise and experience puts you in the best position to do your own job well, and thus improve the results of the company as a whole.” – Linda Summerton
Photo: Linda Summerton, MA, PhD, Chief Executive Officer, Immodulon Therapeutics
Linda Summerton, MA, PhD has over 25 years in the global pharmaceutical industry in large pharmaceutical companies, small biotechnology companies, private equity ventures and specialist service providers. Her main areas of therapeutic expertise are oncology and respiratory. Linda worked for 18 years at AstraZeneca, where she held a variety of roles, including project director for Iressa to first registrations in Oncology, Accolate to NDA in asthma, and culminating in being Head of Strategy and Portfolio for the Oncology and Infection Therapy Area Management Team (TAMT). She was also SVP Portfolio and Project Integration (PPI) at Merck KGaA, based in Darmstadt, leading the portfolio steering committees for Oncology, Cardiovascular and CNS development programmes as well as managing a department of commercial and development staff. Subsequently, Linda was Partner at Celtic Pharma Holdings Advisors LLP, where she took responsibility for identifying assets for investment, conducting due diligence on these assets and ensuring all investee companies had solid clinical development plans in place. She also managed assets once acquired, including roles as Head of Clinical and Preclinical Development at Cantab Biopharmaceuticals, Interim CEO at Novacta Biosystems Ltd. and CEO at Dialog Devices Ltd. Latterly Linda became a Senior Partner at TranScrip, a specialist service provider to the pharma and biotech industry, where she leads oncology services and directly supports clients working in oncology. Immodulon is her major commitment for the foreseeable future, it is a UK-based biopharmaceutical company pioneering immunotherapies to transform the way that cancer is treated in the world today. Linda has a first degree and PhD from Cambridge UK, and held a NATO post-doctoral Fellowship tenured at University of California, San Francisco.
We are delighted to announce our speakers line-up for the Innovation Forum 2016 conference. Follow us to keep up to date as we introduce our eminent speakers.
Photo: Kieran Murphy, President & CEO of GE Healthcare Life Sciences
Kieran Murphy is President and Chief Executive Officer of GE Healthcare Life Sciences, a $3.7 billion molecular medicine business that provides a broad range of industry-leading technologies and services for drug discovery, pre-clinical and clinical development and biopharmaceutical manufacturing, as well as molecular tools for therapy selection and treatment monitoring in patient care. Kieran was appointed CEO in May 2013, following a strategic decision to combine the product and technical capabilities of two former GE Healthcare units, Life Sciences and Medical Diagnostics.
Kieran joined GE Healthcare in 2008 from Whatman plc, a $230 million global supplier of filters and membranes for laboratory research, life sciences and medical diagnostic applications. Kieran has over twenty years’ experience in the global life sciences and biotechnology industry, beginning his career with Janssen Pharmaceutical, a division of Johnson and Johnson, followed by leadership roles with Mallinckrodt, veterinary medicines provider Vericore, Novartis, Adprotech, ML Laboratories and Innovata plc.
Kieran earned his bachelor’s degree in 1984 from University College, Dublin. He subsequently graduated from the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology with a master’s degree in Marketing.
We are delighted to announce our speakers line-up for the Innovation Forum 2016 conference. Follow us to keep up to date as we introduce our eminent speakers.
Photo: Dr. Ann De Beuckelaer, PhD, Managing Director, BioMed X GmbH
Dr Ann De Beuckelaer has over 15 years of experience in strategic advice and business development for life science companies, public authorities and research institutions. She studied pharmacy and holds a PhD in biochemistry from the Free University Berlin, Germany. Ann started her professional career at the European Media Lab in Heidelberg. From 1999 until 2007 she was instrumental in the development and implementation of Saxony’s program to foster the biotech economy with a budget of 200 million Euro. As Co-founder and Partner of Biopolis Consultants in Dresden she assisted start-up companies in business development and was Managing Director of the biotech cluster organization biosaxony. In 2007 she moved on to industry as Director of Business Development at elbion, Belgium. Since 2009 Ann has been active as a consultant in the life sciences in Belgium, providing strategic and business development advice to pharmaceutical companies and start-ups as well as management expertise to cluster organizations such as FlandersBio. As of November 2015 Ann joined BioMed X Innovation Center in Heidelberg as a Managing Director.
We are delighted to announce our speakers line-up for the Innovation Forum 2016 conference. Follow us to keep up to date as we introduce our eminent speakers.
Photo: Dr Ann Connolly, Senior Director of New Ventures at Johnson & Johnson Innovation
Her role involves seeking out the best science and technology available to deliver next generation therapies for serious diseases. Once identified, Ann works with J&J and the partner organisations to put together the right collaboration framework to transform those innovations into products.
Ann has extensive experience in the Pharmaceutical Industry; prior to joining J&J she was Senior Director of Business development with UCB Pharma where she was responsible for Business Development activities to support both the Immunology and CNS early phase portfolio. Ann has also spent 13 years in various drug development roles at GSK. During her time there she worked in preclinical development supporting the progression of multiple programmes in many therapeutic areas through the drug development process. She was also part of the GSK Neurology Centre of Excellence providing preclinical input for the early phase development portfolio. Ann is a scientist by training and holds a PhD in Biochemical Toxicology from the University of Surrey.
We are delighted to announce our speakers line-up for the Innovation Forum 2016 conference. Follow us to keep up to date as we introduce our eminent speakers.
Photo: Steve Jackson FRS, FMedSci, Professor of Biology at University of Cambridge; Head of Cancer Research UK Laboratories at the Gurdon Institute
Steve Jackson FRS, FMedSci is University of Cambridge Professor of Biology, Head of Cancer Research UK Laboratories at the Gurdon Institute, and Associate Faculty member at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute. Steve’s pioneering academic research has provided us with many of the key principles by which cells respond to and repair DNA damage. He identified many DNA-damage-response (DDR) proteins, established how they function, and helped define how their dysfunction yields cancer and other diseases. Steve has been elected to EMBO, the UK Academy of Medical Sciences and the Royal Society, and he has received various prizes, including most recently the Gagna and Van Heck Prize 2015, the King Faisal International Prize for Science 2016 and the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences Dr A.H. Heineken Prize for Medicine. Steve’s publications have collectively been cited >54,000 times (h-index 117; Google Scholar).
Recognizing that many DDR proteins represent attractive drug targets, in 1997 Steve founded and then scientifically led (he was part-time Chief Scientific Officer, 1997-2009) the company, KuDOS Pharmaceuticals, which was acquired by AstraZeneca in 2006. Four KuDOS compounds are now in clinical trials, the most advanced being the PARP inhibitor olaparib/LynparzaTM, which Steve and colleagues showed exhibits striking cytotoxicity towards cancer cells mutated in BRCA1 or BRCA2. Ensuing clinical studies with olaparib established a new cancer therapy paradigm, wherein a cancer cell’s genetic deficiency (such as loss of BRCA1 or BRCA2 function) is exploited pharmacologically through a mechanism termed “synthetic-lethality”, resulting in cancer cell killing with only mild effects on the patient’s normal cells. Olaparib/Lynparza recently received FDA and EMA approval for ovarian cancer with associated BRCA1/2 mutations and is now marketed in over 40 countries. Olaparib is also in late-phase clinical trials for various other cancers.
In 2010, Steve co-founded the company MISSION Therapeutics to exploit new therapeutic opportunities arising from his work on protein ubiquitylation and deubiquitylation. He currently serves as a director and part-time MISSION Chief Scientific Officer. While Steve’s academic laboratory has strong scientific links to MISSION, it is supported almost entirely by peer-reviewed grant funding.
We are delighted to announce our speakers line-up for the Innovation Forum 2016 conference. Follow us to keep up to date as we introduce our eminent speakers.
Photo: Neil Burns, Co-founder of George James Ltd.
Neil Burns, along with Jonathan Cooper, co-founded George James Ltd in 1999. Since this time Neil has successfully completed multiple recruitment projects across the life science, software and instrumentation industries. Projects cover Europe and range from senior field specialist to board level appointments. Neil is also involved in training, in particular one on one coaching programmes.
Prior to this Neil spent 16 years in various sales, marketing and general management positions working with Packard Biosciences, Perkin Elmer Applied Biosystems and MDS Sciex. Experienced in capital equipment, consumables, reagents and services in the life science, general analytical and process markets. At Packard Biosciences Neil was responsible for all European direct and distributor operations with revenues of >$100M and >150 employees. Neil has a degree in Medicinal Chemistry.
Neil is active in the organisation of international conferences and networks including The Paperless Lab and The Innovation Forum.
We are delighted to announce our speakers line-up for the Innovation Forum 2016 conference. Follow us to keep up to date as we introduce our eminent speakers.
Photo: Professor Nigel K. H. Slater FREng, CEng, FIChemE, Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Enterprise and Regional Affairs of the University of Cambridge
Nigel is the Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Enterprise and the Region in the University of Cambridge, the 1999 Professor of Chemical Engineering and the former Head of the Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology. He is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Institution of Chemical Engineers and is a Chartered Engineer. He is a member of the Greater Cambridge City Deal Board and the board of Cambridge Enterprise Ltd. Nigel leads the research activities at the Cambridge Unit for Bioscience Engineering at the University of Cambridge and has a particular interest in the manufacture and formulation of biopharmaceuticals including proteins, DNA, viruses and cells. He was awarded the Donald Medal by the Institution of Chemical Engineers for services to Biochemical Engineering and is an Honorary Professor of Tianjin University of Science and Technology, China. Nigel is a Fellow and former President of Fitzwilliam College. He has formerly worked for Unilever Research in the Netherlands and Wellcome Research in the UK and was a non-executive director of Cobra Bio-Manufacturing plc from its IPO in 2002 until its acquisition in 2010.
We are delighted to announce our speakers line-up for the Innovation Forum 2016 conference. Follow us to keep up to date as we introduce our eminent speakers.
Photo: Lily Cortese MBA, Director, Business Operations & Project Management, London Innovation Centre
Lily Cortese is the Director of Business Operations and Project Management at the London Innovation Centre (Johnson & Johnson Innovation). In this role she has responsibility for coordinating the operational management of the Innovation Centre including transaction and project reviews as well as day-to-day processes.
In addition she is also responsible for planning and executing a number of key infrastructure projects for a variety of internal stakeholders and external business partners while working synergistically with her colleagues in the other centres.
She graduated summa cum laude with Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology from William Paterson University in New Jersey and completed her MBA at the Judge Business School, University of Cambridge.
We are delighted to announce our speakers line-up for the Innovation Forum 2016 conference. Follow us to keep up to date as we introduce our eminent speakers.
Photo: Professor Chas Bountra, Chief Scientist, Structural Genomics Consortium, University of Oxford
Prof. Chas Bountra is Professor of Translational Medicine in the Nuffield Department of Clinical Medicine and Associate Member of the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Oxford. He is also a Visiting Professor in Neuroscience and Mental Health at Imperial College, London. Chas is an invited expert on several government and charitable research funding bodies, and an advisor for many academic, biotech and pharma drug discovery programmes.
Prior to coming back to Oxford, Chas was Vice President and Head of Biology at GlaxoSmithKline. He was involved in the identification of more than 40 clinical candidates for many gastro-intestinal, inflammatory and neuro-psychiatric diseases. More than 20 of these molecules progressed into patient studies and more than five of these delivered successful “Proof of Concept” data and hence progressed into late stage development. He was involved in the launch and development of the first treatment for Irritable Bowel Syndrome (Alosetron) and was the first to show that neurokinin NK1 antagonists are anti-emetic in preclinical and clinical studies.
His current interests are I) using X ray structures of novel human proteins to generate small molecule inhibitors, screening in human cells to identify novel targets for drug discovery, and then developing clinical candidates for evaluation in patients, pre-competitively II) focussing on epigenetic and genetically identified proteins, because these are likely to represent better targets for drug discovery, for many cancer, inflammatory, metabolic and neuro-psychiatric diseases III) working with colleagues in Oxford to build major programmes in rare diseases and in Alzheimers Disease, and creating a “BioEscalator” for the rapid translation of SGC science and IV) building stronger links with local hospitals, patient groups, regulatory agencies, private investors, CROs, biotechs and large pharma companies, to create a new, more efficient ecosystem for pioneer drug discovery.
Chas believes the SGC has become a leader in human protein structural biology and epigenetics chemical biology, and is arguably one of the most successful open innovation, public – private partnerships in the world. Furthermore, with the many recent local developments (Target Discovery Institute, Kennedy Institute), he believes Oxford is emerging as one of the major academic drug discovery centres in Europe.
He has given over 300 invited lectures. In 2012 he was voted one of the “top innovators in the industry”.
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