Executive Board

Mark Walport (Director - Wellcome Trust) (Chief Executive)
Mark Walport was appointed Director of the Wellcome Trust in June 2003. Before joining the Trust, he was Professor of Medicine and Head of the Division of Medicine at Imperial College London, where he led a research team that focused on the immunology and genetics of rheumatic diseases. He was appointed a member of the Council for Science and Technology in 2004.

Ted Bianco (Director - Technology Transfer)
Ted Bianco joined the Trust in 1999 as Head of the Centres and Initiatives department and became Director of Technology Transfer in 2002. Before joining the Trust, Ted was the Professor of Parasitology at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine where he led a research group working on the immunobiology of filarial infections.

John Cooper (UKCMRI Chief Operating Officer and Interim Chief Executive Officer)
John Cooper is responsible for the Wellcome Collection Conference Centre, construction projects and pensions matters, as well as being heavily involved in the UK Centre for Medical Research and Innovation (UKCMRI) project: a consortium of the Medical Research Council, Cancer Research UK, University College London and the Wellcome Trust. He is also Managing Director of the Wellcome Trust Genome Campus at Hinxton. Before joining the Trust in 1999, John spent 30 years in the commercial electronics industry.

Simon Jeffreys (Chief Operating Officer)
Simon Jeffreys joined the Trust in March 2009. He is responsible for a wide range of business services, including finance, human resources, information technology, facilities management and grants management. Simon was previously Chief Administrative Officer for Fidelity International and for most of his professional life was a partner in PricewaterhouseCoopers, where he was the global leader of the firm's investment management and real estate practice.

David Lynn (Head - Strategic Planning and Policy)
David Lynn joined the Trust in April 2004. David was responsible for producing the Trust's Strategic Plan 2005-2010: Making a Difference. He has responsibility at the Trust for policy and advocacy, planning and risk management, and assessment and evaluation. He was previously Director of Science and Innovation at the UK Natural Environment Research Council and has worked in both the Cabinet Office and the UK Office of Science and Technology.

Clare Matterson (Director - Medical Humanities and Engagement)
Clare Matterson has responsibility for medical humanities, public engagement, media and communications, Wellcome Library and Wellcome Collection. She joined the Trust in 1999 as Head of Policy, and produced the Trust's first Strategic Plan. Clare previously worked as a Management Consultant with PricewaterhouseCoopers. She was a Senior Policy Adviser to the 1999 National Committee of Enquiry into Higher Education and is a member of the Science Museum Advisory Committee, the Kohn Award Committee for Science Communication, and the Government's High Level Strategy Committee for Science Education. She is also a Trustee for Enthuse - an initiative for science teachers - and a member of the BBC Children in Need Funding Committee.

Alan Schafer (Director - Science Funding)
Alan Schafer joined the Trust in June 2007. He has responsibility for divisional operations and for managing, developing and enhancing the Trust's portfolio of research grants in molecular and physiological sciences. Previously he was a Vice-President in Research and Development at GlaxoSmithKline, preceded by work as an independent Biotechnology Consultant and in multiple biotechnology companies. Alan is Adjunct Professor at the Tanaka Business School, Imperial College London.

John Stewart (Head - Legal and Company Secretary)
John Stewart joined the Trust in April 1995 as its first in-house lawyer. He became Company Secretary in August 1999. Before joining the Trust, John was European counsel at the law firm Shearman and Sterling, working in London, New York and Athens.

Danny Truell (Chief Investment Officer)
Danny Truell joined the Trust in 2005, having previously been a Managing Director of Goldman Sachs and Co. in its investment management division. Prior to joining Goldman Sachs in 1996, Danny's career was focused on Asian financial markets.