Staff profiles
Ted Bianco PhD, FIBiol - Director of Technology Transfer
Ted joined the Trust in 2000 as head of the newly established department of Centres and Initiatives.In this capacity he was responsible for administering the Wellcome Trust’s investment in UK Centres and devising such schemes as the Joint Infrastructure Fund, Scientific Research Infrastructure Fund, Functional Genomics and Integrative Physiology. He founded the division of Technology Transfer in 2002 with the primary goal of translating basic research into health products and public health tools in areas of unmet medical need. He leads a team of business development analysts, lawyers and administrators who, together with independent experts, provide the due diligence, governance and oversight to manage a project portfolio exceeding £1 bn.Prior to joining the Trust, Ted spent 25 years in biomedical research specialising in tropical medicine and infectious disease. He obtained his PhD at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and subsequently worked at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute in Melbourne, Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine in London and the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, where he was the Walter Myers Professor of Parasitology.
Daniel Nelki PhD, LLM - Head of Legal and Operations
Daniel joined the Trust in 1995, initially with the Science Funding division and subsequently with Catalyst BioMedica Ltd. Daniel is a solicitor, having trained and practised with the international law firm Baker & McKenzie. He has wide legal experience, with specialisation in intellectual property (IP) law. His responsibilities include corporate legal strategy as well as negotiating, establishing and providing quality control for IP and commercial agreements. In 1999, Daniel added a Master's degree in law to his qualifications, focusing on the ownership of human genes and tissue. Prior to training in law, Daniel studied as a molecular geneticist, gaining his PhD from the Royal Holloway and Bedford College in London.
Richard Seabrook PhD, MBA - Head of Business Development
Richard leads the Business Development Team, Technology Transfer Division which undertakes due diligence and project management of translation awards, strategic translation awards and seeding drug discovery funding.The Team has responsibility for intellectual property management and its translation such as through licensing or new company formation. Previously, Richard held project management and business development roles in the biotechnology sector and has extensive experience of early-stage funding of life science technologies, commercial transactions, Board, SAB and government agency advisory roles.
Tim Knott PhD - Business Development Manager
Tim joined Wellcome in 2009 from Imperial Innovations Ltd where he focused on IP, licensing and spinout activities in the bioengineering and medical device sectors. He has 12 years' industrial experience in the biotechnology and drug discovery business units at Amersham plc and prior to that he was a permanent member of the scientific staff at the UK MRC. Tim holds a 1st degree in biochemistry and a PhD in molecular biology from Imperial College London.
Ann Mills-Duggan PhD - Business Development Manager
Ann joined Wellcome in 2010 and has responsibility for the management of the Trust’s Seeding Drug Discovery Initiative. She has research, licensing and alliance management expertise gained from over twenty years in the pharmaceutical industry most recently with UCB and previously with GlaxoSmithKline and GlaxoWellcome. Ann has a degree in Biochemistry from the University of Bath, a PhD in Biochemistry from Imperial College, London and a Diploma in Science Communication from the University of London.
Nicola Shepherd PhD - Business Development Manager
Nicola joined the Trust in 2007 and is responsible for the Trust’s Translation Award scheme. She joined the Wellcome Trust in 2007 from AstraZeneca where she had been a senior scientist in the Analytical Development Department. Prior to that she worked for an IP consultancy firm in Boston, Global Prior Art, specialising in state of the art, FTO and prior art searching. Nicola holds a degree in Chemistry and a MRes and PhD in Polymer Engineering, all from the University of Birmingham, and completed her postdoctoral research at Brown University, USA.
Diana Tay PhD, MBA – Business Development Manager
Diana joined Wellcome in 2012 from GSK, where she held business development roles, working on transactions in the emerging markets and more recently, in global licensing deals for R&D and platform technology assets.Previous to this, she worked at Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics, and was responsible for the vaccines business development activities that included search and selection, evaluation and licensing deal opportunities in Asia.She also had several years of management consulting experience in pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, platform technology and devices sectors.Diana received her PhD degree in human cancer biology from University of Melbourne, Australia and an MBA from City University, London.
Sarah Hardy PhD - Senior Business Analyst
Sarah joined the Technology Transfer team in 2006. Her role is to identify and cultivate early-stage funding opportunities and project manage a portfolio of healthcare projects. Her role also involves contract negotiations, due diligence, monitoring patent prosecution and translation strategies leading to commercial exits. Previously, Sarah had responsibilities to the Physiology and Pharmacology Funding Committee and the Neuroscience and Mental Health Funding Committee, both at the Wellcome Trust. Prior to joining the Trust, she worked at Parke-Davis Neuroscience Research Centre, Cambridge. Sarah has a PhD in Molecular Neuropharmacology from the University of Aberdeen.
Morag Foreman PhD - Senior Business Analyst
Morag joined the Trust in 2008 and is responsible for the Trust’s Medical Engineering Initiative. She joined the Wellcome Trust from Cancer Research Technology Ltd, where she was a Business Manager for three years. Prior to that she worked for a spin-out company from Imperial College London. Morag holds an M.Chem degree in Chemistry from the University of Leicester and a PhD in Biological and Organic Chemistry from Imperial College London.
Sarah Molton PhD - Senior Business Analyst
Sarah joined the Trust in 2010 from Cancer Research Technology Ltd., where she was a Business Manager for four years. Sarah also worked as a Business Development Manager for Modern Biosciences and as an Intellectual Property Manager for the East London Innovations Hub (now NHS Innovations London). She holds a BSc in Biochemistry from the University of York and a PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Cambridge. Sarah’s post-doctoral research was completed at the University of California San Francisco where she also interned in the Office of Technology Management.
Lars Gredsted PhD – Senior Business Analyst
Lars joined the Trust in 2010. Previously he worked with in-licensing of early stage research projects as a research analyst at Union Life Sciences. Lars has also worked as management consultant with the Boston Consulting Group, where he worked with marketing strategies for companies in the life science and industrial biotech areas. Lars gained his PhD from the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg working with transgenic mice models. He subsequently worked as a postdoc at EMBL in Heidelberg and at the Biotech Research and Innovation Center (BRIC) in Copenhagen. In addition to his PhD Lars holds an MPhil in Bioscience Enterprise from Cambridge University and a Master of Biochemistry from the University of Copenhagen.
Tim Jinks PhD – Senior Business Analyst
Tim has over a decade of industry experience most recently as a consultant providing business development, licensing and commercial research services.Previously he was a Business Development executive at BTG International working on licensing and IP development.His industry experience started as senior scientist with Iclectus Ltd, a spin-out company from the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge that developed an antibody engineering platform.He trained as a professional chemist at the University of Georgia before gaining his MA and PHD in Molecular Biology at Princeton University.
Bethan Hughes PhD - Business Analyst
Bethan joined the Trust in 2010 from Nature Publishing Group where she spent three years as the News Editor of Nature Reviews Drug Discovery covering a wide range of topics from translational research to regulatory and policy challenges. Prior to Nature Publishing Group, Bethan worked in the medical communications industry for a wide range of pharmaceutical clients. Bethan holds an MBiochem degree from the University of Bath and a PhD in Molecular Immunology from the University of Cambridge.
Keith Spencer PhD – Business Analyst
Keith joined the Trust in 2011. Previously, he worked for Arrow Therapeutics as a Group Leader for anti-infective drug discovery.During his nine year tenure at Arrow, Keith was project leader for multiple programs resulting in the discovery of two clinical candidates for hepatitis C. Keith holds a DPhil in organic chemistry from Oxford University, where he worked under the supervision of Professor Sir Jack E. Baldwin. He subsequently worked as a postdoc at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. Keith also holds a MChem in Chemistry from the University of St Andrews.
Lynsey Bilsland PhD - Business Analyst
Lynsey joined the Technology Transfer in 2012. Previously she was in the Neuroscience and Mental Health Science Funding team where her role was to oversee the molecular and cellular neuroscience portfolio, identify and develop strategic funding initiatives, and build relationships with stakeholders within UK neuroscience. Lynsey joined the Trust in 2009 from Cancer Research UK, where she spent nearly 4 years as a postdoctoral fellow. Lynsey holds a PhD in neuroscience from University College London.
Meher Antia PhD – Business Analyst
Meher has an MSc degree in physics and a PhD in bioengineering. Her postdoctoral research at the University of Washington in Seattle and the Pasteur Institute in Paris was in developing tissue engineered microfluidic devices to study malaria pathogenesis. She joined the Technology Transfer Division in 2012. Previously, she was a part of the Molecular and Physiological Sciences team in the Science Funding division of the Wellcome Trust, where she handled projects in the areas of structural biology, advanced imaging, biophysics and bioinformatics. She was also responsible for the Structural Genomics Consortium and the Biomedical Resources and Multi-user Equipment scheme.
Saharla Ahmed MSc – Business Analyst
Saharla graduated with a BSc in Genetics and obtained an MSc and Certificate in Intellectual Property Law from Queen Mary, University of London. She joined the Trust in 2007 and her responsibilities include managing aspects of the operational and funding activities, as well as assisting with the legal and financial activities within Technology Transfer. Before joining the Trust, Saharla worked as a Patent Analyst in the Current Awareness team at Thomson Scientific, specialising in patent searching and providing up-to-date patent-based intelligence for the pharmaceutical industry.
Georgios Trichas PhD - Business Analyst
Georgios joined the Trust in 2012 from Queen Mary, University of London where he was a Business Development Manager for three years. His role was to establish research collaborations with the pharmaceutical/biotech industry, provide advisory services on market and competitive analysis and prepare high-value strategic grant applications. Georgios holds a DPhil from the University of Oxford where he studied the body axis formation during early mouse development. Georgios also holds an MSc in Molecular Medicine and a BSc in Biology, both from the University of Crete, Greece
Zoë Ballantyne BA - Senior Legal and Operations Adviser
Zoë is responsible for the preparation and negotiation of legal agreements and intellectual property advice for the Technology Transfer division. Zoë joined the group in 2004. She is a qualified solicitor and formerly practised at the international law firm Ashurst in the intellectual property department. She graduated from Cambridge with a degree in natural sciences (genetics), attended Nottingham Law School and has a diploma in intellectual property law from the University of Bristol.
Joanna Shepherd BSc - Legal and Operations Adviser
Jo joined the Trust in 2009. She is a solicitor with wide legal experience having trained and practised with Clifford Chance, and practised intellectual property law at the technology law firm Brobeck Hale and Dorr and most recently at the US law firm Kirkland and Ellis. Jo graduated from Durham with a BSc in natural sciences and attended Nottingham Law School.
Gary D'Arcy LLB - Operations Manager
Gary is responsible for monitoring commercial agreements, intellectual property portfolio and assists with the administration and monitoring of translation awards. He joined Catalyst BioMedica Ltd in 2001. Prior to joining Catalyst, he gained five years' experience in the education and training sectors, managing a diverse range of supplier contracts and development projects. Gary has substantial experience in contract performance management and in implementing contract monitoring systems. Gary read law, gaining an LLB at Cardiff University.
Deborah Hawkes MA - Portfolio Analyst
Deborah joined the Wellcome Trust in 2009.Her responsibilities include the management and profiling of Technology Transfer’s awards portfolio, and producing a range of management information for monitoring and evaluation purposes.She is also leading on the implementation of a new intellectual property and agreements management database system for the division. Deborah previously spent 5 years working in management information and statistics for the public sector, where she project-managed the design of a database to store financial information and managed a portfolio of research projects.Deborah obtained her degree in Biological Anthropology from Cambridge University.
Katherine Anastasi BA - Legal and Operations Assistant
Katie joined the Trust in 2011. She is a qualified solicitor and joined the Trust from CMS Cameron McKenna. Katie graduated from Oxford University, with a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics and attended BPP Law School.
Saskia Heijnen MSc – Research Analyst
Saskia graduated with a BSc in Biomedical Sciences and obtained an MSc in Control of Infectious Disease from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, University of London. Previously she was in the Pathogens, Immunology and Population Health Science Funding team where her role was to oversee the public health research and population studies portfolio. In 2013 she moved to Technology Transfer where her responsibilities include contributing to the development and implementation of strategic funding activities and initiatives with a special focus on Strategic Plan Challenge Area 5, Environment, Nutrition and Health.Before joining the Trust, Saskia worked in International Programmes at an international disaster relief charity. For several years she worked on consultancy assignments on public health and Water, Hygiene and Sanitation (WASH) for various UN organisations and international NGOs in countries such as Ecuador, Nepal and Zimbabwe.
Madeleine Thomson PhD – Expert in Residence
Madeleine is an Expert in Residence in Technology Transfer and is providing specialist advice to the Trust on its Environment, Health and Nutrition portfolio. She is a Senior Research Scientist at Columbia University, New York where she is the Director the IRI-Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)/World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Center (US-306) for Early Warning Systems for Malaria and Other Climate Sensitive Diseases.She trained originally as a field entomologist and has spent much of her career engaged in operational research in support of large-scale health interventions, mostly in Africa. Her current research focuses on the development of new methodologies and tools for improving climate sensitive health interventions.
Stephen Connor Ph.D. FRSPSoc. – Expert in Residence
Steve is an Expert in Residence in Technology Transfer and is providing specialist advice to the Trust on its Environment, Health and Nutrition portfolio. His experience as a research and policy professional builds on 10 years as a Senior Research Scientist at Columbia University, New York where he was Director of Environmental Monitoring Research with activities in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Prior to this he was based at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine working on DfID and MRC projects on health and the environment. Steve’s research has focussed on the interaction of climate, environment, economy and social vulnerability in determining changing patterns, or persistence, of disease.