Health Innovation Challenge Fund Joint Funding Panel
The Health Innovation Challenge Fund (HICF) Joint Funding Panel makes funding decisions on HICF proposals.
The Panel considers each application that includes the detailed opinions of experts who have been consulted on the proposal.
The Panel has a pool of independent members and ad hoc members with theme-specific skills and knowledge. The Panel meets twice a year
Members
Dr William Burns
Panel role: Chair
Dr Joseph Smith
Chief Medical and Science Officer, West Wireless Health Institute, San Diego, California
Panel role: Independent member
Mr Tim Haines
Partner, Abingworth Management
Panel role: Independent member
Professor Thomas J Walley
Professor of Clinical Pharmacology, University of Liverpool
Panel role: Independent member
Professor Richard Hobbs
Head of Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford
Panel role: Independent member
Professor Simon Lovestone
Professor of Old Age Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London and Director, NIHR Biomedical Research Centre for Mental Health, South London and Maudsley NHS Trust and the Institute of Psychiatry
Panel role: Independent member
Professor John Danesh
Professor of Epidemiology & Medicine and Head of the Department of Public Health and Primary Care, University of Cambridge
Panel role: Independent member
Dr Richard Seabrook, Wellcome Trust
Panel role: Wellcome Trust member
Professor Stephen Smye
Director of Research and Development at the Leeds Teaching Hospitals, Deputy Director of the UK Clinical Research Network and Honorary Professor of Medical Physics and Health Research in the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health at Leeds University
Panel role: Independent member
Dr Ursula Gebhardt
Independent Consultant
Panel role: Independent member
Charles Spicer
Independent Consultant
Panel role: Independent member
Dr Glenn Wells, Department of Health
Panel role: Department of Health observer
Dr Ted Bianco, Wellcome Trust
Panel role: Wellcome Trust observer
Dr Tim Knott, Wellcome Trust
Panel role: Wellcome Trust observer
Biographies of members
William M Burns William M Burns has had a long career in the global pharmaceuticals industry, having worked for many years for Roche; most recently as Chief Executive Officer of their Pharmaceuticals Division and as a member of the Roche Group Corporate Executive Committee. He has extensive experience of international pharmaceuticals and of mergers and acquisitions. Among his many achievements during his time with Roche, he had significant involvement in the acquisition and privatisation of Genentech, he led the integration of Boehringer Mannheim Therapeutics and he played a lead role in the negotiations resulting in Roche becoming a majority owner of Chugai in Japan. He retired from Roche in January 2010, but was appointed to be a member of the board of Roche Holdings in 2010, and continueson the board of Chugai Pharmaceuticals. He has been a non-executive Director of Shire plc since March 2010 and is also Chairman of the Board of Biotie;Vestergaard-Frandsen;Okairos)and Masters Pharmaceuticals.
Dr Joe Smith MD PhD, is currently Chief Medical and Science Officer of the West Wireless Health Institute in San Diego, California. His background includes an undergraduate degree in Electrical Engineering (EE) from Johns Hopkins University, a Master's degree in EE from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), a PhD in Medical Engineering and Medical Physics from the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, and an MD from Harvard Medical School. He completed his medical internship and residency at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, and completed his cardiology and clinical electrophysiology training at Brigham and Women's hospital, the Krannert Institute of Cardiology in Indianapolis, and Washington University in St. Louis. From 1991 through 2000, he held academic positions at the School of Medicine (Cardiology) and the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis and served as Associate Director of Cardiac Electrophysiology at Barnes Hospital. From there, he went on to found the Arrhythmia Institute in Fairfax Virginia, a center of excellence in clinical cardiac electrophysiology and clinical research. From January 2003 through December of 2006 he served as Senior VP and Chief Medical Officer of Guidant /Boston Scientific - Cardiac Rhythm Management, where he provided senior scientific and medical leadership in research and development, new product planning, clinical trial design and conduct, healthcare and reimbursement policy, and medical education. He joined Johnson & Johnson in 2007 as Vice President, Microelectronic Technologies for Cordis Corporation, a Johnson & Johnson company and was later Vice President, Emerging Technologies for Johnson & Johnson in the Corporate Office of Science and Technology. Dr Smith has published in the areas of cardiac electrophysiology with special interest in ICD technology, catheter ablation, atrial fibrillation, and quantitative analytical techniques in biomedical signal processing, has been a consultant to many companies involved in the advancement of innovative medical technologies, and holds a number of patents in the area of signal processing and catheter and defibrillator design.
Tim Haines is a Partner with venture capital firm Abingworth Management and has more than 24 years of international management experience in the life sciences industry. Before joining Abingworth in 2005 he was Chief Executive of the Abingworth portfolio company, Astex Therapeutics. Tim was with Astex for more than five years and was instrumental in establishing it as one of the leading UK biotechnology companies. During his time at Astex, the company accessed more than £50 million in venture capital and closed over $1 billion in deal value potential with pharmaceutical companies. Previously, Tim was Chief Executive of two divisions of the publicly-listed medical technology company, Datascope Corp. Prior to Datascope, he held a number of other senior management positions in the US and Europe. Current and past board positions include Astex Therapeutics, Fovea, HBI, IMI, PowderMed (acquired by Pfizer), Stanmore Orthopedic and XCounter (AIM). Tim has a BSc from Exeter University and an MBA from INSEAD. Tim has also served on the Board of the Biotechnology Industry Association (BIA) and currently sits of on the Venture Committee of the BVCA. At Abingworth, he identifies and creates new businesses and provides support for portfolio companies.
Professor Thomas J Walley MB, BCh, MD, FRCPI, FRCP, CBE, has been Professor of Clinical Pharmacology at Liverpool University since 1994, also working as a Consultant Physician at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital. He formerly headed a research group at Liverpool University, focusing on drug prescribing, pharmaceutical policy, and clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness. Since 2004, he has been on secondment to the NHS, as Director of the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Health Technology Assessment programme (info), and in 2008 his role was expanded to Director of Evaluation, Trials and Studies. He was awarded a CBE in 2008 for services to medicine.Professor Walley's main research interests include prescribing behaviour, pharmaceutical policy, clinical-effectiveness and cost-effectiveness.
Professor Richard Hobbs FRCGP, FRCP, FMedSci, was until recently Professor and Head of Primary Care Clinical Sciences at the School of Medicine, University of Birmingham. He is co-Director of the Quality and Outcomes (QOF) Review Panel and Acting Director of the NIHR School for Primary Care Research. He sits on several national and international scientific boards, including chairing the Council for Primary Care of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC), the Prevention and Care Board of the British Heart Foundation and the European Primary Care Cardiovascular Society. He is also a member of the Council of the British Heart Foundation, the Advisory Council of the Medical Research Council and the Board of the British Primary Care Cardiovascular Society.Professor Hobbs‘ research interests focus on cardiovascular epidemiology, vascular risk and heart failure. His publications include 25 book chapters, nine edited books and more than 270 original papers in peer reviewed journals. His research and expertise has impacted on international health policies for clinical care. Within National Health Service policy, this advice includes National Frameworks for coronary heart disease and for heart failure and several assessments for NICE. He has provided clinical care in inner-city general practice for more than 25 years.
Professor Simon Lovestone FMedSci, PhD, MRCPsych, is Professor of Old Age Psychiatry at the Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London and Director of the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre for Mental Health at the South London and Maudsley NHS Trust and the Institute of Psychiatry.
He studied Microbiology at Sheffield University and then Medicine at Southampton University and has continued to practice both medicine and molecular science ever since. After working as a junior doctor in medicine and in health care of the elderly he trained in Psychiatry and then obtained a Wellcome trust fellowship to study the molecular relationship between plaques and tangles in Alzheimer’s disease. He has an MPhil in Psychiatry for his research, whilst a trainee psychiatrist, on the mental health of new fathers under the supervision of Professor Channi Kumar and a PhD in biochemistry resulting from his Wellcome Trust fellowship supervised by Professor Brian Anderton. He became a Senior Lecturer and then a Reader in Old Age Psychiatry and Neuroscience before becoming Professor at the Institute and consultant Old Age Psychiatrist at the Maudsley hospital. In addition to heading a multi-disciplinary Old Age Psychiatry clinical team he has clinical interests in the dementias and in genetic counselling.Professor Lovestone is the Director of the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre for Mental Health founded in 2007, Deputy director of the MRC Centre for Neurodegeneration Research, chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Alzheimer’s Research Trust and has been a member of the Wellcome Trust Neurosciences panel and part of the MRC College of experts.
Professor John Danesh MB, ChB, MSc, Dphil, is Professor of Epidemiology & Medicine and Head of the Department of Public Health and Primary Care, University of Cambridge.He trained in medicine at the University of Otago in New Zealand and at the Royal Melbourne Hospital in Australia. As a Rhodes scholar, he trained in epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and at the University of Oxford. He was elected to his present position at the University of Cambridge in 2000. He was awarded Fellowship of the Royal College of Physicians of London in 2007. Professor Danesh leads a research group of over 30 staff and students investigating the genetic, biochemical and lifestyle determinants of cardiovascular disease in large-scale epidemiological studies. He has authored over 100 scientific publications that have attracted about 7000 citations to date. He leads several international data pooling collaborations, such as the 1 million-person Emerging Risk Factors Collaboration. His group is principally funded by the British Heart Foundation (BHF), the UK Medical Research Council (MRC), the Wellcome Trust, GlaxoSmithKline, the BUPA Foundation and the Evelyn Trust.
Professor Stephen Smye is Director of Research and Development at the Leeds Teaching Hospitals, Deputy Director of the UK Clinical Research Network and Honorary Professor of Medical Physics and Health Research in the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health at Leeds University.He has worked in nuclear medicine and bioengineering, and was Head of Medical Physics and Engineering at the Leeds Teaching Hospitals from 1998 until 2008. He was also President of the Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine (2001-2003). His research interests lie in mathematical modelling of physiological processes. He has played a key role in encouraging high quality translational research and innovation, including supporting good working relationships between physical scientists and clinicians at both a local and national level. These collaborations currently entail research programmes in a number of areas including; modelling drug transport in tumours (with Dr Roger Philips, University of Bradford, Professor Brian Sleeman, Department of Applied Mathematics and Dr Pam Jones, Leeds Institute of Molecular Medicine), electroporation (with Professor Peter Olmsted, Physics Department), the development of a novel in-vivo electroporation technique (with Dr Martin Robinson, University of York and Dr Tony Evans, Division of Medical Physics) and measurement and modelling of the gravid uterus electro-hysterograms (with Professor Arun Holden, Faculty of Biological Sciences and Mr Nigel Simpson Faculty of Medicine and Health). Previous work has included modelling the variation of blood gases in ventilated neonates, optimising the delivery of drug aerosols, the development of electrical techniques for the measurement of hydration status, the development and use of mathematical models to measure dialysis efficiency and clot formation, the use of TeraHertz radiation to measure tissue properties and application of neural networks to clinical datasets. Funders include NIHR, EPSRC, Yorkshire Cancer Research, MRC, Leukaemia Research Fund, SPARKS, NHS R&D. He was co-applicant on a recent successful application to the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) to create a Health Technology Cooperative (Devices for Dignity), led by Professor Wendy Tindale of the Sheffield Teaching Hospitals Foundation Trust. He has also been involved in the development of NHS policy for Research and Development, and is a member of the NIHR Advisory board and the MHRA Medical Technology Forum. He is also a member of the Royal College of Physician's Standing Committee on Academic Medicine and was made an honorary Fellow of the College in 2005.
Dr Ursula Gebhardt holds a PhD in Human Biology from the University of Giessen and an MSc in Electrical Engineering from Aachen. She worked for 7 years in pacemaker development for the Dutch company Vitatron prior to and following its acquisition by Medtronic. Her career with Medtronic began with leadership of the catheter ablation and diagnostics business based in Belgium before transferring to Minneapolis as VP for the atrial fibrillation business with the Cardiac Rhythm Management division. Ursula assumed the role of VP and General Manager for Heart Failure management in 2000 then between 2004-2009 she became VP Research for New Technologies & Diagnostics in the Cardiac Rhythm Disease Management division.Since 2009 Dr Gebhardt has worked as a business development consultant in the medical technology field and for Medtronic venture activities.
Charles Spicer is an experienced company director, corporate finance adviser and healthcare investor with a particular focus on medical technology. He is currently a director of Stanmore Implants, the custom implant specialist, and an adviser to several other companies in the sector including Asterand, Aircraft Medical, Glide Pharmaceuticals and Imperial Innovations.He was previously chief executive of MDY Healthcare plc, the strategic healthcare investor where he led investments in a number of medtech companies including Medivance, AOI Medical, Cozart and Stanmore Implants.Prior to that, he was head of healthcare corporate finance at both Numis Securities and Nomura International advising clients including Gyrus, Biocompatibles, Axis-Shield, Abcam, Ark Therapeutics, Intercare, Biotrace, Protherics and Biofocus.He is also a member of the techMARK Advisory Group at the London Stock Exchange, the deputy chair of governors at Marion Richardson School and a governor and director of Gresham's Schools. He has an MA in history from Cambridge University.