Dr Martin O'Kane

Regional Head of Regulatory Affairs EU Policy & Liaison, Novartis Pharmaceuticals

Martin O’Kane PhD is Regional Head of Regulatory Affairs EU Policy & Liaison at Novartis Pharmaceuticals, responsible for developing and implementing complex regulatory strategies in global development and enabling regulatory compliance. He is co-chair of the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries Associations (EFPIA) Clinical Trials Regulation Pillar and is a member of the BIA Regulatory Affairs Advisory Committee. Martin has seventeen years’ previous experience in medicines regulation working in the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), the majority of which was in the clinical trials field including scientific assessment of trial applications and development of policy, guidance, and legislation relevant to the UK’s exit from the EU and the UK response to COVID-19.

Dr Rubina Ahmed

Director of Research, Policy and Services , Blood Cancer UK

Dr Rubina Ahmed is the Director of Research, Policy and Services at Blood Cancer UK where she is accountable for the delivery of the charity’s mission-focused programmes.  Her team is responsible for delivery of research funding programmes; health information and services that support people affected by blood cancer including a bespoke clinical trials support service; and policy and advocacy work. The charity recently published the Blood Cancer Action Plan, which highlights the importance of clinical trials in blood cancer.

Rubina holds a PhD in Immunology and an MSc in Management. She has broad experience as a senior leader in the health and life sciences sector working in strategy development and implementation, scientific research funding, policy and influencing, change management, health inequalities, and delivery of beneficiary services by charities. She has developed her career across both the public and charity sector, including in roles with the Wellcome Trust, Cancer Research UK and the Stroke Association. Rubina has worked extensively with national bodies and policymakers, including serving on the Stroke Delivery Programme Board for NHS England, development of national clinical guidelines, clinical trials funding and regulations, and with organisations such as the AMRC and Richmond Group of Charities.

Alongside her role at Blood Cancer UK she is a Council Member of the British Science Association – a charity focused on the engagement of the public in science; and for Pro Bono Economics – a charity which works to demonstrate the economic value of civil society organisations to policy and decision-makers.

Professor Manohar Bance

Professor of Otology and Skull Base Surgery, University of Cambridge

Professor  Bance is the Professor of Otology and Skull Base Surgery at the University of Cambridge. Prior to 2017, he was Chair of the Dept of Otolaryngology, Dalhousie University in Canada.  He is a surgeon-scientist, who runs a basic science lab. He also runs a genetic hearing loss clinic, and has been involved with first in human studies for gene therapy for hearing loss

Lucy Chappell

Chief Scientific Adviser, Department of Health and Social Care, And Chief Executive Officer, The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR)

Professor Lucy Chappell is Chief Scientific Adviser to the Department of Health and Social Care and Chief Executive Officer of the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), the UK’s largest funder of health and care research. The Chief Scientific Adviser has overall responsibility for DHSC research and development and for supporting analysis and life sciences across the Department. Prof Chappell provides science advice to ministers across the range of health topics and is involved in cross-government science policy. Prof Chappell is also Professor of Obstetrics at King’s College London, working mainly in clinical trials in pregnancy, and a practising Consultant Obstetrician at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust.

Clive Collett

Head of Policy and Engagement, Health Research Authority

Clive Collett is the Head of Policy & Engagement within the Health Research Authority’s Policy & Partnerships Directorate. He has over 25 years of experience of research regulation and research ethics committees within the NHS. He is currently involved in the update to the UK’s Clinical Trials Regulations, including the introduction of new research transparency requirements. He has a biology degree, PgDip in Healthcare Ethics and an MA in Medical Ethics & Law. He is a lay member of the Ministry of Defence Research Ethics Committee (MODREC).

Lord James O'Shaughnessy

Senior Partner, Newmarket Strategy

James is co-founder and Senior Partner of Newmarket Strategy, a consultancy dedicated to improving access to health innovation by providing strategic advice and technical support to the healthcare, life sciences and health tech sectors. He is also a non-executive director at HDR-UK and the Albion Development VCT plc. In early 2023 James was commissioned by the Government to carry out an independent review of commercial clinical trials in the UK, which was published in May. James has operated at the highest levels of government, including as a Minister at the Department for Health & Social Care, as Director of the No.10 Policy Unit, and as an advisor to DHSC Ministers during the COVID-19 crisis. As Minister his responsibilities included implementing the Life Science Industrial Strategy, delivering a new pricing scheme with the pharmaceutical industry, chairing the National Genomics Board, and driving the digital transformation of the NHS. He was also responsible for preparing the health and social care sectors for Brexit and helping to design the post-Brexit regulatory regime.

James Pound

Interim Executive Director, MHRA

James Pound joined the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) in 2008. He has worked in a variety of roles within the MHRA and is an executive leader within the Agency with responsibility for our Innovation Accelerator (the home of our innovative pathways for medicines and medical devices), the clinical investigations and trials group and the standards and compliance function which includes our Medicines GXP compliance teams, British Pharmacopoeia and medical devices audit and compliance. James led the cross-Agency response to clinical trial assessment delays in 2023 which were successfully eliminated in Autumn 2023 with sustained performance by the Agency since then.

He holds an honours degree in Chemistry and has previously worked in a variety of roles in development and manufacturing in the pharmaceutical industry.