Steve Bates

Chief Executive Officer

Steve Bates is the CEO of the UK Bioindustry Association, the UK’s Trade Association for innovative life science companies with over 550 members. Steve is the visible face of the vibrant UK life sciences industry to government and media. He serves on the UK Government’s Life Sciences Council and the UK Biosecurity Leadership Council. Steve was a founder member of the UK Government’s Vaccine Taskforce in the Covid crisis, sitting on its steering Board alongside Kate Bingham. He is active member and former chair the International Council of Biotech Associations and has been a board member of EuropaBio since 2015.

Steve has championed, with government, effective industrial incentives like the Biomedical Catalyst, which have crowded in private sector investment into UK SMEs. He is a driving force behind the scale up agenda, spearheading policy agenda to unlock UK pension fund capital into productive UK growth in life sciences. He has forged several links for the sector across the USA, Europe and in China. In his time at the BIA, Steve has developed new member groups focused on cell and gene therapy, genomics and engineered biology. A strong advocate of partnership working, Steve champions sector collaboration with research charities and academia. Proud to lead an organisation with a diverse Board with over 40% female representation, Steve is committed to next generation talent and developing the skills needed for the sector to flourish. Before joining the BIA in 2012, Steve worked for Genzyme and was advisor to the UK Government of Tony Blair working on NHS reform and the Northern Ireland peace process. He was made OBE for services to innovation in 2017 and became a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Science in 2020.

: stevebatesuk
: @SteveBatesUK

Alice Brown

Chief Scientific Officer, Purespring Therapeutics Ltd

Prior to joining Purespring, Alice was a Senior Director in the department of Cell Therapy Innovation at Takeda Pharmaceuticals following the acquisition by Takeda of GammaDelta Therapeutics in 2021, where Alice had held the roles of VP Research and, before that, VP Gene Engineering.

At GammaDelta Alice built and lead the research team and was responsible for developing multiple cell therapy programs from discovery through to completion of pre-clinical development. Alice joined GammaDelta from PsiOxus Therapeutics where she was the Director of Biology.

Alice holds a degree and PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Bristol and carried out her post-doctoral research in Immunology at Imperial College London.

Roz Campion

Director, Office for Life Sciences

Rosalind is the Director of the Office for Life Sciences in the UK Government. OLS is a joint unit which is part of the Department for Health and Social Care and the Department for Science Innovation and Technology. OLS brings together government, the NHS, academia and industry to drive improvements in patient outcomes and economic growth through its support for the life sciences sector. Roz joined OLS in November 2021.

 Rosalind began her career as a solicitor working in the City before moving into government. Within government she has extensive experience of working on social and economic policy issues, with roles spanning the setting up and running of the Sentencing Council, to leadership roles in the Cabinet Office, the Home Office and in the Department of International Trade. She spent a number of years working as a diplomat in Washington DC and Tokyo.

Stella Peace

Executive Director for Healthy Living and Agriculture, Innovate UK

Dr Stella Peace is a purpose driven leader who is passionate about the role of science and technology to create transformational innovations. Stella’s experiences span academic research, international business and more recently UKRI where she is Executive Director for Healthy Living and Agriculture at Innovate UK Before joining Innovate UK, Stella had over twenty-five years’ experience as an international business leader in the consumer goods industry and Life Sciences sector. Throughout her career she has led R&D teams to deliver local, regional and global business innovations for iconic, household brands that that drive growth. Stella’s academic background is in Chemistry with a PhD in Polymer Chemistry. She is a keen runner and passionate foodie.

Mark Proctor

Vice President and Site General Manager, AstraZeneca

Mark Proctor is the Vice President and Site GM for AstraZeneca UK Operations in Macclesfield (UK), where over 1500 colleagues perform a range of manufacturing across oral solid dose formulation, parenterals, sterile manufacturing, and packing for global distribution to over 117 markets worldwide. Prior to this role, Mark has held several senior roles across biopharmaceutical development, quality, supply chain, vaccine technical operations, and site leadership. In addition to his role at AstraZeneca, Mark is a lay-council member and trustee for the University of Liverpool – established in 1881 as the first red-brick University and part of the internationally renowned Russell Group. Mark is a Fellow of the Institute of Chemical Engineers, holds a Master’s degree in Biochemical Engineering (UCL), an Executive MBA (Bayes Business School, London), and Certificate in Company Direction (IoD). He was recognized nationally with a CBE in the 2021 Queen’s Birthday Honours in recognition of his services to the Covid-19 response. Mark is also the AstraZeneca representative on MMIP.