Galien week of innovation

Professor Sir Munir Pirmohamed (MB ChB, PhD, FRCPE, FRCP, FFPM. FRSB, FBPhS, FMedSci) is David Weatherall Chair in Medicine at the University of Liverpool, NHS Chair of Pharmacogenetics, and a Consultant Physician at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital. 

He is Director of the Centre for Drug Safety Sciences, Director of the Wolfson Centre for Personalised Medicine, and Director of HDR North.  He is also leading a recently awarded Centre for Excellence in Regulatory Science and Innovation in Pharmacogenomics. 

He is an inaugural National Institute for Health and Care Research Senior Investigator, Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences in the UK, and Honorary Fellow of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine. 

He is Chair of the Commission Human Medicines, and a medical trustee for the British Heart Foundation.  He was President of British Pharmacological Society from January 2020-December 2021, and President of the Association of Physicians in 2023. He was awarded a Knights Bachelor in the Queen’s Birthday Honours in 2015. His research focuses on personalised medicine, clinical pharmacology, data science and drug safety in a variety of disease areas.  He has published over 700 papers and has an H-index of 127.

Anne-Marie (Annie) Martin, PhD, is a Senior Vice President of Oncology Translational Medicine at GSK, where she leads a global team responsible for translational medicine strategy to deliver all clinical pharmacology, clinical biomarkers and diagnostic development into pipeline

Opportunities. Prior to re-joining GSK in 2020, Annie was the SVP, Global Head of Precision Medicine at Novartis Pharmaceuticals, where she was responsible for the development, implementation and execution of the Precision Medicine Strategy supporting all clinical development, registration and commercialization. Before her tenure at Novartis, she held a series of positions with increasing responsibility at GSK from 2005 until 2015. Preceding her career in the pharmaceutical industry, Annie held an academic appointment in the Department of Hematology and Oncology at the University of Pennsylvania and was the Director of Molecular Diagnostics and Immunohistochemistry in the Pathology Department of Pennsylvania Hospital. During her tenure at UPENN, she received research funding from the Susan G. Komen Foundation, the Leiomyosarcoma Foundation, Fibro-ossificans Progressiva.

Foundation and the NIH through a SPORE grant. Annie has more than 20 years of experience in the health care and biopharmaceutical sectors leading the development, implementation and execution of precision medicine strategies. This has culminated in the approval of more than 15 precision medicines across multiple diseases and indications, including inflammatory disease, cancer and neurology. She currently serves on the Scientific Advisory Board Beyond Celiac and the City of London Cancer Centre. Annie has published more than 50 manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals. She holds a PhD in immunology and molecular biology.

Karin Conde-Knape, PhD, is Chief Scientific Officer at Valo Health, Inc., where she oversees scientific strategy and execution across a portfolio of AI-enabled drug discovery programs. Previously, she spent nearly a decade at Novo Nordisk in roles of increasing scope, most recently as Senior Vice President of Early Development and Global Drug Discovery, where she led research and early development across diabetes, cardiovascular, kidney disease, and translational science.

Earlier, as Corporate Vice President of Cardiovascular and Liver Diseases Research, she built Novo Nordisk's CVD and NASH research capabilities from the ground up, forging academic partnerships and shaping the company's expansion beyond its diabetes core. She was a key voice for the science behind Novo Nordisk's GLP-1 portfolio, including Ozempic and Wegovy.

Prior to Novo Nordisk, she spent eleven years at Hoffmann-La Roche, rising to Acting Head of Discovery after leading pharmacology and biomarker teams in cardiovascular and metabolism. At Johnson & Johnson, she led external innovation across Europe and Asia Pacific, evaluating opportunities and building the business cases for strategic partnerships.

Dr. Conde-Knape holds a Ph.D. in Nutritional Biochemistry from the University of Connecticut and has authored numerous publications in cardiometabolic disease biology and translational research.

She has been named one of the "Fiercest Women in Life Sciences" by Fierce Pharma and one of the top 20 women breaking new ground in biopharma R&D by Endpoints News.​

Dr. Schwarzbach has over 25 years of experience in biopharma and academia drug discovery and development.

Liz found her passion for pharmacology as a biologist in Merck Research Labs, later completing her doctorate in neuropharmacology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.

After gaining growth, portfolio, and investment strategy experience at L.E.K. Consulting’s Life Sciences practice, she transitioned to GlaxoSmithKline R&D Strategy team. Elizabeth served as the Chief Business Officer (CBO) at the New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF) Research Institute and for the last five years has been the CBO of BigHat Biosciences, a full-stack antibody discovery and engineering therapeutics company that integrates machine-learning with a high-speed wet lab to design better biologics faster for patients in need.

As Flagship Pioneering’s Chief Scientist and Executive Partner since 2023, Rupert works closely with origination teams on the science and strategy behind early-stage companies, helping evolve and position Flagship's bioplatforms for pipeline success.

He also advises Flagship's Pioneering Medicines on its expanding portfolio of therapeutic candidates. Previously, he served as Executive Vice President and President of Research at Bristol Myers Squibb, joining with its acquisition of Celgene in 2019. In this role, he led Research across all therapeutic areas from discovery through proof-of-concept, and worked closely with Business Development to identify external innovation. Before the acquisition, he was President of Celgene's Research and Early Development organization.

Prior to Celgene, he spent ten years at Merck in leadership roles spanning Early Development, Discovery Sciences, and the respiratory and immunology franchise, and five years at GlaxoSmithKline in drug discovery and experimental medicine.

Rupert graduated from Oxford University with degrees in physiological sciences (MA), clinical medicine (BM, BCh), and a DPhil in molecular immunology. He is an elected fellow of the Royal College of Physicians.

Professor Paul Workman is renowned internationally as a cancer research scientist and leader.

With extensive experience in academia, pharma and biotech (founder of Chroma Therapeutics, Piramed Pharma), he is known especially for the discovery of multiple small- molecule drugs and enabling research tools. Paul was instrumental in the discovery of the approved precision medicine drugs gefitinib and capivasertib for lung and breast cancer, respectively.

He built and directed the CRUK Cancer Therapeutics Unit (now Centre for Cancer Drug Discovery) at The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR), London, where he subsequently served as President and Chief Executive.

Currently Harrap Professor of Pharmacology and Therapeutics there, he also co-directs the CRUK Children’s Brain Tumour Centre of Excellence (ICR and Cambridge University) and directs the Chemical Probes Portal. He has won numerous awards and fellowships, including election as Fellow of the Royal Society; the Academy of Medical Sciences; the American Association for the Advancement of Science; and the AACR Academy; and is a CRUK Life Fellow.

Following his PhD in Cancer Pharmacology at Leeds University, Paul worked at the MRC Oncology Unit, Cambridge University; Stanford University, USA; CRUK Beatson Laboratories, Glasgow University; and Zeneca Pharmaceuticals (now AstraZeneca). He was awarded an OBE in the 2026 King’s New Year Honours list for services to cancer research.

Mel is a senior life sciences advisor with a passion for enabling patient access to innovation. In 2020, he founded BioPharma Futures, and more recently Access InVivo, offering strategic advice to pharma, biotech, healthtech and consulting companies. Mel’s approach focuses on global patient access with an emphasis on early commercial requirements that drive global launch, partnering or acquisition.

As a firm believer in patient-focused, evidence-based approaches, he delivers pragmatic, actionable advice based on extensive real-world experience of what it takes to succeed.

Mel has over 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry (Roche, GSK, Otsuka) and was a senior executive for ten years, sitting on global R&D, business development, digital health, and corporate strategy boards.

He holds a Bachelor of Pharmacy, a PHD in Health Outcomes, and has co-authored over 30 research papers and abstracts.

Over a decade ago, Dr. Marc Warner foresaw that AI would be the most important technology of our time.

To ensure it would be both safe and useful to the world, Marc co-founded Faculty in 2014. As Chief Executive, Marc has helped hundreds of public and private clients access cutting-edge AI and use it to improve the performance of their business.

Marc is asked to do things other leaders are not. He sat on the UK Prime Minister’s AI Council, and UK Government’s Digital Economy Advisory Group. He helped the NHS use AI to save thousands of lives during the Covid pandemic. He was one of only 100 people globally invited to the first AI Safety Summit.

He also served on the Court of Imperial College London, and was a Marie Curie Fellow in Physics at Harvard University.

Sarah Zohar is Director of Research at the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm) and Head of the HeKA research team, a joint unit of Inserm, Inria, and Université Paris Cité focused on health data- and model-driven knowledge acquisition. She is an expert in innovative methods for clinical trial design, with particular focus on adaptive designs for early-phase trials and approaches for rare diseases and small populations.

Dr. Zohar coordinates the EU Horizon INVENTS project, a collaboration of 15 academic and pharmaceutical partners developing innovative trial designs, extrapolation, and simulation methods for rare diseases to address regulatory needs. She co-coordinates the SMATCH project within France's Digital Health research program (France 2030), focused on statistical and AI-based methods for clinical trial challenges in digital health. She also holds work package leadership roles in the ORGESTRA MSCA training network and the FAIR EU H2020 project.

Since 2018, Dr. Zohar has served on the CNEDIMTS commission of the Haute Autorité de Santé, France's health technology assessment body. She began her career at Saint-Louis Hospital before joining Inserm in 2005, becoming Director of Research in 2014. A recipient of the Inserm Innovation Prize, she holds a PhD in Biomathematics from Université Paris Diderot.

Chinmay Bhatt is Head of Strategy, Operations and Program Excellence for Development at Novartis, where he oversees strategic planning and operational delivery across the company's global development portfolio. He brings extensive leadership experience spanning pharmaceutical strategy, commercial operations, and market access across multiple geographies. Previously, he served as Managing Director of Novartis UK, Ireland, and Nordics, where he was a member of the ABPI Board and the UK Life Sciences Council.

He earlier led Novartis Pharmaceuticals in Austria, serving as Vice President of Pharmig, the Austrian pharmaceutical industry association. Before his country leadership roles, he was Global Head of Strategy for Novartis Pharmaceuticals. Prior to joining Novartis, Chinmay spent over a decade at McKinsey & Company, where he was a Partner and leader of the EMEA Healthcare Practice. He began his career as a product and portfolio engineer at Becton Dickinson. Chinmay holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management, an MS in Chemical Engineering from North Carolina State University, and a BS in Chemical Engineering from BITS Pilani, India.

Dame Sally Davies was appointed as the UK Government’s Special Envoy on AMR in 2019. She is also the 40 th Master of Trinity College, Cambridge University.

Dame Sally was the Chief Medical Officer for England and Senior Medical Advisor to the UK Government from 2011-2019.

She is a leading figure in global health, having served as a member of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Executive Board 2014-2016, as co-convener of the United Nations Inter-Agency Co-ordination Group (IACG) on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), reporting in 2019, and member of the new UN Global Leaders Ground on AMR 2020-2025.

In the 2020 New Year Honours, Dame Sally became the second woman (and the first outside the Royal family) to be appointed Dame Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (GCB) for services to public health and research, having received her DBE in 2009.

Lawrence became the Chief Executive of the MHRA in April 2025. He joined the Agency at a pivotal time for UK healthcare and life sciences, with the Government setting out its aspirations in the NHS Ten-year Plan and the Life Sciences Sector Delivery Plan, both of which will be enabled by safe, agile and risk-proportionate regulation of medicines, novel treatments and technologies. Lawrence has described his plans for the MHRA to set the gold standard in safety and surveillance, to accelerate access to new medicines and treatments and to make a major contribution to research and innovation in UK life sciences. Before joining the MHRA, Lawrence spent five years as Deputy Chief Executive at Guy’s and St Thomas’ (GSTT) NHS Foundation Trust, one of the largest and most prestigious healthcare provider organisations in the UK. During Covid-19, he secured vital international supplies of medical equipment for the Trust and the wider UK. He led the successful merger of GSTT with the Royal Brompton and Harefield hospitals in 2021, creating a power-house of cardio-respiratory medicine and research. His role included oversight of the organisation’s strategy, technology, innovation, commercialisation and multiple major strategic change programmes.

In the decade prior to that, Lawrence worked in a range of executive strategy and leadership roles in university hospitals in the UK and Middle East. He was Director of Strategy, Planning and Performance at University Hospitals Birmingham, Managing Director of the Shelford Group of UK university hospitals and an Executive Director at Hamad Medical Corporation in Qatar, one of the leading academic medical centres in the Middle East. Lawrence began his career working for the UK Government in Whitehall, as a fast stream civil servant at the Department of Health and Social Care, before working for the Secretary of State for Health and running the headquarters of the NHS Chief Executive. He worked on a range of high profile national policy issues, working across government and with No.10 Downing Street, Her Majesty’s Treasury and the Cabinet Office, and becoming a senior civil servant within the Department of Health and Social Care. He holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in History from the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, and a Master’s degree in Global Health Policy from Imperial College London. He is a fellow of the Sciana Network of European health leaders.

Professor Alastair Denniston is Chair of the UK’s National Commission into the Regulation of AI in Healthcare, an NIHR Senior Investigator, Professor in Regulatory Science and Innovation at the University of Birmingham, and a clinician at University Hospitals Birmingham NHSFT.

He is Director of the UK’s Centre of Excellence for Regulatory Science and Innovation in AI & Digital Health (CERSI-AI), is a Member of the UK Government’s Regulatory Horizons Council and is Non-Executive Director to the UK’s Health Research Authority.

He is passionate about supporting innovation in advanced digital and AI health technologies to accelerate the development of products that are effective, safe, and equitable, and that make a difference to people in the ‘real world’.

Johanna Furuhjelm works at the intersection of health innovation and applied research, currently serving as Director of the Centre for AI Innovation at Karolinska Institutet and Deputy Node Leader and Node Coordinator for TEF-Health (Testing and Experimentation Facilities for Health AI and Robotics) in Sweden. Her work focuses on supporting the development and testing of AI and robotics solutions in healthcare, helping researchers and companies bring new technologies closer to clinical use.

At Karolinska Institutet, Johanna helps make research infrastructure and expertise more accessible to external partners, fostering collaboration between academia and industry. Through TEF-Health, she contributes to building a national testbed for health AI, aimed at improving the quality and safety of emerging technologies. Previously, Johanna was Administrative Director for Cancer Research KI, where she supported strategic and operational development across the cancer research field.

She also has experience in market intelligence and business development within the biotech and healthcare sectors, working with innovations from academia, start-ups, and industry.

She holds a PhD and MSc in Biosciences from the University of Helsinki, and has a background in project management, strategic planning, and research translation.

Petra Dörr has been Director of the European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines & HealthCare (EDQM) since October 2021. A pharmacist by training, she brings more than 25 years of experience spanning the pharmaceutical industry, regulatory authorities, and international health organizations.

Dr. Dörr spent her first decade in industry, rising to Vice President of Regulatory Affairs for Europe, Africa, and Asia at Valeant Pharmaceuticals. She then joined Swissmedic, the Swiss Agency for Therapeutic Products, in 2004, where over 15 years she advanced to Deputy Executive Director, overseeing international collaboration, communications, and quality management systems. At Swissmedic, she took on significant international leadership roles: Chair of the International Pharmaceutical Regulators Forum (2013–2016), Vice-Chair of the ICH Assembly (elected 2018), and member of the ICH and IPRP Management Committees. She represented Swissmedic at the International Coalition of Medicines Regulatory Authorities and served on the Scientific Advisory Council of the Centre for Innovation in Regulatory Science. Before joining EDQM, Dr. Dörr served as Head of Regulation and Safety at the World Health Organization, leading teams responsible for pharmacovigilance, regulatory system strengthening, and global regulatory convergence.

Sir Harpal has been a President at GRAIL since 2020. Before GRAIL, he was SVP and Head of Innovation EMEA at Johnson & Johnson. Prior to this, he spent more than 15 years with Cancer Research UK, serving as CEO from April 2007 until June 2018, before that CEO of Cancer Research Technology from 2002 to 2007.

Before CRUK, he worked with McKinsey & Co, and was CEO of The Papworth Trust and Nexan Group. Sir Harpal received a Masters in Chemical Engineering from the University of Cambridge, and an MBA as a Baker Scholar from Harvard Business School. He has been awarded Honorary Doctorates from the Universities of Manchester, Newcastle, Glasgow, and the Institute of Cancer Research, and is an Honorary Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences, Royal College of Radiologists, Association of Cancer Physicians (UK) and St John’s College, Cambridge. In 2016, he was knighted for services to cancer research. He is a Board Member of Our Future Health and Chair of Our Future Health Trading Ltd. He chairs the Global Advisory Group for the Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital and is a member of the Advisory Council for EACR. He previously served on the Boards of UKRI, Innovate UK and the Francis Crick Institute.

Professor Dame Anna Dominiczak is internationally recognised for her leadership in cardiovascular medicine, precision medicine, and health innovation.

She held the British Heart Foundation Chair of Cardiovascular Medicine at the University of Glasgow from 1997 to 2010, served as Director of the BHF Cardiovascular Research Centre from 2000 to 2010, and was Vice-Principal and Head of the College of Medical, Veterinary and Life  Sciences.

Between 2010 and 2020. She led the development of Glasgow’s clinical academic campus at Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, including the Imaging Centre of Excellence and Clinical Innovation Zone, where she led a triple helix partnership between academia, the NHS, and industry to accelerate innovation, and maximise patient benefits and economic growth. Her research focuses on hypertension, cardiovascular genomics, and precision medicine. She has published over 550 peer-reviewed papers, holds an h-index of 124, and has secured over £100 million in research funding. Prof. Dominiczak has held leadership roles in major scientific societies, including President of the European Society of Hypertension and the Association of Physicians of Great Britain and Ireland.

She was awarded a DBE in the 2016 Queen’s Birthday Honours for services to cardiovascular and medical science. From 2020 to 2022,

she was Director of Laboratories at the UK Department of Health and Social Care, leading the Lighthouse Laboratory network. In July 2022, she was appointed as the Chief Scientific Advisor (Health) for the Scottish Government, where she leads and coordinates health research and innovation, working in partnership with the NHS, academia and industry to develop rapid translation and adoption of transformative innovations for the Scottish NHS.

David holds a PhD from the University of Cambridge and completed a Leverhulme postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Toronto.

He joined GSK in 2007, initially developing large-scale manufacturing processes for small molecule therapies before leading research and technology transfer programmes between R&D and Global Manufacturing. Following a secondment to GSK's CEO Future Strategy Group, he moved to Target Sciences in a joint role with Wellcome Genome Campus as Open Targets' founding Strategy and Operations Director, helping architect the consortium's research programme and pharmaceutical partnerships.

In 2023, he was appointed Executive Director of Open Targets, which integrates world-leading research institutes (Wellcome Sanger and EMBL-EBI) with five of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies, combining experimental and informatic approaches to transform drug target identification using genetics and genomics. Over 11 years, the consortium has awarded 99 large-scale research projects to collaborative teams across the UK, Europe, and the United States. Key outcomes include identification of WRN as a potential target for MSS cancer and development of the globally recognised Open Targets Platform.

David also serves as Head of Industry Relations for EMBL-EBI and advises both EMBLEM (EMBL's translational arm) and the Sanger Institute Translational Fund.

Thomas Lines is an entrepreneur, scientist, and inventor who serves as Founder, CEO, and Director of Quercis Pharma AG, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Zug, Switzerland. In 2022, the company was named a «Top Ten Biotech Startup in Europe» by Life Sciences Review.

Mr. Lines previously founded the California based FRS Company after creating and patenting the FRS Formula, and founded FRS International LLC in 2004.

Mr. Lines is recognized for his expertise on naturally occurring small molecules as disease prevention agents with a specific emphasis on flavonoids, and has authored numerous scientific publications.

He has managed collaborations with large multinationals including Coca Cola, Merck, Novartis, and GSK, as well as the United States Government Department of Defense.

Since 2010, his family companies have managed an experimental agricultural program to improve sustainable crop growth in developing countries.

Professor Julie Makani is Professor of Medicine in Tanzania at Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (MUHAS) and SickleInAfrica Clinical Coordinating Centre.

She also serves as Visiting Professor at Imperial College London and Science Advisor at the Tanzania High Commission in the UK and East, Central, Southern Africa Health Committee (ECSA-HC).

She received the 2011 Royal Society Africa Award and is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, Tutu Leadership, and Tanzania Academy of Sciences.