BIA North-West regional focus: Data-driven pandemic preparedness

Steve Bates OBE

Chief Executive Officer

What does your role at BIA involve?

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.

Previous experience & achievements

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.

Helen Bright

VP of Research & Development, Centauri Therapeutics

Helen is an esteemed virologist/immunologist with 30 years of experience in infectious diseases within the biopharmaceutical industry. Helen joins Centauri Therapeutics from Medicines Discovery Catapult where she was Head of Infection Biology, supporting UK academic and SME innovators in the discovery and development of novel anti-infectives, vaccines and diagnostics. Prior to this, Helen held senior scientific and operational leadership positions at AstraZeneca, Pfizer and GSK, advancing novel small molecule, antibody and vaccine candidates from discovery to the clinic and product launch. Helen holds a PhD in virology and immunology from Newcastle upon Tyne University.

Rachel Freeman

Engagement Manager, IQVIA

Rachel is an infectious disease epidemiologist by training with over 15 years of experience working in the field of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). She has held positions across several sectors including healthcare, academia, public health, and industry. Rachel is passionate about incorporating data into solutions designed to tackle AMR, and has spent the majority of her career implementing surveillance systems and optimising data collection. At IQVIA, Rachel is leading the development of innovative offerings aimed at reducing inappropriate antimicrobial prescribing. She is also excited about the potential for increased collaboration between sectors in addressing the threat posed by AMR, and is leading engagements with national bodies in support of generating valuable data assets that may be used to provide powerful insights. Prior to joining IQVIA, Rachel worked at Public Health England (now the UK Health Security Agency) and led in the generation of estimates of inappropriate antibiotic prescribing in secondary care to inform commitments included in Tackling antimicrobial resistance 2019-2024: The UK’s five-year national action plan. She also led the introduction of legislation to improve the quality of data received by public health bodies about antimicrobial-resistant bacteria, making it a legal requirement for diagnostic laboratories in England to report acquired carbapenemase-producing Gram-negative bacteria. Rachel holds a PhD from Imperial College London, with her thesis exploring the application of statistical models for the automated detection of outbreaks in the hospital setting using routinely collected data held at local and national levels.

Caryn Hughes

Programme Manager, The Pandemic Institute

Prior to joining, Caryn was Manager of the Doctoral Training Hub at the University of Glasgow, leading a multi-institutional team responsible for providing end-to-end management and administration for numerous UKRI-funded Centres for Doctoral Training (CDTs) and also served as Coordinator for the CDT in Future Ultrasonic Engineering in partnership with Strathclyde University. Preceding this, Caryn worked as a Business Development Manager for an EPSRC and SFI CDT between the University of Glasgow, Queen’s University Belfast and the Irish Photonic Integration Centre. Caryn’s former research background was based on spectral pathology for disease-state diagnostics, working as PhD student and Research Associate at the Cancer Research UK Manchester Institute, the Analytical and Medical Vibrational Spectroscopy Group at the Manchester Institute of Biotechnology and as a Visiting Researcher at the Spectral Analytics Laboratory at the University of Strathclyde.

Ray Kent

COO, The Pandemic Institute

Dr Ray Kent is a senior manager with a passion for supporting leading-edge research into emerging infectious diseases and facilitating knowledge exchange with industry. Prior to joining The Pandemic Institute in August 2022 as Chief Operating Officer, Ray was Director of Research and Innovation Services at The Royal Veterinary College, University of London. Since 2015 he has won more than £20 million in grant funding for research and knowledge exchange activities, much of it in infectious disease and vaccine development. Most notably, from 2018 to 2022 Ray led The Bloomsbury SET (‘Science, Economics, Technology’), a £7-million translational research programme on infectious disease and antimicrobial resistance. This brought together leading researchers from London and Liverpool with the aim of bringing new products and services closer to the marketplace – the perfect introduction to his role at The Pandemic Institute. Ray’s interests span UK and international science policy, and the role of knowledge-based institutions in supporting local economic growth. He is keen to connect with companies and individuals interested in understanding more about the work of The Pandemic Institute.

Chris Molloy

Chief Executive Officer, Medicines Discovery Catapult

Chris was appointed CEO of the Medicines Discovery Catapult in 2016. He has over 25 years international Executive and Board experience across multiple areas of Medicines Discovery. He began his career in discovery biology at Glaxo, and continued at Glaxo Wellcome and GSK, delivering transformational change across research by implementing specialist automation and informatics systems. He then moved into biotech as Chief Operating Officer of MerLion Pharmaceuticals in Singapore. During his tenure, MerLion raised significant international finance and advanced two novel antibacterials into clinical development. On returning to the UK in 2008, Chris became VP Corporate Development and Marketing at IDBS, a high-growth international software company focussed on improving R&D and healthcare organisations through better access to data. This included the creation of the UK’s first stratified medicine informatics platform, co-funded with Innovate UK. He then became CEO of RSA, a senior-level global Talent Advisory firm specialising in Life Sciences. Chris has held many Board and advisory roles and acts as CSO for KFLP Biotech LLP, a virtual drug discovery company focussed on new treatments for HIV.