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The BIA advocates extensively in the UK, Europe and beyond to ensure that the interests of our members are represented to key policymakers, regulators and stakeholders. We also work collaboratively with other industry groups, charities and academia to present a unified message on shared issues, as well as the importance and strength of the life sciences ecosystem in the UK.
Our policy work is guided and informed by input from our nine Advisory Committees, which are crucial mechanisms for highlighting the most relevant issues facing bioscience companies. Committee members include influential experts from across the sector.
For more information on our policy activity in specific areas, use the navigation on the right-hand side of the screen.
Nicky Edwards
What does your role at BIA involve?
As Director of External Affairs, Nicky is responsible for enhancing the BIA’s influence by managing relationships with government, parliament, regulators, policymakers and industry bodies. She leads a team which works across policy, public affairs and regulatory affairs and coordinates the community of expert members engaged in the Association’s advisory committees and groups, as well as supporting members who represent us in government/industry forums such as the Life Sciences Council.
Previous experience & achievements
Before joining the BIA in 2018, Nicky gained extensive experience of delivering external affairs strategies for national organisations, including more than a decade of leading on policy and public affairs for businesses and membership bodies in the financial and professional services sector. For five years she served as a member of the Speaker’s Advisory Council on Public Engagement working to make Parliament more open and accessible.
Dr Christiane Abouzeid
What does your role at BIA involve?
Christiane has been with the BIA since May 2004. She is a lawyer responsible for regulatory issues concerning the research and development of novel technology products and has been involved in influencing legislative and policy developments affecting the life sciences industry in the EU.
Christiane is the Clinical Trials Topic Leader for EuropaBio, the European Association for Bioindustries.
Previous experience & achievements
Previously, Christiane was part of the Biosciences Group at Eversheds, joining shortly after qualification at Llewellyn Zeitman (now Shook Hardy & Bacon LLP). She worked at the European Commission for one year. Prior to her legal career, Christiane was a research scientist at University College London and Imperial College School of Medicine for over 12 years. She holds a PhD in microbiology and biochemistry from the University of Louvain (Belgium).
Dr Martin Turner
What does your role at BIA involve?
Martin is responsible for all the BIA's policy outputs and public affairs activities and leads on finance and tax policy as well as the BIA’s engagement with the investment community. He authors the BIA’s investment analysis reports and is a regular commentator on the life sciences sector in the national press. He also serves on the Advisory Board of the Cambridge University Science Policy Exchange (CUSPE).
Previous experience & achievements
Martin has over ten years experience in policy and public affairs and has worked at the Royal Society, the Campaign for Science and Engineering, and the Association of Medical Research Charities. Before embarking on a career in policy, he completed a PhD in molecular biology at the University of Sheffield, where he also co-founded and was director of an award-winning science communication charity called Science Brainwaves. He has a BSc in molecular biology from the University of Manchester.
Dr Emma Lawrence
What does your role at BIA involve?
Emma leads BIA's genomics, digital, data and artificial intelligence (AI) policy areas. She engages with members who work in these fields to understand their policy needs. Emma provides the secretariat for BIA's Genomics Advisory Committee (GAC) and looks after the TechBio community as part of this. Emma also leads BIA's influence agenda for these areas, engaging with civil servants and other senior stakeholders.
Previous experience
Prior to joining the BIA, Emma worked at the cross-party think tank Policy Connect on a Cell and Gene Therapy Parliamentary engagement programme. She has previously worked in the biomedical research sector understanding the barriers to accessing human samples and data for research. This included leading engagement at the UKCRC Tissue Directory and Coordination Centre (UCL) and the Immunotherapy Trial Simulation Project (Imperial College London). Emma has a PhD in Immunology from the University of Manchester.
If you could invite any scientist or entrepreneur to dinner, who would it be and why?
Ada Lovelace, the godmother of computer programming because she was the first to recognise that a machine would have uses beyond calculations. We’d chat about maths and 19th-century gossip over cocktails.
Linda Bedenik
What does your role at BIA involve?
Linda leads on intellectual property (IP), engineering biology (EngBio), R&D and innovation policy and animal research. She provides the secretariat to BIA's two advisory committees - Intellectual Property (IPAC) and Engineering Biology (EBAC) as well as the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Life Sciences.
Previous experience & achievements
Prior to joining BIA, Linda worked as a Policy Analyst at a non-profit looking into university-business collaboration and knowledge exchange in the UK and as a researcher at a public policy-focused think tank identifying challenges to state-level public service delivery and rural health in India. Linda has an MA in Global Political Economy from the University of Sussex.
If you could invite any scientist or entrepreneur to dinner, who would it be and why?
Santos-Dumont and the Wright Brothers – to have them settle the debate over who flew first.
Rosie Lindup
What does your role at BIA involve?
Rosie leads the BIA’s policy work on access to medicines, rare diseases, cell and gene therapies and antimicrobial resistance. This involves providing the secretariat for the BIA’s Cell and Gene Therapy Advisory Committee (CGTAC) and Rare Disease Industry Group (RDIG). She is also responsible for organising the BIA’s annual Parliament Day, which brings CEOs and senior representatives from BIA member companies to Westminster to meet with politicians and policymakers.
Previous experience
Previously, Rosie worked as a Senior Research Consultant at a Westminster-based public affairs agency, where she supported clients from a range of sectors, including pharmaceuticals, technology and financial services. Prior to that, Rosie worked as a Management Consultant at KPMG, where I assisted on financial and regulatory projects with large corporate clients. She has a BA in Human, Social and Political Sciences from the University of Cambridge.
Olivier Roth
What does your role at BIA involve?
Olivier leads BIA's genomics, digital, data and artificial intelligence (AI) policy areas. He is responsible for the BIA's Genomics Advisory Committee (GAC) and looks after the TechBio community as part of this. Olivier also leads BIA's influence agenda for these areas, engaging with civil servants and other senior stakeholders.
Previous experience & achievements
Olivier studied law at the LSE and Durham University, before working for a variety of think-tanks and government organisations. He was Human Rights and Constitutional Law Policy Advisor at the Law Society where he published a seminal report on the use of algorithms in the criminal justice system. Olivier was also CEO of an e-commerce company immediately before joining the BIA.
If you could invite any scientist or entrepreneur to dinner, who would it be and why?
Probably Carl Sagan. I love the way he made science, and all the big questions around it, accessible and fascinating. He might not have discovered anything, but he lit a spark for the future generations.
Richard Hill
What does your role at BIA involve?
Richard is responsible for policy and public affairs activities related to access to finance, particularly on the BIA’s work in relation to R&D tax relief, where he works closely with the BIA’s Finance and Tax Advisory Committee.
Previous experience & achievements.
Currently on secondment with the BIA from member law firm Herbert Smith Freehills, Richard has ten years of experience in Business Development and relationship management, having focused for most of that time on innovative pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors, including managing relationships with major global pharmaceutical clients. He is an Executive MBA Candidate at Cranfield University School of Management.
Herbie Lambden
What does your role at BIA involve?
Herbie is responsible for supporting the secretariat for the BIA Advisory Committees and the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Life Sciences. He also works on key events within Policy and Public Affairs, including the annual Parliament Day and panels at major party conferences. His work is aligned with the Business Development and Membership Services team to ensure that BIA's policy priorities are communicated effectively across the organisation.
Previous experience & achievements
Herbie joined BIA in February 2022, having graduated with a BA in History from the University of Cambridge.
If you could invite any scientist or entrepreneur to dinner, who would it be and why?
John Snow for what would be a fascinating discussion of the development of public health in the UK over the past century and a half.