Speakers
Tori Hammond
Julian Hanak
Davide Bommarito
Stuart Thompson
Anthony Holmes
Nandy Thaver
Kerstin Papenfuss
Fiona Sewell
Roya Esat-Dabestani
Ed Rainsford
Emma Fox
Katie Wright
Roundtable
We will host a number of roundtables, each focused on a key challenge facing entrepreneurs, or an aspect of the start-up journey. You will be able to learn from peers and provide your own experiences and solutions, enabling the community as a whole to benefit.
Tori is the lead for health and life science commercialisation, supporting Bristol academics with the exploitation of intellectual property through licensing and the formation of spin-out companies. Tori joined the University of Bristol in June 2024 after a decade working in technology transfer at Imperial College London, University of Exeter and Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Trust. Before this, Tori worked in drug discovery R&D at GlaxoSmithKline and holds a PhD in biochemistry and a degree in molecular biology from the University of Bath.
Julian has held leadership roles in the biotechnology and gene therapy sector for more than 30 years, working in both small biotech, CDMO and large pharma companies. Most recently he was CEO of Purespring Therapeutics, seeing the company through its $100M+ Series B raise. He has also held senior positions at Nightstar Therapeutics, Cobra Biomanufacturing, Biogen and AstraZeneca.
With special interests in early stage company and product development Julian is currently Entrepreneur in Residence at the University of Bristol.
Davide heads the Life Sciences & Healthcare early-stage vertical at HSBC Innovation Banking in London. He joined HSBC Innovation Banking to expand the bank's healthcare footprint in the UK and to provide commercial banking services to disruptive Biotech, Biopharma and Tech Bio companies at different growth stages (pre-seed, seed & series A). Prior, Davide was a Vice President in the SVB UK Early-Stage Healthcare division. Davide is a former scientist with advanced degrees (Ph.D. in Immunology & M.Sc. in Medical Biotechnology) and experience in both the financial/banking sector and medical research sector including roles at world-leading research institutions such as King's College London (KCL) and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI)/Harvard.
Stuart is an experienced board-level leadership consultant, and one of the first talent partners recruited into UK venture capital. At IP Group (2006-2024), he personally recruited many of the firm’s deep-science investment professionals, the Group’s plc board non-executives, and key appointments for a broad spectrum of innovative technology companies. These include Chairs for adsilico (In-silico Clinical Trials) and Microbiotica (Microbiome-based therapeutics); and Chief Executives for Oxehealth (Vital signs monitoring), Creavo (Medical Imaging) and Iksuda (ADC Therapeutics).
Stuart began his career in executive search at Whitehead Mann (1991-2006), gaining a reputation for delivery on assignments, which led to him being chosen by the firm’s Managing Partner (Dr Anna Mann) to support her work, leading the Board Practice. Latterly, he ran the Life Sciences and Healthcare Practice as Partner in charge.
He has an undergraduate degree in Biological Sciences from Birmingham University, and a Certificate in Professional Coaching from Henley Management College (Reading University
Dr Anthony Holmes is Director of Science and Technology at the National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs; www.nc3rs.org.uk). He has strategic oversight of the science and technology supported through NC3Rs; ensuring that the NC3Rs has a long-term and sustainable strategy for supporting the best science and technology and its use in practice to achieve 3Rs and wider scientific and economic benefits. He leads the CRACK IT open innovation programme. Anthony has a PhD from the University of Cambridge and worked as a post-doctoral researcher at the Babraham Institute, Cambridge exploring the molecular mechanisms behind calcium signalling pathways and their role in human health and disease.
Thaver is led by Nandy Thaver who has over 14 years experience driving revenue growth, leading high-performing teams, and delivering transformative results for global organisations.
Specialising in healthcare, life sciences, and technology, Nandy has a proven record of success in scaling operations, building strategic partnerships, and securing multi-million-dollar contracts across diverse markets.
Dr. Kerstin Papenfuss is a proven leader in therapeutic venture creation, specializing in translating groundbreaking scientific ideas into successful companies. With a PhD in tumour immunology and an Executive MBA, her background perfectly anchors Big Picture Bio's focus on complex immune microenvironments. Her career spans impactful translational roles at LifeArc and the UK's Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult, where she incubated companies like PureSpring. At Deep Science Ventures (DSV), Kerstin built the pharma sector from scratch—founding 12 therapeutics and enabling tech companies, and managing a portfolio of 18, including one exit. She has secured major industry collaborations, board directorships, and actively champions female entrepreneurship in deep tech.
Edward advises both UK and US biotechnology and medical device companies on protecting valuable inventions.
His sector expertise spans antibodies, cell and gene therapy, gene editing, stem cells, therapeutics, diagnostics, molecular biology and medical devices.
For these technologies, Edward’s work includes patent drafting, patent prosecution, European Patent Office (EPO) opposition and appeals, proceedings at the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court (IPEC), freedom to operate reports, and registered designs.
Edward completed his PhD in virology from Warwick University in 2006 studying rotavirus replication. After leaving Warwick University, he worked as a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Virginia researching the rhabdovirus nucleocapsid protein. Edward returned to the UK in 2009 to study for his master’s in intellectual property law at Queen Mary University of London. Edward entered the patent profession in private practice in 2010.
Emma leads core business operations for the ESI incubation model across the EMEA region, serving as a point of contact for portfolio companies and innovation partners. She strengthens partnerships with innovators and internal teams, streamlines operational processes, and contributes to advancing the ESI mission across the region.
Prior to joining Johnson & Johnson, Emma led the KQ Labs Accelerator at the Francis Crick Institute in London, a flagship program supporting startups at the intersection of data science and biomedical research. Over six years, she designed and delivered innovation programs for more than 150 early stage health and life science companies, developing expertise in program design, operational leadership, and network building. Her earlier experience includes managing behavioral medicine research at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago and driving healthcare improvement at Diabetes UK.
Emma holds an MSc in Health Psychology from University College London and an MA (Hons) in Psychology and Social Anthropology from the University of St Andrews.
Phil has a BSc in Cell Biology from the University of Essex, and a PhD in Virology from the University of Cambridge. After a post-doc position at the National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR) in London, Phil spent a number of years managing R&D programmes in the biotech industry.
He moved into technology transfer in 2003 when he joined Cancer Research Horizons (formerly called Cancer Research Technology). Since that time, he has built up extensive experience of managing and commercialising healthcare technologies from academic origins, focusing in recent years on the creation of innovative and transformative oncology ventures, from ideation to launch.
He has served as a Board Director or Observer for a range of start-up companies including Artios Pharma, Monte Rosa Therapeutics, Infinitopes, MyT BIO, Elaitra and Oncodrug.