Jenny Barnett

Co-Founder, Chief Executive Officer, Monument Tx

Jenny brings a unique blend of commercial and scientific expertise to drive Monument’s mission to transform neuroscience through precision medicine. Previously Chief Scientific Officer at Cambridge Cognition, Jenny played a pivotal role in establishing Monument Tx as a successful spin-out, securing substantial funding to support its innovative solutions.

Jenny holds an MA in Experimental Psychology from Oxford University and a PhD in Schizophrenia Epidemiology from the University of Cambridge, followed by postdoctoral work at Massachusetts General Hospital and the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT. She has published over 70 papers, holds six patents, and is an honorary member of Cambridge’s Department of Psychiatry.

Emma Lawrence

Head of Data Tech Policy and Public Affairs, BIA

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.

Agata Nyga

CEO and Founder, SynLaia Innovations

Dr Agata Nyga, CEO and Founder of SynLaia Innovations, an academic-turned-entrepreneur with over 15 years of experience in bioengineering and mechanobiology. She has led research projects at leading international institutions and authored more than 30 peer-reviewed publications. Alongside her academic work, Agata has delivered industry-led R&D initiatives and helped establish operations within emerging life sciences companies.

In January 2025, she founded SynLaia to bring mechanomics into the drug discovery space - developing a first-in-class platform for mapping and modulating the mechanical states of cells and tissues across health and disease.

Agata is also actively involved in science policy. Between 2020 and 2024, she led strategic initiatives at the Polonium Foundation as Research & Policy Team Lead and now serves on its Advisory Board. She is also a board member of the Connects-UK project, supporting international collaboration in science and innovation.

David Powell

President, Drug Discovery , Relation Therapeutics

Dave Powell, PhD, is President of Drug Discovery at Relation, an end-to-end biotech developing transformational medicines, with technology at its core. At Relation, Dave leads experimental drug discovery efforts, including functional genomics, tissue profiling, and target validation, and plays a key role in shaping the company’s early pipeline and future modalities.

Dave is a seasoned R&D leader with more than 25 years of experience across GSK, Summit Therapeutics, and LifeArc, where he served as CSO and led a 150+ person team spanning biologics discovery, small molecule chemistry, diagnostics development, and data sciences. His career spans discovery through Phase 3 clinical trials, with particular strength in preclinical asset progression.

A progressive and collaborative leader, Dave is known for his ability to build and scale high-performing teams and for his laser focus on delivering science that makes a difference for patients.

Vishal Sanchania

Commercial Director, Cambridge Consultants

Vishal Sanchania is a Commercial Director at Cambridge Consultants with >15 years of experience leading cutting edge biotechnology research across pharmaceutical, high value molecules, biocatalysis, automation, synthetic biology and AI disciplines.

Vishal has worked at the cutting edge of technology and biology convergence, having previously held VP R&D and Head of Biology roles in two of London’s vibrant biotechnology startups. Vishal led a multidisciplinary team of biologists, bioinformatician and process engineers to help make laboratory automation and DoE more accessible to scientists. He also enabled high-dimensional enzyme immobilization and AI applications in enzyme immobilization for pharmaceutical and high value biocatalysis applications.

At Cambridge Consultants, Vishal specialises in helping clients have critical multidisciplinary conversations and realise the potential of converging the physical sciences and AI with biology. He is excited by the prospect of helping clients achieve transformational innovation across their businesses by harnessing the deep tech capabilities of the Cambridge Consultants team