Laura Griffiths

Innovation Lead, Innovate UK

Laura joined the Transforming Medicines Manufacturing Team at Innovate UK in January 2021. As an Innovation Lead, Laura manages government funded projects, and engages with different organisations within the sector, to understand manufacturing challenges and the innovation needed to grow the UK’s medicines manufacturing economy. Laura is passionate that by working together, sharing knowledge, and driving innovation, the medicines manufacturing community can have a greater overall impact. Prior to joining Innovate UK Laura spent 7 years working for Eli Lilly and Elanco, as a technical and manufacturing leader, and 3 years working for a biologics contract manufacturing organisation, Eden Biodesign (currently Pharmaron). Laura has a BSc (Hons) in Biochemistry, and a PhD in Biotechnology, both from The University of Manchester. Laura’s technical scientific background is within upstream bioprocessing, with expertise in both mammalian and microbial cultures.

Helena Francis

Chief of Staff, Constructive Bio

Helena is Chief of Staff at Constructive Bio: a Cambridge-based engineering biology spin-out that rewrites genomes to build the biomolecules of the future. Grounded in pioneering research of Professor Jason Chin, the company unlocks biology beyond the 20 canonical amino acids. At Constructive, Helena acts as advisor and problem solver to the CEO, shaping the firm’s funding, strategy and corporate development. In 2024, Helena supported the company’s $58 million Series A fundraise and secured the company’s first Innovate UK funding with CPI. 

Helena has a master’s in Natural Sciences (Biochemistry) from the University of Cambridge and a PhD in Genetics from the University of Oxford. Helena trained as a Management Consultant at Oliver Wyman before transitioning into biotech as Head of Business Development at London-based Bactobio Ltd. Here she led six successful Innovate UK applications; supported two seed rounds totalling £9M and supported the company through 5x team growth. 

Asel Sartbaeva

CEO and Co-Founder, EnsiliTech

Asel Sartbaeva is a CEO and a co-founder of EnsiliTech and co-inventor of Ensilication™ technology. Asel got her Masters and PhD in Mineral Physics from the University of Cambridge in 2004, where she started working on silica-based materials. In 2010, at the University of Oxford, she won a Royal Society Fellowship to become an independent researcher. From 2012 at Bath, she started working on thermal stabilisation of vaccines using silica, leading to the invention of the Ensilication™ method: a novel platform formulation technology for thermal stabilisation of biopharmaceuticals.

She is one of 175 Faces of Chemistry by the RSC, won an Emerging Technologies Competition by RSC in 2020, Hanson Medal in 2021, Enterprise Fellowship in 2021, a Woman of the Year award from FDM Everywoman in Tech in 2021, and more recently EntreConf Female CEO of the year in 2024, among other prestigious awards. 
 

 

 

Alexander Pomberger

CEO & Co-Founder, Reactwise

Dr. Alexander Pomberger is the CEO and Co-Founder of ReactWise, a Y Combinator and Innovate UK-backed company pioneering AI-driven optimization for chemical and bioprocess development. He holds a PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Cambridge and brings expertise in chemistry, continuous flow processes, and machine learning to deliver innovations that accelerate process optimization by up to 30×. Before founding ReactWise, he worked with BASF to overcome barriers to implementing advanced machine learning algorithms for self-driving labs and developed novel flow chemical reactors at MIT in collaboration with Novartis.

Phil Radford

Chief Technology Officer, Proxisense

Phil Radford is CTO at Proxisense, where he leads the development of the company’s portfolio of novel thermal-based sensor technologies. With 25 years of experience in product innovation and development leadership across pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and industrial equipment, he brings deep expertise in turning advanced science into practical solutions. At Proxisense, Phil combines technical insight with product strategy to translate breakthrough sensing technologies into commercial tools for regulated industries. 

Mantas Matjusaitis

Co-Founder and CTO, Plurify

Mantas Matjusaitis is the co-founder and CTO of Plurify, where he leads the development of an RNA platform to engineer cells for scalable cell and gene therapies. He earned his PhD in Synthetic Biology at the University of Edinburgh’s Centre for Regenerative Medicine, focusing on synthetic transcription factors for cell reprogramming. After his PhD, he helped establish the gene therapy spinout Cellinta (now Trogenix), which developed synthetic promoters enabling selective expression for glioblastoma therapies. He later worked at AskBio as a Cell Line Engineer, creating stable rAAV producer cell lines. His expertise spans synthetic biology, cell reprogramming, and the regulation of gene expression through transcriptional and translational control. At Plurify, Mantas is dedicated to translating cutting-edge biology into manufacturable, sustainable solutions that make advanced therapies more accessible to patients.