Having trained as an accountant, Cengiz joined the Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine (RFHSM) in 1989 and continued as Director of Financial and Business Affairs for the Medical School on its merger with UCL. Cengiz established Freemedic plc as the commercial arm of RFHSM in 1993 and has been Managing Director of UCLB since 2004. He was previously involved with PolyMASC Pharmaceuticals plc, one of the first university spinouts to float on the AIM, and has set up many licences. He was also involved in the trade sale of Medic to Medic Ltd to Informa plc in 2005 and Stanmore Implants Worldwide Limited to Abingworth and MDY Healthcare in February 2008. Cengiz acts as a Director for a number of UCLB’s spinout companies, including Pentraxin Therapeutics Limited, Evexar Medical Limited and Abcodia Therapeutics Ltd.
Dr Anne Lane
Executive Director
Board members
Anne has a PhD in medicine from UCL and an Executive MBA from Molson Business School, Montreal. After research at UCL and Harvard Medical School, Anne worked for RTP Pharma Inc in Montreal, out-licensing and preparing valuations of the company’s portfolio for public listing. Anne joined UCL Ventures in 2000 and acted as consultant for the National Transfer Centre in the US. She is now Executive Director of UCLB, acts as Director and interim CEO on several of UCLB’s spinout companies and oversees the company’s licensing activity. Anne is also a member of the Licensing Executives Society (LES) and is on the committee for the Intellectual Property Lawyers Organisation (TIPLO).
Having trained as an accountant, Cengiz joined the Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine (RFHSM) in 1989 and continued as Director of Financial and Business Affairs for the Medical School on its merger with UCL. Cengiz established Freemedic plc as the commercial arm of RFHSM in 1993 and has been Managing Director of UCLB since 2004. He was previously involved with PolyMASC Pharmaceuticals plc, one of the first university spinouts to float on the AIM, and has set up many licences. He was also involved in the trade sale of Medic to Medic Ltd to Informa plc in 2005 and Stanmore Implants Worldwide Limited to Abingworth and MDY Healthcare in February 2008. Cengiz acts as a Director for a number of UCLB’s spinout companies, including Pentraxin Therapeutics Limited, Evexar Medical Limited and Abcodia Therapeutics Ltd.
Anne has a PhD in medicine from UCL and an Executive MBA from Molson Business School, Montreal. After research at UCL and Harvard Medical School, Anne worked for RTP Pharma Inc in Montreal, out-licensing and preparing valuations of the company’s portfolio for public listing. Anne joined UCL Ventures in 2000 and acted as consultant for the National Transfer Centre in the US. She is now Executive Director of UCLB, acts as Director and interim CEO on several of UCLB’s spinout companies and oversees the company’s licensing activity. Anne is also a member of the Licensing Executives Society (LES) and is on the committee for the Intellectual Property Lawyers Organisation (TIPLO).
PHYSICAL SCIENCES, ENGINEERING, BUILT ENVIRONMENT, SOCIAL SCIENCES AND THE ARTS
Steven brings extensive experience of licensing and spinout company creation to the UCLB team across areas ranging from ICT and petrochemicals through to medical devices and imaging. He is an engineer by training with a PhD in Process Control Engineering from Manchester Metropolitan University, which is complemented by industrial experience in the newspaper and process control industries and an Executive MBA from Manchester Business School. Steven is currently the Director of six UCL spinout companies and represents UCL’s interests in an IT-focused seed stage investment fund.
PHYSICAL SCIENCES, ENGINEERING, BUILT ENVIRONMENT, SOCIAL SCIENCES AND THE ARTS
After completing his DPhil in nanotechnology at the University of Oxford, Tim moved into academic publishing as Commissioning Editor for Cambridge University Press, where he developed successful book lists in chemistry and materials science. He then took a role managing the book programme in the Royal Society of Chemistry’s publishing division. As well as modernising the programme’s visual identity, he began the process of making the entire back catalogue available electronically as well as in print. In 2005 Tim returned to the academic environment, taking a position as Business Manager at UCLB. There, for the past five years, he has been responsible for exploiting the intellectual property generated in the Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering departments.
PHYSICAL SCIENCES, ENGINEERING, BUILT ENVIRONMENT, SOCIAL SCIENCES AND THE ARTS
Marina holds a BSc (Hons) in Physics from Imperial College London and has over twelve years’ experience of new product development in the ICT sector. Her current responsibilities include providing support for the Department of Computer Science and advising on the licensing and commercialisation of software and web services.
PHYSICAL SCIENCES, ENGINEERING, BUILT ENVIRONMENT, SOCIAL SCIENCES AND THE ARTS
Vassilios brings extensive experience in prototype research and development, technology due diligence and technology transfer across a range of physical science and engineering areas to the UCLB team and which is complemented by a PhD in Laser Physics. Vassilios areas of responsibility within UCLB encompass opportunities arising the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, Physics and Astronomy together with the London Centre for Nanotechnology. Before joining UCLB, Vassilios worked as a technology due diligence consultant, evaluating technology concepts prior to their commercialisation and assisting in the development of commercialisation plans. Previous roles have included as a Senior Scientist in a successful biomedical imaging start up company, Senior Research Fellow for a European Research and Training Network and Senior Research Fellow in optoelectronics.
PHYSICAL SCIENCES, ENGINEERING, BUILT ENVIRONMENT, SOCIAL SCIENCES AND THE ARTS
Ana brings 6 years of experience in social innovation and enterprise. After completing her MBA, she joined UnLtd, the Foundation for Social Entrepreneurs where she provided seed funding and support to social entrepreneurs in the UK. Prior to UnLtd, Ana planned and implemented economic development initiatives in Massachusetts, United States. Her current responsibilities within UCLB include promoting, identifying and developing opportunities for social enterprise throughout UCL departments. She holds a BA in International Relations from Universidad de San Andres and an MBA from Oxford University.
PHYSICAL SCIENCES, ENGINEERING, BUILT ENVIRONMENT, SOCIAL SCIENCES AND THE ARTS
Lucy joined UCLB in 2012 as an Associate Business Manager. Having received her undergraduate master’s degree in Chemistry from Durham University, Lucy went onto study for her PhD at Imperial College London. Her thesis was in the field of synthetic organometallic chemistry and catalysis for application in 11C-radiolabelling for Positron Emission Tomography. Her role at UCLB involves supporting the business managers in their activities with particular focus on commercially exploiting novel technologies developed in the Departments of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering.
Rick is a cell and molecular biologist by training, gaining his PhD at McGill University, Canada. This was followed by a postdoctorate at the Imperial Cancer Research Fund, London, and then the National Institute for Medical Research. He left to join AstraZeneca as a team leader in the Department of Target Discovery, with a business development portfolio. In 2006 he joined UCLB as Assistant Director BioPharm, becoming Director in 2007.
Rachel joined UCLB in 2009 as a Senior Business Manager, responsible for the Institute of Ophthalmology and Moorfields Eye Hospital. Prior to that she worked as the Intellectual Property Manager for the University of Leicester, where she managed, built value in and licensed the IP portfolio. In addition, Rachel negotiated commercial research contracts in biomedical and physical sciences, including commercial clinical trials. She also led the DTI Biotechnology Exploitation Platform Challenge project in the East Midlands. Rachel has a PhD in Cell Signalling and a postgraduate diploma in Marketing from the Chartered Institute of Marketing. She worked as a postdoc at the BBSRC’s John Innes Centre; undertook a secondment into PBL, a technology transfer company specialising in the AgriBiotech sector; and worked as a Medici Fellow, stimulating the enterprise agenda at Keele University.
Chris currently manages the Departments of Biochemical Engineering, Chemistry (life-sciences projects), the Division of Infection & Immunity, Haematology, Medical Physics, the National Medical Laser Centre, the Institute of Nuclear Medicine, the Prostate Cancer Research Centre, Psychology, and Structural and Molecular Biology. Chris also provides commercial and IP consultancy to Birkbeck College, University of London. Chris joined UCLB in 2007, having previously managed a late phase oncology study across 25 countries. Chris has a degree in Applied Biochemistry, and prior to clinical research he worked in medical device research at Smith & Nephew, and was Senior Scientist at a Biotech company in California.
Derek’s first degree is in Parasitology from University of Glasgow. He then completed an MSc in Technology Management and an MRes in Bioprocessing at UCL. Derek looks after IP from the Institute of Neurology, Eastman Dental Institute and the Institute of Orthopaedics.
Chris joined UCLB in 2009 as a Business Manager (BioPharm) after working as a Business Manager at King’s College London Business. Chris has also worked in business development at Eli Lilly, where he supported the in-licensing and acquisitions of novel therapeutics and enabling technologies. Chris gained his PhD from Imperial College London, working on the control of gene transcription in breast cancer at the then ICRF Molecular Oncology Unit. He subsequently worked as a postdoc studying epigenetics at Imperial College London. In addition to his PhD Chris holds a BSc in Genetics and has several years’ industry experience working in technology and target discovery groups at GSK and the UCL spinout company Inpharmatica. UCL Departmental Responsibilities Include: Institute of Child Health, Wolfson Institute for Biomedical Research, UCL Cancer Institute, Department of Pharmacology, Women’s and Children’s Health, Department of Biology, Department of Human Communication Science, Department of Phonetics and Linguistics.
Dr Abigail Watts is a Senior Business Manager specialising in medical and life sciences. Abbie joined UCLB in 2006 after working as a Business Development Manager for Abcam Ltd (then plc) negotiating licenses, developing new products and managing academic collaborations. Abbie completed her PhD in Biochemistry at the University of Cambridge, specialising in molecular microbiology and quorum sensing. Her undergraduate degree is in Biological Sciences, from the University of Oxford.
Following his PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Nick worked within R&D at GlaxoSmithKline for several years covering a number of different departments, with expertise in molecular and cell biology, cell signalling and receptor pharmacology. During this time, Nick has gained significant experience in leading and contributing to both small molecule and antibody biopharmaceutical drug development, producing numerous cell-based assays within the field of Neuroscience. Nick also has an MSc in Management of IP from QMUL and is a part qualified patent attorney.
Karen graduated with a degree in Applied Biology and went on to work in the Department of Surgery at the Royal Free Campus for 19 years, initially as Research Assistant in the field of organ transplantation; she is co-author on numerous publications. She progressed to Senior Chief MLSO and was responsible for managing the life cycle of numerous translational projects in the department over a period of 15 years, as well as the organisational and strategic management of several joint hospital and medical school projects. Karen joined UCLB in 2006 as a Project Manager and has been instrumental in developing the unit into one of UCLB core functions. As Director of Projects Karen is constantly looking for ways to further develop the unit and promote UCLB’s activities, most recently by setting up UCLB Devices Ltd, a subsidiary company allowing UCLB to CE mark and clinically evaluate medical device ideas emanating from UCL academics and clinicians. In addition, Karen is Director of Evexar Medical Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of UCLB that specialises in endoscopes and implantable devices. Karen is a member of the Chartered Management Institute.
Jaspal Kaur-Griffin’s academic background is in Environmental Management, Sociology and Philosophy. Upon graduation from the National University of Singapore she joined the National Environmental Agency as a Senior Research Officer. She then went on to lead a team researching the control of vector-borne infectious diseases. Her key accomplishments include numerous publications in disease control. She went on to self-fund her MSc in Infectious Diseases at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and then took on a one-year contract at Imperial College London as the Project Manager of the Women in Academic Medicine Project. She joined UCLB in 2008 as a Project Manager and since then has qualified as a Clinical Research Associate. She enjoys the flexibility of working on projects in both the Biomedical and Physical Science fields and has specialist knowledge in the area of clinical trial management. She is a member of the Chartered Management Institute and is fluent in Mandarin, Malay, Hindi and Punjabi
Dr Alexa Smith
Senior Business Development Manager (on maternity leave)
Alexa Smith’s academic background is in the field of Developmental Biology, having completed a PhD at the MRC National Institute for Medical Research, followed by a three-year postdoctoral research position in Developmental Neurobiology at Kings College London. Alexa went on to work at Cancer Research UK and helped to set up and run one the first funding initiatives for translational research in the field of cancer research in the UK called the New Targets Committee (NTC). Alexa joined UCLB in 2002, since when she has worked on a large variety of projects across biological disciplines and licensed numerous technologies. She is now a Senior Business Manager specialising in the field of biomedicine and has further developed her expertise in the field of medical device development and commercialisation. Currently Alexa works as part of the Project Management section of UCLB, predominately focusing on the development, assessment and commercialisation of novel medical devices.
Richard Wedge is a biochemist by training, having studied for his PhD in Electrochemical Biosensors at the University of the West of England, Bristol. This was followed by a three-year postdoctoral research position developing biosensors for use in diagnostic and environmental applications. Richard moved into the medical devices industry working for two spinout companies concerned with diagnostic sensor development. Following this he worked for UCB Pharma, where his focus was the development of drug delivery devices. During this period he became interested in the quality and regulatory processes required to take medical devices to market. In 2010 Richard joined UCLB, where his work focuses on the development of medical devices with a view to CE marking and clinical evaluation. Richard has been responsible for establishing a Quality Management System for UCLB Devices Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of UCLB.
Veronica Lindop’s academic background is in Pharmacology and Immunology. On completion of a Masters in Pharmacology at the University of Bath, she went on to study the gene expression profile of gamma delta T cells at the University of Cardiff. Veronica has experience of the pharmaceutical industry, having worked for GSK in the research of novel drug development techniques. She went on to work for the Human Tissue Authority as a Regulation Officer. There, she developed her project management skills by managing the development of the Serious Adverse Events and Reactions system, gaining PRINCE2 practitioner accreditation and managing a series of other regulatory projects. Veronica joined UCLB in March 2011 and will be managing a number of projects, focusing on the development and commercialisation of novel medical devices.
Ben Started his career as a Business Development Executive in a well established Information Technology company, his role subsequently evolved as the company recognised the need for a strong project management base. This gave Ben the opportunity to move into project management within the same organisation, establishing and leading his own team responsible for Operations and Projects across the company. He joined the project development team at UCLB in 2011 as a Trainee Project Development Manager looking to further develop his skills and career in a new, different and challenging environment.
Alex joined UCL BioMedica, the predecessor to UCLB, in 2004 as Patent Portfolio Manager. He now manages a team responsible for providing general business support and legal advice to the Business Managers and UCL. Alex has experience in dealing with the whole gamut of legal issues that arise in university technology and knowledge transfer, including material transfers, licensing, intellectual property, company creation and funding. Alex obtained his undergraduate degree in Biochemistry with Physiology and went on to study the Law of Intellectual Property, receiving a Masters and certification as a part-qualified patent and trademark attorney. He then worked for Current Patents as a Patent Analyst, specialising in the biotechnology and devices fields and with responsibility for US grants and applications, before joining UCL BioMedica. He is a member of the Licensing Executive Society and the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys.
Adelaida has an MSc in Chemical Engineering. She worked in research and development at a consultancy company for three years before moving to university knowledge transfer in 2007, working as a Technology Transfer Officer at the Institute of Chemical Technology. Adelaida joined UCLB in 2008 as a Patent and Agreement Administrator and has recently been appointed IP Manager. She also speaks Spanish and is a part-qualified UK patent attorney.
Gavin acts as the first point of contact between Research Administration and UCLB for all contractual enquiries concerning IPR related to research contracts; he is also the first point of contact for research contracts initiated within UCLB. He provides advice on contractual issues surrounding intellectual property and related matters arising from research contracts and collaborations. Gavin has a degree in French from London University and has attended courses in intellectual property, licensing, computer contracts and negotiating commercial agreements to comply with European Law. He has worked in contract and IP management at the Medical Research Council, as well as at Oxford and then Reading University, followed by an appointment as IP Development Manager at the Veterinary Laboratories Agency, part of Defra. He joined UCLB in 2008.
Mars joined UCLB in 2008. He now manages around 1000 material transfer and confidentiality agreements every year, drafts and reviews commercial agreements and provides legal advice to UCLB’s Business Managers and UCL. Mars obtained an undergraduate degree in Law from Peking University and a postgraduate degree in Technology Entrepreneurship from UCL. He is now studying part-time at BPP Law School for another postgraduate degree in Commercial Law. Mars has first-hand experience of entrepreneurship as a founder of an online trading business and has been a business and/or legal advisor to several start-up companies. Mars is a native speaker of Mandarin.
Christina joined UCLB in 2004 and is responsible for market analysis, technology and deal assessment and project valuations, including valuations for licence and spinout transactions. Prior to joining UCLB, Christina was a Business Analyst for three years at the Bloomsbury Bioseed Fund, a University Challenge Seed Fund that specialised in early stage life science investments; there she was responsible for identifying and performing due diligence on investment opportunities and assisting in contract negotiations. She holds a BSc in Biochemistry from UCL and gained a PhD at the former London branch of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, focusing on cell biology and intracellular signalling. This was followed by postdoctoral research at the Imperial Cancer Research Fund (now CRUK, London Research Institute).
Emma is the Marketing Manager at UCLB. Her responsibilities include maintaining the website and all marketing, PR, advertising and events activities for UCLB and its subsidiary companies. She is also the VP of Marketing for UCL’s Enterprise Society and is Marketing Manager to Evexar Medical Ltd’s and UCLB Devices Ltd. Emma has a BA (Hons) in Marketing and is a Member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (MCIM).
Hilary qualified as a chartered accountant in 1992 and joined the Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine, where for the next six years she was wholly responsible for the finance function of the Medical School. In 1998 Hilary was instrumental in managing the merger with UCL and she went on to work in the Finance Division, initially running taxation and commercial accounting until she became Deputy Director of Planning and Management Accounts in 2001. Hilary joined UCLB as Finance Director in 2006 and facilitated the merger between UCL Business and UCL BioMedica plc.
Louise joined UCLB in 2009, having worked for the company in a part-time consultancy capacity for the previous 18 months. The areas of responsibility she manages are Finance, Human Resources, Information Technology and the Operations side, which includes Reception and Estates Management. Prior to this position Louise worked in the Finance Division at University College London as a Senior Management Accountant.
