Board of Directors

Dr. Jane Osbourn OBE

CHAIR

Jane has over 30 years of experience in biologics discovery and development. Most recently, she was Vice President for R&D and Site Leader at MedImmune (AstraZeneca), formerly Cambridge Antibody Technology (CAT), where she contributed to the development of phage display technology.

Jane is a scientific leader in the field of antibody engineering, and has made a significant contribution to the discovery and development of 8 marketed drugs and over 40 clinical candidates. Jane is passionate about science education and the development of the UK biotech sector and Chairs the Board of Directors of the BioIndustry Association, is a Director of Babraham Bioscience Technologies, and also a Director of Cambridge Enterprise. She was awarded an OBE this year for services to drug discovery, development and biotechnology.

Dr. Darrin M. Disley OBE

CEO

Darrin is a renowned scientist, entrepreneur, angel investor and enterprise champion who has started, grown or invested in over 40 start-up life science, technology and social enterprises, raising $500 million USD in business financing and closing $600 million USD in commercial deals. He was CEO of Horizon Discovery Group plc for 11 years, during which he led the Company from start-up through a $113 million USD IPO, and rapid scale-up powered by multiple acquisitions of US peer companies to become a global market leader in gene editing and gene modulation technologies. He was appointed OBE in 2018 for his services to business and enterprise in the healthcare sector.

Prof. Julian Gough

CSO (Co-founder)

Julian is a biotech entrepreneur and world expert in bioinformatics. He graduated his PhD in molecular biology from the University of Cambridge and was a research fellow at Stanford University. He is now a Programme Leader at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge and Professor of Bioinformatics at the University of Bristol. He has successfully started a number of biotech companies.

Prof. Owen Rackham

CTO (Co-founder)

Owen is world expert in the application of machine learning and complex systems in cell reprograming. He was a career development fellow at the Medical Research Council, UK and was the recipient of a JSPS fellowship to work at the RIKEN Omics Science Centre in Yokohama. He is now an Assistant Professor at the Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore.

Prof. Jose Polo

CMO (Co-founder)

Jose has worked at the cutting-edge of cell reprograming for over a decade. He graduated his PhD at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York before becoming a research fellow at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute. He was awarded a NHMRC career development fellowship, a Charles Viertel Senior Medical Research fellowship as well as an ARC future fellowship and is now a Professor at Monash University.

Alice Newcombe-Ellis

Ahren Innovation Capital

Alice Newcombe-Ellis is the Founding & Managing Partner of Ahren Innovation Capital.

Alice has over a decade of investing experience, including at TPG Capital (leading global private equity firm with >$70BN AUM) and Lansdowne Partners (leading investment firm with >$15BN AUM). Her predominant investing focus has been in tech and disruptive healthcare.

Alice holds a Double First Class degree in Mathematics, and Master’s in Mathematics/Physics from the University of Cambridge. She was a Fulbright Scholar and a Baker Scholar at Harvard Business School.