Professor Michael Patton trained in medicine at the Universities of Edinburgh and Cambridge. After specialising in Medical Genetics, he established the South West Thames Regional Genetics Service covering SW London, Surrey and West Sussex. He was also Head of the Academic Unit of Medical Genetics at St Georges. His research interests are malformation syndromes and gene mapping. He has published over 200 peer reviewed publications and contributed the identification of 10 genes. Michael was Group Medical Director and Consultant Geneticist for HSL Pathology.  He was also a Founder and Medical Director of the Newlife Charity which has funded disability equipment and medical research including the Newlife Birth Defects Research Centre at the Institute of Child Heath.

Chris Coombe is a qualified chartered accountant with over 40 years of experience in the financial services sector. In the later stages of his career he has operated in senior finance and operational roles in investment management companies and the private equity world. He has lived and worked in various locations in the UK, Asia, Australia, the US and the Middle East. His business experience ranges from being a chief executive for a start-up to being the Chief Financial Officer for Fidelity International, a global investment manager. As a former trustee and Chair of Scleroderma and Raynaud’s UK, Chris brings practical charity experience of great value to the Trust.

Joe Cronly is a private equity investor with 17 years experience working for BC Partners, a large global buy out fund. After BC Partners, he helped setting up a grant making foundation for a major US philanthropist and now splits his time between advising early stage businesses, private investing and chairing Over the Wall, a children’s charity.

Professor Paul Emery is a leading rheumatologist and immunologist whose pioneering research on early intervention in inflammatory arthritis has changed treatment pathways and clinical outcomes around the world. Paul has been Versus Arthritis Professor of Rheumatology at the University of Leeds since 1995 and was Director of the Leeds NIHR Biomedical Research Centre 2009-2017.

Dr Edith Hessel is a distinguished immunologist, entrepreneur, and drug developer, with over 25 years’ experience in drug discovery and company building. She has successfully pioneered novel target discovery platforms and advanced multiple therapeutics from inception to clinical proof of concept, both in biotech and pharma. She has served as Chief Scientific Officer at Relation Therapeutics, Mestag Therapeutics and Eligo Bioscience.

Harsha Patel has over 25 years of experience in the investment management industry with leadership roles spanning portfolio management, investment consulting, research, manager selection and implementation for an asset owner.  She presently works at Railpen, an asset owner, with external managers.  She has a BSc in Economics and enjoys painting.

Richard Punt has an extensive track record in professional services both as a leader and a consultant. He has held significant roles at Deloitte, Allen & Overy and Thomson Reuters. He is currently global leader of Deloitte Legal.

Dr Paul Satchell was a Managing Director-level equity analyst, operating in total from 1996 until retiring from full-time employment in 2017. Prior to this, he worked in the chemical industry for sixteen years. Though nominally retired, Paul remains professionally active: he is a co-author of “The pH Report”, and provides consultancy services through New Normal Consulting, a Swiss-based strategy boutique. He has recently completed a four-year term as Honorary Treasurer of the Royal Society of Chemistry, having previously chaired its Investment Committee.

Professor Paul Peter Tak received his medical degree from the Amsterdam University Medical Center (AUMC) and was trained as an internist, rheumatologist, and immunologist at Leiden University Medical Center, where he also received his PhD. He worked as a scientist and Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of California San Diego and next served as Professor of Medicine and Chair of the Department of Clinical Immunology & Rheumatology at AUMC. At GlaxoSmithKline he served as Senior Vice President, Chief Immunology Officer, Global Development Leader, and Chair of the Scientific Review Board. He is currently the Chair of the Board of Citryll, Board Director of Levicept and Sitryx (co-founder), and President and CEO of Candel Therapeutics, which he took public on the NASDAQ. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences.

Dr Tony Wood is a highly respected scientist and one of the world’s pre-eminent medicinal chemists, with more than 30 years of experience working across diverse disciplines of R&D to deliver innovative medicines. He joined GlaxoSmithKline from Pfizer in 2017 and became Chief Scientific Officer in 2022, responsible for GSK’s R&D strategy and innovation.