Director, Biology, Refractory Respiratory Inflammation Dpu
Stevenage, United Kingdom
Previously, Director of Clinical Biology at GSK, focussed on asthma. I was the senior biologist for the Refractory Respiratory Inflammation Discovery Performance Unit carrying out biological research to discover and develop new medicines for respiratory diseases, especially asthma & COPD. Under my leadership respiratory biologists played a key role in bringing forward several pre-candidates and candidates which either have entered or are about to enter clinical development. They also set up model systems such as chronic asthma and rhinitis animal models and human tissue- and cell- based assays, provided pre-clinical MRI expertise and technology across disease indications, and provided a major link between biology and clinical scientists, especially in the identification and development of biomarkers for candidate medicinesI took the lead biologist role in in-licensing the Amira FLAP inhibitors into GSK and subsequently in progressing this project to transition into Medicine Development. I had lead roles in providing scientific guidance and biology support to the three full development teams within Respiratory including Breo/ Relvar, recently approved by the FDA. I led a biomarker discovery programme to seek biomarkers of sputum cell-defined asthma phenotypes.Previous experience and publications have covered multiple therapeutic areas including cardiovascular and critical care, metabolism, CNS and cancer.