Industry Advisory Board

John Brown – Scottish Life Sciences Association

John has extensive international experience in the life sciences sector. He is the former chairman of BTG plc, CXR Biosciences Ltd, and a non-executive Director of Venture Group plc and Axis Shield plc. He was Director of Cambridge Antibody Technology plc until its acquisition by AstraZeneca. John was also Chief Executive of Acambis plc, a leading producer of vaccines to treat and prevent infectious diseases. He is an advisor to several private equity and venture capital funds. In the public sector, John chairs the Roslin Foundation and the UK Cell Therapy catapult. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and Honorary Professor of the University of Edinburgh.

Ian Nanjiani  – Westpoint Veterinary Group

Ian spent 15 years in the R&D division of Pfizer Animal Health developing, registering and supporting a wide variety of antiparasitic and antimicrobial pharmaceutical products, as well as vaccines targeting infectious disease complexes in livestock and companion animals.  He is a Glasgow veterinary graduate who worked in a mixed veterinary practice before moving to the Republic of Kiribati for 3 years as Veterinary Officer, with responsibility for the delivery of Veterinary Services (swine, poultry, goat, small animals), Training & Supervision of 13 Animal Health Department staff, and defining and implementing quarantine policy for this 33 island nation.  He has an MSc in Tropical Veterinary Medicine and Epidemiology at the Centre for Topical Veterinary Medicine in Edinburgh.  Within Westpoint, Ian is responsible for a variety of research projects and is a point of contact for external enquiries on our research activities.

Julie Finch – Hybu Cig Cymru / Meat Promotion Wales

Julie is Corporate Strategy and Policy Manager at Meat Promotion Wales and responsible for developing strategy, policy and implementation plans for HCC and the Welsh red meat industry. Prior to that she was Operations Director at Innovis, a leading supplier of sheep breeding technologies to the UK livestock industry. Innovis is a spin-out company from Aberystwyth University that was established in 2004. It is headquartered in Aberystwyth with purpose built facilities at Malvern Edinburgh and Belfast, plus two dedicated pig facilities in Shropshire and Norfolk.

Hugh Marston – Head of In Vivo Pharmacology at Eli Lilly

Hugh is a Neurobiologist trained originally in psychopharmacology with 17 years’ experience in academic, government and industry research. Personal expertise ranges across most areas of in vivo neuroscience. Hugh joined Eli Lilly in 2014 as head of in vivo pharmacology following a career at TPP Global Developments, as head of Pharmacology; Section head of Psychopharmacology at MSD; and Section Head at Organon Pharmaceutics. He has been responsible for all stages of in vivo work to progress projects in psychiatry and analgesia from lead finding to the clinic. He was Head of the Behavioral Laboratory within the Fujisawa Institute of Neuroscience in Edinburgh (FINE) following a fellowship at University of Cambridge establishing in vivo models to explore the neurobiological substrates of cocaine addiction. He is also an honorary Professor in the School of Phycology & Neuroscience at the University of St. Andrews.

Sam Godfrey – Member of National Pig Association (NPA) Producer Group

Sam is a Lincolnshire pig producer and has worked on the family farm for seven years, operating indoor units from farrow to finish and manufacturing feed. For several years now he has been on the NPA Producer Group working with other organisations such as the National Farmers Union to help arrest the pig industry decline. The NPA has a vital role in persuading government to ensure that regulations such as planning permissions, Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) and Nitrate Vulnerable Zones (NVZs) are effective.