BIOGRAPHIES

After graduating in Biological Sciences from the University of Birmingham, Robert Possee moved to the University of Warwick to undertake a PhD on influenza viruses. In 1981, he moved to the NERC Institute of Virology, now CEH Oxford to work on the molecular biology of insect baculoviruses, which at the time were used for insect biocontrol. The next ten years saw the development of baculovirus expression vector systems at Oxford. His group produced the first of many innovations to the system that permitted easier construction of baculovirus expression vectors. More recently, the basic research developed in his group has been applied to the creation of the flashBAC^TM system for high throughput generation of recombinant virus vectors. In 1999 he received an Individual Merit Promotion award from NERC in recognition of his achievements in insect virology. In 2002 he was appointed Assistant Director of CEH Oxford and was Acting Director in 2003-2004. Currently he is Head of the CEH Oxford site with specific responsibility for Molecular Virology. Robert is an Editorial Board member for Journal of General Virology, Virology, Biological Control and the virology section of the Encyclopaedia of Life Sciences. He is married to Prof King.

Professor Linda King is Professor of Virology and Dean of the School of Life Sciences, Oxford Brookes University. Following the completion of her doctorate in molecular virology at Oxford University in 1985, Linda's research has focused on various aspects of insect virology with particular emphasis on baculovirus expression systems. She has published more than 90 papers in peer-reviewed journals, reviews and book chapters, and until recently was Insect Virus Editor for The Journal of General Virology. She has spoken at numerous national and international meetings, including The American Society for Virology, The Society for Invertebrate Pathology, Peptalk, Global Protein Summit & Baculovirus Technology. Linda played an integral role in the establishment of Oxford Expression Technologies (OET), trading under Oxford Brookes Enterprises Ltd, in 1997. Linda is married to Prof Possee.

In Edward’s early years he worked for the Agricultural Research Council Babraham, Cambridge; The Postgraduate Medical School, London; The M.R.C. Holly Hill Hampstead, London and The Nuffield Institute for Medical Research Oxford. In the early 60's he established his first businesses, which were successfully sold for £1m. In 1976 he founded Serotec Ltd, which was sold in 2006 for £20m. During his time at Serotec, he established a joint venture with Oxford Brookes University, the technology and patent protection being provided by the university and the sales and marketing provided by Serotec. Several spin-off companies were established during the Serotec time and were all successfully sold. Edward does a lot of charity fund raising work for the likes John Radcliffe Children's Hospital, John Radcliffe New Cancer Unit, St Luke's Hospice Plymouth, Devon and The Urology Unit, Churchill Hospital. Most importantly, he also played Centre Forward for Cambridge United 1953/4!

James is a commercially driven and results orientated business leader and strategist who offers over 22 years executive level experience within the research / life science industry. He was an integral part of the start up and ongoing executive management of the Serotec group of companies, managing the end to end process over a 22 year history from start up through to its eventual sale for £20m. For those years he had P&L accountability for a €22million turnover operation and expanded the business through setting up sister companies across Europe and North America. Through this experience, he has amassed a detailed understanding of the political, regulatory and competitor landscapes and has utilised this information to design and deliver effective commercial strategies.

Helen has a strong business background, having been a director and company secretary of a start-up IT company for over 10 years. During this time, she was involved in securing both venture capital and government funding. After gaining a first class degree in Cell and Molecular Biology from Oxford Brookes University in 1999, she joined Oxford Expression Technologies (OET), where she was employed as Administration Manager for consultancy services offered by the group. She completed an MBA at Oxford Brookes University in 2006.

Geoffrey is a company director with over thirty years experience in the healthcare and biotechnology markets. He has worked in senior positions in a number of major companies including Baxter International, Bristol Myers Squibb and Smiths Industries.

In his role leading the Technology Strategy Division for PA Technology in Belgium, Geoffrey was responsible for a number of strategic assignments in electronics, advanced materials and government policy. At the Scottish Development Agency where he was Head of the healthcare and Biotechnology Division he was responsible for investing in early stage companies and the management of a portfolio of over twenty company investments.

For the past fifteen years, he has concentrated on the commercialisation of high technology projects in the field of life sciences. This has involved due diligence studies, fund raising, mentoring and holding a number of positions in early stage companies. He was Director of Medical Technologies for a small proof of concept fund and has been Chairman a number of early stage companies two of which achieved successful trade sales. Presently he is Chairman of a wholesale pharmacy and on the Board of an early stage biotechnology company.

Paul is a qualified accountant and has been Director of Finance and Legal Services at Oxford Brookes University since 1997. He leads the University’s teams responsible for all aspects of financial strategy and operations, provision of legal services, support for academic research and the exploitation of the University’s intellectual property and other aspects of knowledge transfer.

He previously roles in various parts of the public sector and spent 5 years working for KPMG managing external and internal audits at a variety of clients.

Graham was educated and began his working life as a school teacher in Australia but moved to the UK in 1972 where he has enjoyed a distinguished academic career. After a brief spell at Leeds Polytechnic he worked at what was then University College, Cardiff and The University of Birmingham before moving to Oxford Brookes University in 1997. During that time he carried out research and published extensively on a wide range of topics in the fields of Educational Psychology and Special Educational Needs but early in his career became involved in university management culminating in his appointment as Vice Chancellor of Oxford Brookes, a post which he held for 10 years prior to his retirement in August 2007. Graham has held appointments at Board level in both the private and not for profit sectors. In the private sector these have included two start up companies, Oxford Bio-Innovation Ltd and Miles Internet Ltd, while in the not for profit sector this has included being Chair of the Oxfordshire Community Partnership and the Oxford Playhouse and membership of the Boards of Birmingham Heartlands and Solihull Hospitals Trust, the Oxfordshire Public Service Board, the Oxfordshire Economic Partnership, the Heart of England Training and Enterprise Council and the Remuneration Committees of Oxford City Council and Business Link in Milton Keynes, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire. Graham also has extensive international experience and has held visiting appointments and undertaken consultancies and educational development work in a long list of countries. He is currently Advisor on Higher Education to the Ministry of Education in Brunei.