Who's Who at Isis Innovation

Contact details for individual members of staff can be found on the Contact Details page or click on their name below.

Managing Director

Tim Cook

After being awarded a doctorate in cryogenic engineering at Oxford and a Diploma in Accounting and Finance, Dr Tim Cook joined the Oxford Instruments Group in 1975. In his 12 years with them he occupied technical and sales and marketing positions before spending 4 years as Managing Director of their subsidiary company Oxford Analytical Instruments. After 2 more Managing Director appointments Tim set up as a private investor in 1990 and was founding Managing Director of Oxford Semiconductor and Oxford Asymmetry, a spin-out from the University of Oxford which was floated in 1998 and now has a market capitalisation of over £300 million. Tim was conferred the title of  "Visiting Professor in Science Entrepreneurship"on 1st January 2006. Tim Cook was appointed Managing Director of Isis Innovation in May 1997.

Executive Director

Tom Hockaday

Before moving to Oxford in March 2000, Tom was at Bristol University for seven years where he was Head of the Intellectual Property Management Unit and Managing Director of Bristol Innovations Ltd. At Bristol Tom managed the University's growing patent, licensing and spin-out company activity. Before this, Tom worked in the industrial liaison office at University College London for a number of years. Tom has been involved in the University Companies Association (UniCo), the Association for University Research and Industry Links (AURIL), the US based Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM) and the Licensing Executives Society (LES). Tom has spoken on technology transfer issues at meetings arranged by LES, AURIL, and AUTM. Before entering the world of university technology transfer Tom read Geography at Kings College London and worked in the City for a short period.

Portfolio Manager

James Mallinson

James joined Isis in April 2003 to manage the equity stakes in spin-out companies held by the University. Prior to Isis, he worked in the private equity group at Abbey National Treasury Services where he was responsible for technology investments. James gained his MBA from Cranfield in 1990 and has over ten years' experience in venture capital as both investor and adviser. James gained his first degree in Engineering Science at the University of Oxford, following which he trained and worked as a software engineer, initially with Marconi Underwater Systems.

Head of Group: Life Science Group

Linda Naylor

Before moving to Isis in July 2002, Linda was based at the University of York where she was manager of Bioincubator York Ltd and was responsible for the commercialisation of Bioscience research either through company start-up or licensing. Linda was also part of the White Rose Biotechnology Consortium which was established to exploit the possible synergies between the Universities of York, Sheffield and Leeds to maximise the commercial potential of life science research from the three Universities. Previously, she had over 20 years experience in the Life Science industry with Zeneca plc / ICI plc during which time she was responsible for managing the biology research within developing life science businesses covering the pharmaceutical, agrochemical, biopolymer, chemical and food business. Linda has a B.A. in Biological Sciences.

Project Managers: Life Science Group

Fiona Begg

Dr Fiona Begg studied medical microbiology at Edinburgh University
following a year working in pharmaceutical microbiology. Her PhD in biochemistry and molecular biology (molecular pharmacology of phosphodiesterases) was completed at Glasgow University on a BBSRC CASE studentship. This was sponsored by AstraZeneca and the first year of study was completed at their research facility in Loughborough. After a year in a business development role she spent 3.5 years with Invitrogen Ltd as a technical adviser and then in their sales team.

James Hamilton

Dr James Hamilton read molecular biology at Glasgow University, following which he spent two years at the John Innes Centre for Plant Sciences working on plant transformation projects in the applied genetics department. After obtaining a Ph.D. in plant biochemistry from the University of London (sponsored by Unilever), he spent 1.5 years as a technical specialist for Bio-Rad followed by 3 years as a sales specialist at Novex and Invitrogen. Latterly, he was a product manager for Thermo Hybaid working on gene transfer products and their PCR product range.

Richard Middleton

Richard studied Chemistry at Bristol University gaining a first class honours in 1991. After taking a break from chemistry for eight months to work at a leprosarium in Niger Republic in West Africa, he went to Imperial College, London to study for a PhD. The area of study was the use of the palladium catalysed Heck reaction to form constrained α-amino acids with small and medium sized rings. As well as the publication of these results, Richard also co-authored a review on the intramolecular Heck reaction. He then took up the position of Scientist in the Research Centre of the Norwegian multi-national Norsk Hydro in the town of Porsgrunn, Norway, where he started work as a medicinal chemist working on the synthesis of anti-cancer compounds. Due to the diversified nature of Norsk Hydro, Richard researched in a wide range of areas during his four and half years in Norway. These included process improvements for the production of industrial fatty acids, the development of a multi-kilogram synthesis of an active pharmaceutical ingredient, and biotechnology based projects with an agricultural focus. In the year before joining Isis Innovation, Richard returned to Imperial College to study for an MBA degree which he received with Distinction. He specialised in the areas of Entrepreneurship and the Health-Care sector, and for his project he looked at the use of strategic performance measures in the management of a University technology transfer company.

Colin Story

Dr Colin Story read biological sciences at Swansea University during which he was awarded the Ivor Isaac prize for academic excellence. For a further 3.5 years at Swansea University and Plymouth Marine Laboratories, Colin performed detailed research investigating intracellular calcification in algae using a variety of molecular biology techniques including 2D gel electrophoresis and fluorescence confocal imaging. After obtaining his doctorate in 1997 Colin joined Amersham International (now GE Healthcare) as a development scientist. After 3 years in this position Colin became a Project Manager within R&D. In March 2002 Colin moved into a commercial role as Product Manager for proteomics labelling and detection where he remained until joining Isis as a Project Manager in January 2005.

Adam Stoten

Dr Adam Stoten gained a first class honours degree in Biology from the University of Nottingham in 1997. He remained at Nottingham to undertake a PhD in molecular immunology, investigating novel T-cell independent mechanisms of allergic inflammation. His research was co-sponsored by AstraZeneca and Adam worked for the latter two years of his PhD at the company's Charnwood R&D site in Loughborough. On completion of his PhD, Adam conducted further research at Nottingham on behalf of DERA, before joining Talentmark, a specialist life science recruitment consultancy, as a Researcher. After 18 months with Talentmark, he joined its sister company Technomark, a specialist consultancy operating in the pharmaceutical and biotech sectors. Joining as a Research Analyst, Adam was promoted to Head of Research in 2004, and worked on various due diligence, market analysis, strategic marketing and outsourcing projects. During his time at Technomark, Adam passed both the UKSIP Investment Management Certificate and Part I of the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) programme. Adam joined Isis as a Project Manager in February 2005.

Suzanna Wood

Suzanna studied at The University of Surrey in Guildford where she obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry. Subsequently she spent 6 years at the Institute of Cancer Research in Sutton where she studied for a University of London PhD and then worked as a postdoctoral scientist. Suzanna's research was investigating genes encoding Serine Hydroxymethyltransferase, which is involved in the Thymidylate Synthase Cycle and subsequently the role of SYT/SSX gene translocations in Synovial Sarcoma. Suzanna then left academia to pursue a career in sales. She has been involved in sales of a wide range of molecular biology reagents and equipment including products used for microarrays and robotic instruments. More recently Suzanna was employed as the UK Product Manager at MWG Biotech for the oligonucleotide synthesis and DNA sequencing services and then as the key account manager in the UK for Proligo, an oligonucleotide synthesis company. Suzanna joined Isis as a Project Manager in May 2005.

Head of Group: Physical Science Group

David Baghurst

David studied chemistry at the University of Oxford prior to completing a DPhil entitled "Applications of microwaves in chemical synthesis". Following two years as a fixed term lecturer in chemistry at Imperial College, London, David joined the Cookson Group as Head of the Advanced Products Group at the Cookson Technology Centre. The group carried out development work in a wide range of materials fields including studies in ceramics, electronic materials (solders and adhesives) and polymer products (fibres). David joined The Oxford Trust as Director of Industrial Programmes in 1996 supporting the creation and growth of high tech companies and encouraging technology business networks. David will shortly complete his MBA at Warwick Business School and joined Isis in July 2002.

Project Managers: Physical Science Group

David Churchman

Dr. David Churchman gained his PhD and MSc from the University of Surrey where he studied Inorganic Analytical Chemistry and Radiation and Environmental Protection respectively. For the past 7 years, David has applied his academic background to the commercial sector leading hi-tech scientific product development through international Marketing and Sales roles, such as the Micromass Inorganic Mass Spectrometer group. David joined Isis in April 2004 from a Cambridge University spin-out, where he was responsible for sales development of materials data management software to the U.S. aerospace industry.

David Eastham

Dr David Eastham originally trained as a metallurgist followed by a doctorate in electrodeposition of thin Permalloy films, both from the University of Nottingham. His subsequent industrial career has developed interests in the wider field of surface engineering and tribology.

After university he spent time in the electronics industry with Plessey where he was responsible for evaluating the technology and the longer-term strategy for the production of processed aluminium foil used in capacitors. For the major part he has been involved in components supply to the automotive industry with Glacier Metal and T&N, where he had responsibility for the development of new products involving surface technology. This required technology transfer from laboratory to full-scale production, patenting, licensing of product/process and interaction with main representatives of the global automotive industry.

Latterly he has been at the National Physical Laboratory as Head of Commercial Programmes in the materials centre where the emphasis was on developing non-government funded projects. Such work required management of change, interaction with scientists, technology transfer to industry, licensing of NPL designed products, interaction with the DTI Engineering Industries Directorate and development of marketing strategy. Currently David is the Immediate Past President of the Institute of Metal Finishing, and is a member of the EPSRC Structural Materials College. David joined Isis in January 2000.

Mairi Gibbs

Following her degree in Chemistry from the University of Oxford, Mairi gained a PhD in Chemistry from the University of Bristol in 1998. Working with Prof. Tom Simpson, her PhD studies were on the biosynthesis of microbial polyketide metabolites. This work was sponsored by Xenova Discovery Ltd and involved synthesis of labelled biosynthetic intermediates as well as cell culture work and natural products isolation. On completion of her PhD Mairi spent several years working as a Senior Research Chemist for Avecia, developing novel aqueous dyes for use in photorealistic InkJet printing. Mairi has a strong interest in methods for enhancing innovation and creativity, and was part of a small team that established the use of these techniques in the Research Centre at Avecia. She also negotiated internal funding to implement the chemical search engine Beilstein Crossfire. Mairi joined Isis Innovation in May 2002.

Anthony Lewis

Dr Anthony Lewis gained a B.SC in chemistry, from the University of Salford and a PhD, in synthetic organic chemistry, from Kings College, University of London. This was followed by spells as a postdoctoral research fellow and an industrial scientist. Anthony joined Isis in January 2005 from Biotage Ltd., where for the past 3.5 years, he applied his academic and industrial background to the commercial sector, as a scientific support manager.

Terry Pollard

Terry Pollard gained his MSci degree in Physics from the University of Bristol in 1998. He then spent four years working as a technical business consultant, helping large blue chip organisations to manage the interface between technology and business strategy. In 2002, Terry left the consulting industry to study for an MBA at the Tanaka Business School, Imperial College London. Here he specialised in entrepreneurship and new business creation, with a particular focus on university spinout companies. Terry's MBA project was based at the London Centre for Nanotechnology, where he evaluated their approach to multidisciplinary research and the commercial exploitation of nanotechnology. Terry was awarded a one-year Business Development Fellowship at the University of Oxford in October 2003, where he worked with scientists towards the rapid commercial exploitation of selected new technologies. Terry joined Isis Innovation as a Project Manager in November 2004.

Roger Welch

Dr Roger Welch completed his Ph.D. from the Physics Department of Warwick University in 1995. He then spent three years as a cryogenic systems design engineer working in the Oxford area. Later, Roger was involved in several sales and marketing positions dealing with new and innovative technologies closely associated with science and engineering including cryogenics, optics, optoelectronics, and vacuum technology. Roger joined Isis in September 2003.

Head of Group: Business Innovation & Consulting

Mark Taylor

After gaining his doctorate in clinical biosensors from Manchester Medical School, Dr Mark Taylor took two consecutive industrially-funded postdocs before joining Merck's Environmental Assays team, then based in Cardiff. Joining Isis in the winter of 1997, he was involved in the formation of four spin-out companies including Avidex and OMIA (now part of Mirada Solutions). He spent some time at 3i as a technology investor before piloting the University of Oxford's new consultancy service, including the successful auditing of its work for the ISO 9001:2000 standard. He currently heads the Business Innovation and Consulting Group at Isis.

Project Managers: Business Innovation & Consulting

Rick Inwood

Rick, Consulting Project Manager, started his academic career at the University of London where he gained a degree in Physics and a Ph.D. in Solid State Physics. He went on to achieve a Diploma in Accounting and Finance and has an MBA from the University of Portsmouth.

After graduating, Rick worked for the Sperry Gyroscope Corporation in Engineering and Management positions before moving on to work for the Oxford Instruments Group as a Divisional Manager. In 1985, Rick joined Digital Equipment Corporation as a Senior Product Manager in the Computer Special Systems Division. He went on to be appointed European Business Systems Manager where he led a team responsible for improving European business operational efficiency and then Head of Business and Technical Operations in the Consulting Division. In 1994, he became a General manager for the Custom Systems and Solutions Division EMEA.

In addition, Rick has provided management consultancy for Honeywell Services Division EMEA and SME's in the oil and health industries. Before joining Isis, Rick was Head of Product Management at Thales Contact Solutions, a global provider of CRM software.

Gill Rowe

Gill, Business Innovation Project Manager, holds a BSc in Human Sciences from University College London (where she specialised in the neurosciences) as well as a Diploma in Marketing and MBA. In addition, she has extensive experience in business development, marketing and technology transfer within the medical, engineering and IT industries.

After graduating, Gill joined a group undertaking monoclonal antibody research at Cambridge University before moving into industry in Regulatory Affairs roles for both Rhone Poulenc and Schering. Gill then became part of a venture capital fund start-up company developing software for use in medical diagnostics.

Before joining Isis, Gill worked for AEA Technology plc on a variety of business development projects principally related to neural networks, plasma technology, biosensors and orthopaedic device testing. Her final role at AEA Technology was as Global Marketing Manager for one of its engineering software businesses.

Andrew Goff

Prior to joining Isis in February 2003, Andrew was Business Development Director at Penguin Digital Media and latterly Pearson Broadband. At Pearson he was responsible for setting up a business to license digital intellectual property and to commercially exploit the group's media development capabilities. Prior to this Andrew was with Dorling Kindersley Multimedia for six years where he was Director of Sales and Marketing. Andrew started his career in publishing at Oxford University Press, where he held posts in book commissioning and marketing. Andrew has a BSc in Zoology from the University of Bristol and 5 years' research experience with the Medical Research Council both in Cambridge and the University of Oxford.

Elen Wade-Martins

Elen holds a BEng in Materials Science from Birmingham University and a DPhil from Oxford University, where she carried out industrially-sponsored research into novel aluminium alloys for use in aerospace. She went on to work for AEA Technology plc as a consultant on a government programme before moving to the US to do postdoctoral research at MIT. This included investigating carbon nanotubes for electronic applications and some of the fundamental phase transformations in steels, as well as teaching.

From January 2003, Elen was a HEIF (Higher Education Innovation Fund) Manager for Oxford University Begbroke Science Park and the Said Business School. Her remit was promotion of science entrepreneurship and included running the 'Oxford University Business Plan Competition', the 'Building a Business' course and the 'Enterprise Fellowship' programme. Elen joined Isis in August 2005.