In addition to the consultants and associates introduced here Isis Enterprise draws on the full expertise of all 50+ staff of Isis Innovation in delivering services to our clients.
OUR CONSULTANTS
Tom Hockaday, Managing Director, Isis Innovation - Tom became Managing Director of Isis Innovation Ltd in 2006, having joined Isis in 2000. Before moving to Oxford in March 2000, Tom was at Bristol University for seven years where he was Managing Director of Bristol Innovations Ltd; before that Tom worked in UCL’s research contracting section for four years. Tom was Chairman of UNICO in 2003, the UK’s technology transfer trade association. Tom was on the founding Committee of Praxis, the UK’s national training programme aimed at technology transfer professionals, from 2002 to 2005.
Dr David Baghurst, Head of Isis Enterprise - 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. David joined The Oxford Trust as Director of Industrial Programmes in 1996 supporting the creation and growth of high tech companies, managing technology business incubation and business networks. David joined Isis in 2002 as Head of the Physical Sciences Group working on commercialisation projects from chemistry, physics, engineering, materials and computing. David has an MBA from Warwick Business School and has sat of the board of a number of emerging technology businesses from the life and physical sciences.
Dr Chris Moody, Managing Consultant - Chris’ career in technology marketing and sales management includes senior positions with Helix Technology Corporation, Kulicke & Soffa Industries and KLA-Tencor Corporation, as well as a broad consultancy background with Edgeworth, Inc. His extensive international business experience, particularly in Asia, adds to the rich knowledge base within Isis Enterprise. Chris has also served on a number of industry and corporate boards. He holds a BA from the University of the Pacific in California and a Doctor of Jurisprudence from Willamette University in Oregon.
Dr Paul Whyte, Managing Consultant - Paul has experience in commercial leadership roles spanning the pharmaceutical, academic and emerging technology environments from partnering late stage pharmaceutical products to exploiting innovative emerging products and technologies. Prior to joining Isis Enterprise Paul was responsible for leading the commercial development and partnering of therapeutic medicines at Evolutec Plc as Director of Business Development and prior to this for partnering Avidex Ltd’s (Medigene’s) cancer and inflammatory therapies and therapeutic discovery platform. Paul also spent several years at Cancer Research Technology (CRT) in a commercial role. Paul has an honours degree from Warwick University, a PhD in immunology and an MBA.
Dr Costas Chryssou - Prior to joining Isis, Costas worked for Alcatel Submarine Networks as a Senior Engineer, SPI Lasers as a Project Leader and more recently Pera Innovation as an Innovation Projects Manager. Costas has a degree in Physics from the University of Athens, an MSc in microwaves and opto-electronics from University College London and a PhD in opto-electronics. He also gained his MBA from the University of Bath.
Dr Sam Gallagher – Sam completed her PhD in Biochemcistry with ICI Pharmaceuticals at Cardiff University in 1993. She then became an MRC post-doctoral Research Fellow working in drug discovery and particle research in lungs. In 1999 Sam moved into Industry at Amersham Biosciences, the GE Healthcare as a Senior Scientists involved in the imaging platform development for cellular biology and high throughput screening. In 2005 Sam moved to Australia to become the director of R&D for Biopharmica Ltd, here she was a manager of a diverse portfolio of early stage reseach based in the Universities and Research Institutes around Australia. In 2006 Biopharmica Ltd formed the wholly owned subsidiary Molecular Discovery Systems and Sam became the acting CEO, building and directing the scientific portfolio and managing contracts with GE Healthcare.
Dr Sarah Macnaughton - Sarah completed her PhD in Microbial Ecology at the University of Newcastle in 1992. After three years in post-doctoral research at Newcastle she became the senior researcher at a US environmental analysis business. Following this she joined the Centre for Environmental Biotechnology at the University of Tennessee before moving back to the UK in 2000 to join AEA Technology Environment and its Momenta operating division. At Momenta Sarah worked on a number of projects including research into bioremediation, management of a UK site for contaminated land research, a review of environmental science and training in the UK and the DTI BIOWISE Programme. Her final role at Momenta was as regional manager on the Knowledge Transfer Partnerships programme. Sarah joined Isis Enterprise in October 2006.
Terry Pollard - Terry studied physics at the University of Bristol, and then moved into a technical business consulting role. After 4 years consulting into many different industries, he decided to study for an MBA at the Tanaka Business School, Imperial College London.Terry first joined Isis Innovation in 2003, where he worked as a project manager commercialising intellectual property from the physics, chemistry, materials and engineering departments. He was involved in the formation of several spinout companies, including Oxford Catalysts Ltd, a company that is developing specialty catalysts for the generation of clean fuels from conventional fossil fuels and renewable sources such as biomass. Oxford Catalysts floated on AIM in 2006, and Terry left Isis in early 2007 to join Oxford Catalysts, where he gained valuable experience in a business development role.
Ya-hsin Shen - Ya-hsin joined Isis as a Project Manager for the Technology Transfer group in 2008. She managed a portfolio of different technologies from engineering to medical products and biotechnology. Ya-hsin became a consultant for Isis Enterprise group in 2009 to develop and expand Isis Enterprise's business operations in Hong Kong, mainland China, and Taiwan. Ya-hsin holds a first class honours degree in Bioindustry Engineering from the National Taiwan University in 2001 and a Master in Electrical Engineering from the National Chiao-Tung University. She obtained an MBA degree at Said Business School, University of Oxford in 2007, and her entrepreneurial project in Said was rewarded as a runner-up for the JPMorgan Best Entrepreneurial Project. Prior to the MBA, she was a researcher in Academia Sinica and an IT Specialist at IBM Life Sciences Center of Excellence.
Robert Swerdlow - Robert is a Project Manager at Isis Enterprise. Robert gained a masters in Economic Analysis from the University of Nottingham in 2007. Prior to joining Isis, he briefly worked for the Institute of Cancer Research before joining LMC International Ltd as a research economist. During his time at LMC, he was responsible for writing numerous economic reports on the subject of agricultural commodity markets. Robert Joined Isis Enterprise in July 2008.
Dr Roger Welch - 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.
Dr 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 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.
OUR ASSOCIATES
Dr Mike Barlow, OBE - Mike has an MA and D.Phil from the University of Oxford in Chemistry and is a qualified UK and European Patent Attorney. From 1995 to 2008 he was Head of BP International’s Global Patents and Technology Law group in which role he led BP’s patenting activity and the IP aspects of its most significant technology transfer transactions. Mike is a past President of the IP Federation (the UK’s principal Industry IP body) and is currently a Vice President and Chair of its Patents Committee. Until recently he was Chair of the European Chemical Industry’s IP Task Force and a Council member of the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys in the UK. Mike was a co-author of the 2003 Royal Society study on the effect of IP on science and continues to advise the UK government on patents policy both nationally and internationally. Mike has advised on technology transfer for over twenty years and currently chairs the UK Intellectual Property Office’s Business to Business committee taking forward the technology transfer recommendations of the 2006 Gowers review. He is a co-author of the UK IPO’s book ‘What Licensing can do for your business’ launched at the end of 2008. He has lectured frequently on creating and extracting value from intellectual property rights associated with new technology.
Dr Tim Hart - Tim is an experienced entrepreneurial business manager. Prior to his work at Isis, Tim was the founder and CEO of an environmental diagnostics University spin-out. He took the company through six rounds of private investment and managed 28 shareholders. He sold the business and is now leading Zyoxel - an Oxford spinout. Tim has obtained significant experience in a wide range of issues associated with early stage technology business development. He is a proactive supporter of entrepreneurship and business mentoring both inside and outside academia. Tim gained a PhD in Microbiology from the University of Surrey in 1997 and a BSc in Microbiology from the University of Nottingham in 1993.
Dr Jeff Skinner - Jeff is the Executive Director for the Centre for Enterprise and Innovation at London Business School. Prior to this he was at UCL where, as Commercial Director, he was responsible for conceiving and running UCL’s Knowledge Transfer activities, including their spin-out, consultancy, business development, enterprise education and corporate alliance programmes as well as their proof-of-concept and seed funds. Jeff takes a leading role in the Technology Transfer community in the UK and Europe. He is past Chair of UNICO and remains a Board Member. He is immediate past-President of ASTP (the leading TT Association in Europe) and was on the founding team of PRAXIS which trains the vast majority of KT managers in the UK. He was a member of the core team that devised the Lambert Model Agreement. Jeff has a PhD from University College London, an MBA from London Business School and is a Certified Accountant.