Following from my undergraduate and PhD at Exeter University I joined the University of Oxford in 2010 and have worked as part of the Oxford Parkinson’s Disease Centre to understand Parkinson’s.
My Laboratory is focussed on using high-throughput biology and ‘Omics approaches to investigate the biology underpinning mitochondrial and lysosomal dysfunction in neurodegeneration. We work closely with industrial and academic collaborators and has established high-throughput phenotypic screening platforms, using CRISPRi or compounds, in mature patient iPSC-derived neurons, primary rodent neurons and cell lines to identify novel targets and drugs, some of which are currently being progressed into animal models.

Dr Fraser Murray is an experienced drug hunter and entrepreneur with almost 30 years of experience in drug discovery and early development in both pharma and biotech. In addition to being CEO of Pheno Therapeutics he is currently Head of Scientific Evaluation at Advent Life Sciences. He was most recently Chief Executive Officer of Pandeia Therapeutics which was acquired by a mid-cap pharmaceutical company in December 2022.

Professor M Francesca Cordeiro, is a clinician-scientist, Chair of Ophthalmology Imperial College London, and UCL Professor, Honorary Consultant Ophthalmologist/Research Lead, Director of the ICORG Clinical Trials Unit at the Western Eye Hospital London, and recently Founder and Director of Novai Ltd, a start-up company based on DARC Technology.

Her research, funded continuously by the Wellcome Trust since 1996, focuses on novel and translational approaches with a target of saving sight and reducing disability, with over 180 peer-reviewed publications.

She has received a number of international awards for this work, including the Lewis Rudin Glaucoma Prize 2005, the Research to Prevent Blindness International Research Scholar Award 2015, the GG2 Diversity Award for Outstanding Achievement in Medicine 2017 and 2019 Duke Elder Award (Royal College of Ophthalmologists) and is frequently asked to give keynote lectures abroad.

Currently VP of chemistry at NRG Therapeutics, Gilles Ouvry has over 20 years of international medicinal chemistry experience gained at Evotec, Galderma, AstraZeneca and SCYNEXIS. His experience spans from lead generation through to successful clinical candidate selection. During his career he has worked on over 20 drug discovery projects, managing internal and outsourced teams, and leading or participating in the discovery of multiple pre-clinical development candidates and four compounds that have progressed into clinical trials. He has a degree and PhD in organic chemistry from Ecole Polytechnique, Palaiseau, France.

Peter is CSO of Samsara Therapeutics, an Oxford-based biotech company with a focus on autophagy and neurodegeneration. He spent more than a decade at Sanofi, in various global discovery and business development roles. He and his teams have contributed to the advancement of many projects into development across multiple therapeutic areas. He started his career at AstraZeneca after postdoctoral studies at the University of Pennsylvania, a PhD from Cambridge University, and a BSc in Chemistry from Imperial College London. He holds an MBA from the University of Bath.

Baroness Greenfield, Founder and CEO of Neuro-Bio Ltd is a neuroscientist and has published over 200 papers in peer-reviewed journals over the course of her 40-year career, based mainly at Oxford University. She holds 32 honorary degrees from UK and foreign universities, has received numerous honours including the Legion d’Honneur from the French Government, an Honorary Fellowship from the Royal College of Physicians, The American Academy of Achievement Golden Plate Award, and The Australian Medical Research Society Medal. She is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.