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Babraham Institute Enterprise welcomes four new Non-Executive Directors to its Board

The Institute is delighted to welcome four new Non-Executive Directors to the Board of Babraham Institute Enterprise (BIE) Ltd. The new Board Directors bring extensive experience in translating fundamental research discoveries for commercial use as well as expertise in how to feed-forward these discoveries into drug discovery and healthcare applications. Commercialisation of the Institute’s innovative life science research is central to the Institute’s mission of improving lifelong health.

BIE is the commercial arm of the Institute and functions to supports the commercialisation of the Institute's science. As such, it manages, develops and commercialises the Institute's intellectual property portfolio. It additionally facilitates collaborations between the Institute and industry and coordinates access to the Institute's expertise, scientific facilities and services. The company is managed by Commercialisation Manager Francois-Xavier Robert and is overseen by the BIE Board, chaired by Dr Alan Watt.

The new Directors are:

• Dr Danielle Hoyle, Head of ��������Ƶ Operations at the Babraham Institute
• Dr Laura Parton, Senior Director of Project Management at Mission Therapeutics
• Dr Iain Thomas, Board Chair at Agaricus Robotics Ltd. and Senior Advisor at the Medicines Discovery Catapult
• Matthew Wheeler, Chief Executive Officer of Hygenica MedTech

Dr Alan Watt, Chair of Babraham Institute Enterprise Ltd. said: “It’s wonderful to welcome Danielle, Laura, Iain and Matthew who bring a vast breadth of experience. Their insights and perspectives will be invaluable as we work together to support Institute researchers to best translate their discoveries for applications in research and healthcare.”

Dr Simon Cook, Institute Director, commented: “I’m very excited to work alongside our existing and new directors on the BIE Board and am hugely grateful to them for their support and dedication. Their input shapes how we take our fundamental discoveries and research tools forward into the commercial arena to accelerate further research discoveries, new therapies and ultimately improve health.”

Director profiles:

Dr Danielle Hoyle

Danielle is Head of ��������Ƶ Operations and Deputy Director of Operations at the Babraham Institute. She holds a degree and PhD in Biochemistry, both from the University of Manchester and an MBA from the Open University.

Danielle is responsible for developing and managing the performance of the Institute’s research operations, ensuring successful delivery of Institute science, including Institute Strategic Programme outcomes funded by BBSRC. This includes being the operational lead for the Institute's science facilities, financial and corporate planning and reporting, coordinating science capital equipment, project management of onboarding and offboarding processes for research group leads and scientific facility heads, knowledge management of research outputs, and overseeing the research elements of the BBSRC Core Capability Grant (CCG).

Beyond the Institute Danielle is an active participant in the core facility management community, working with colleagues across the UK and Europe to share best practices and expertise. She is currently Chair of the EU-LIFE Alliance Core ��������Ƶ Working Group, and in 2024 established the UK ��������Ƶ Facility Coordinators Network in collaboration with Dr Alex Laude (Newcastle University).

Dr Laura Parton

Laura is the Senior Director of Project Management at Mission Therapeutics, where she leads project portfolio management to drive preclinical and clinical drug discovery and development across multiple therapeutic areas. With 20 years of experience spanning academia and the pharma/biotech industry, she has successfully advanced first-in-class clinical candidates from early discovery through to early-stage clinical trials in kidney disease and Parkinson’s disease.

Laura brings expertise in translating early-stage scientific concepts into viable clinical candidates, strategically balancing scientific innovation with financial and operational considerations to optimise project success. Her background spans basic research, clinical development, and commercial strategy, enabling her to shape project strategies that maximise both scientific and commercial value.

Before joining Mission Therapeutics, Laura held preclinical and project management roles at Takeda Cambridge and Abcam. She holds a BSc in Biochemistry from the University of Manchester, a PhD from the University of Bristol, and completed postdoctoral studies at Harvard Medical School.

Dr Iain Thomas

Iain holds a PhD from the University of Sydney and an MBA from the University of Cambridge. He has worked in technology commercialisation since 2001, co-founded Apollo Therapeutics and CeresAgritech and is currently Board Chair at Agaricus Robotics Ltd. alongside working on an exciting new endeavour at the Medicines Discovery Catapult.

Iain was Head of Life Sciences at Cambridge Enterprise for 18 years where he and his team helped create start-ups, including XO1, Mission Therapeutics, Gyroscope Therapeutics, Cambridge Epigenetix (now BiModal) and NoBACZ, and licence technology in fields as varied as psychiatric assessment, human therapeutics, biomarkers, veterinary products, lab tools and agritech. During this time Iain was also a Director and the Chair of Knowledge Exchange UK (formerly PraxisAuril Ltd.), a not-for-profit company that trains practitioners in knowledge exchange in the UK, driving the organisation to a strong financial footing.

Beyond his professional work, Ian was a co-chair of governors at Milton Road Primary School through the covid-19 pandemic and oversaw substantial school improvement.

Matthew Wheeler

Matthew is a molecular biophysicist and virologist by training, holding a BSc (Hons) in Molecular Biophysics from King’s College London and an MPhil in Medical Science from the University of Cambridge. His commercial and strategic roles in leading life sciences companies over the last 20 years have equipped Matthew with a multidisciplinary expertise in developing and commercialising innovations across pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, and medical devices. As Global Product Manager for GE Healthcare (now part of Danaher) he oversaw a portfolio enabling drug discovery, development, and production. He is currently the Chief Executive Officer of Hygenica MedTech, a venture-backed business addressing the global public health challenges of hospital-acquired infections and antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

Notes

Contact: Dr Louisa Wood, Head of Communications, louisa.wood@babraham.ac.uk

Image description: A gallery of images featuring the four new Board members and images representing the Institute's research and community.