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The Team

David Oxlade, Chairman

David is chairman of the Kirkstall board and is also currently Chairman of Transcrip Partners LLP & of Base4Innovation Ltd. He was previously Chairman of BioAnaLab Ltd which was acquired by Millipore in 2009 and NED of Cobra Biologics plc, (acquired by Recipharm). Previously, David was CEO Xenova Group plc, a NASDAQ and LSE listed biopharmaceutical company, and President of Syva Co, San Jose (acquired by Hoechst AG). He has extensive global experience in bringing new innovative medical products to market.

Dr J Malcolm Wilkinson, Chief Executive Officer

Malcolm has managed high technology product development both in large corporations (USA and UK) as well as start-ups. He has six years experience in sales and marketing, which gave him experience in the challenges of new product introduction into the market. He met the development team in Pisa whilst acting as a mentor in an EU sponsored start-up competition. He is a member of the IEEE and a Fellow of the Institute of Nanotechnology.

Email Malcolm or call +44 (0) 844 800 113.

Andrew Burton, Non Executive Director

Andrew is the nominated investor from the Viking Fund which led the Angel investments in 2008 and provided Loan funding in 2009.

Scientific Advisory Panel

Supporting the Directors is a Scientific Advisory Panel (SAP) The panel provides Kirkstall with access to world class academic and business skills.  Members include:

  • Professor David Tweats
  • Howard Biddle, ex CEO Cambridge Consultant
  • Professor Arti Ahluwalia, Professor of Bioengineering at the University of Pisa
  • Dr Simon Ward, Chairman of Syben
  • Professors Sheila MacNeil, Sheffield University –Department of Tissue Engineering in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering
  • Professor Paul Hatton, Sheffield University – Department of Biomaterials Science and Honorary Non-Clinical Investigator
  • Dr Patrick Maurel, Director, Inserm, Montpellier
  • Professor Claus-Michael Lehr, University of Saarland – Department of Biopharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Technology
  • Dr Andrew Benett – FRAME (Fund for the Replacement of Animals in Medical Experiements)

The SAP meets every six months and one of these meetings coincides with the annual Quasi-Vivo® User Group.

Operational Team

Dr Kate Darley, Business Development Manager

Kate graduated from the University of York with a Bsc Hons in Biology and Dphil in Cell and Molecular biology. After completing several years post doctoral research she moved into commercial biotechnology applying her bioscience background to commercial product and business development. She was Chief Scientific Officer and then Chief Executive of Replizyme in York, which offered specialised screening services to the pharmaceutical industry. She has negotiated contracts and licences, establishing links with academic and industrial partners, and marketed and sold products and services.

Email Kate or call +44 (0) 844 800 113.

Dr Simon Ward, Consultant, Pharmaceutical Sector Business Development

Simon graduated from The London School of Pharmacy with a Joint Honours degree in Pharmacology and Toxicology. After appointments in industry (Smith Kline French, Glaxo Group Research), he went on to read for a DPhil, Oxford. He left Oxford as an EMBO and subsequently an EC Post Doctoral Fellow (IGBMC, Strasbourg, France. He has extensive academic and commercial research experience including the formation and financing of strong multi-disciplined research groups having extensive collaborations world-wide.

He is a founder of Molecular SkinCare, providing scientific expertise and a major role in establishing the business which resulted in its acquisition by York Pharma Plc. Through his enthusiasm for Biotechnology and experience within the start-up sector, Simon was appointed Chair of South Yorkshire Bioscience Enterprise Network (SYBEN) in 2003 and a Non Executive Director for Medipex, the IP hub of the NHS, in 2004.