Our Board

Dr J Barrie Ward, Non-Executive Chairman

Dr Ward is currently Chairman of the AVANT Board of Directors. He is also Chairman of the Boards of Directors of Onyvax Limited and CellCentric Limited and a director of Biotica Technology Limited.  He  was Chief Executive Officer of KuDOS Pharmaceuticals Limited from 1999 until January 2006 when the company was acquired by AstraZeneca. KuDOS was focussed on the discovery and development of inhibitors of DNA repair as new treatments for cancer.  Prior to this appointment he was Chairman and CEO of Virus Research Institute Inc., which in 1998 merged with T-Cell Sciences Inc. to form AVANT Immunotherapeutics Inc.  From 1984-94 Dr Ward served as Director of the Microbiology Division of Glaxo Research and Development, with responsibility for infectious disease research.  Dr Ward holds a BSc and a PhD in microbial biochemistry from the University of Bath.

Dr Roland Kozlowski, Non-Executive Director

Roland Kozlowski is a bioentrepreneur who has worked in the industry since the mid 90s. He is CEO and founder of Lectus Therapeutics Ltd. Previously he was CEO of Sense Proteomic Ltd and prior to that worked with Oxford Molecular, notably on a key deal he negotiated with Astellas (then Yamanouchi). He has executed many transactions ranging from company sale, purchase, financing and in- and out-licensing. His research background is in pharmacology and, after a PhD at Cambridge, he ran research groups at Oxford and Bristol Universities where he is a Visiting Industrial Professor. Roland has published extensively and is an inventor on granted patents. He has served on the BIA board and participates in policy formulation for UK biotech.

Professor Michael Spyer, Non-Executive Director

Professor Spyer was appointed the first Vice-Provost (Enterprise) of University College London (one of London Genetics' founding institutions) in  2006.  He works on knowledge transfer strategy, the promotion of entrepreneurship and innovation in UCL. Professor Spyer is a neuroscientist with extensive research accomplishments in the field of the central nervous control of the heart, circulation and ventilation. In 1980 Professor Spyer was appointed to the Sophia Jex-Blake Chair of Physiology and Headship of the Department of Physiology in the Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine. In 1993 he was appointed Head of the joint Department of Physiology of UCL and the Royal Free and upon the merger of the Royal Free with University College Medical School was made Dean of the Royal Free Campus. In 2001 he took up the post of Dean of the Royal Free & University College Medical School and in 2002 he was appointed Vice-Provost (Biomedicine) of University College London. As a consequence he was involved in managing for UCL the interface between the University and NHS. Professor Spyer is involved in the exploitation of IP generated in UCL through his Directorship of UCL Business plc, chairs the Bloomsbury Bioseed Fund (a venture fund supporting several research institutes in London), and is a a Non-Executive Director of the NHS London. He  has been a non-executive director of several biomedical start-up companies.

Dr Mark Caulfield, Clinical Director

Mark Caulfield graduated in Medicine in 1984 from the London Hospital Medical College and trained in Clinical Pharmacology at St Bartholomew's Hospital where he developed a research programme in molecular genetics of hypertension. From 1996 he has been National Co-ordinator of the MRC British Genetics of Hypertension (BRIGHT) Study on behalf of five UK universities. In 2000 he successfully bid for £3.1m to create the Barts and The London Genome Centre which now underpins over 40 programmes of research. He was appointed Director of the William Harvey Research Institute in 2002. Dr Caulfield is also Deputy Chair of the London Biobank Regional Collaborating Centre.

Simon Wallwork, Company Secretary

Simon is a Partner and head of the Corporate department at law firm Pannone LLP. He specialises in acquisitions, disposals, private equity, and listing work. Clients cover many sectors and Simon has a particular focus on the life sciences sector. After qualifying at Elliott & Company in Manchester, he moved in-house with Pilkington plc becoming involved in a number of cross-border transactions.  Moving back into private practice,  Simon joined Fox Brooks Marshall in 1992 and Wacks Caller in 1994 when the firms merged, at which point he became a partner.  Simon joined Pannone LLP in 2002. 

Dominique Kleyn, Chief Executive Officer

Dominique joined London Genetics from Imperial College London, one of London Genetics' founding institutions. At Imperial College she was involved in new venture development and management, technology transfer, fund raising and collaborations. The latter include research arrangements with companies such as GlaxoSmithKline, Merck & Co, Johnson & Johnson and Syngenta. In addition, she was a non-executive founder director of Acrobot, Equinox Pharma, GMEC, London Genetics, MicroTestMatrices, Nova Thera (acquired by Medcell) and Protexeon (acquired by Air Products). Dominique has worked on device and diagnostic development at companies such as Unilever, in business development at the Wellcome Foundation, and in consulting at PricewaterhouseCoopers. She has a BSc in Microbiology, an MBA (2006) from Imperial College London and is a Chartered Licensing Professional.