Who We Are

Lord Bethell is an entrepreneur, former health minister and champion for public health.

He has a twenty-year track record working across government, media and industry, working at The Sunday Times, the US Senate, the EU Commission and the British government.

He has built and sold communications companies and helped make the Ministry of Sound a global success story.
As a minister at the Department for Health and Social Care, he helped lead the UK national response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

He is currently Chair of The BARBARA Alliance, Strand Health, Partner Havilland-Health, Trustee of the Royal Society of Public Health, chairman of Business for Health, a Fellow at King’s College London and a senior counsel to several health companies.

Chris Molloy is a senior international life sciences executive, scientist, board director and advisor with more than 35 years’ experience across pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, diagnostics, digital health, data science and healthcare innovation.

His career has spanned leadership roles from global drug discovery at Glaxo to venture-backed biotech, R&D technology, executive search and national innovation strategy. He founded and led Medicines Discovery Catapult, the UK’s national centre for drug discovery innovation, and during the COVID-19 pandemic served as founding Director of the UK’s Lighthouse Labs network, the largest diagnostic programmes in British history.

Chris has chaired and advised multiple biotech and healthcare companies, supported governments and investors internationally. He serves as a Trustee of The Institute of Cancer Research, is an Honorary Professor at The University of Manchester, and is Independent Chair of PharosAI.

Hilary joined Alzheimer’s Research UK in 2013 and has been instrumental in driving a period of transformative growth. Under her leadership, the charity has significantly increased its income, strengthening its ability to invest in groundbreaking, innovative research with the power to change lives.

Before joining Alzheimer’s Research UK, Hilary led the campaigning work at Age UK, championing improvements to the lives of people in later life across the UK and internationally.

Hilary chairs the UK government’s national dementia initiative, The Dame Barbara Windsor Dementia Goals Programme. This programme draws on the lessons of the Covid-19 vaccine taskforce to accelerate progress in dementia research and innovation.

Hilary holds an honorary doctorate in medicine from the University of Exeter, is a Trustee of the Association of Medical Research Charities (AMRC), and serves as a Member of the World Dementia Council.

In recognition of her leadership and impact, Hilary was awarded a CBE for services to charity in the 2026 King’s New Year Honours.

Dame Jackie Daniel DBE began her career as a nurse and spent more than 40 years in the NHS, including 22 years as a Chief Executive leading some of the UK’s largest and most complex health organisations. She developed a reputation for collaborative system leadership, service transformation and building partnerships between healthcare, academia and industry to improve patient and community outcomes. She was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 2017 in recognition of her contribution to healthcare leadership and public service.

Since retiring from full-time executive roles, Jackie has developed a portfolio career focused on leadership, innovation and the future of health and life sciences. Alongside her role as a Trustee of the BARBARA Alliance, she is a Luminary at Accenture, Patron of Cavell Nurses’ Trust, an executive coach and Executive-in-Residence at Lancaster University Management School.

Jackie has a longstanding interest in the intersection of health, economic prosperity and innovation, and works across sectors to support new approaches to healthcare delivery, digital transformation and system collaboration.

Vaughan Thomas brings more than 20 years of board-level experience across multiple organisations. Most recently, he served as Chair of the Isle of Wight NHS Trust, during which time it progressed from an Inadequate to a Good CQC rating over a period of 30 months.

Vaughan spent the majority of his career in UK and global roles with PwC, and has also served as CEO in commercial organisations outside professional services. For more than 15 years he has been an active board member of UK-based charities.

A Chartered Accountant (South Africa) with an MBA, Vaughan has held roles with responsibility for up to 30,000 people and revenues of $4.9bn across 160 countries. He brings expertise in strategic development, customer and service propositions, business building, transformation and change, and financial management.

Jessamy Baird brings a wealth of experience in healthcare and the Life Sciences industry, with her most recent role as General Manager and Country Lead for Sanofi UK & Ireland.

Jessamy served as a Board Director for the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI), appointed Vice-President in 2023, and as Chair of the European Medicines Group (EMG). In 2024, Jessamy was awarded an MBE for services to healthcare innovation.

Jessamy has worked across the pharmaceutical industry, academia and the NHS. She has held Non-Executive Board level roles in the NHS for over 10 years in Mental Health, Community Care, Learning Disability Trusts and commissioning services across Hampshire.

Jessamy is also a Board Trustee for two charities; Everystory and Duchenne UK.

Dr Sara Imarisio is a recognised leader in neurodegeneration research strategy, translational neuroscience and drug discovery.

With experience spanning academia, charities and government partnerships, she has played a key role in shaping major dementia research initiatives, including the UK Government’s Dame Barbara Windsor Dementia Goals Programme.

Sara previously held senior leadership positions at Alzheimer’s Research UK and is Strategy Lead for Neuroscience at Medicines Discovery Catapult, where she drives collaborations to accelerate the development of new therapies. She is passionate about bringing together stakeholders across sectors to advance innovative, data-driven approaches that improve outcomes for people affected by neurodegenerative diseases.

Siddhartha Ghose is a member of the Senior Leadership Team and Head of Operations at the BARBARA Alliance, where he supports the planning and delivery of the Dame Barbara Windsor Dementia Goals Programme. He brings more than two decades of experience across life sciences, medical technology, start-up operations and commercial strategy, with a track record of taking innovative products and programmes from concept through to implementation.

Siddhartha began his career in academia, specialising in downstream processing of biologics and bioprocess technology development, before moving into management consultancy with Booz Allen Hamilton, advising clients across the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and technology sectors. He has since held senior operational and leadership roles at early- and growth-stage ventures, including as COO of EnXray, Product Director at Fluidic Analytics, CEO Designate of CamRegen and Head of Operations at Tailor Bio, helping to raise more than £10 million in grant, debt and equity investment.

Ruth has spanned the academic, business and government worlds. She spent 26 years in the Pharmaceutical Industry, heading up research sites on both sides of the Atlantic, delivering more than 15 molecules into clinical trials and contributing to 2 new drugs. She created two research centres in Cambridge, UK: Pfizer Regenerative Medicine and Neusentis. After leading the Pfizer Research centre in Sandwich, she became CEO of InnovateUK, supportingthe growth of SMEs and helping create the UK Government’s Industrial Strategy.

Ruth is now an Operating Partner with SV Health Investors and has co-founded five neuroscience Biotech companies: AstronauTx, LoQus23, Cumulus, Alchemab and Draig Therapeutics. She was awarded ‘the most significant contribution to the Mediscience Sector’ in 2024 and the BioIndustry Association’s Chigwell Lifetime Achievement Award in 2026.

A neuroscientist with over 130 publications and four honorary doctorates, Ruth is also a trustee of Alzheimer’s Research UK, has served on over 10 company Boards and contributed to several UK government missions, including the antivirals drug task force and chairing the Scientific Advisory Board of the Dementia Goals programme.