Leadership

 
Simon joins Isomerase from his current role as Head of Commercialisation since 2019 at the John Innes Centre (JIC), Norwich, where he has led on expanding contract research, supporting spinouts, and leveraging intellectual property rights in the field of health, sustainability and agriculture. Simon brings over 20 years of experience in the USA and UK in biotechnology and he has cofounded, developed and held senior management positions within a host of innovative businesses including as cofounder and CEO of Chalante, VP of Business Development at Acidophil and cofounder and VP of Business Development at Agrimetis, all three past clients of Isomerase.

 
Matthew is a co-founder of Isomerase and was CEO from its formation for just over 10 years until July 2023. He has over 20 years of experience in microbial bioengineering and bioinformatics, is an author or inventor on over 40 patents, patent applications or publications and holds a BSc in Biochemistry and Genetics and a PhD in Molecular Genetics from the University of Nottingham. He is skilled in programme management and intellectual property rights protection, with experience generating and managing broad IP portfolios for technology and drug discovery biotech companies and was previously Director of Intellectual Property and Project Management at Biotica Technology Ltd. He joined Biotica in 2003, having been involved with the company since 1999 when he was at the University of Cambridge working on genetic manipulation of biosynthetic pathways in Professor Peter Leadlay’s group.

Steven is a co-founder of Isomerase and is highly practiced at discovering novel molecules and processes on the chemistry/biology interface. In particular, Steven is experienced in applying Isomerase's bioengineering platform and semi-synthesis to generate microbial natural products with target characteristics and taking these discoveries through into manufacturing. From 2009 until 2013, Steven was the Director of Natural Products Chemistry at Biotica Technology Ltd., where he was responsible for all internal fermentation and chemistry as well as the management and technology transfer associated with outsourced manufacture and chemistry. Steven joined Biotica in 2002 as a Research Scientist and worked on a number of different microbial natural product-based programmes across multiple therapeutic areas. Prior to that, he spent two years as a Post-Doctoral Research Associate with Professor Heinz G. Floss (University of Washington, Seattle) studying the biosynthesis of ansamitocin. Steven holds a BSc and PhD in Chemistry from the University of Durham, where he studied under Professor David O'Hagan. He is an author or inventor on over 60 scientific papers and US/EU patents.

Karen joined Isomerase in April 2018. Karen brings 20 years of financial experience, across various industries, including the biotech, property and media industries. Prior to joining Isomerase Therapeutics Limited, Karen worked as Financial Controller at Mission Therapeutics Limited, a VC-backed biotech company. During her time at Mission she assisted in implementing numerous improved financial processes and controls as well as implementing a new finance system. Prior to this, Karen was Financial Controller at The Whitfield Group, a privately-owned property owning & letting business where she was responsible for all aspect of finance and also sat on the operational and management leadership team assisting to make strategic decisions. Prior to this, Karen spent 6 years at BSkyB Plc, where she held a number of Finance roles including 3 years within Group Finance, liaising closely with auditors as well as in-house tax, treasury and legal teams.
Karen trained and qualified as an ACA with KPMG and has a BA (Hons) Business degree.

Barrie is a co-founder of Isomerase and a Project Leader in the Department of Molecular Microbiology at the prestigious John Innes Centre (http://www.jic.ac.uk). He was previously VP of Research at Biotica. Barrie is an innovative scientist with experience that spans the breadth of discovery and lead optimisation in natural products chemical biology, and spent several years working at GSKs medicines research centre in the UK. He was educated and trained at the universities of Leeds, Washington & Cambridge and is an author/inventor on 95 scientific papers and patents.

Rob is a highly experienced director with a strong mix of financial, operational and strategic skills gained in the UK and internationally in blue-chip multinationals and SMEs in the Pharmaceutical, Life Science and Technology sectors. Raised over £40M, successfully IPO’d on the main London market and involved in numerous M&A transactions. Built multi-disciplined, multi-site teams and customer and partner relationships. He has managed professional advisors and institutional and commercial investors. He is currently the COO at Linaro. Previous posts include CFO at Biotica, CEO at Pronostics, CEO at Synomics, Group FD at Tadpole plc and Group FD at Pharmacia GB.

Anna joined the Isomerase team in 2013 and works as a Project Leader, managing external collaborations and internal research programmes. She is an experienced Chemical Biologist and has worked on a diverse set of projects, from therapeutic targets including immunosuppression, respiratory diseases, anti-infectives and anti-cancer agents, through to products for crop protection. Prior to Isomerase, Anna was Project Manager at Biotica where she was responsible for the company’s proprietary NovoPT natural compound collection; compiling, organising and supplying the company’s unique chemical compound screening library. Her complementary mix of chemistry, biology and IT experience, teamed with her natural leadership skills, helped her head the 'hit-to-lead' pipeline efforts for the company. Anna has over 20 years’ experience working with actinomycetes after transitioning to study at the interface between chemistry and biology for her PhD in Chemistry at the University of Warwick. Here she learned molecular biology techniques in Streptomyces and analysed the resulting changes with chemical techniques learned during her MChem: Chemistry with Medicinal Chemistry (1st Class) at the same institution.

Lesley is an experienced molecular biologist and microbiologist with a focus on using synthetic biology tools to generate natural products with enhanced pharmaceutical properties. She specialises in project management and particularly enjoys interfacing between lab science and project management and delivery.  Lesley was one of the first employees at Biotica in 2000 and worked on discovery projects across multiple therapeutic areas with various collaborators. She is author on a number of publications and patents. Lesley holds a BA (Mod) in Natural Science and PhD in Microbiology awarded by Trinity College Dublin where she studied under Professor Charles Dorman.

Neil has worked in the field of fermentation technology and bioprocess engineering since 2005, and has held scientific and technical leadership roles for organisations including Pfizer Global Manufacturing, UCB Pharma, Xenova Biomanufacturing, Phico Therapeutics and Dr Reddy’s Laboratories. Neil graduated with honours in Biotechnology from the University of Hertfordshire, and his work within biochemical and process engineering has been recognised by industry leaders having been awarded chartered status both as a chemical engineer and scientist from the Institute of Chemical Engineering and UK Science Council. Neil has frequently been the single point of contact (SPOC) for technical fermentation activities and has taken the lead within biological safety as a practitioner within the Institute of Safety in Technology and Research. Neil has a specific interest in fermentation process design and the use of enhanced product development tools for bringing complex bioprocesses from laboratory discovery to industrial manufacture.