‘The Life Sciences Inspiration of the Year’ Award Nominees - Voting is now closed.

We are surrounded by exceptional individuals within the Life Science industry and we wouldn’t be here today without learning from our colleagues, employers and tutors. We gave you the opportunity to nominate yourself or someone you know who has particularly inspired you during your career journey to date. Please see the shortlisted nominations below. Voting closes at 11:00 on 31 March.

The winner will be announced by SLAS on 31 March 12:15 – 13:15 during the International lunchtime session ‘Food for Thought’ at the forthcoming Building Life Science Adventures careers conference.

Ian Charles, Quadram Institute Since evolving the institute from the old Institute of Food Research, Ian has transformed the culture of the Institute, enabling the recruitment of world-class scientists. His vision and leadership have resulted in a high performance team, many of whom have pivoted their research during Covid-19 to significantly contribute to the UK response effort - in sequencing (as part of COG-UK), diagnostics, therapeutics, trials and novel approaches (e.g. microbiome of Covid patients). Ian is a great ambassador for UK life sciences, leading state-of-the-art academic and translational research, with entrepreneurial skills resulting in IP and spinouts. He nurtures the talent in his team and ensures they are also ambassadors and spokespersons for their own achievements and successes, creating leaders of tomorrow.

Renos Savva, Birkbeck, University of London Renos founded a company called Domainex in Life Sciences and maintained his academic research group. Importantly in this context, Renos has developed the London Interdisciplinary Doctoral Programme (LIDo) in London across institutions to encourage cross-discipline engagement. Renos created Masters in BioEnterprise Course at Birkbeck, University of London, which engages students from both science and non-science backgrounds in how the industry works and the careers within it.

Claire Thompson, Agility Life Sciences Prof. Claire Thompson is an award-winning scientist, strategist and storyteller. Claire continuously advocates for the sector to use this spotlight to demystify medicines and make our messaging meaningful and memorable. Claire’s mantra is “Wellbeing over workload”. She ensured that through childcare issues, illness, and increasing demand, the team shared both workload and wins. Claire has doubled the company size, launched a new service and opened a new facility. Claire chairs the global FIP WiSE (Women in Science & Education) initiative to engage, enable and empower girls/women in pharmaceutical science/education. She launched and fully funds the Girls In Football Teams (GIFT) Grants.

Laura Gilbey, Agenda Life Sciences At Agenda Life Sciences, Laura Gilbey is dedicated to laboratory animal welfare and Laura’s continued commitment enables graduates to access careers in science. Laura has provided both insightful careers advice and teaching in practical animal welfare assessment based on years of experience. We have a moral responsibility as a society for these animals and the need for quality research has never been more important. Her sensitive and professional approach to discussing this challenging, but important area, has inspired many graduates to access rewarding jobs and make a difference.  

Jane Osbourn, OBE, Alchemab Jane Osbourn, OBE, is an inspirational figure who has dedicated her career to advancing transformative treatments for patients, promoting STEM in schools, building effective teams and mentoring others. Combining a considerable intellect with positive thinking, her down-to-earth approach enables her to tap into people’s strengths. Jane has created many successful initiatives, including AstraZeneca’s “Energy Challenge” competition for schoolchildren and establishing a new team at Alchemab. She is a leader on the national stage, chair and advisor across key organisations in the sector, while acting as a passionate advocate for industry/academia collaborations, fostering over 100 relationships between Cambridge University and Industry.

Good luck to all the nominees!