Dr Anthony Thomson

Chief Executive Officer

Anthony is a creative and passionate senior executive who specialises in strategy, technology commercialisation, and leadership. He has a track record of success in formulating and executing business strategies around market development, partnership & collaboration, IPR, licencing and technology. He has held numerous leadership roles in technology, automotive, health, capital markets and university sectors and has led the formation, growth and exit of several start-ups including corporate ventures and university spin-outs, most recently managing a successful exit to US giant, Qualcomm. Anthony is also a Non Exec director of a number of high growth SMEs in Cyber Security, IT and Digital Transformation, Built Environment, Retail and Healthcare. His previous roles include CBO of Elephants Child, Chief Strategy Officer at Isansys Lifecare and various senior positions at Qualcomm; University of Auckland; Euronext; ABN AMRO; BNP Paribas; LIFFE and Chesterton. Anthony has an MSc and a PhD from the University of Otago (NZ) and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine. He holds an MBA from Cranfield.

Simon Nash

Chief Financial Officer

Simon has over 20 years’ experience in senior strategic and financial management roles covering various growth sectors. Since creating SRN Associates in 2004, he has worked extensively with high growth businesses in a variety of sectors. Prior to that, he spent over 15 years as CFO in growth companies in the technology sector. Throughout his career he has been involved in Corporate Finance transactions ranging from acquisitions, sales, fundraising and corporate restructuring. Simon has worked with established names, such as SunGard, Great Plains, Microsoft Business Solutions and Halma PLC, as well as Venture Capital and Private Equity backed companies. Simon is a Chartered Global Management Accountant and a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants.

Dr Mohammed Maniruzzaman

Chief Scientific Advisor
University of Texas at Austin.

Dr Mohammed Maniruzzaman is Assistant Professor in Pharmaceutics and Drug Delivery at College of Pharmacy, The University of Texas (UT) at Austin and leads the state-of-the-art ‘Pharmaceutical Engineering and 3D Printing (PharmE3D)’ and ‘3D Printing and Bioprinting (3DpBio)’ Labs at UT Austin. Prior to this, he was a Lecturer in Pharmaceutics at the University of Sussex, UK. He obtained a PhD from the University of Greenwich and two accompanying awards including the Vice Chancellor’s Award in 2013 for the outstanding performance in his doctoral research. In addition, he has received 11 prestigious awards and scholarship for the outstanding academic performances including gold medals, ORSAS fellowship, and Rising STARs Award.

Dr Maniruzzaman has extensive research experience in pharmaceutical technology, drug delivery, additive manufacturing (e.g. 3D printing), medical implants and formulation engineering. He has published 50 papers (in ACS, RSC, and AAPS journals), 3 books and 40 conference presentations, has chaired 6 scientific sessions in international conferences and delivered more than 20 oral presentations including 8 invited lectures. His research into pharmaceutical technology/process engineering has resulted in 3 patented platform technologies of solid dispersions/granulations and salt manufacturing of poorly water soluble drugs with another 5 pending patent applications. Dr Maniruzzaman has edited a book on ‘3D and 4D printing in biomedical applications: process engineering and additive manufacturing’. He has also recently edited 5 special issues on different aspects of continuous manufacturing, process engineering and 3D printing. Dr Maniruzzaman has secured over $1.75m since 2018 to conduct leading-edge research in 3D printed pharmaceutical dosage forms (i.e. tablets, capsules), process engineering and manufacturing of pharmaceutical formulations and medical devices.

Prof Robert O. (Bill) Williams

Johnson & Johnson Centenial Chair,
Professor of Pharmaceutics at College of Pharmacy,
University of Texas at Austin.

Bill earned a B.S. in Biology from Texas A&M University, a B.S. in Pharmacy from the University of Texas at Austin and Doctor of Philosophy in Pharmaceutics in 1986 from the University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Williams worked 9 years in the pharmaceutical industry in the United States and France before returning to the University of Texas at Austin in 1995. He was elected a Fellow of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists in 2006, a Fellow of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering in 2008, and a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors in 2020. He was also named the Inventor of the Year by the University of Texas at Austin in 2017. Dr. Williams is a member of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS) since its inception, as well as other professional societies including the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy. He is the co-founder of several pharmaceutical companies. Dr. Williams’ research interests include development of novel drug delivery systems for oral, pulmonary, nasal, injectable, buccal and topical applications, development of novel particle engineering technologies for low molecular weight drugs, peptides and proteins, and analytical technologies to characterize actives, excipients and polymers. He has published over 400 peer-reviewed research articles, reviews, abstracts and book chapters, and co-edited three books in the fields of pharmaceutical technology and drug delivery, including Formulating Poorly Water-Soluble Drugs, Second Edition (aapspress and Springer Nature) and Essential Pharmaceutics (aapspress and Springer Nature). He is an inventor on over 40 patents and patent applications. Dr. Williams served as Editor-in-Chief of the research journal Drug Development and Industrial Pharmacy from 2000 to 2014 and is presently the Editor-in-Chief of AAPS PharmSciTech since 2014. He is on the Editorial Advisory Board of Journal of Drug Delivery Science and Technology, and he serves as a reviewer for numerous other journals.

Prof. Hugh D.C. Smyth

Hamm Endowed Faculty Fellow,
Professor of Pharmaceutics with Tenure, College of Pharmacy,
University of Texas at Austin.

Dr. Smyth has started several companies resulting from technologies discovered in his laboratory including Respira Therapeutics, Nob Hill Therapeutics, Via Therapeutics, and Cloxero which are now advancing these technologies for clinical use. He has over 135 peer reviewed publications, is editor of 3 books, and over 20 patents or patent applications. He has a Pharmacy and a Ph.D. degree from the University of Otago, New Zealand. He has been faculty at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and The University of New Mexico. He was the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS) New Investigator award winner for Pharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Technologies in 2007. He also received the PhRMA Foundation New Investigator Award in pharmaceutics in 2007. His laboratory focuses on novel drug delivery systems and is funded through NIH, FDA, and industry. Hugh is also the Editor in Chief of Drug Development and Industrial Pharmacy.

Dr Janet C. Walkow

Executive Director & Chief Technology Officer Drug Dynamics Institute
Clinical Professor of Molecular Pharmaceutics and Drug Delivery,
University of Texas at Austin.

Janet joined The University of Texas in 2008, building on a successful pharmaceutical industry career, heading efforts ranging from R&D and Human Resources to Global Corporate Strategy. Leading the Drug Dynamic Institute, Janet brings novel approaches and solutions that promote development of technologies, facilitate bioscience startups, and cultivate interdisciplinary technology readiness and named a University of Texas gamechanger.

Janet is known in academic circles for developing cutting-edge ways and engaging educational tools. Her successful edX MOOC, Take Your Medicine, has enrolled tens of thousands of students, who explore how new drug therapies are developed.

A leader in efforts to empower entrepreneurs and women, Janet’s involvement spans numerous local and global innovation efforts including the Same Sky, Texas Venture Mentoring Services, the Livestrong Foundation, the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women, and numerous academic, nonprofit, and corporate initiatives. As a Public Voices Fellow for the OpEd Project, Janet gives voice to issues regarding health, education, and women and her recent Board service includes the Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders Foundation, the Health Promotion Council, and Harvard Kennedy School Women’s Leadership Board.

Prof Rong Cui

Professor, College of Pharmacy, Division of Molecular Pharmaceutics and Drug Delivery, University of Texas at Austin.

Zhengrong (Rong) Cui is a Professor and Alfred and Dorothy Mannino Fellow in Pharmacy at The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin), College of Pharmacy, Division of Molecular Pharmaceutics and Drug Delivery. He is also a member of the LIVESTRONG Cancer Institutes at UT Austin Dell Medical School. His research interests lie in drug and vaccine delivery and experimental tumor therapy. He has nearly twenty years of experience in using pharmaceutical chemistry and nanotechnology to overcome tumor resistance to (chemo)therapy, to target anti-inflammatory agents to chronic inflammation sites, and to improve the immunogenicity of vaccine antigens. He published extensively in the fields of pharmaceutics and vaccinology, including numerous peer-reviewed research papers, review papers, and book chapters. He is an inventor on several patents and patent applications that cover antitumor compounds, nucleic acid delivery systems, vaccine adjuvants, and dry powder vaccines. He teaches Biopharmaceutics to professional Doctor of Pharmacy students and Advanced Biopharmaceutics to graduate students. Dr. Cui serves as an editor of the research journal International Journal of Pharmaceutics. He holds a Ph.D. degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the University of Kentucky and completed his postdoctoral training at the University of Pittsburgh.

Alastair Syvret

Corporate Governance

From 1995 to 2018 Alastair was a partner of Mourant Ozannes, one of the largest offshore law firms with offices based in a number of jurisdictions worldwide. His professional practice encompassed a broad range of commercial, banking, finance, investment funds and corporate work, with a specialisation in debt and equity capital markets. He has extensive experience of corporate governance issues, including capital raising and company secretarial matters as well as solvent and insolvent reorganisations. In addition to his client facing practice, Alastair spent a number of years in various senior management positions at Mourant Ozannes, with a particular focus on HR related issues including recruitment. Alastair holds a law degree from the University of Exeter and is a Solicitor of the Royal Court of Jersey (non practising).