Board and management
Professor Sir Edwin Southern - Founder, Chairman and CSO
Professor Edwin Southern moved to Oxford in 1985 to take up the post of the Whitley Professorship of Biochemistry and in 1988 introduced methods of analysis using oligonucleotide arrays or 'DNA Chips'. He founded Oxford Gene Technology in 1995 to commercialise his work in the areas of DNA Microarrays. Ed retains a position at Oxford University as Professor of Biochemistry Emeritus.
Professor Southern has received many scientific honours and in June 2003 he received a knighthood for services to the development of DNA technology. In September 2005 Ed was awarded the Albert Lasker Award in Clinical Medical Research for the development of Southern blotting.
Professor Southern founded a charity The Kirkhouse Trust to promote education and research in the Natural Sciences. In addition the Edina Trust was founded to promote science in schools. These charities are financed using royalty income from licensing microarray technology.
Dr Sonia Morgan - Director
Dr Sonia Morgan became a Director of OGT in 1997. She also provides support with HR issues. Prior to this, between 1986 and 2001, Dr Morgan worked at the Open University as an academic administrator. She has also worked for the Civil Service (1973-1985) as a social researcher in the Scottish Office. Dr Sonia Morgan has a PhD in genetics from Edinburgh University.
Dr Mike Evans - CEO
Dr Mike Evans joined Oxford Gene Technology in March 2005. Prior to this he spent 16 years at GE Healthcare, formerly Amersham plc. Dr Evans most recently held the position of Executive Vice President, Marketing and Strategy, Amersham Discovery Systems Division, and was previously Executive Vice President of the Bioassays Business. In 2000 Dr Evans joined Ascot plc as Managing Director, Fine Chemicals, responsible for two businesses within the Ascot plc group and was a member of Ascot's Executive Committee. Dr Evans holds a BA, MA and DPhil from the University of Oxford. He is a non-executive director of The Automation Partnership plc.
Dr David Owen - Non-Executive Director
Dr David Owen joined Oxford Gene Technology as a Non-Executive Director in October 2005. David is a Non-Executive Chairman of Abcellute Ltd. and the Cardiff Partnership Fund, Co-Chairman of EMBL Enterprise Management, GmbH, in Heidelberg and is a past President of the Association of European Science and Technology Transfer Professionals. From 1990-2001 David held the position of CEO of MRC Technology and in June 2001 was awarded the OBE for services to medical research and technology transfer. Prior to this David worked in R&D in the pharmaceutical industry for 20 years (Sandoz SmithKline and French). He later became Group Director for Compound and Technology Acquisitions. Dr Owen holds a PhD in pharmacology.
Dr Tim Cook - Non-Executive Director
Dr Tim Cook joined Oxford Gene Technology as a Non-Executive Director in April 2007 after 10 years as Executive Director at Isis Innovation, the technology transfer company at Oxford University. From 1990 to 1997 Tim was a private investor and founding Managing Director of Oxford Semiconductor and Oxford Asymmetry. Prior to this he held various management roles in technology-based businesses. Tim holds a BA in Physics and a DPhil in Cryogenics from the University of Oxford. He also has a Certified Diploma in Accounting and Finance and a Higher National Certificate in Mechanical Engineering.
Senior Management
Mr James Clough - Vice President OGT Clinical & Genomic Solutions
Mr James Clough joined OGT in June 2005. James has an accomplished commercial record having held a number of senior roles for life sciences companies. At GE Healthcare (formerly Amersham Biosciences) he was President of Amersham Biosciences Europe. At Affymetrix he was Vice President and General Manager of Affymetrix's European Operations.
Dr John Anson - Vice President OGT Biomarker Discovery
Dr John Anson joined OGT in January 2006 after sixteen years at Amersham Biosciences/GE Healthcare where he held positions as Head of Product Development, Lead Discovery, Cardiff; Vice President for Pharmacogenomics; Vice President for Business Development and Programme Manager. John brings an in-depth experience of product development in the life science market having led teams responsible for the launch of several industry-leading products.
Michael Bennett DPhil CBiol MSBl - Vice President Business Development and Licensing
Dr Michael Bennett joined the Licensing and Patents group in May 2003. With over fourteen years commercial experience gained in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and multinational companies, such as Hybaid Ltd, Molecular Sensing plc and Roche Diagnostics Ltd, he brings to OGT broad skills in business development, sales, marketing and intellectual property management. He holds a DPhil from the University of Oxford and a BSc in Biology from the University of Paisley.
Mr Tony Lenhardt - Financial Controller and Company Secretary
Mr Tony Lenhardt joined the finance group in May 2005, bringing an established track record in financial management from working for a diverse range of companies where he held a number of senior roles. Mr Lenhardt was appointed Company Secretary in May 2006 and heads the HR and IT departments.
Rachel Fallon - Head of Biomarker Discovery, Research and Development at Sense Proteomic
Rachel Fallon brings over 20 years experience working in the life science business. Rachel joined Sense Proteomic in June 2003 bringing broad experience of technology development in proteomics and genomics having previously held senior roles including Science Director and R&D Director in Amersham Biosciences.
Dr Karl Stone – Head of Engineering and Operations
Dr Karl Stone joined OGT in May 2000 to set up its state of the art, microarray fabrication facility and operation: providing OGT with the means to start its services and products businesses. After a period at Arrow Therapeutics, a company later purchased by AstraZeneca, Karl rejoined OGT. Whilst at Arrow, Karl set up and ran their microarray fabrication operation, which provided arrays for their antimicrobial target discovery programs. Karl has over twenty years experience as an engineer within the biotech/life sciences sector having previously worked in bioprocess automation and development for Rhône-Poulenc and Imperial College London. He holds a PhD from University College London.