Dr Celia Caulcott succeeds Dr Tim Brears as Chair of the Board of Trustees of Quadram Institute Bioscience (QIB). Dr Caulcott first joined the Board of Trustees in 2017, became Chair from 14 May 2020, and is joined by three new trustees.

The new QIB trustees are Dr Elizabeth Robertson, Director of Research at Diabetes UK, Geoff Potter, Chairman of Avebury Public Relations Ltd, and Dr Eddie Blair, Chair of Virokine Therapeutics.

Dr Caulcott said: “I’m honoured to be succeeding Tim Brears as Chair of the Trustees and I’d like to place on record our sincere thanks to Tim for the very considerable contribution he’s made over the years.

On behalf of the Board of Trustees, I’m also very pleased to welcome Elizabeth Robertson, Geoff Potter and Eddie Blair to Quadram Institute Bioscience. They each bring unique and complementary expertise to the Quadram Institute as a leader in the field of research into food science, gut biology, human health and disease.”

Dr Celia Caulcott is Vice-Provost (Enterprise) UCL (University College London) where she leads on UCL’s enterprise strategy and embedding innovation and enterprise culture throughout the university.

Celia has extensive experience working in and with the biopharmaceuticals industry and agri-food sector and prior to joining UCL, was the Executive Director, Innovation and Skills at the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC).

Dr Elizabeth Robertson

Dr Elizabeth Robertson is Director of Research at Diabetes UK.

Elizabeth is responsible for ensuring Diabetes UK is driving forward understanding, diagnosis, prevention and treatment of diabetes, through investing in the best research minds and projects.

Before joining Diabetes UK, Elizabeth was the first Director of Research for Breast Cancer Now, formed from the merger of Breakthrough Breast Cancer and Breast Cancer Campaign in April 2015.

Geoff Potter

Geoff Potter has over 40 years’ experience as a senior practitioner in Corporate Communications, both in-house and consultancy, including 23 years directing worldwide communications for Glaxo/GSK.

He is currently Chairman of Avebury Public Relations Ltd and an associate with Meritus Consultants after having served as a senior partner with the international consultancy Instinctif Partners from 2007 to 2019.

Dr Eddie Blair

Dr Eddie Blair is currently Chair of Virokine Therapeutics, was CEO at GeneFirst Ltd and Integrated Magnetic Systems Ltd, and has held Executive and Non-Executive Directorships at Public Limited Companies.

He also remains Managing Director of Integrated Medicines Ltd (IML), a company co-founded in 2003 to enable personalised medicine by combining diagnostic-type testing with new and existing medicines, in part using intellectual capital from GSK.

Professor Ian Charles, Director of the Quadram Institute, said: “I’m delighted to announce Celia Caulcott’s appointment as Chair and to welcome our three new appointments to our Board of Trustees. Each of our trustees have unique skills and experience with much to offer the Quadram Institute Bioscience’s mission to bring real social and health benefits to our society in the years ahead and I look forward to working with them all.”

View the complete Board of Trustees here