NC3Rs announces new board members

Professor Blanca Rodriguez, Mr Paul Finnemore, Dr Paul Brooker, Professor Chris Denning and Professor Lucy Walker will each serve on the board for three-year terms from January 2016.

The work of the NC3Rs is overseen by a Board chaired by Professor Stephen Holgate CBE, University of Southampton. This non-executive Board provides advice on the strategy, monitors delivery against the NC3Rs mission, and ensures that financial planning and risk management is robust.

Members must be respected individuals with a proven track record in relevant research, have a good understanding of the use of animals in research and testing, display a commitment to the development of all three 'Rs', and a proven ability to exercise judgment in areas of science policy.

Professor Stephen Holgate CBE said: “This is an exciting time for the NC3Rs and I am delighted to be able to welcome five outstanding individuals onto our Board, who bring with them a broad range of experience and expertise which will help boost our work.”

Biographies

Professor Blanca Rodriguez

Blanca is a Professor of Computational Medicine at the University of Oxford. She has a Wellcome Trust Senior Research Fellowship in biomedical sciences, and has previously held roles in other international institutions such as Tulane University (Lousiana, USA) and the Universidad Politecnica de Valencia (Spain).Her area of expertise is investigating causes and modulators of variability in human physiology and pathophysiology using computational modelling and simulation combined with experimental and clinical investigations. Blanca also has significant experience in supervising DPhil students and Postdoctoral Fellows which has included mentoring Dr Oliver Britton, winner of the 2014 3Rs Prize.

Mr Paul Finnemore

Paul is a laboratory animal veterinary surgeon, and is currently the Chief Veterinary Officer (Global Head of Animal Welfare and Compliance) at AstraZeneca. He is a Council Member of the Laboratory Animals Veterinary Association. His key areas of expertise include laboratory animal veterinary medicine, animal husbandry, care and accommodation (especially for dogs and non-human primates), the refinement of common laboratory procedures, and expert knowledge of the background and operation of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 and EU Directive 2010/63/EU.

Dr Paul Brooker

Paul is the President of contract research services Europe at Envigo (formerly Huntingdon Life Sciences/Harlan), and is responsible for the science, compliance and business at sites in the UK, Spain, Switzerland, Germany and Israel. He has expertise in the safety assessment of pharmaceuticals, crop protection products and industrial chemicals and the regulatory environment. Paul is chair of the preclinical drug safety and the Non-Clinical and Biological Discovery Expert Network groups at the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry and is a member of the Council of the Royal Society of Biology.

Professor Chris Denning

Chris is Head of Department of Stem Cell Biology, and Deputy Director of Research for the School of Medicine at the University of Nottingham. His primary research interests include cardiomyocyte differentiation of human embryonic and induced stem cells for use in drug screening, and in the production of new in vitro models of genetic-based cardiovascular disease. Chris has served on the NC3Rs Grant Assessment Panel for six years, from 2010-15, and has also acted as the Panel’s Deputy Chair during this time. He currently is a member of both the 3Rs Prize Panel and the CRACK IT Solutions Funding Panel.

Professor Lucy Walker

Lucy is Professor of Immune Regulation at University College London, and leads a research team investigating immune tolerance and autoimmunity, with a particular focus on type 1 diabetes. She has grants from the Medical Research Council, the Horizon2020 Marie Sklodowska-Curie Innovative Training Network and the National Institute for Health Research. Lucy has been a member of the NC3Rs Project Grants Panel since 2011 and recently chaired the Panel for the NC3Rs/BBSRC strategic call on alternative models for bovine TB research.   

Outgoing members

The NC3Rs would like to thank Professor Maggie Dallman for her contribution to the Board since her appointment in 2010. Dr Jef Grainger has replaced Dr Lesley Heppell as the BBSRC representative on the Board.