Scientific Advisory Panel

Robin was previously Professor of Stem Cell Medicine at the Wellcome-Medical Research Council Cambridge Stem Cell Institute. Robin obtained his undergraduate degrees in Physiology and Veterinary Medicine and his PhD in Neuroscience. He is at the forefront of studying the mechanisms of myelin regeneration (remyelination), providing insights into how adult stem cells differentiate into oligodendrocytes and other glial cell types, and how this process is altered by ageing. He was formerly Director of the UK MS Society Cambridge Centre for Myelin Repair, a consortium of Cambridge-based scientists and clinicians working towards stem-cell-based therapies for myelin regeneration. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences and won the 2017 Barancik Prize for Research Innovation and the 2021 King Faisal Prize for Medicine.

After graduating from Sheffield University, David completed a PhD on the “Genetics of familial breast cancer” which involved genetic studies to identify the two breast cancer genes, BRCA1 and BRCA2 and their importance in familial and sporadic breast cancer. In addition to his studies in breast cancer genetics, he formed a longstanding collaboration with Professor Irene Leigh to establish a genetic and cellular biology programme on inherited skin disorders including palmoplantar keratodermas. After a short Wellcome Trust postdoctoral in which time he identified Connexin 26 (encoded by GJB2) as the main genetic cause of hearing loss, he joined SmithKline Beecham (now GlaxoSmithkline) where he used a bioinformatic approach to identify new molecular targets. From there he returned to academia to build an independent research team working on human skin genetics and keratinocyte biology. He was made Professor of Human Molecular Genetics in 2003. He was awarded the Chanel-CERIES award for skin research in 2016 and the ESPD Schnyder Memorial Prize Lecture in 2018. He is a past president of the European Society of Dermatological Research (2018-19) and a member of the Barts Centre for Squamous Cancer steering group.

Richard qualified from Cambridge University in 1994. After two years in private equine practice, he moved to the USA and completed a residency in equine internal medicine at The Ohio State University and a Master of Science degree in canine muscle physiology and disease. He returned to the UK to complete doctoral training in molecular and cellular biology of neuromuscular diseases as a Wellcome Fellow at the Dubowitz Neuromuscular Centre, Imperial College from where he attained his PhD. Richard is an RCVS recognised specialist in Equine Internal Medicine and a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine and Fellow of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons. He directs the Comparative Neuromuscular Disease Laboratory at the RVC.

After graduating from St George’s Hospital Medical School, Adrian was awarded his PhD from University College London. He is a leader in paediatric immunology and in translation of cell and gene therapies for rare disease. He has fostered major collaborations both nationally and internationally, and with colleagues, has conducted some of the first successful trials of gene therapy in inherited immunodeficiencies. He is currently Head of the Infection, Inflammation, and Immunity at UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, and Lead for the Cell, Stem Cell, and Gene Therapy theme at the NIHR Great Ormond Street Hospital NHS Trust Biomedical Research Centre. He has been a board member of the American Society of Cell and Gene Therapy, President of the British Society for Gene and Cell Therapy, board member of the European Society of Gene and Cell Therapy, and an NIHR senior investigator. He became a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences in 2005.

Gabriela holds a substantive Consultant post at Great Ormond street hospital where she is part of the Nationally Commissioned Highly Specialised Service for Epidermolysis Bullosa. She completed her Dermatology specialist training in London and the West Midlands and was awarded a PhD in allogeneic cell therapies for individuals with Dystrophic Epidermolysis Bullosa (DEB) as part of the Genetic Skin Disease Group, King’s College London. She was co-investigator in paediatric and adult cell therapy clinical trials for individuals with dystrophic EB, including ADSTEM & EBSTEM . She is currently Principal Investigator for a double blinded placebo controlled study of mesenchymal stromal cells in children with recessive DEB (Mission EB). Her research has led to numerous publications in high impact factor journals and presentations at national and international meetings. She is part of the medical panel of the Ectodermal Dysplasia Society, the Ichthyosis Support Group, as well as the British Association of Dermatologists (BAD) Therapy and Guidelines committee and the Genetic Skin Disease Group.

Julie gained her PhD from the University Leeds and joined UCL/Moorfields Eye Hospital in 2011. Her research centres on understanding the biology and therapeutic potential of stem cells (and the cells with which they interact) in order to develop and deliver novel cell-based therapies to patients suffering from blinding ocular surface disorders. Julie is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology and was a Silver Fellow of the Association for Research in Vision and Opthalmology in 2020.