Dr Robert Thomas

Research and Development Advisor

Dr Robert Thomas is a leading member of the bio-manufacturing research team at Loughborough University as well as a registered pharmacist.

Following a period of research developing models of tissue engineered liver, he was awarded a Fellowship to develop the process science and manufacturing capability of cell based regenerative medicine therapies.

He is currently Associate Director for the EPSRC Centre for Innovative Manufacturing for Regenerative Medicine, based in the Centre for Biological Engineering at Loughborough University.

Tracy Thomas

Midwifery Advisor

Tracy Thomas has worked in healthcare since 1989, supporting women and families in a variety of roles. She began her midwifery career in 1999 and after a limited period in the NHS, chose to work independently in order to practice midwifery to the fullest extent, empowering clients through support of their individual choices and control of their own birthing experiences.

In 2007 Tracy facilitated the incorporation and management of a private birth centre to allow low risk, healthy women to give birth outside of the hospital in a midwifery-led facility. She continues in her role as the birth centres’ head of midwifery, alongside her commitment to Future Health as its midwife advisor.

Tracy is passionate about sharing information with families, to enable informed healthcare choices. Her personal interests lie with stem cell collection and storage having experienced, through her family, the improvements to quality of life such a simple procedure can provide.

Dr Mark Atkins

Clinical Advisor

Dr Atkins qualified in medicine from King’s College London in 1986 and has been working in the field of clinical virology since 1990.

He trained in general microbiology at Cardiff before moving to London to complete his specialist training in virology at Royal Free Hospital and St Mary’s Hospital.

He spent 4 years researching antiviral resistance in HIV before moving to work on clinical trials of antivirals for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B.

He returned to the NHS in 2002 and has worked for Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust as a Consultant Virologist ever since. His main research interests are developing molecular diagnostics assays and the treatment of chronic viral hepatitis.

Dr Susan G Shawcross

Research Associate

Dr Sue Shawcross holds an Honours degree, a PhD in Genetics as well as a Masters degree in Radiation Biology, and is a Fellow of the Society of Biology.

She is a post-doctoral research associate and laboratory manager for the Nerve Repair and Regeneration Group and Deputy Chair of the Faculty of Medicine Biosafety Committee at the University of Manchester.

Her research interests are focussed on the use of Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSCs) for solid tissue repair and regeneration.

Dr Shawcross has engaged in successful collaborations with Astra Zeneca, Smith and Nephew Healthcare, and Johnson & Johnson Healthcare.

Her work with Future Health is focused on the use of umbilical cord and deciduous dental pulp-derived MSCs for nerve repair.

Lady Roche

Ethicist

Lady Roche is a member of the Ethics Committee at Charing Cross Hospital. She served as Chairlady of the Ethics Committee at Cromwell Hospital and also held a position in the Ethics Committee at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital between 1995 and 2005.

Dr Athanasios Zomas

Consultant Haematologist

Dr Athanasios Zomas is a Consultant Haematologist at Attikon University Hospital of Athens. His career has taken him to the UK where he has served in several senior positions within the Haematology Department at Royal Marsden Hospital and St George’s Hospital, London.