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Contact information for the TRO's translational research and funding support team, the Translational Research Group (TRG).
TRG Members:
Translational Research Managers:
Pamela Tranter
Head, Translational Research Group
Email: p.tranter@ucl.ac.uk
Pamela joined the Translational Research Group in November 2014 and has been head of the group since Sept 2016. Pamela has led Thrombosis and Respiratory projects on multiple targets and is experienced in managing cross functional and global project teams.
Pamela obtained her PhD in Platelet Biochemistry from the Royal Free Hospital Medical School and has extensive experience of drug discovery in the pharmaceutical industry at Ciba-Geigy and Novartis. At Novartis, Pamela led the Respiratory Disease Ion Channel Group and implemented novel automated electrophysiology technologies enabling the prosecution of many diverse ion channel targets.
Contact Pamela for:
- Excellent connections with Funders, Industry and academic institutions working on Advanced Therapies
- Help with managing AAV and CAR T Cell projects
- Connection with any of the Therapeutic Innovation Network (TIN) communities
- Approaching and working with key partners – UCL Business (UCLB), Joint Research Office (JRO), UCL Tech Fund (UCLTF) and many more!
Helen Cooksley
Senior Translational Research Manager
Email: h.cooksley@ucl.ac.uk
Translational research has been the focus of Helen’s career, co-ordinating multidisciplinary teams of scientists, clinical staff and industry collaborators to develop novel & effective immunotherapeutic strategies for treatment of liver disease. She is now using her knowledge & experience to engage with & support early career researchers translate their discovery research. She holds a BSC in Biotechnology and an MSc in Medical Biochemistry.
Contact Helen to:
- Discuss the internal translational funding opportunities provided by the TRO such as our Pilot Data Scheme and the Therapeutic Acceleration Support fund.
- Learn about how the UCL Therapeutic Innovation Networks facilitate knowledge exchange and partnerships between UCL researchers and industry experts within different therapeutic modalities, to identify common obstacles and provide solutions to accelerate translation.
- Request information relating to the TRO’s pipeline of translational projects from early proof of concept studies through to mature pre-clinical & clinical projects.
Simon Newman
Senior Translational Research Manager
Email: simon.newman@ucl.ac.uk
Before joining the TRO Simon was the Chief Scientific Officer at NanoGenics, responsible for both the development of the peptide nanoparticle gene therapy delivery platform, LipTide, and driving forward NanoGenics in-house product pipeline. Working with a platform technology Simon worked across a wide range of sectors, from CAR-T to ophthalmology, and with a wide range of partners, from virtual Biotechs to the largest Pharma.
Simon has previously led oncology drug discovery projects, new company spinouts and worked at Imperial College London. He has published over 60 peer-reviewed papers, which have been cited 3000 times. Simon has also worked with Ipsen, Sterix, Imperial College Innovations, Oxandia Ltd and was Director of Research for Target Ovarian Cancer.
Contact Simon to:
- Understand where your research fits into the translational pathway and how the TRO can help you move your research forward
- Help you identify sources of translational research funding and work in partnership with you to optimise your application
- Discuss with you how UCL and the TRO can support you from concept to clinic to commercial opportunities.
Jennifer Furman
Senior Translational Research Manager
Email: j.furman@ucl.ac.uk
Jennifer began her research career in Physics, specialising in biophysics/nonlinear dynamics in biological systems. Following several stints as a post-doc in various fields under this remit (including projects on cardiology, ophthalmology, biomedical engineering, neuroscience and computer science), in 2017 Jennifer moved into research support, specialising in research and information governance, ethics/HRA/MHRA applications, IP, etc. In February 2022 Jennifer joined the Translational Research Office, where she looks forward to helping you with translating your research ideas towards direct patient benefit.
Contact Jennifer to:
- Help with better understanding trial sponsorship and how to identify the appropriate regulatory and governance pathways, particularly for medical devices.
- Understand translational research more broadly, particularly the pathway from bed to bench.
Celia Murray-Dunning
Senior Translational Research Manager
Email: c.murray-dunning@ucl.ac.uk
Celia received her PhD from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Sheffield. Following this she worked for several world leading research teams and clinical groups. Her work focused on bioregenerative medicine, stem cell research and medical device development, specifically in the areas of neurodegeneration and ophthalmology.
Celia has worked in both academic and industry settings and is an experienced research and development scientist specialising in translational research. She was developed a device from bench side to a clinical trial, has extensive GMP and clean room experience, alongside project management and technical lead skills.
She joined the TRO in March 2022 and looks forward to helping academic groups navigate the translational pathway, to enable the world leading research at UCL reach patients as efficiently and quickly as possible.
Gioia Cherubini
Senior Translational Research Manager
Email: g.cherubini@ucl.ac.uk
Gioia joined the Translational Research Group (TRG) in May 2023. She brings a wealth of experience working at the academia-industry interface having spent the last ten years driving, establishing and managing collaborations to accelerate research translation from bench to bedside. Gioia began her career in research with a PhD in Genetics and Molecular Biology from the University of Rome ‘La Sapienza’ and held postdoctoral positions at the Institut Gustave Roussy (Paris) and the Barts Cancer Institute (Queen Mary University of London) working in cancer gene therapy.
Prior to joining the TRG, Gioia was the Senior Scientific Partnerships manager at Achilles Therapeutics UK Ltd, where she led and coordinated grant applications and scientific collaborations, bringing more than £7M in funding in three years. Before that, as a Business Development Manager (Health) at Queen Mary University of London Gioia developed strong expertise supporting academics in their efforts to translate their research.
Contact Gioia to:
- help you understand the translational pathway and how the TRG can help you move your research from bench to bedside;
- help you identify sources of translational funding and assist you in the preparation of competitive applications;
- help you identify partners to strengthen your project.