Unparalleled knowledge and experience
Decades of experience in medical research, academia and corporate management allow us to expertly collaborate with our partners. Our team is committed to designing and delivering clinical trials that are smarter, cost effective and, ultimately, able to provide robust evidence to develop treatments for the most common illnesses affecting the world today.
Our leadership
The Executive Team at Protas guides and supports staff across the organisation to deliver our strategic objectives. They bring a wealth of scientific, clinical and industry knowledge and patient focus, in order to realise Protas’ ambitions of tackling the global burden of common disease through smarter clinical trials.
Martin Landray
Chief Executive Officer
Prof Sir Martin Landray is CEO of Protas, Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology at Oxford Population Health and a consultant hospital physician. He has over 20 years’ experience of leading large, randomised trials and is a joint lead of the RECOVERY trial of treatments for COVID-19. He works closely with regulators, industry, academia, patient groups and government organisations to improve all aspects of clinical trials.
Abby Taylor
Chief Operating Officer
Dr Abby Taylor is COO and is responsible for the efficient establishment of Protas and our operations. Abby was the Associate Director of Strategy and Data Insights for the Wellcome Trust, where she spent almost a decade leading the development and delivery of many of Wellcome’s major strategic initiatives and its international expansion. Abby has a PhD in biochemistry.
Richard Haynes
Chief Scientist
Professor Richard Haynes is Chief Scientist of Protas, Professor of Renal Medicine and Clinical Trials at Oxford Population Health and a consultant kidney doctor in the NHS. He has worked on and led large, randomised trials for over 15 years in cardiovascular, kidney and infectious diseases, and has a keen interest in ensuring that all areas of health benefit from streamlined trials.
Stefan Blixen-Finecke
Chief Information Officer
Stefan Blixen-Finecke is Protas’ CIO and is responsible for the efficient establishment and operation of our information technology services, including our unified clinical trials management platform, Cantata. Before joining Protas, Stefan was the Chief Technology Officer at the European Medicines Agency, where he led the development of strategic platforms underpinning medicines regulation in Europe. He has also held technology leadership roles at the Financial Conduct Authority and Telenor Denmark.
Tim Peakman
Chief Clinical Operations Officer
Dr Tim Peakman is Chief Clinical Operations Officer at Protas and is responsible for the efficient establishment and operation of trials. Before joining Protas he worked at University of Leeds as Chief Operating Officer and for 14 years at UK Biobank as Deputy Chief Executive helping to establish and run this study involving 500,000 participants. He holds an MBA from Henley Management College and in 2014 was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s birthday honours for services to medical sciences.
Maggie Payne
Chief Finance Officer
Our heads of department
Our heads of department are experienced team leaders and experts in their field. They are responsible for strategy and delivery across Protas’ various departments, as well as team development, training, best practice and ensuring that we are collaborating effectively across the organisation.
Gaynor Dalton
Director of Information Governance and Data Ethics
Gaynor Dalton is Protas’ Data Protection Officer and Caldicott Guardian and is responsible for ensuring the data is handled legally and ethically. Gaynor has 10 years of information governance and data ethics experience in the healthcare sector and over 15 years’ experience in legal services.
Jeremy Day
Principal Research Physician
Dr Jeremy Day is a physician trained in general internal medicine and infectious diseases. He has more than 20 years’ experience in clinical trial design and delivery and basic science research, and a passion for improving global health.
Jennifer Dumbleton
Head of Trial Management and Product Owner
Jen Dumbleton leads the trial management team at Protas and is Product Owner of our clinical trials platform, Cantata. With 20 years’ experience in clinical research, she previously led one of the UK’s largest academic drug trials and held roles in monitoring and data management at a global clinical research organisation.
Jonathan Emberson
Head of Statistics
Leading the statistics team at Protas, Jonathan Emberson is also Professor of Medical Statistics and Epidemiology at Oxford Population Health, where he has gained over 20 years’ experience in the design, analysis and interpretation of randomised trials.
John Etheridge
Head of Portfolio Delivery
John Etheridge is a senior programme and operations leader, with experience in clinical trials and health research more broadly. He leverages approaches from project and operations management to drive efficiency and innovation in trial design and operations.
Charlotte Flower
Head of Legal and Company Secretary
Charlotte Flower has over 10 years’ experience in commercial law, primarily in healthcare and life sciences. At Protas, Charlotte is responsible for all legal matters including negotiating contracts, managing legal risk and providing company secretarial support working in partnership with colleagues across the organisation.
Gerry Grant
Financial Controller
As Financial Controller, Gerry Grant is responsible for overseeing Protas’ financial operations and financial reporting. Gerry has over 10 years’ experience in financial management and reporting and is a UK Chartered Management Accountant.
Mandi Harcourt
Head of Human Resources
Mandi Harcourt has worked in HR for 35 years across a range of industries and sectors. She set up, and now leads, the Protas HR team, encompassing recruitment, reward and talent development. Mandi is a member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.
Kevin Hollingworth
Head of IT Development
Kevin Hollingworth is responsible for the development and operation of Protas’ clinical trials platform, Cantata. Previously, he has been responsible for NHS Scotland’s vaccination data, developed software medical devices and held positions of Global Software Development Manager (Emerson) and Vice President of Technology (G4S Technology).
Isabel Hope-Urwin
Head of Marketing and Communications
Isabel Hope-Urwin leads marketing, communications and patient and public involvement and engagement. She has senior creative and strategic experience across industries, including healthcare, charity and advertising. She is passionate about equality, diversity and inclusion, previously chaired an EDI network and is trustee of a learning disability charity.
Omar Latif
Head of Technology Operations
Omar Latif leads enterprise technology at Protas, defining the technology roadmap and overseeing operational activities. Having worked in a variety of sectors previously, Omar brings a wide range of technology experience, from head of technology for small software houses to platform technology lead at large-scale logistics organisations.
Emma Law
Head of Clinical Quality Assurance
Emma Law is responsible for the development and implementation of Protas’ quality management system, ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements for clinical trials. She has a background in quality assurance, research ethics and integrity, and an MSc in Quality Management in Scientific Research and Development from Cranfield University.
Nick Medhurst
Head of the Good Clinical Trials Collaborative
Nick Medhurst leads programmes advocating for good randomised clinical trials as Head of the Good Clinical Trials Collaborative. He previously worked with breast cancer and cystic fibrosis patient organisations and remains a board member of Cystic Fibrosis Europe.
Scott Wilson
Head of Information Security
Scott Wilson is responsible for Protas’ information, cyber and physical security across sites, systems and services, implementing security policies and procedures whilst maintaining industry security accreditations. His 25-year career spans security consultancy with NHS Digital and multiple senior leadership roles within the Ministry of Defence.
Patricia Yan
Head of Commercial Finance
Patricia Yan is responsible for the financial analyses to support organisational planning, decision making and business development. She has over 20 years’ experience driving strategic initiatives that optimise growth and profitability within large global organisations across different industries. She is a chartered professional accountant from Canada.
Our board
The Protas Board of Directors works to achieve the aims of the organisation. Board members bring broad expertise from across clinical, academic, corporate and industry backgrounds. The Board acts as company directors and has overall responsibility for the direction and management of Protas.
Rory Collins
Professor Sir Rory Collins FRS FMedSci FRCP is an epidemiologist and clinical trialist. He joined Oxford University in 1981, where he has designed and conducted large, streamlined randomised trials. He became Principal Investigator of the UK Biobank study in 2005, was knighted for services to science in 2011, established Oxford University’s Nuffield Department of Population Health in 2013, and was elected to the Royal Society in 2015.
Jonathan Symonds
Sir Jonathan Symonds CBE is Chair of GSK. A chartered accountant, he has extensive international financial, life sciences and governance experience. Previous roles include Chair of HSBC Bank, Chief Financial Officer of Novartis and AstraZeneca, Non-Executive Chair of Proteus Digital Health and Non-Executive Director of Rubius Therapeutics. Jon is a Non-Executive Director of Genomics England Limited, Non-Executive Chair of Energy Aspects and a member of the European Round Table for Industry.
Beth Thompson
Dr Beth Thompson MBE is a policy and advocacy professional. She has led Wellcome’s Policy Team since 2017, championing better public policy for science and health. Much of Beth’s work has focused on the regulation and governance of health research and she was awarded an MBE in 2017 for work on the General Data Protection Regulation. Beth holds a PhD from the Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology.
Esther Krofah
Esther Krofah MPP is the Executive Vice President of Health for the Milken Institute. She has extensive experience managing efforts to unite diverse stakeholders to solve critical issues and achieve shared goals that improve patients’ lives. Esther previously served as Director of Public Policy at GSK and held roles in the United States government and consulting to advance health reform. Esther received a BA from Duke University and a Master of Public Policy from Harvard University.
Careers at Protas
Make a positive difference to global health in a pioneering, dynamic organisation.