The Team

Jenny is a recognised industry leader. She began her career as a political journalist and led high-profile campaigns in-house and agency-side. Prior to launching OVID she successfully built up an award-winning healthcare communications practice at another agency. She is a former political adviser to a government health minister and is a regular speaker at conferences and events on topics such as political strategy and policy-making, women’s health, social care, oncology, mental health and rare diseases. Jenny is a trustee of MS Trust, PharmaTimes and PRCA judge, and Findacure Patient Group mentor. She was Highly Commended as Healthcare Leader of the Year 2021 at Communique.

Rachel leads OVID’s pharmaceutical PR services offer. She joined OVID from GSK, where she led global communications for the inhaled respiratory medicines team. An experienced and well-respected PR leader, she is the former UK Communications Director for GSK. Her background is in science communications and cancer, having previously been a Science Press Manager for Cancer Research UK, where she worked with all the leading national and trade health journalists on a regular basis.

James is an award-winning health communications expert with 15 years’ in-house and consultancy experience. His expertise is international in scope and covers a broad range of therapy areas like sexual health, dermatology and respiratory medicine. His diverse integrated communications background ranges from creating one of the NHS’s earliest social media campaigns, to leading the launch of Europe’s first monoclonal antibody biosimilar. Today, James‘ primary focus is engagement that helps populations improve wellbeing.

For more than thirty years Niall Dickson has been at the centre of health policy and regulation. Until recently Niall was CEO of the NHS Confederation, which represents UK health service organisations. He was formerly CEO and registrar of the General Medical Council and is a well-respected leader in health policy and communications. His previous roles include CEO of the King’s Fund, the BBC’s social affairs editor and health correspondent, as well as editor of Nursing Times. He was awarded a CBE for patient safety in 2017.

Athena Lamnisos is a senior third sector leader and is currently CEO of leading women’s cancer research charity, The Eve Appeal. Athena is experienced at forging partnerships between private, public and not for profit sectors. She has a track record of directing successful change programmes in the arena of public health and oncology and is passionate about making service user voices central to strategy.

Prof Salisbury was Director of Immunisation at the Department of Health until the end of 2013. He was responsible for the National Immunisation Programme and led the introduction of many new vaccines. He is the chair of the WHO Global Certification Commission for Polio Eradication and an Associate Fellow at Chatham House’s Global Health Programme. He previously chaired the WHO’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization, the WHO committee that sets global immunization policy. He was made a Companion of the Order of the Bath in 2001.

Matthew joined OVID from the global PR consultancy Ketchum, where he headed up a range of programmes, working with multinational pharmaceutical organisations across areas such as addiction management and oncology, as well as consumer-facing health campaigns for Proctor and Gamble. He previously spent most of his career working either for the NHS, or national health and care regulators, in and across Government departments and arms-length bodies. Matthew was Head of Communications at the Human Tissue Authority for 5 years – leading on all external and internal communications and engagement for the Authority, spanning media management, public affairs, stakeholder engagement and digital communications.

Tom joined OVID in 2021 having spent three years working in health public affairs at PB Consulting. During this time Tom managed a range of corporate pharmaceutical and med-tech accounts as well as successful coalitions and Parliamentary groups, often building consensus to drive policy change on challenging issues. Tom has a keen interest in policy development and brings a results-focused approach. Before health communications Tom worked on a large pharma market research study in Paris.

Tom joined OVID in 2021 having spent three years working in health public affairs at PB Consulting. During this time Tom managed a range of corporate pharmaceutical and med-tech accounts as well as successful coalitions and Parliamentary groups, often building consensus to drive policy change on challenging issues. Tom has a keen interest in policy development and brings a results-focused approach. Before health communications Tom worked on a large pharma market research study in Paris.

Katie is the former Director of Communications at COMPASS Pathways, a pharmaceutical company focused on treatment-resistant depression, where she led their UK PR operation. She has more than 20 years’ experience across print, online and broadcast media and spent the early part of her career working at the BBC (including BBC Online, Radio 2, 4 and 5) before specialising in health PR. She previously held senior positions at The Pharma Letter, The Pharmaceutical Journal and Nursing Standard and led numerous digital/media campaigns for health and life sciences clients as a strategic consultant.

Jack joined OVID from the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP), where he led on workforce policy. He has extensive experience working with clinicians and NHS leaders to develop solutions to complex policy challenges and translating those solutions for wider audiences. He led the production of several RCGP publications and was instrumental in preparing guidance to support the delivery of COVID-19 vaccinations in primary care. Prior to this, Jack worked in charities and membership organisations across the health and higher education sectors.

Grace joined OVID from specialist life science PR agency Zyme Communications, where she managed client accounts in the respiratory, oncology, digital, diagnostics and AI sectors. She is a geneticist by training and before her career in health communications she worked as a research assistant on a genetics project, as well as a clinical trials assistant. She is passionate about telling clients’ stories in national and clinical outlets.

Edward has a background in stakeholder research and communications, collaborating with companies across a range of industries. He previously worked in client liaison at The Parliamentary Review and holds a First Class degree from The University of Warwick in Politics and International Relations. He has a particular flair for producing engaging social media strategies and policy research for clients such as ACT for Cancer.

Sophia is an entrepreneurial, creative, and driven operations whizz with over 5 years’ experience in start-up enterprises, delivering in operations, procurement, and logistics roles. Sophia is passionate about technology, operations, and social mobility. She is the group organiser for London Start-up Founders on meetup.com that currently has over 900 members and a co-facilitator for the East London Action for Happiness group. She is a natural problem solver who supports our Operations Director in ensuring OVID Health runs smoothly – with staff and client wellbeing as her core focus.

Jade has a degree in Global Health and Social Medicine from King’s College London and has previously undertaken internships and work experience placements at Maggie’s Centres, as well as at Roche UK. Before joining OVID Health Jade worked as part of Langland’s clinical trial experience team, where she supported on patient insights projects and trial recruitment strategies for pharmaceutical clients across the globe. Jade has excellent project management skills and is supporting OVID’s clients in the PR and patient advocacy space.

Daisy is a natural communicator and a biochemist by background who completed her Masters in Global Public Health and Policy Masters at Queen Mary University this year. She is experienced in handling, processing and analysing both quantitative and qualitative data. Daisy’s recent experience includes as a streamer on twitch.tv and she is the co-founder of a student volunteer organisation aiming to educate people around drug use and policy. In her spare time, she has worked as a carer for the St John’s Care Trust.

Richard ensures OVID runs smoothly and oversees our growth strategy. An engineer by training, he has spent nearly 15 years in the tech sector working for innovative start-ups, global corporates and large public sector organisations. His expertise and knowledge includes R&D and emerging technologies. He is skilled at translating and communicating complex technologies to a wider audience, including senior stakeholders.

Ruth is the founder of Person Before Patient and is based in the Netherlands. She has vast amounts of experience in global patient advocacy in the pharmaceutical world, as well as working for trade associations in the UK and abroad. She is also a former Director of Services for QUIT in the UK, focusing on smoking cessation.

Andrew has over 15 years experience of working in the pharmaceutical industry across Clinical Development, Medical Affairs and Government Affairs coupled with an extended stint in the Department of Health, Andrew has a proven track record of influencing individuals and policy in a wide range of disease areas – as well as Brexit, PPRS and the Life Sciences Strategy.

Dr Sheuli Porkess is an experienced industry expert in medicines development, medical affairs and research policy within the UK and internationally, across multiple therapy areas. Sheuli has held Medical Director roles in industry and is the former Director of Research, Medical and Innovation at the ABPI, leading on policy work in innovation, clinical research, COVID, Brexit, bioethics, appropriate prescribing and patient involvement. As well as being an OVID Associate, Sheuli is the Vice-President Elect for the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine and holds a number of other roles including membership of the Scientific Advisory Boards for C2-Ai, a healthcare analytics company, and the AGILE pandemic clinical trial platform and the UK Pandemic Ethics Accelerator, as well as being a member of the NIHR AI for Multiple Long-term conditions (AIM) Programme Steering Group.

Jamie is a pharmacist with 15 years’ experience in European health and pharmaceutical policies, lobbying, advocacy, and communications. Jamie has extensive experience navigating the health policy ecosystem in Brussels and beyond – gained from European policy roles in non-governmental organisations, professional and patient-led organisations, trade associations, and global pharmaceutical and biotech companies. Jamie holds a Professional Diploma in PR, multiple professional registrations (in public health, regulatory policy, public relations), three master’s degrees (pharmacy, health policy, public health), and is working part-time on his fourth (global diplomacy).

Working for over 25 years as a qualitative researcher with Board-level management experience, Lisa has a professional track record of building strong, collaborative relationships with clients and communicating strategic insight to them with clarity. In 2019, she established the healthcare charity Local Families with Bleeding Disorders (LFBD) to champion advocacy, fundraising and support, alongside undertaking extensive qualitative research in this area.

Vicky is a pharmaceutical market access and value communications specialist with over 10 years of experience. Vicky has extensive experience in developing payer communications and successfully navigating barriers to patient access both in the UK and globally. Vicky began her career as a postdoctoral scientist working on vaccine development and cancer research before moving into consultancy, she has a particular interest in cell and gene therapy and rare disease.

Ace has extensive experience in graphic design, concept development and brand management across a variety of sectors. He has worked in China and the UK with brands on developing innovative and visually striking microsites, logos, event assets and brand identities. Ace believes that by working closely with both marketing and communication teams we can better integrate design into a client’s overall strategy and image. Ace has worked for a number of OVID’s clients in the charity sector and also designed our website – a great example of his creativity and attention to detail!

Clare is a highly experienced public affairs, policy and communications advisor. She also has excellent knowledge of the NHS – having previously worked at the NHS Confederation. Clare used to manage the policy team for Alzheimer’s Research UK, has been seconded to the Office for Life Sciences and worked for Bupa as a communications consultant.