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.

Helen has more than 25 years’ experience working in PR, medical communications and publishing and has held several senior positions in global healthcare communications agencies. She also headed up her own specialist healthcare consultancy for nearly 20 years. Having worked on UK, EU and global projects, she has in-depth knowledge across various therapy areas including immunology, oncology, gastroenterology, urology, neurology, reproductive and maternal health, as well as corporate comms. She has also led advocacy and employee engagement campaigns in immunology and dermatology and an award-winning fertility campaign.

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.

Prior to joining OVID, Cameron led Sanofi UK’s public affairs and advocacy work in rare diseases and vaccines. Before Sanofi, Cameron was The Brain Tumour Charity’s Head of Policy and Public Affairs where he helped to secure Ministerial commitment to improve outcomes for brain tumour patients. He started as an assistant to a Labour MP and was a regional organiser for Ed Miliband and has worked at The Patients Association directly supporting patients.

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.

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.

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.

Yasamin joined OVID from a medical education agency where she worked as a medical writer where she developed content across therapeutic areas and channels and supported clients to deliver advisory boards and medical conferences. Before this, she worked for a medical imaging provider where she performed quantitative image analysis and endpoint quality control of clinical data across various active Huntington’s and Alzheimer’s disease trials. Yasamin’s academic background is in neuroscience and she has an MSc in Pharmaceutical Technology and Drug Development from King’s College London. She has also worked as a pre-registration pharmacist in a busy pharmacy and so has excellent interpersonal skills and understanding of delivering patient care within the NHS.

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.

Miriam is a Neuroscience and French graduate who joined OVID from a medical communications agency where she conducted regulatory writing for clinical trial protocols and literature reviews. Miriam already has a good understanding of the regulatory and clinical landscapes and has excellent analytical skills gathered through various client projects. She previously worked as a healthcare assistant where she supported vulnerable patients with complex needs. Miriam also played an active role at the University of Sussex, where she was the President of the Ghana Society and wrote her dissertation on improving disease awareness campaigns for those with Dyspraxia and Dyslexia.

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.

Abbie has recently joined OVID following a career break spent volunteering on women’s empowerment and public health programmes in Ghana. Before this, Abbie worked at specialist healthcare communications agencies Havas SO and Ketchum running disease awareness, patient advocacy and data milestone campaigns for pharmaceutical and health technology clients across several health disciplines including women’s health, oncology, antimicrobial resistance, respiratory and type-2 diabetes. Abbie has always had an interest in health and started her career as a Marketing Executive for Spire Healthcare.

Vanessa is a strategic communications adviser who helps companies and individuals to lead change through persuasive communication. She brings 20 years of broadcast and communications experience at an international, national and regional level. Her journalistic background has honed her ability to analyse a situation from an outside perspective and work with clients on the inside to help them tell their story with the right words in the right way to get the right result. Vanessa began her career with BBC radio before moving into TV news as a documentary producer, location reporter and finally news anchor, co-hosting nightly news programmes for ITV and BBC. Vanessa holds an MA in Archaeology and Anthropology from Keble College Oxford. She’s a fluent Spanish speaker and able to work with clients in both English and Spanish. 

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.

Karina is an experienced senior leader with a deep knowledge of marketing and digital. She has worked with high-profile organisations in Australia and the UK. She has delivered award-winning and successful integrated campaigns and led digital teams and transformation programs. Karina has worked in the Health, Property, Public Services and International Development sectors. She is a Fellow of the RSA (the Royal Society for Arts, Manufactures and Commerce) and a Member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing. Karina’s passion is enabling organisations to realise their potential by identifying the needs of customers and clients’ needs and then leading delivery teams to create exceptional campaigns.

Devin Scobie is one of Scotland’s most senior and experienced independent public affairs specialists. He was worked with literally hundreds of clients from large corporates to multiple charities since the birth of modern devolution in the late 1990s.  He has worked and/or met with most of the 450 or so MSPs who have passed through the Scottish Parliament since 1999 and has an extremely detailed network within and knowledge of Holyrood including its Committee structure, legislative processes and influential Cross Part Groups. Devin also works increasingly with Scottish MPs at Westminster and has also served as an elected City of Edinburgh Councillor, is a former Westminster parliamentary candidate. He has been actively involved in every UK election since the early 1970s. Outside public affairs, Devin is a volunteer Trustee of UK charity supporting over 50 primary schools in poorer areas of Pakistan. He has served as Chair since January 2020 and visits the country regularly.

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.