ABOUT BIVDA

Helen is the Interim CEO at BIVDA.

Helen comes from a procurement background and has held roles at NHS PASA in pharmaceutical purchasing and childhood vaccines, as well as pharmacy and diagnostics procurement for Surrey and Sussex Confederation, and National Contracts Manager for laboratory goods at NHSBT.

Helen worked for 11 years in a number of roles across UK and Europe at Abbott, leading supplier management and contract provision for managed services.

She is a member of the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply, has an MSC in Strategic Procurement from the University of Glamorgan Business School, and an LLM in Public Procurement Law and Policy from the University of Nottingham, School of Law.

I am an Inspirational Leader with a demonstrated history of working previously in the NHS for over 42 years, as DCSO and in Genetics and Genomics, as the Scientific Director of a Regional Genomics Service and Clinical Programme Director of the NW Coast Genomic Medicine Centre.

I retired from the post of the Deputy Chief Scientific Officer (DCSO) for NHS England in October 2023, after holding the position for 5 yrs. I am now the President of BIVDA having taken up this role in December 2024. I am an influential, collaborative team leader with a proven record in Clinical Research, Medical Education, Mentoring and Coaching, in Life Sciences.

I have strong financial acumen and am a strategic leadership expert. I am passionate about quality assurance, safety and regulation in Science and in particular Genetics and Genomics, my area of expertise. I graduated from University College London and am a Fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists and an honorary Fellow of the Academy for Healthcare Science.

I have had the pleasure of being the President of the BSGM, Chairman of the RCPath Genetics and Reproductive Medicines Specialist Advisory Committee and was RCPath’s Scientific Lead before taking on the role of DCSO.

I am a qualified coach and mentor. In 2014, I was named as one of HSJs top 50 Inspirational Women, In 2015, I was awarded NHS Healthcare Scientist of the Year, and In 2016, I was honoured in Her Majesty the Queen’s 90th Birthday Honours List as a Member of the Order of the British Empire for Research and Mentoring Students.

In 2019, I was included in the Pathologist Power list as one of the top 100 trailblazers. In 2021, I was delighted to be approved as an Honorary Fellow of IPEM. In 2022 my leadership journey was published in Snapshots of Women in COG. In 2023 the AHCS again recognised my contribution to education and training with a second Fellowship.

In 2023, I was nominated as a Woman of the Year by the Women Leaders Network. I am an inclusive, compassionate and kind leader with a broad experience of working across the healthcare system, and in all my endeavours I strive to bring out the best in all those I work with.

I started my career in the Histopathology laboratory at Kings College Hospital. I moved into a commercial role at Shandon Scientific shortly after. Through various acquisitions Shandon Scientific became part of the much larger Thermo Fisher Scientific organization, the world leader in serving science, which continues to grow.

I have held various commercial roles including UK and Benelux Sales Manager, EU channel manager and most recently as Managed Service Contracts Manager across the whole Thermo Fisher spectrum. 

Jag is currently CEO of Cambridge Nutritional Sciences PLC. He joined the BIVDA board in 2004 and is past Chair and current Treasurer.

He has worked in the medical diagnostics and life science industry for over 28 years having started out as a Clinical Biochemist in the NHS.

In 1995 he joined Beckman Instruments where he developed a career spanning 15 years in sales and marketing before joining Serco Health where he helped create the first joint venture within UK pathology between Serco and Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital. 

John gained a degree in Microbiology at Bristol University before joining Avon Medicals as Company Microbiologist. After a switch to clinical sales with Beckman Instruments, he developed his career in IVD sales and marketing with Technicon then VITEK Systems before joining bioMerieux, where he worked for over twenty years.

Now independently working as JAB Associates, John has served on the board of BIVDA for a number of years, and for a few months stood in as COO while a new recruit was found for that position. He has manged the BIVDA Market Audit for a decade, and represents BIVDA on the Market Research Committee for MedTech Europe.

Dr Kam Pooni has a distinguished career spanning over two decades in the life sciences industry, with a track record of driving strategic growth and supporting emerging founders and technologies. He also holds posts as CEO of Glyconics, sits on the Board of the Southampton Science Park and is a Royal Society Entrepreneur-in-Residence (Life Sciences) at the University of Southampton.

Darren started out in the labs working for the NHS with a Haematology and Transfusion science background, but quickly transitioned to the industry where he shifted focus to Haemostasis. He has 30 years of industry experience ranging from sales through R&D to class leading service provision.
 
Darren has been a firm supporter of BIVDA for many years, participating in and filling the position of vice chair for the Regulatory Affairs Working Party before standing for the board first as a board member then as Chair for the “Covid” years, helping guide external stakeholders and our industry through some of its most challenging years. Darren stepped down as chair in 2022 but remains an active board member.

Outside of work, Darren is a family man, married for over 25 years with 2 sons, and he is an avid reader and a keen motorcyclist (don’t get him talking about this!). 

IBMS Corporate Members Chair
Pro-Lab Diagnostics

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Over two decades of experience in working in and supporting the Healthcare industry and long standing BIVDA supporter. Joined the board in 2019 and Chaired the Procurement Working Party since 2018.

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Beckman Coulter

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Genedrive

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As the Regulatory Affairs Programme Manager for the British In Vitro Diagnostics (IVD) Association, and Chair of the BIVDA Regulatory Affairs Working Party, Stuart brings over 20 years’ experience within the IVD industry. Stuart is an experienced and respected regulatory affairs professional working throughout the IVD industry in his current roles at BIVDA and as co-founder and Managing Director of IVDeology Ltd, helping to understand and navigate the IVD regulations in the UK, EU and rest of the world

QIAGEN

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ABBOTT Industries

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Business Lead Diagnostics, Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics Ltd

Stewart has been in a Diagnostics leadership role covering the UK Market for over a decade. He has been responsible for the UK Market for Siemens Healthineers Diagnostics both directly and indirectly since 2010. During this time, he has also been responsible for Western Europe and Northern Europe and he has served on the Global Management team. He is currently the Managing Director of Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics Ltd, and aside from being on the board of BIVDA he is also part of the Academy of Medical Sciences forum advisory board.

CEO

Helen is the Chief Executive at BIVDA.

Helen comes from a procurement background and has held roles at NHS PASA in pharmaceutical purchasing and childhood vaccines, as well as pharmacy and diagnostics procurement for Surrey and Sussex Confederation, and National Contracts Manager for laboratory goods at NHSBT.

Helen worked for 11 years in a number of roles across UK and Europe at Abbott, leading supplier management and contract provision for managed services. She is a member of the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply, has an MSC in Strategic Procurement from the University of Glamorgan Business School, and an LLM in Public Procurement Law and Policy from the University of Nottingham, School of Law.

Head of Policy, Programmes, & Compliance

Paul Fisher joined BIVDA as Head of Policy, Programmes, and Compliance after a 25 year career in the public and private sector. Most recently, Paul was a senior Civil Servant with the UK Health Security Agency and the Department of Health and Social Care, specialising in the delivery of significant government health programmes.

At UKHSA as Deputy Director for Testing Technology Validation, Paul led several major diagnostic programmes. Those of note include the COVID Test Device Approval (CTDA) team where he worked closely with a number of BIVDA members. This work gave Paul a clear picture of what members require in their engagement with government and the impact policy and legislation can have. At DHSC, Paul led major testing programmes supporting NHS Test and Trace, giving him great insight and access to key decision makers across the diagnostic landscape.

Before joining the civil service, Paul worked in business transformation, assisting SME’s achieve growth or efficiency improvements, after over fifteen years in the emergency services.

Paul is passionate about the role diagnostics play in supporting the healthcare and wider economy, both directly and indirectly,  and leveraging the tremendous strides made by the industry during the recent pandemic. He is always happy to meet members and support however he can.

Head of Membership Engagement

With around 43 years’ experience within the IVD industry, Kaye brings a wealth of experience to BIVDA from the wide variety of roles she has held over that period.  Having worked in some of the larger global companies (Siemens, Beckman Coulter, Olympus and Fujirebio) in addition smaller SMEs and distributors, Kaye has a good understanding of how the needs of these companies may differ and how BIVDA can assist and tailor its support to meet these requirements.

Starting in an R&D role developing one of the first non-isotopic immunoassays, after 8 years, Kaye then moved into the commercial world holding a number of customer-facing positions. These included direct sales and business development, product support, customer training and system installations, together with solution design, marketing and product management. With a desire to work overseas, Kaye’s dream came true with the role of EMEA Marketing Manager for Fujirebio Europe which took Kaye to Belgium for nearly 4 years.

Policy and Public Affairs Executive

Ben is the Policy Officer at BIVDA. Ben joined BIVDA in November 2021, after previously working as a Researcher in Parliament. He provides policy development, research, and briefings on policy and public affairs in order to support the strategic objectives of BIVDA and BIVDA members. After graduating from Royal Holloway, University of London with a BA Hons in History, Ben spent time working in the NHS and in local and national politics.

Office Manager

Dawn is the Office Manager at BIVDA. She joined in April 2023, having previously held roles with the NHS as a Personal Assistant to General Managers within the CXH Acute & Specialist Medicine and Stroke & Neurosciences at Charing X Hospital supporting consultants in the management of the administrative areas of the department. Dawn holds a foundation degree in FdSC Supporting Innovation in Health and Social care.

Prior to joining BIVDA, Beth was Medical and Surgical Consumables Director for NHS Supply Chain, leading the clinical and commercial team responsible for assurance of value and resilience for the supply of clinical goods to the NHS.

Beth brings broad and deep experience across the NHS Procurement landscape, gained over 25 years. As well as senior roles in the NHS, she has worked in industry, achieved Fellowship status with the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply, held Governance positions with CIPS Congress and been an active member of the Healthcare Supplies Association.

Sustainability Programme Lead

Sarah Joy is a qualified nurse in adult and pediatric care, with an additional 15 years of excelling as a sales representative in the medical device industry before becoming involved in compliance and tendering.

An experienced tender bid writer, internal ISO auditor, and Social Value Practitioner, Sarah Joy has become passionate about delivering meaningful sustainability in the industry. So is ideally placed to provide expertise and support in how to deliver and comply with the NHS and Public Procurement sustainability requirements around Net Zero and Social Value.

www.amethystconnect.co.uk

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Innovation Programme Lead 

Lucy began her working life in the National Health Service where she trained as a Biomedical Scientist. It was here that she gained first hand insights into the importance of diagnostic testing in patient management and positive health outcomes

Fast forward nearly 25 years, and Lucy has spent her career in the commercial world of diagnostic testing holding leadership and people management roles in Product Management, Technical Marketing and Medical Affairs for Unilever, Abbott and LumiraDx.

Lucy now leads her own consultancy company, Lehane Consulting, providing her expert advice and guidance to support companies bringing new, innovative diagnostic products to market.

Laboratory Standards and Scientific Affairs Advisor

David has worked in pathology for over 40 years and has been involved in both public and private sector provision. He has been involved in many national pathology initiatives such as modernising scientific careers, MHRA POCT advisory and knowledge and skills framework. David was also a council member for the IBMS and chairs their science committee.

David is the current chair of the ISO TC 212 mirror committee and represents the UK on international standards worldwide, being heavily involved in writing the new ISO 15189 amongst others. David has been persuaded out of retirement to support BIVDA in this new role.

Scientific Lead

Dr Jayne Ellis is Co-Founder and Managing Partner in JEMMDx, a consultancy focussed on Diagnostics and FemTech.

Jayne has 25+ years of successful experience in the diagnostics industry having previously held key strategic roles including VP Medical and Clinical Affairs (LumiraDx), Director Womens’ Health Business Unit (Alere), Medical Director Western Europe (Alere) and Director New Business Development (Swiss Precision Diagnostics/Unipath/Unilever (Clearblue Brand)).

Jayne has led programmes resulting in the global launch of over 20 new to market products including several for infectious diseases, and innovations in women’s health and cardiometablic disease. She is passionate about diagnostics improving patient outcomes and has specific interest in infectious diseases and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) having led stakeholder projects on policy and advocacy for rapid testing ahead of antimicrobial prescribing (Straight to the Point and Testing Times).  She has a successful track record of developing market access including NHS and NICE engagement, KOL and NGO networks, parliamentary roundtables, presenting at international meetings and has over 50 scientific publications. 

Head of Regulatory Affairs

Neil Plumridge has over 25 years experience in the IVD sector, both as an end user of IVDs, supporting Clinical Chemistry and POCT systems in the UK and Ireland, as well as working in and supporting IVD manufacturer in the UK, Germany and the US for global distribution. Neil was EKF Diagnostics Holdings Plc’s Global Regulatory Manager, collecting, sharing and implementing global IVD regulatory changes and best practice, before becoming a Regulatory Consultant – Insight IVD Ltd. 

Neil has been an active member of various BIVDA working parties including the Regulatory Affairs WP, and a member of MedTech Europe working parties including those cover the implementation of the EU Green – Environmental and Sustainability goals. BIVDA formed the Environmental WP, both to inform members of increasing change in chemicals and environmental legislation, but also since BREXIT to provide advocacy for the IVD sector to address changes occurring in UK legislation and to reach out to UK Agencies and provide insight to the how UK legislation impacts the sector.

Neil provides support and insight to BIVDA and it’s members regarding both IVD sectorial, and wider legislative compliance (Chemicals and Environmental) and changes impacting the IVD sector.