Team

Andrew Morris

Professor Andrew Morris has been the inaugural Director of Health Data Research UK since August 2017. HDR UK is the national Institute for health data science, with its mission is to unite the UK’s health data to enable discoveries that improve people’s lives.  He is seconded from his position as Professor of Medicine, and Vice Principal of Data Science at the University of Edinburgh.

Andrew was Chief Scientist at the Scottish Government Health Directorate (2012-2017).  Andrew currently chairs the Scottish COVID 19 Advisory Group which supports and provide analysis to the Scottish Government and senior clinical advisors.

He has published over 330 original papers, attracted over £100 million in grant funding and was the principal investigator of several programme grants including the Wellcome Trust United Kingdom Case Control Collection for Type 2 Diabetes, Generation Scotland, and the Wellcome Trust funded Scottish Health Informatics Programme (SHIP).

Julia Levy

Julia is passionate about healthcare, innovation and working with all stakeholders to deliver change. Prior to leading ICODA, Julia was at IQVIA, the Human Data Sciences Company, where she played a central role in building a network of centres sharing information on how patients are treated for cancer to help inform care and accelerate research.

Julia has launched start-ups, run a healthcare think tank and held a number of global strategy, marketing and sales roles at both GSK and GE Healthcare, as well as working in a variety of consulting and advisory positions. Julia has an MBA from INSEAD and a degree in Biochemistry from the University of Bristol.

Nicola Perrin

Nicola’s work has revolved around ensuring health data can be used in a responsible and trustworthy way for research.  She established Understanding Patient Data, to support better conversations about health information, bringing together patients, researchers and healthcare professionals to build confidence in uses of patient data. She also led Wellcome’s work to develop a new Strategic Priority in health data innovation.  Nicola is now working with ICODA to ensure it is established in a transparent, trustworthy and collaborative way.

Her background is in strategy, policy, and engagement. Nicola was at Wellcome for fourteen years, where she was Head of Policy for ten years. Her focus included research base funding, regulation of emerging technologies, innovation in the NHS, and data sharing. She previously led engagement work at the Nuffield Council on Bioethics and was an Exhibition Manager at the Science Museum.  Nicola was a Trustee of the Association of Medical Research Charities.

Neil Postlethwaite

Neil Postlethwaite is Technology Director for the International COVID-19 Data Alliance and joined HDR UK in September of 2020.  He is responsible for ensuring successful product deliveries from all our technical alliance partners, including the Workbench, a trusted research environment that allows researchers to discover, access and analyse global datasets whilst respecting confidentiality and privacy.

Prior to joining HDR UK, Neil worked for 23 years at IBM where he held a variety of technical, management and executive positions, working across IBM’s Messaging and Integration middleware portfolio.  He has been responsible for deliveries of both IBM MQ and IBM Integration products across a myriad of platforms and release levels.  He was Director responsible for IBM’s acclaimed Watson Internet of Things Platform and worked extensively across the IoT ecosystem building strategic partnerships with silicon and device manufacturers and driving Open Standards.

Neil holds a degree in Electronic Engineering & Physics from Loughborough University.

Karen Hunter

As a Programme Officer for the International COVID-19 Data Alliance (ICODA), Karen Hunter’s role is to ensure “Driver projects” are planned and delivered on target.  ICODA intend to have a portfolio of “Driver Projects” to demonstrate proof of concept and facilitate a design-led approach.  Karen is currently leading Driver Project 2 – International Perinatal Outcomes in the Pandemic (iPOP) – facilitating access to the Alliance Workbench for the iPOP team enabling them to deliver their research aims and in turn help to build the infrastructure and capabilities of the Alliance.

Karen joined HDR UK International COVID-19 Data Alliance from the University of St Andrews, where she worked in the School of Medicine.  Her most recent post there was as Manager of the Sir James Mackenzie Institute for Early Diagnosis – which she played a significant part in establishing – managing programmes of work in Health Data Research, Primary Care and Public Health.  She also played a key role in building and coordinating Public and Patient Involvement and Engagement.  Prior to this Karen was a Research Manager in the Child and Adolescent Health Research Unit at the University of St Andrews.

Karen holds a BSc and MLitt in Management from the University of St Andrews.

Anne Wozencraft

Anne is Head of Partnerships at ICODA and is responsible for engagement with, and support for, the Alliance’s global partners. Prior to joining ICODA, she led the International Partnerships team at Cancer Research UK, where she developed the charity’s international strategy and expanded its partnerships in global research, policy and health.  Previously, Anne held a series of executive board roles at the British Council, the UK’s international cultural relations organisation, where she led global programmes in science, research and higher education, and was then acting Head of International Relations at Imperial College London.

Anne began her career as a research scientist and lecturer at King’s College London, specialising in the immunology of infectious diseases. She completed her PhD at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and held a post-doctoral fellowship at Scripps Clinic, La Jolla.

Rodrigo Barnes

Rodrigo  is an R&D software engineer with a mathematical background and expertise in developing analytical and data management applications in healthcare, life science and knowledge management start-ups.

Rodrigo has been instrumental in Aridhia’s innovation, leading the development of the Aridhia Digital Research Environment (DRE), and fostering new approaches to research data management and analysis.

Today he is responsible for driving the product strategy for the DRE and leads on Aridhia’s approach to precision medicine and the application of machine learning in the clinic.

Jonas Häggström

Jonas is an experienced biostatistician with 20+ years of experience in the life science field.  Jonas is the Chair of ICODA Statistical Expert Group and VP of Global Health at Cytel.  In addition, he also serves as an expert statistical consultant to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and as an expert evaluator to the European Commissio.

Prior to joining Cytel Jonas has had positions in industry, academia, and non-profit organizations, and his previous appointments includes; Food and Agriculture Organization (UN organization), Genentech Inc, and AstraZenec.  At AstraZeneca Jonas was the Neuroscience Therapeutic Area Statistical Expert.  In that role Jonas lead and managed the department, provided input to drug development strategy and design across all phases, and was responsible for the statistical methodology.

Sarah Fullegar

Sarah Fullegar is Executive Assistant to Julia Levy (Director of the International COVID-19 Data Alliance) and David Seymour (Alliance Executive Director). Sarah is experienced in supporting Directors across the third sector, based in London, she provides high level administrative support to the Directors and their wider teams across a wide range of activities, including diary management, organising meetings, overseas and UK travel, acting as their first point of contact.

Davide Scalenghe 

Davide is Communications and Engagement Manager at ICODA, leading the delivery of the communications, engagement and involvement strategy through a series of programmes that include stakeholder engagement, strategic communications campaigns, media relations, public affairs, public involvementand brand and visual identity.

Davide brings 20 years of international experience in strategic communications, media relations, content production and TV broadcasting, with a focus on humanitarian and social affairs, climate change and public health. Prior to joining ICODA, Davide has worked with several global media companies, governments (local and national level) and international organizations, including Doctors Without Borders, Oxford Policy Management, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, UNAIDS, Al Gore’s Current TV.

Davide holds a Master’s in Development Studies from SOAS, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, and a BA in Media and Cultural Studies from the London College of Communication.

Adrienne Testa

Adrienne is Research Manager at ICODA supporting selection and governance of the Alliance’s Driver Projects, acting as Secretariat to the Scientific & Strategic Advisory Council and working with ICODA’s Statistics Expert Group and HDR UK’s scientific team.

Prior to joining HDR UK, Adrienne conducted and provided technical input into public health research on behalf of international NGOs, UN agencies and academia for over 20 years. Primarily conducting research among vulnerable groups, including refugees, internally displaced people and adolescents, Adrienne has worked in low-income, fragile state and humanitarian settings in Africa and Asia. Adrienne’s research governance experience includes setting up the first UK NGO Ethics Review Committee covering research in over 40 country programmes. Ensuring research insights are accessible and actionable, Adrienne has co-designed and co-ordinated development of three evidence-based Massive Open Online Courses, most recently on Disease Outbreaks in Low- & Middle-Income Countries.

Adrienne holds an MSc in Demography & Health (LSHTM) and a BA(Hons) in Development Studies (University of East Anglia).

Steve Kern

Steven E. Kern, PhD is Deputy Director of Quantitative Sciences at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.  He leads a team of scientists focused on gaining insight from data coming from Gates Foundation investments to inform program strategies in global health.

The Quantitative Sciences group is focused on quantitative data analysis to support program strategies for therapeutic projects that the foundation funds.  This effort extends across all therapeutic areas in which the foundation is involved including maternal & child health, family planning, malaria, tuberculosis, neglected tropical diseases, HIV, and pandemic preparedness.  He and his team are strong advocates of making research data “always FAIR and sometimes OPEN” to improve the impact data can have towards the problem it was collected to address, and beyond.

Prior to this, he was Global Head of Pharmacology Modeling at Novartis Pharma AG based in Basel Switzerland where he led a team focused on providing model-based drug development support to therapeutics in many disease conditions across all stages of drug development.  He joined Novartis in 2010 from the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah where he was Associate Professor of Pharmaceutics, Anesthesiology, and Bioengineering, and served as co-investigator for their NIH funded Pediatric Pharmacology Research Unit.

He has designed, conducted, and served as a principal investigator for clinical pharmacology studies that spanned the population from preterm infants to elderly adults

David Sibbald

David is the CEO of Aridhia, which he founded with Professor Andrew Morris in 2008.  He is also the Co-Founder and Board member of Sumerian, an IT analytics company he founded in 2002 and was previously the Co-Founder, Chairman and CEO of Atlantech Technologies, a communications software company which he founded in 1992 and sold to Cisco Systems in March 2000.

David is the Founder and Trustee of the Kate MacAskill Foundation, a charitable organisation providing education, care and micro-enterprise funding for children and young adults in the developing world and is Chairman of the Johari Foundation. He has been awarded honorary doctorates from Glasgow University, Glasgow Caledonian University, the University of Paisley and the University of Strathclyde for services to Scottish science and philanthropy.  He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland’s National Academy of Science and Letters.  In the 2010 New Year Honours List, David was awarded an OBE for charitable services in Scotland and overseas.

Névine Zariffa

Névine is currently a strategic consultant to several scientific data consortia (eg COVID19 Data Lab) and to the FDA (Office of the Commissioner) on the application of real-world evidence to COVID-19.

Névine had a 25-year career in senior roles at GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca where she also led the Enterprise Data & Analytics initiative.

Névine is a highly accomplished thought leader in the fields of biostatistics and data science with extensive experience across all phases of drug development.  She has been a key contributor to development strategies for over 200 drug projects across oncology, cardiovascular, metabolic, respiratory, inflammation, and renal diseases.  She served as a Board member of CDISC for 6 years, has been a reviewer for The Lancet and has over 25 peer reviewed publications to her name.

Aziz Sheikh

Aziz is a member of the Executive Leadership Team of ICODA and leads Driver Project 2.

Aziz Sheikh is Professor of Primary Care Research & Development, Director of the Usher Institute and Dean of Data at the University of Edinburgh.  He is a clinical epidemiologist with substantive interests in health policy, health informatics and the quality and safety of health care.  Aziz is Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Quality in Health Care.  He is Director of the NIHR Global Respiratory Health Unit (RESPIRE), Director of the Health Data Research UK BREATHE Hub and co-Director of the NHS Digital Academy.

Aziz has been honoured with an OBE, fellowships from 9 learned societies and is the recipient of numerous national and international awards.

Agnes Binagwaho

Professor Agnes Binagwaho, MD, M(Ped), PHD is a Rwandan pediatrician who returned to Rwanda in July of 1996, two years after the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi. Since then, she has provided clinical care in the public sector, served the Rwandan Health Sector (2001-2016) in high-level government positions, first as the Executive Secretary of Rwanda’s National AIDS Control Commission, then as Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health, and 5 years as Minister of Health. She co-founded the University of Global Health Equity (UGHE), an initiative of Partners In Health, which focuses on changing how health care is delivered around the world by training global health professionals who strive to deliver more equitable, quality health services for all.

Professor Binagwaho currently resides in Rwanda and is the Vice -Chancellor of the University of Global Health Equity. She is specialized in emergency pediatrics, neonatology, and the treatment of HIV/AIDS. She completed her MD at the Universite Libre de Bruxelles and her MA in Pediatrics at the Universite de Bretagne Occidentale. She was also awarded an Honorary Doctor of Science from Dartmouth College and earned a Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Rwanda College of Medicine.

Professor Binagwaho currently serves as a Senior Advisor to the Director General of the World Health Organization, and as a member of multiple Advisory Board and Board of Directors including the Rockefeller Foundation Board. She is a member of a number of international working groups and task forces in global health for the United Nations and independent organizations and also sits on the Editorial Board of several scientific journals and serves on multiple scientific commissions.

Previously, she co-chaired the Millennium Development Goal Project Task Force on HIV/AIDS and Access to Essential Medicines for the Secretary-General of the United Nations under the leadership of Professor Jeffrey Sachs (MGGs). Professor Binagwaho also co-chaired the Joint Learning Initiative on Children and HIV/AIDS (JLICA) (2006–09) and founded the Rwandan Pediatric Society, chairing it until 2019. Since 2016, she has been a member of the American National Academy of Medicine and since 2017 a Fellow of the African Academy of Sciences. In 2015, Professor Binagwaho received the annual Roux Prize and Ronald McDonald House Charities Award of Excellence.

She is currently a senior Lecturer in the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School, a Professor of Pediatrics at UGHE, as well as an Adjunct Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at Dartmouth’s Geisel School of Medicine. Professor Binagwaho’s academic engagements include research in implementation sciences, research on human rights to health, health services delivery systems strengthening, HIV/AIDS, and pediatric care. She has published over 190 peer- reviewed articles.

Dr Martin Murphy

Martin J. Murphy, DMedSc, PhD, FASCO  co-chairs the Scientific & Strategic Advisory Council of the International Alliance for COVID-19 Data Research (ICODA).

Dr. Murphy was Founding CEO and Board Director of the 20-year-old non-profit CEO Roundtable on Cancer at the request of the late 41st President George H.W. Bush.  Marty was also Founding CEO of Project Data Sphere® (PDS), a non-profit initiative of the CEO Roundtable devoted to cancer clinical trial data-sharing and analysis.  He is Chief Executive Officer of the non-profit Shanghai TuoXin Health Promotion Center that has expanded its purview to include international COVID-19 interventions and global pandemic preparedness.

Founding Executive Editor of the 25-year-old peer-reviewed journal, The Oncologist, Dr. Murphy is also Founding Editor of “Stem Cells”, the 38-year-old flagship journal of stem cell biology, Co-Founder of its 9 year-old sister journal, “Stem Cells Translational Medicine” reporting on stem cells in clinical trials, and the 25 year-old cancer medicine journal, “The Oncologist”. An NIH principal investigator, he has authored more than 180 primary peer-accepted papers and 7 books, is co-founder of Society for Translational Oncology, member of six Scientific Advisory Boards, Chairman Emeritus of Conquer Cancer—ASCO Foundation, and Steering Member of Chinese Society of Clinical Oncology. He is a member of National Cancer Policy Forum of National Academy of Medicine (US National Academy of Sciences), member of Center for Public Health Advisory Board, Milken Institute, is emeritus director of Foundation for NIH, Fellow of American Society of Clinical Oncology, and former vice chairman of C-Change. He is married to Ann Murphy, PhD, president and founder of AlphaMed Press and co-founder and executive director of Society for Translational Oncology. They have five adult children and ten grandchildren.

Effy Vayena

Professor Effy Vayena is Chair of Bioethics, at the Swiss Institute of Technology (ETHZ) and renowned expert at the intersection of medicine, data, and ethics.  Her work focuses on important societal issues of data and technology as they relate to scientific progress and how it is or should be applied to public and personal health.

A keen interest in health policy has led her to work with the World Health Organization on ethical questions around reproductive medicine and research.  Upon her return to academia, Vayena helped establish and coordinated the PhD program in Biomedical Ethics and Law at University of Zurich and was subsequently awarded a professorship by the Swiss National Science Foundation.Effy Vayena believes in the value of interdisciplinarity and the application of practical knowledge to investigate ethical questions of personalised health.  Her widely recognised research has allowed her to collaborate and build strong relationships with a variety of scholars in Switzerland and from renowned institutions abroad.

Vayena is a leading expert in the dynamic and diverse field of health data and ethics, successfully leveraging her international network to promote a fruitful debate about the ethics of health in the digital age. She has previously worked with the Wellcome Trust, OECD, Commonwealth Fund, Chatham House, and academic institutions and governments around the world.  She was born in Greece and studied medicine history, public health and bioethics at universities in Athens, London, Minnesota and Harvard. From 2000-2007 she worked as a technical manager for the WHO in the field of reproductive medicine and ethics.  Since 2007 she has been a research associate and coordinator of the PhD program in biomedical ethics and law at the University of Zurich.  She is researching, among others, the ethics of personalized medicine, the moral question of genetic testing, and the ethical challenges of using Big Data within health research and clinical practice.