Senior Leadership Team
Prof Craig Ritchie
Craig is the CEO and Founder of Scottish Brain Sciences, as well as a Professor of Brain Health and Neurodegenerative Disease at the University of St Andrews; and previously, Honorary Chair of Psychiatry of Ageing and Director of the Centre for Dementia Prevention at the University of Edinburgh; Chair of the Scottish Dementia Research Consortium and Associate Director of the Edinburgh Wellcome Trust clinical research facility. He graduated from Aberdeen Medical School in 1991, gained a Masters in Epidemiology in 2002, and a PhD in Mental Health from University College London in 2006.
Anna Borthwick
Anna is an engagement specialist, with over 15 years’ experience of leading public engagement and media campaigns within the medical research field. As a former journalist, she joined the University of Edinburgh to lead PR, engagement and fundraising programmes for the College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine. Most recently, she led Brain Health Scotland, the world’s first government-sponsored dementia prevention programme, and with her team, developed the first open-access NHS Brain Health Clinic. Anna has been delighted to partner with colleagues in the Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative to progress healthcare system preparedness, and is a passionate advocate of women’s brain health research.
Gary White
Gary brings more than 25 years of experience in life sciences, spanning preclinical and clinical research as well as biopharmaceutical product development. He spent 17 years at IQVIA, where he held senior strategic leadership roles focused on customers, clinical investigators and site alliances, and served on the board of Cenduit UK. He is also a former co-chair of the Scottish Life Sciences Industry Leadership Group and has advised both the Scottish and UK governments on life sciences, clinical research and international trade.
Lewis Penny
Lewis brings over a decade of experience in drug discovery, development and translational science, with deep expertise in biomarker approaches for neurodegenerative disease. His career has spanned roles in academia, biotechnology, pharma and consultancy, most recently working across multiple clients as a senior consultant in drug development.
Joe Milne
Joe is a clinical trials specialist who has worked in laboratory and contract research organisations, and has led a clinical trials team for one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies. Joe has a degree in Toxicology from Edinburgh Napier University and has been involved in research studies and clinical trials for over a decade.
Dr Sarah Gregory
Sarah has an MSc from University College London, and a PhD in Psychiatry from the University of Edinburgh. She is a postdoctoral researcher with a background in psychology, mental health and dementia clinical trials and large dementia prevention cohort studies. With experience of working in the NHS and academic institutions, she is particularly interested in Patient and Public Involvement work as well as ethical considerations of research, and is an active member of two research ethics committees.
Dr Meher Lad
Dr Lad is an academic cognitive neurologist specialising in neurodegenerative disorders. As a Consultant Neurologist at Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust, he diagnoses and manages a broad spectrum of neurological conditions, with particular expertise in early Alzheimer’s disease, rare and atypical dementias, and autoimmune encephalitis.
He serves as a Principal Investigator on multiple clinical trials evaluating novel disease-modifying therapies for neurodegenerative diseases. He is also actively involved in the application of neurodegeneration biomarkers and digital/AI technologies to improve diagnosis, monitoring, and patient care.
Scientific Advisory Board
Prof Jeffrey Cummings
Jeffrey is a world-renowned Alzheimer’s researcher and leader of clinical trials. He is Vice Chair of Research at the University of Nevada Department of Brain Health and Director of its Center for Transformative Neuroscience. Jeffrey is also Founding Director of the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in Las Vegas.
Dr Suzanne Hendrix
Suzanne is CEO of Pentara Corporation, specializing in statistics and data management in neurodegenerative diseases. Under her leadership, Pentara has supported the study design, data collection, and analysis of over 50 clinical trials since 2008.
Prof John Harrison, PhD
John has more than 25 years‘ experience of assisting pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies with the selection and successful integration of cognitive testing into their drug development programs. He is currently an Associate Professor at the Alzheimer Center at the VU Medical Center in Amsterdam and a Visiting Professor with the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience at King’s College London.
Prof Miia Kivipelto
Miia is Professor of Clinical Geriatrics at Karolinska Institutet, Center for Alzheimer Research and senior geriatrician and Director for R&D of Theme Aging at Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden. Professor Kivipelto is an expert in neuroepidemiology, and prevention and early diagnosis of dementia are key focuses in her research.
Board members
Giles Hamilton
Giles is driven by a desire to help improve standards of care in medicine, through useful medical device development and enabling teams & companies to achieve their potential. He has served as a board member of over 50 organizations, mainly medical technology companies in the UK, USA, Japan and Australia. He has wide experience of developing products in fast growth companies, capital raising, M&A and international business, gained in part as an operating partner and advisor to two mid cap US Healthcare investment banks. He has held ministerial appointments in UK and Scottish Government roles in Employment, Research and Economic Development and currently serves on the Scottish Government Industry Leadership Group for Life Sciences and is a former Vice Chairman of ABHI. Giles has received many nominations and awards for work in business and medical technology development. He was elected FRSA in 1998.
Dr David Bates
David is the CEO and co-founder of Linus Health. He is a scientist, engineer, inventor, entrepreneur and investor. David was a founding partner of Tamarisc Ventures and he co-founded Bode, a tech-enabled hospitality company for group travel. He is on the board of several technology companies, as well as the philanthropic TMCity Foundation. David has previously held positions at Morningside Ventures, F-Wave, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, University of Louisville, and Georgia Tech. David earned his PhD in Chemical and Materials Engineering from the University of Auckland and earned his BS and MSc in Applied Biology from the Georgia Institute of Technology. He resides in Boston with his wife and kids.
