External Advisory Panel

You can find details of our external advisory panel below.

Dr Deborah O’Neil - Novabiotics

Deborah is founder and Chief Executive Officer of NovaBiotics, a biotechnology business with a portfolio of first-in-class solutions for unmet health and personal care needs. 

Deborah chairs the boards of Opportunity North East (ONE) Life Science and BioAberdeen Ltd., is a member of the Scottish Life Sciences Industry Leadership Group and chairs the UK’s Cystic Fibrosis AMR Syndicate steering group. Deborah also serves on and chairs a number of scientific advisory boards including Pathways to Antimicrobial Clinical Efficacy (PACE) and the CF AMR Collaborative Discovery programme (CDP). 

Deborah obtained her PhD in immunology from UCL and then worked in postdoctoral positions in San Diego, Ghent and Aberdeen. Elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 2018, Deborah is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine and in 2020, was awarded an OBE, for services to biotechnology, industry and charity. 

Dr Malcolm Brodlie - Newcastle University

Malcolm is a clinical academic in Paediatric Respiratory Medicine at the Newcastle University Translational and Clinical Research Institute. The work of the team spans from laboratory-based airway and inflammation biology to patient-facing clinical research with a principal focus on airway inflammation and infection. He is Director of the NIHR Newcastle Integrated Academic Training Programme for Doctors and Dentists.

Malcolm works clinically as an Honorary Consultant in Paediatric Respiratory Medicine at the Great North Children's Hospital (GNCH) and the Freeman Hospital in The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Areas of special clinical interest include cystic fibrosis and cardiothoracic (heart or lung) transplantation.

Dr Christina Thornton - University of Calgary

Christina is an Assistant Professor at the University of Calgary in the Departments of Medicine and Microbiology, Immunology & Infectious Diseases. A clinician scientist and respirologist, she established a translational research program in 2023 investigating polymicrobial infections in bronchiectasis and cystic fibrosis.

Professor Martin Welch - University of Cambridge

Martin is Professor of Microbial Physiology and Metabolism at the University of Cambridge. His team specialises in understanding what makes Pseudomonas aeruginosa tick, and how we might use this knowledge to alter its behaviour, especially in the context of CF airway infections. A particular focus in recent years has been on the dietary predilection of the organism, and its interactions with co-habiting airway microbes.