Keynote and Guest Speakers
We are delighted to announce the following speakers have confirmed their participation at the HTAi 2021 Virtual Annual Meeting
Keynote and Guest Speakers
We are delighted to announce the following speakers have confirmed their participation at the HTAi 2021 Virtual Annual Meeting
Neil Bertelsen
Patient Advocate
Neil Bertelsen has spent the last 25 years bringing the patient voice into the heart of health care. Originally a scientist, Neil became a patient advocate in the field of HIV in the 1990s with a mission to bridge the gap between the science and the patient.
Neil was the editor of 'Positive Times', the UK's first national magazine for people with HIV and served 6 years on the board of trustees of Terrence Higgins Trust, Europe's largest HIV advocacy group. Neil is the past Chair of HTAi's Patient and Citizen Involvement Interest Group and board member of Patient Focused Medicines Development.
Neil works directly with the patient community, the industry, and HTA bodies to improve patient engagement in healthcare decisions. He has worked within the pharmaceutical industry to bring the patient perspectives into early research. As a science documentary maker, Neil was part of the team awarded a BAFTA for best factual series (Horizon, BBC).
Lord Bethell of Romford
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Innovation)
Lord Bethell of Romford was appointed as a Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department of Health and Social Care on 9 March 2020. He was previously a Government Whip (Lord in Waiting) from July 2019 to March 2020.
As the House of Lords minister, he is responsible for representing all health matters and legislation in the Upper House. He is also the junior minister supporting the health track of the G7 summit.
Lord Bethell graduated from Edinburgh University with an MA(Hons). He worked as a journalist for national newspapers and then as a director of several media companies, including the Ministry of Sound. He sold his own communications firm in 2019.
Professor the Lord Darzi of Denham OM KBE PC FRS
Co-Director, Institute of Global Health Innovation, Imperial College London
Professor Darzi is Co-Director of the Institute of Global Health Innovation at Imperial College London and holds the Paul Hamlyn Chair of Surgery. He is a Consultant Surgeon at Imperial College NHS Trust and the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust. Professor Darzi is non-executive director of NHS England, Chair of the Accelerated Access Collaborative and Co-Director of the NHS Digital Academy.
He is Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences and the Royal Society, Honorary Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, and in 2020 was elected President of the British Science Association. His research portfolio is mainly in convergence science in areas of engineering, physical and data sciences in areas of robotics, sensing, imaging and digital technologies.
In 2002, Professor Darzi was knighted, and in 2007 introduced to the UK’s House of Lords as the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health. In 2008, whilst Health Minister he produced the seminal report High Quality Care for All and in 2014 was asked by the then London Mayor, Boris Johnson to chair the London Health Commission. He has been a member of Her Majesty’s Most Honourable Privy Council since June 2009 and was awarded the Order of Merit in January 2016.
Dr Melanie Lee CBE
CEO, LifeArc
LifeArc’s CEO Dr Melanie Lee, PhD, CBE. Prior to joining LifeArc Melanie pursued a 30 year career in healthcare R&D and gained leadership experience both from the biopharmaceutical industry and from the medical research charity sector. Melanie’s previous roles have included Chief Scientific Officer at BTG (most recently) as well as senior positions at GSK, Celltech and UCB. She has previously held Trustee appointments at Cancer Research Technology and Cancer Research UK and currently serves on the Board of Directors of Sanofi.
Dr June Raine CBE
Chief Executive, Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency
Dr Raine trained in general medicine in Oxford after completing a Master’s degree by research in pharmacology. Her interest in drug safety led to a career in medicines regulation from 1985 onwards. Dr Raine has extensive experience and knowledge of the Agency’s work, gained in a number of different licensing and post-licensing roles, and was Director of the Vigilance and Risk Management of Medicines division from 2006. Her experience includes chairing the European Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee (PRAC) on behalf of the European Medicines Agency for six years. She is also a member of the WHO Advisory Committee on Safety of Medicinal Products.