Matthew Wood, MD, PhD

Matthew Wood is Professor of Neuroscience at the University of Oxford, Deputy Head of the University of Oxford Medical Sciences Division, Adjunct Professor of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, and Research Vice President, Muscular Dystrophy UK.

He has pioneered the development of novel drug delivery systems, including peptide and exosome-based technologies for the targeted delivery of macromolecular biologics, including oligonucleotides, to tissues including the brain. He has authored over 450 scientific papers and has four spin-out companies.

Matthew directs the Laboratory of RNA Biology and Neuromuscular Disease investigating development of RNA-based medicines for neuromuscular disease focusing on the development of advanced generation antisense oligonucleotides for Duchenne muscular dystrophy and other rare diseases.

He is a co-founder of the spin-outs Evox Therapeutics, PepGen, Orfonyx Bio and ISOGenix and led a major UK national initiative to establish the UK Nucleic Acid Therapy Accelerator (NATA) as its founding Director. Matthew is an advisor to numerous research funding agencies including UKRI, to Genomics England and to industry. In his role as Deputy Head of the Medical Sciences Division of the University of Oxford, Matthew leads strategic coordination of all innovation-related activities. He currently serves as a Non-Executive Director of the University of Oxford’s technology transfer organisation, Oxford University Innovation (OUI).

Seth Field, MD, PhD

Dr. Field serves as Director of Physician-Scientist Programs at the Harrington Discovery Institute, placing him at the lead of the Major Diseases Scholar-Innovator Program, the Harrington Prize for Innovation in Medicine (in partnership with the American Society for Clinical Investigation), and the annual symposium of the Harrington Discovery Institute. Dr. Field is an Investigator in the Harrington Discovery Institute.

Dr. Field is a physician-scientist. He is a board-certified Senior Attending Physician in Endocrinology at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center. He is also the Becky Hennessey Endowed Master Clinician in Breast Cancer Genomics. He is a Professor of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine.

Dr. Field’s laboratory uses discoveries in fundamental biology to fuel the development of new approaches to treat human disease. He has received numerous honors, including a Burroughs Wellcome Fund Career Award in the Biomedical Sciences, a Scholar Award from the V Foundation for Cancer Research, and the NIH Director’s New Innovator Award. In 2011 he was elected to the American Society for Clinical Investigation.

After graduating from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dr. Field earned his M.D. and Ph.D. (Genetics) degrees from Harvard Medical School. He conducted internship and residency training in internal medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, endocrinology fellowship training at the Massachusetts General Hospital, and post-doctoral research in the Departments of Cell Biology and Systems Biology at Harvard Medical School.

Georg Holländer, MD, PhD

Head of Department, Oxford Department of Paediatrics

Prof. Georg A Holländer was trained in both Paediatrics and Experimental Immunology in Switzerland and the U.S. He held academic positions at Harvard Medical School, Boston, U.S. and the University of Basel, Switzerland, before he joined the University of Oxford, UK (2010). He is interested in the development and function of the immune system in health and disease. His particular scientific focus concerns the molecular and cellular control of thymus development and function. 

Geoffrey Denwood, PhD

Geoff has a PhD in neuroscience and was a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Oxford investigating the regulation of blood sugar levels in diabetes. He joined the OHC in 2021 as a Research Facilitator, focusing specifically on building a network of researchers working on therapeutics development for the disease Friedreich’s ataxia. He works with researchers, clinicians and other partners in the neurology theme to develop the OHC’s translational project pipeline.

Louise Gillane

Louise has been at the University of Oxford since 2018 and provides high-level administrative support to the Centre Director, Matthew Wood, and more broadly to the OHC team. She supports event organisation and acts as liaison with collaborators and partner organisations.  Previously Louise worked as a PA and Professional Development Coordinator in a multi-disciplinary engineering consultancy firm. She managed a professional development scheme for graduates, including the provision of training events and online learning programmes.

Tyrone Gorden

Tyrone F. Gorden is a fundraising executive with more than two decades of transformative gift and capital campaign experience. He has held senior level positions at organizations such as the National Institutes of Health Foundation, Tulane University Health Sciences and the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. In his most recent position, he served as Vice President & Chief Development Officer at the National Medal of Honor Foundation & Museum.

He is a native New Orleanian, and a graduate of Dillard University with a B.A. in Political Science. He went on to pursue his doctorate in political science from the University of New Orleans. He is a certified grants specialist, and is the recipient of many fundraising certifications from institutions such as the Kresge Foundation and the Indiana School of Fundraising.

He has served his hometown community through volunteerism at St. Augustine High School, the Algiers Economic Foundation, the Urban League of Greater New Orleans and many other civic organizations. In San Diego, Tyrone was a member of CONNECT, an organization that brings science and industry together. He is also a member of BIO and the San Diego AFP. Tyrone also served as a volunteer at the San Diego Children’s Museum. He was just named Board President for the Center for Inclusive Public Life, a newly formed leadership organization.

Tyrone has a unique understanding of fundraising, the intersection of science and philanthropy, impact investing, partnership development, and public-private partnerships as exhibited by his exemplary service to many organizations. He is recognized as an expert in PRI development and other aggressive and nuanced forms of fundraising.

He is married to his lovely wife Rochelle of twenty-three years, and they have four beautiful children that range in age of 8-20.

Katie Harris, MBA

Katie Harris serves as the Program and Brand Manager of Harrington Discovery Institute. She is responsible for driving awareness of Harrington Discovery Institute with multi-faceted audiences through integrated multi-channel marketing. In this role, Katie plans and executes comprehensive marketing plans and develops reporting and analytics to demonstrate increased awareness of Harrington Discovery Institute and a return on marketing investment.

Joining the team in 2021, she brings a diverse experience of more than ten years in marketing, communications and public relations to Harrington Discovery Institute. Prior to this role, Katie served as the Director of External Relations at Eliza Bryant Village, a nonprofit based in Cleveland, Ohio. She managed branding while implementing a strategic marketing plan that grew local and national brand awareness and strengthened community support to increase donations from individuals and foundations. She established a benchmarking report to show a 400% increase of positive media coverage, as well as increased engagement across all digital platforms. Additionally, she secured more than $100,000 in grant funding over two years and helped raise more than $100,000 as co-chair of a fundraising gala.

Katie previously served as External Affairs Officer at the Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services (ADAMHS) Board of Cuyahoga County and as Account Executive at Lesic & Camper Communications. She volunteers as Chief Operating Officer of the American Marketing Association, Northeast Ohio Chapter. She earned her bachelor's degree in Business Administration, majoring in marketing, as well as her MBA from Cleveland State University.

Rufina Kaloyanova

Rufina supports communications for the OHC, collaborating with researchers, patients, partners, and external service providers to deliver the Centre’s online content and visibility, including its website and social media. Before joining the OHC in 2024 in a part-time capacity, she served as a Production Coordinator at Bangor University, followed by her role as Communications Manager for University of Oxford’s Institute of Developmental and Regenerative Medicine. She has additional experience as a videographer and editor, content writer, and digital marketing consultant.

Becca Koopman

Becca Koopman is the Project Manager Associate of Programs at Harrington Discovery Institute. She is responsible for managing all grant opportunities, as well as supporting the institute's marketing and communication initiatives. Her role focuses on managing applicant outreach, maintaining ongoing communications with interested applicants, TTOs, program partners and reviewers, integrating the online grant system for application submissions and review panels, and supporting the final selection of Scholars. In addition, she co-leads the planning of the annual Scientific Symposium.

Prior to joining Harrington Discovery Institute in November of 2018, Becca was an Assistant Project Manager at Hitchcock Fleming & Associates (now known as AfterMath), a full-service advertising agency. While there, Becca supported the development of both print and digital projects. She was the main point of contact for internal team members, as well as clients. She developed in-depth timelines, estimates and status documents to manage projects from initiation to completion.

Becca received her bachelor’s degree in journalism, specializing in public relations, with a marketing minor from Bowling Green State University.

Bronwyn Monroe, MBA

Bronwyn Monroe is the Program Director for the Harrington Discovery Institute. She is responsible for leading all aspects of the programs and marketing, including the Harrington Scholar-Innovator Program, Harrington-Rare Disease Program, ADDF-Harrington Program, Gund-Harrington Program, The Harrington Prize for Innovation in Medicine, and the annual Scientific Symposium.

Prior to joining Harrington Discovery Institute in 2017, she was Vice President of Strategic Marketing at NineSigma, Inc., a global B2B innovation services company that connects Fortune 500 companies, global nonprofits and US government agencies to external innovation partners assisting with the acceleration of science and technology development. While at NineSigma, Bronwyn established NineSigma as the global leader in “open innovation” and helped build a community of solution providers that spanned multiple industries and technical disciplines. She transformed the firm’s marketing department into a revenue-producing consulting practice responsible for the delivery of public relations and social media programs in support of clients’ prize-based innovation competitions.

Prior to NineSigma, Bronwyn spent time at GE Lighting where she held a number of positions in pricing, supply chain, product management, and marketing.

She received her bachelor’s degree in Japanese Studies from the University of Michigan and her MBA from Case Western Reserve University.

Mohammad Osman, MBA

Biography to follow...

Carlo Rinaldi, MD, PhD

Carlo is Professor of Molecular and Translational Neuroscience at Oxford and an Honorary Consultant Neurologist at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford and at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in London. Following his education in Italy, he joined the Neurogenetics Branch at the National Institute of Health (USA) to work on translational research in a range of genetic neurological conditions.

His research group uses a multidisciplinary approach, combining 3D stem cell and animal modelling, advanced microscopy, and integrated genomic characterisation to study neuromuscular diseases with high unmet clinical need. He leads the Neurological Disorders Theme of the OHC and the Friedreich’s Ataxia Alliance at Oxford.

Julie Stevens, PhD

Julie holds a PhD in biochemistry and was a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Oxford, following a fellowship at the University of Paris. She managed a Haematology Centre in Oxford’s Biomedical Research Centre before moving to the OHC in 2020, where she is now Director of Operations. She oversees all operational aspects of the Centre, working closely with the Director to drive the delivery of the Centre’s strategic objectives.

Kristina Tanso

Kristina Tanso serves as Senior Development Executive, Paediatrics and Rare Diseases in the University of Oxford’s Medical Sciences Divisional Development team. She has over fifteen years of international fundraising experience in the education and environmental space. She began her development career at Room to Read in Hong Kong, before expanding her scope to the Asia Pacific region at The Nature Conservancy. She most recently served as Regional Director of Development for Asia, and Global Development Consultant to Teach For All. Outside of her development work, Kristina guest lectures at the University of Hong Kong. Kristina holds a BA in Geography and Regional Studies from the University of Miami, and an MSc in Environment and Development from London School of Economics.

Diana Wetmore, PhD

Diana Wetmore, PhD is Vice President of Therapeutics Development and Director of the Therapeutics Development Center (TDC), and manages the portfolio of scholar projects that are supported by the Harrington Discovery Institute.

Diana is a business-oriented scientist with a successful history of assembling and guiding complex multi-disciplinary drug discovery collaborations and project teams. At HDI, her portfolio management role is critical for ensuring that the Harrington Innovator, Gund-Harrington, and ADDF-Harrington scholar drug discovery projects have access to support and guidance that will help translate their ideas to the clinic and to patients. A key component of that support is the TDC Advisors, which Diana directs. Members of the TDC panel bring pharma expertise and know-how to the portfolio projects with a view to accelerating the development of new therapies.

Diana obtained her PhD in Biochemistry at the University of Calgary, Canada, and did her postdoctoral training at Dupont Merck Pharmaceutical Company. During her more than 20 years in the drug discovery field, she has been part of project teams that yielded multiple INDs and two approved drugs. She has a combination of experience in Pharma, Biotech, and not-for-profit settings acquired in the US and internationally.

Prior to joining Harrington Discovery Institute, Diana served as VP Alliance Management and Operations for Beryllium Discovery, a structure based drug discovery organization, as VP of Business Development and Alliance Management at Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Therapeutics (CFFT) and as Sr. Director of Project Management at Anadys Pharmaceuticals. At CFFT she was an active member of the Vertex project team that led to the two first in class disease modifying therapies Kalydeco™ and Orkambi™. Professional interests include protein structure/function relationships and ligand recognition, strategic planning and building collaborative drug discovery projects.

Sir John Bell

Professor Sir John Bell CH, CGBE, FRS is President, Ellison Institute of Technology Oxford. He was Regius Professor of Medicine at Oxford University from 2002 to 2024.  He served as President of the Academy of Medical Sciences from 2006 to 2011 and chaired the Office for the Strategic Coordination of Health Research until 2017.  As a Rhodes Scholar (1975-78), Sir John undertook his medical training in the UK and then went on to Stanford University, returning to the UK in 1987.  His research interests are in the area of autoimmune disease and immunology where he has contributed to the understanding of immune activation in a range of autoimmune diseases.  In 1993, he founded the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, one of the world’s leading centres for complex trait common disease genetics.  In 2001, he was appointed non-executive director of Roche Holding AG and in 2008 he joined the Gates Foundation Global Health Advisory Board which he has chaired since 2012.  He is Chair of the Rhodes Trust.  In December 2011, Sir John was appointed one of two UK Life Sciences Champions by the Prime Minister.  He sits on the board of Genomics England Limited and chairs its Science Advisory Committee.  He was appointed Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire (GBE) in the 2015 New Year Honours for services to medicine, medical research and the life science industry. In August 2017, the UK Life Sciences Industrial Strategy, written by Sir John, was published and he has co developed a similar follow up report in 2021 called the Life Sciences Vision.  The reports, written in collaboration with industry, academia, charity, and research organisations, provides recommendations to HM Government on the long-term success of the life sciences sector. Out of these initiatives he has also taken responsibility for Our Future Health, the UK’s largest cohort initiative where he Chairs  the Board. Sir John has held prominent roles during the Covid epidemic,enabling the development of the testing platforms for LFTs and helping to initiate the PCR program nationally as well as helping to manage the relationship with Astra Zeneca that produced the Oxford AZ vaccine.  He was appointed Companion of Honour (CH) in 2023 for for services to medicine, medical research, the life science industry and public health.

Baroness Nicola Blackwood

Baroness Nicola Blackwood joined the Oxford Harrington Rare Disease Centre Advisory Council in 2024. A leader in science and entrepreneurship, she is Chair of Oxford University Innovation and Genomics England, as well as Board Member of the biotechnology company, BioNTech and investment fund RTW Biotech Opportunities. Nicola is also a member of the House of Lords and the Royal Society Science Policy Expert Advisory Committee.

Nicola served as a Minister in the Department for Health and Social Care under two Prime Ministers. As Minister for Innovation, she led on Life Sciences, NHS Data and Digital Transformation, and Global Health Security.

She was the first female Member of Parliament for Oxford and was elected by MPs of all parties as the first female Chair of the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee. She remains one of the youngest committee chairs in British history.

John Crowley

John F. Crowley is the President and CEO of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO), the world’s largest biotechnology advocacy organization. John was the Founder and Executive Chairman of Amicus Therapeutics, a global biotechnology company focusing on developing treatments for rare genetic diseases. John’s decades of biotech experience and deep passion for the field have made him a strong supporter of policies that empower innovation, enable entrepreneurship, and put people and patients first. His involvement with biotechnology stems from the 1998 diagnosis of two of his children with Pompe disease—a severe and often fatal neuromuscular disorder. In his drive to find a cure for them, John left his position at Bristol Myers Squibb and became an entrepreneur as the Co-founder, President and CEO of Novazyme Pharmaceuticals, which he credits as ultimately saving his children’s lives.

Ron Harrington

Ronald G. Harrington is a Cleveland-area entrepreneur and philanthropist and a member of the Board of Managers for BioMotiv. He, along with his family, has made many generous contributions over the years to a variety of charitable causes. In 2012, The Harrington Family Foundation donated $50 million to establish the Harrington Discovery Institute, an integral part of The Harrington Project for Discovery and Development. The Harrington family also donated $22.6 million to establish the University Hospitals Harrington Heart & Vascular Institute. The Harrington family has a passion for finding entrepreneurial solutions to pressing problems, and The Harrington Project is inspired by their commitment to innovation and to society.

Jonathan Stamler, MD

Jonathan S. Stamler, MD is an internationally acclaimed physician scientist known for the discovery of protein S-nitrosylation, a global post-translational modification of proteins that is widely involved in both physiology and disease. Dr Stamler is also known for a track record of innovation and entrepreneurship as a founder of institutes, biotechnology companies (10), medical societies, innovation platforms and impact investment funds. He has co-authored nearly 400 original manuscripts and 225 patents and has been recognized with multiple awards. His work has been covered in numerous lay publications, including the front page and science sections of the New York Times, as well as Time Magazine and The Economist, in books on the history of science, and in works on outlier innovators.

Jonathan Stamler discovered protein S-nitrosylation (binding of nitric oxide to Cys residues), a post-translational signaling system that controls cellular function from bacteria to humans. All classes of proteins can be modified by S-nitrosylation, and aberrant S-nitrosylation plays important roles in disease from heart failure to Alzheimer’s disease and cancer. Dr Stamler has shown that S-nitrosylation is controlled enzymatically and that it regulates widespread physiology, including functions of the heart, skeletal muscle, and airways. His notable discovery that S-nitrosylation of hemoglobin is needed to oxygenate tissues has re-defined the respiratory cycle as a three- (not two-) gas system—O₂/NO/CO₂—and identified an essential role for RBCs in control of blood flow. Dr Stamler recently discovered trans-kingdom nitric oxide signaling through which microbiome bacteria broadly modify host proteins to control animal physiology and development, and he identified how the drug nitroglycerin works. His discoveries have thus changed the understanding of signaling by gaseous messengers, reshaped nitric oxide/redox biology, and broadly impacted the biological sciences.