Management

Will West (Chief Executive Officer)
Will completed his PhD in immunology and virology in 1992, sponsored by Unilever (UniPath). He held a post-doctoral position at the National Institute of Biological Standards and Control before joining Procter & Gamble Healthcare in 1994. He was responsible for clinical development in a number of therapeutic areas. He led an international team and delivered programmes throughout Europe, the Americas, South Africa and China. In 2001 he joined CellFactors plc, a tissue engineering biotechnology company in Cambridge, UK, where he was responsible for Product and Business Development. In 2004 he was recruited by Avlar BioVentures to help initiate CellCentric. Will holds a Masters degree in Clinical Research as well as an MBA from London Business School. Will was appointed CEO in November 2005.

Tim Fell (Chief Operating Officer)
Following his D.Phil in Semiconductor Materials Tim migrated to the biological sciences in 1992 to work with DNA microarray pioneer Prof Ed Southern at Oxford University. In 1999 he co-founded Oxford Gene Technology (operations) Ltd where as Technical Director, and later as General Manager, he developed a DNA microarray fee-for-service business. In 2002 UK anti-infective drug discovery company Arrow Therapeutics Ltd acquired the business and he joined the management team as CTO. His last role was with the London Technology Network, which he joined in 2005 as a Technology Consultant with a remit to stimulate collaboration between global business and the academic research base in the South East of England. Tim has an MBA from the London Business School. He joined CellCentric in March 2006.

Nessa Carey (Director of Research)
Nessa obtained a degree in Immunology from North East Surrey College of Technology and her PhD in Virology from the University of Edinburgh. Following a post-doctoral position in human neurogenetics at Charing Cross and Westminster Medical School she became a Lecturer and then Senior Lecturer in Molecular Biology at Imperial College School of Medicine. In 2001 Nessa joined Vernalis in the days when it was a specialist neuroscience company, initially as Director of Molecular Biology and ultimately as Head of Molecular Biology and Pharmacology. In 2004 she moved into oncology and epigenetics drug discovery, becoming Head of Biology for TopoTarget before joining CellCentric in June 2006.

Dev Crease (Patent Counsel – Part-time)
Devanand Crease is a Chartered and European Patent Attorney and has worked in the life science field for over ten years. He has a PhD in Molecular and Developmental Biology from the University of Cambridge, where he worked in the laboratory of Sir John Gurdon - now part of the Gurdon Institute. Dev has represented established and emerging biotech and medical technology companies based in the UK, US and Asia, as well as private equity investors with interests in the UK and European biotechnology sector. As a result, Dev has gained valuable experience of a variety of IP and patent strategies adopted by a number of high profile bioscience companies. Since January 2004, Dev has headed the Bioscience Group at Keltie, and since September 2007 works part-time in-house at CellCentric.

Richard Brooks (Finance Director - Part-time)
Richard is a seasoned professional with over 20 years of experience managing the finances of entrepreneurial businesses. Having qualified at Ernst & Whinney he gained his first Finance Director role at the age of 28.