Scientific Advisory Group

Professor Stephen Logan, University of Aberdeen

A Professor of Neuroscience, Stephen Logan is renowned scientist and key academic figure in the UK. He became Senior Vice-Principal in 2004 and directs, oversees and monitors the processes of planning, finance and the development of strategic plans to support the University’s ambition to be ranked a top 100 world university. A major focus at present is implementing the £228million capital programme and creating and maintaining a world class research base. He is a director of two University spin-out companies based in Singapore and a Board member of Scottish Enterprise Grampian.

Professor Logan recently served on the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council and as Chairman of Grampian University Hospitals NHS Trust and as a member of NHS Grampian.

He was born in Glasgow and educated at Annan Academy, Dumfriesshire and the University of St Andrews.

Professor Mike Greaves, University of Aberdeen

Mike Greaves graduated in Medicine, with Honours, from Sheffield University in 1972 and developed an interest in haematology shortly thereafter. He trained in internal medicine within the United Sheffield Hospitals before taking up a temporary Lectureship to work on the area of Bone Resorption in Malignancy. Following this he spent two years in Australia, firstly at the Austin Hospital in Melbourne and then in the Westmead Hospital in Sydney undergoing specialist training in haematology and carrying out research into haemostasis. He returned to Sheffield as Lecturer in 1981, later becoming Senior Lecturer and Reader. He was appointed Professor of Haematology in Aberdeen in 1996, Head of Department of Medicine & Therapeutics in 1999, Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Medical Sciences in 2002 and Head of the School of Medicine in 2003.

Professor David M Reid MD FRCPEdin FRCPLon, University of Aberdeen

Professor David M Reid, MD, FRCPEdin, FRCPLon is Head of the Division of Applied Medicine and previously lead the UK Research Assessment Exercise 2001 5* Bone and Musculoskeletal Research Theme at the University of Aberdeen.

A world recognised expert in the field of osteoporosis, his special research interests are in the field of assessment of bone mass, risk identification for fractures, corticosteroid induced osteoporosis and clinical study design.

His work has been built around deriving extensively phenotyped normal and disease population databases both in metabolic bone disease and rheumatoid arthritis.

Externally he has extensive collaborations with international pharmaceutical companies and has been heavily involved in the production of national and international guidelines especially for the Management of Glucocorticoid Induced Osteoporosis and most recently the Management of Breast Cancer Treatment Induced Bone Loss.

He is current vice Chair of the of the UK National Osteoporosis Society, a Board member of the International Bone & Mineral Society and a member of the Professional Practice Committee of the American Society of Bone & Mineral Research. On behalf of the Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Alliance (ARMA) he has recently chaired a working party who have published Clinical Standards for the Management of Metabolic Bone Disease.

Professor Andrew D Morris MB ChB MSc MD FRCP (Edin) FRCP (Glas) FRSE, University of Dundee

Andrew Morris is the Professor of Diabetic Medicine and Head of Planning and Development in the College of Medicine Dentistry and Nursing at the University of Dundee. He leads a translational research team that focuses on the epidemiological and molecular aetiological basis of diabetes and its complications. He also has a major interest in how managed clinical networks can improve patient care across geographical boundaries. He leads the DARTS research study, has published over 160 original papers and has attracted over £20million in peer reviewed grant funding. He is the principal investigator on many clinical studies of new therapeutics of diabetes as well as genetics of diabetes and is the principal investigator of Generation Scotland, a study of the genetic health in 50,000 Scots. He was awarded the RD Lawrence Award by Diabetes UK in 2003, the Saltire Society Scottish Science Award in 2005 and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland’s national academy of science and letters. He was appointed by the Minister for Health and Community Care to be Lead Clinician for diabetes in Scotland (2002-2006) and led a national programme of quality improvement in diabetes care. He is also the eHealth Director of NHS Tayside and chairs the Translational Medicine Research Collaboration Steering Group, unique £50million collaboration between all Medical Schools in Scotland and the pharmaceutical giant Wyeth.

Professor Roland Wolf, University of Dundee

Professor Roland Wolf is Director, University of Dundee Biomedical Research Centre; Honorary Director, Cancer Research UK Molecular Pharmacology Unit; and Scientific Director, CXR Biosciences Ltd., Dundee, UK. Professor Roland Wolf has an international reputation in the field of molecular pharmacology, specifically cancer therapy. He has published over 400 journal papers and is a member of numerous national and international committees and advisory panels on toxicology and safety issues. In 2001, Professor Wolf founded CXR Biosciences a drug discovery company with a major focus on developing new models to accelerate drug development process. As consequence of longstanding collaboration with Wyeth, Professor Wolf was a key player in initiating the Translational Medicine Research Collaboration (TMRC) in Scotland.

Professor Sir John Savill, University of Edinburgh

Professor Sir John Savill is Head of the College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine and a Vice Principal of the University of Edinburgh, and was formerly the Inaugural Director of the MRC Centre for Inflammation Research at the University.

Professor Savill remains active in acute general medicine and is an Honorary Consultant Physician and Nephrologist with the Lothian University Hospitals Division. He is a member of the Lothian Health Board and chairs its Service Redesign Committee.

Professor Savill has extensive experience in peer review with the Medical Research Council and other research funders. He has a particular interest in NHS research and development, and the career structures necessary for this, having chaired the Academy of Medical Sciences Working Party on Clinical Academic Careers.

He was knighted in the 2008 New Year Honours for services to clinical science.

Professor Robert Millar PhD FRCPath FRSE, University of Edinburgh

Professor Robert Millar, PhD, FRCPath, FRSE is Director of the MRC Human Reproductive Sciences Unit which comprises over 100 researchers and attracts about £5 million annual funding. The Unit research focuses on pathologies of female and male reproductive tissues (eg prostate, breast and ovarian cancers, endometriosis and uterine fibroids), infertility, contraception and hormone replacement therapy. Professor Millar is Professor in the Division of Reproductive and Developmental Sciences at Edinburgh University. He is founder and Chief Scientific Officer of the reproductive health company, Ardana Biosciences. Professor Millar interacts extensively with Pharma and Biotech. He is Editor-in-Chief of Neuroendocrinology. He has published over 300 papers and 20 patents. Professor Millar’s research focuses on the molecular functioning of the GnRH receptor with an emphasis on ligand receptor interactions, mechanisms of ligand-mediated receptor activation and coupling to intracellular signalling pathways and receptor trafficking. His group’s research on distinct antiproliferative effects of selective GnRH analogues on tumour cells has revealed the novel concept of ligand-induced-selective-signalling by GnRH analogues which has implications in the development of new GnRH therapeutics and GPCR targets in general.

Recently he has focused on GPCRs involved in appetite, inflammation, cell invasion and angiogenesis with a particular focus the RFamides and prokineticins.

Professor David Newby, University of Edinburgh & NHS Lothian

Professor Newby graduated from the University of Southampton in 1990 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Cellular & Molecular Biology, and in 1991 with a Bachelor of Medicine degree.

Following clinical positions in Southampton and Newcastle-upon-Tyne, he undertook his general professional training in the South East of Scotland before taking up a British Heart Foundation Junior Research Fellowship in Edinburgh. He was then appointed to Clinical Lecturer and Senior Lecturer posts in Cardiology during which time he attained a Doctorate in Medicine at the University of Southampton and a Doctorate in Philosophy at the University of Edinburgh. He was appointed Clinical Reader in 2003 before attaining his personal chair in 2005. Professor Newby is funded by the British Heart Foundation and is currently Professor of Cardiology at the University of Edinburgh, Director of the Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Facility and a Consultant Cardiologist at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh and the Western General Hospital, Edinburgh. Professor Newby’s principal research interests are in endothelial and vascular biology, acute coronary syndromes and heart failure.

Professor John R Coggins OBE FRSE, University of Glasgow

Professor John Coggins OBE FRSE is Vice Principal for the Life Sciences, Clinical Medicine and Veterinary Medicine at the University of Glasgow. Professor Coggins is also Professor of Molecular Enzymology and his major research interests are the structure and mechanism of biosynthetic enzymes and the rational design and development of novel anti-microbial and anti-parasitic agents. He is a former Vice President and Awards Convener of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, and is currently a member of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council. Among other appointments he is Chairman of the Caledonian Research Foundation, Treasurer of the Biosciences Federation, a Trustee of the Glasgow Science Centre, a member of the Council and Executive of the Biochemical Society and a member of the External Advisory Committee of the Glasgow Centre for Population Health. He has a special interest in the knowledge transfer agenda and in science education and science communication.

Professor Alison MacLeod, NHS Grampian

Professor Alison MacLeod works in the Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, University of Aberdeen and is an Honorary Consultant Physician/Nephrologist in NHS Grampian and Director of Research and Development for NHS Grampian. She is an Editor of the Cochrane Renal Review Group and her research interests are evidence based medicine and guidelines in renal medicine and the epidemiology of acute and chronic renal failure.

She has recently chaired the SIGN (Scottish [Royal Colleges] Intercollegiate Guidelines Network) guidelines group on renal failure and is a member of the executive committees of European and Global organisations developing guidelines for kidney disease.

Professor Chris Packard PhD FRCPath DSc FRCP(Gla) FRSE, NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde

Chris Packard is the R&D Director of NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde. He holds Honorary Professorship of Vascular Biochemistry at the University of Glasgow. Additionally, he is a Consultant Clinical Scientist for NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde Biochemistry and founding Chairman of NEXXUS.

Prof Packard has over his career focussed on two aspects of atherosclerosis research, lipoprotein metabolism and how it is affected by diets and drugs, and large scale clinical trials of lipid lowering agents. More recently his interest has widened to include investigations of emerging risk factors for coronary heart disease and the consequences for social deprivation for health.

Prof Packard has published widely on the kinetics of apolipoprotein B and apolipoprotein A metabolism. Key contributions include evaluation of the role of the LDL receptor in vivo, the discovery of metabolic channelling in the apoB lipoprotein delipidation cascade, and the formulation of models to explain the generation of small, dense LDL. More recent research has focussed on the metabolic consequences of insulin resistance and the causes of the dyslipidaemia in metabolic syndrome.

Current interests include expansion of kinetic studies to encompass the simultaneous study of the metabolism of plasma lipids and apolipoproteins, and exploration of the mechanism of action of novel lipid lowering drugs. Prof Packard is principal investigator of the ongoing pSoBid study, an epidemiological study of the psychosocial and biological determinants of ill health and premature CHD in deprived communities in the east end of Glasgow.

Outside the lab Prof Packard is active in local and national initiatives to promote health and wealth gains from medical research. He is founding chairman of NEXXUS, the West of Scotland Bioscience Network which promotes community building and knowledge exchange between life sciences industry, academia and the NHS.

Professor Dave Wyper, NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde

David is Deputy Director of Clinical Physics and associate R&D Director, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and is an Honorary Professor at the University of Glasgow.

His work in Clinical Physics covers a broad range of activities including medical imaging, medical instrumentation and biomedical research. His current research focuses on the use of imaging as a biomarker in studies exploring the pathophysiological abnormalities associated with neurological and psychiatric conditions. The research aims to improve our understanding of variations across patients in response to current treatments. It seeks to improve outcome by better selection of patients for specific therapies and by the development of novel therapeutic approaches through more precise measurement of the changes associated with therapeutic interventions.

The Neuroimaging Group in Glasgow has a wide-ranging translational medicine programme. The molecular imaging section specialises in the development of novel imaging tracers; in particular tracers to assess the effects of neuro-active compounds.

David is also responsible for commercialisation within NHSGGC and is the NHS advisor to Scottish Health Innovations Ltd. He is advisor to imaging journals and grant funding bodies and is also a lecturer in medical imaging and its applications.

Dr Ellie Dow, NHS Tayside

Ellie Dow developed interests in Diabetes and genetics whilst completing her PhD at Imperial College London. She returned to Scotland after postgraduate medical training in London and is Consultant in Biochemical Medicine at Ninewells in Dundee, and NHS Tayside R&D Director, with clinical interests in type 2 diabetes and metabolism.