Management
Dr Phil Clare
CEO
About Phil
Phil’s career in research management and knowledge exchange has covered many of the methods universities use to make a difference. He is committed to building an outstanding innovation ecosystem at Queen Mary University of London. Previously he was Director of Innovation and Engagement at the University of Oxford and also worked at the Universities of Bath and Bournemouth. He is a member of Research England Council, Ambassador (and former Chair) for PraxisAuril, and on the independent advisory board of the Barclays Eagle Labs Digital Growth Grant. He previously served on the committee of ARMA and as chair of the KEC evaluation panel for UUK. Phil is a Registered Technology Transfer Professional and a Member of the Institute of Directors. He used to be a chemist and has degrees from Kings College London and the Universities of Bath, Bournemouth and Oxford.
Email: p.clare@qmul.ac.uk
Technology Transfer: Technology and Engineering
Dr Adam Daykin
Associate Commercialisation Director
About Adam
Adam has over 24 years’ experience of technology commercialisation. Having obtained a PhD in Materials in 1990, and following that worked as a post-doc, he moved to QinetiQ, first to project management and then to business group management. In 2002 he moved to healthcare company Weston Medical as IP manager and then spent a period at NHS Innovations London, specialising in medical devices. During his 16+ years at QMI, Adam been responsible for establishing 25 spin-out companies attracting investment of >£55 million, with ~£1.85m income from liquidity events. He executed in excess of 80 income generating technology licences building licence revenues from zero to >£350k, with a lot more to come.
Email: a.daykin@qmul.ac.uk
Dr Ben Golland
Senior Commercialisation
Manager
About Ben
Ben joined QMI in 2019. Following an undergraduate degree in Biochemistry, including a year in industry with GSK, he moved from pharmaceuticals into engineering, and now holds a PhD in Tissue Engineering & Regenerative Medicine from the University of Leeds. During his PhD, Ben joined Medipex, the Yorkshire-based healthcare innovation hub, where he was responsible for managing the development of new medical devices from NHS Trusts across the region and advising on IP strategy. At QMI, Ben is responsible for bioengineering and healthcare (medical devices and digital health) outputs across the QMUL faculties.
Email: b.golland@qmul.ac.uk
Yunus Kutlu
Associate Commercialisation Manager
About Yunus
Yunus joined QMI in 2023. Having completed an undergraduate biomedical engineering course at Queen Mary University of London he ventured into industry as an S&OP (inventory management) intern at Kimberly-Clark. He then completed a research master’s degree in medical device design and entrepreneurship at Imperial College London where he remained as a research fellow; studying the medical technology sector and identifying opportunities for it’s growth. At QMI, Yunus is responsible for managing the commercialisation of novel technology and engineering intellectual property.
Email: y.kutlu@qmul.ac.uk
Dr Huan Wang
Associate Commercialisation Manager
About Huan
Huan joined QMI in 2023. She holds PhD in nanotechnology from London Centre for Nanotechnology, University College London, then moved to Centre for Bio-Inspired Technology, Imperial College London for further academic research in MedTech for commercialisation. Then She developed further R&D and commercialisation experience in a biotech startup at Cambridge.
At QMI, Huan is responsible for managing the commercialisation of the inventions in technology and engineering across QMUL faculties.
Email: huanwang@qmul.ac.uk
Technology Transfer: BioPharma
Dr Deborah Carter
Associate Commercialisation Director
About Deborah
Email: deborah.carter@qmul.ac.uk
Dr Monika Hamilton
Senior Commercialisation Manager
About Monika
Monika joined Queen Mary Innovation in February 2023. She has over 10 years of experience supporting translational projects arising from academic research. She previously worked at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UCL Business, and Imperial Innovations. In these three roles, she supported technologies from the area of ophthalmology, vaccines, tropical diseases, diagnostics and biomarkers. Prior to supporting researchers from within university, she also worked at BBSRC (now UKRI-BBSRC), managing the Enterprise Fellowships funding scheme.
Monika has a PhD in Medical Science with specialism in cancer biology for which she received an Institution distinction and a recognition from the Polish Prime Minister. Further to her scientific background, she also completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Intellectual Property Law and holds a Certified Licensing Professional qualification.
Email: monika.hamilton@qmul.ac.uk
Dr Mark Gurden
Commercialisation
Manager
About Mark
Mark has over 10 years’ experience working in drug discovery and translational research. Following a PhD at the University of Manchester in cell biology (2010), Mark started his career as a post-doctoral research fellow in academic drug discovery at the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR). Mark then joined Cancer Research UK, where he was responsible for managing their small molecule and biotherapeutics drug discovery funding portfolio. He then took a role as a Translational Research Manager at Imperial College London, working with scientists across all scientific disciplines to help translate novel cancer technologies, medical devices, methodologies and therapeutics into patient benefit. Mark joined QMI in 2021 and is responsible for the commercialisation of research from the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry
Email: m.gurden@qmul.ac.uk
Dr Maria Frolova
Associate Commercialisation Manager
About Maria
Maria holds a degree in Biomedical Sciences and an MSc in Drug Discovery Skills from King’s College London. She completed her PhD in cancer biology, specialising in acute myeloid leukaemia, at Heidelberg University and the German Cancer Research Centre. Afterwards, she worked in a biotech company, managing Gene Therapies programme.
In 2023, Maria joined QMI to help commercialise life science research.
Email: m.frolova@qmul.ac.uk
Dr Ben Milborne
Associate Commercialisation Manager
About Ben
Ben joined QMI in June 2023. Following an undergraduate degree in Medical Sciences, he completed an MSc in Chemical Biology and Drug Design, both at the University of Leeds. After working as a business development manager for a regenerative medicine company, he completed a PhD in Biomaterials for cancer treatment at the University of Nottingham.
At QMI, Ben helps to manage the commercialisation of intellectual property arising from the medical and life sciences research base of Queen Mary University of London.
Email: b.milborne@qmul.ac.uk
Technology Transfer: Humanities, Social Sciences, and Social Ventures
David Miller
Humanities and Social Sciences Senior Social Venture Manager
About David
As a successful entrepreneur, David has supported numerous new social venture innovations across a variety of sectors from social care to criminal justice and the environment.
Email: david.miller@qmul.ac.uk
Core Team
Reitesh Desai
Finance Director
About Reitesh
Reitesh joined QMI in 2008 and became Finance Director in 2012. He is responsible for the financial oversight of the company and its subsidiaries. Prior to QMI, he worked in new media for over seven years and gained valuable insight into managing the finances of a growing company. Reitesh is a member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants.
Email: r.desai@qmul.ac.uk
Safo Asai
Intellectual Property Manager
About Safo
Safo is responsible for managing the College’s patent portfolio which includes database, renewals and contracts management. Prior to joining QMI in 2008, she worked at Sharp Laboratories of Europe Ltd as a patent administrator. She started her career in Qiagen KK’s BioRobot Team in Tokyo.
Email: s.asai@qmul.ac.uk
Sarah-Jane Lowry
Office Manager & Executive Assistant to the CEO
About Sarah-Jane
Sarah-Jane has 21 years’ experience at senior administration level; Office and Project Management, Executive Assistant/PA within education and local authority settings.
Email: s.lowry@qmul.ac.uk
Will Hanford-Spira
Innovation Communications Manager
About Will
Will leads communications for Queen Mary Innovation. Will joined QMI in September 2023 with ten years experience, having previously managed media and comms for NPC, a leading charity consultancy and think tank. Prior to this, Will worked in Parliament and for the Church of England.
Email: w.hanford-spira@qmul.ac.uk
Contact QMI
If you would like to find out more information about our technologies or have any queries, please contact the relevant team member using our contact information found on our team profiles.