Professor Richard Barker

Richard has been associated with International Health Partners from its foundation and is the immediate past chairman. He is passionate about advancing biomedical innovation and about accelerating and spreading access to the fruits of this innovation to patients worldwide.

He is founding director of New Medicine Partners, a global firm assisting public and private sector organisations to accelerate the worldwide development and adoption of precision medicine. He also founded the Oxford-UCL Centre for the Advancement of Sustainable Medical Innovation (CASMI). He is chairman of the South London Health Innovation Network and of the corresponding Genomic Medicine Centre. He also chairs Kvatchii, a digital health company bringing cardiovascular health improvement to India and other middle-income economies. He is a board member of Image Analysis, a UK company using MRI to quantify the impact of therapy on disease and of Celgene, a major US-based bio-therapeutics company.

His 30-year career in healthcare has spanned biopharmaceuticals, diagnostics and medical informatics, both in the USA and Europe. Richard has held several senior roles, and has been director general of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry, general manager of Healthcare Solutions for IBM, chief executive officer of Chiron Diagnostics and head of McKinsey’s European healthcare practice.

Peter O'Driscoll - Chairman

Peter is an experienced transactional lawyer, with a focus on emerging markets and impact investment. He spent 32 years working in leading international law firms, starting in New York in 1987 and moving to London in 1991. He currently serves as general counsel of a private equity fund and is a consultant with Gihon Partners, a London-based, multi-disciplinary consulting and advisory firm focused on frontier markets and impact investments across Africa. In addition, over the past 12 months, he has worked with the Ground_Up Project and UN SDG Lab in Geneva on the Impact Rescue Facility, a $1bn rescue fund for COVID-19-affected, impact-oriented SMEs in developing countries.

Peter has been involved with IHP since its formation, initially as its pro bono legal counsel, then as a board member of both IHP’s UK and US entities, and, since 2019, as its chair.  He and his wife have four grown daughters between them, and four dogs. When in London, they attend Holy Trinity Brompton.

Wei-Lynn Lum

Wei-Lynn advises the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on energy networks and markets as an advisory lawyer in the Government Legal Department. She has previously advised the Department of Health and Social Care on mental health and mental capacity law, and the Ministry of Defence on armed forces pensions and compensation schemes. She qualified as a lawyer in Australia, starting her career in the Department of Premier and Cabinet in the Victorian State Government of Australia advising on a wide range of legal policy issues. She has served as a trustee for the North Melbourne Legal Service (a community legal centre) and City Gateway (an East London charity supporting young people, women and families).

Helen Leighton

Helen has spent over 25 years working as a Senior Commercial Leader for a variety of global pharmaceutical companies including GSK, Abbot Labs, Janssen and Bayer. Having started her career as a pharmacist, she brings a wealth of experience across both pharmaceutical and consumer sectors and across all divisions, most notably recently in marketing and team development. Her style is underpinned with a strong collaborative approach and she is a qualified coach. Helen has two daughters and is a committed Christian worshipping at St Johns, Hampton Wick.

Glyn Williams

Glyn is a Chartered Accountant with 35 years’ experience in professional services, working in Mazars, an international firm of auditors and advisers.  He was a member of the firm’s UK Executive Board from 2002 to 2017; he was responsible for all aspects of internal and external financial reporting, to improve decision making and performance and to enhance confidence for stakeholders.

Glyn is now uses his financial experience to help charities manage their finances in alignment with achieving strategic goals.  He is married with three adult children and lives in Kent.

Alex Stewart

Alex Stewart is a London-based corporate lawyer and management consultant. He was born in Ethiopia and spent the early part of his life there and in the Seychelles. Alex has always retained close connections with East Africa, initially as part of volunteer teams with Alpha and Tearfund, and more recently as an advisor to renewal energy and impact funds focused on projects across sub-Saharan Africa. Alex is also the founding partner of Gihon Partners, a specialist, multi-disciplinary consulting and advisory firm focused on frontier markets and impact investments across Africa.

Alex is married to Rebecca and they have two children. Alex and his family worship locally at Saint Pauls, Hammersmith.

Simon Howard

Simon spent 10 years in a variety of sales and marketing roles in the Pharmaceutical industry working for Searle and then Bayer. He was involved in the UK launches of Tildiem LA and Arthrotec at Searle and then managed the anti-infectives portfolio at Bayer. In the 1990s, Simon founded Abacus International, which he later sold to an American market research company.

Currently, he is the founding chairman of CMS UK, a charity that raises money to support HIV Orphans in Eswatini. He is also on the international board of Challenge Ministries Swaziland.

He remains involved in the healthcare sector by acting as an advisor and non-exec chair to various healthcare agencies. He is a husband to Clare and father to three daughters.

Dr Joanna Hobbs MC BC MRCGP DRCOG DFFP

Jo qualified from St Thomas’s Hospital Medical School, London in 1991 and trained as a GP in Guildford and Camberley. She was a GP partner in Liphook for 13 years including 5 years as a senior partner before leaving in 2018 to help form a private GP clinic, Hindhead Health. She continues to practice as an NHS GP in Bordon, Hampshire.

She has four grown-up children and lives in West Sussex with her husband, 2 dogs and a collection of chickens.

Barbara Brese

Barbara is an Independent Consultant and Thought Leader in healthcare working with a range of bio- pharmaceutical industries and the NHS. A pharmacist by profession, she is passionate about making positive changes to healthcare through system leadership. She was the Strategic Account Manager for NHS England at MSD from 2016-2018. Prior to that, Barbara worked in the NHS for 22 years where she gained considerable experience in both hospital and primary care. Her final role was as the Deputy Director and Chief Pharmacist in NEL CSU from 2011-2016.

Barbara is married to Alikem, a Chartered Architect and Project Development Professional and they have three children. Barbara has been a member of her church for the past 27 years where she plays many roles.