Former EU Commisioner for Research, Innovation and Science

Máire Geoghegan-Quinn served as the European Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science from 2010-2014. As Commissioner she established the ‘Innovation Union’ initiative; progressed the European Research Area; and delivered the largest ever research framework programme, Horizon 2020, with a 30% budget increase (€80 billion in total for research and innovation). She had political responsibility for two directorates general – the Director General for Research and Innovation and the Joint Research Council.

Máire previously served as a Fianna Fáil TD for the Galway West constituency (1975–1997); and held several Ministerial positions including: Minister for the Gaeltacht (1979–1981), becoming the first female Cabinet Minister since the foundation of the Irish State; Minister for European Affairs (1987–1991); and Minister for Justice (1993–1994). She holds a Degree of Doctor of Laws from NUIG, a degree of Doctor of Science from UCD (both honoris causa); and the Légion d’honneur among other awards. She is a Member of the European Joint Research Centre (JRC) Alumni Network and an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland.

Emeritus Professor of Polymer Engineering, School of Engineering, Ulster University

Professor Eileen Harkin-Jones is Emeritus Professor of Polymer Engineering at Ulster University where she held the Spirit-Aerospace/Royal Academy of Engineering Chair in Composites Engineering from 2014-2021. Prior to that she held the Boxmore Chair in Polymer Engineering at Queen’s University Belfast (1993-2014). She has over 30 years of experience in polymer science & engineering research as well as significant industrial experience in the polymer sector.   

Eileen’s research is in the development and processing of advanced thermoplastic polymers and composites with applications in areas from aerospace to medical devices and with a focus on sustainability. She has published over 200 papers, won research funding in excess of £16 million as principal investigator and supervised over 40 PhD students to completion. She has also been awarded two National UK prizes for excellence in technology transfer.

Eileen holds a first-class BEng from UCD and a PhD from Queen’s University Belfast. She is an elected Fellow of two national academies (The Royal Academy of Engineering (UK) and the Irish Academy of Engineering). In 2013 she was awarded an OBE for Services to Higher Education.

Senior Vice President of Finance in ICON Plc

Brendan Harte, FCA is a Senior Vice President of Finance in ICON Plc, a Irish founded global clinical research organization with approx. 15,000 employees. He joined ICON in 2008 and has served in a number of global roles on the senior management team, with a focus on leading change initiatives, strategic restructuring of the business model and supporting the drive for growth and increased shareholder value. In his current role he heads the team charged with the successful on-boarding and global integration of new business lines acquired by ICON. In previous roles he developed and led large, multi-disciplinary teams responsible for areas such as Financial Reporting, Corporate Accounting, Taxation, Statutory Compliance, and Investigator Payments. Prior to joining ICON he worked in leadership roles with Hewlett Packard Financial Services, Accenture, and Meridian Vat Reclaim. Mr Harte is a Fellow of Chartered Accountants Ireland.

Professor Pediatrics Center for Cell and Gene Therapy, Baylor College of Medicine

Dr. Ann Leen is a Professor of Pediatrics in the Center for Cell and Gene Therapy at Baylor College of Medicine and an immunologist with more than 20 years of experience in developing and testing novel T cell therapies for the treatment of viral infections and cancer. She has characterized the immune response to a range of viruses and non-viral tumor-associated antigens, and has devised and clinically implemented immunotherapeutic strategies to treat viral infections and cancer including (myeloma, lymphoma, leukemia, pancreatic cancer and COVID). She is currently the principal investigator (PI) on 5 investigator-initiated Investigational New Drug (IND) studies and over the past 10 years has served as PI on >10 clinical trials using “first in man” cell therapies for patients. She has co-founded two companies based on her T cell therapies – Allovir and Marker Therapeutics and serves as the Chief Scientific Officer of AlloVir. Dr. Leen is a senior or co-author on >100 peer-reviewed publications and a named inventor on 14 issued patents. She has also reviewed manuscripts for various journals and served as a grant peer reviewer for both national and international funding agencies. Dr. Leen holds a Ph.D. in Immunology from the CRC Institute for Cancer Studies in Birmingham, UK and a BSc in biochemistry from the University of College Cork in Ireland.

Head of Finance for UDG Healthcare plc

Grainne McAleese is a senior business leader with experience working internationally at Executive Committee level in financial and leadership roles, primarily in the pharmaceutical and biotech industry. Ms. McAleese is currently Head of Finance for UDG Healthcare plc, a global Irish-headquartered company providing innovative outsourced services to healthcare companies. Prior to UDG Healthcare, she worked as General Manager for Ireland and Vice President, Finance with Alexion Pharmaceuticals, a rare disease US biotech company. At Alexion, she was responsible for overseeing Irish operations and winning capital investments of over $600 million across two sites in Ireland.

Ms. McAleese previously spent 10 years working with Elan Corporation, plc in the United States and Ireland in various corporate, strategic and group finance roles, and most recently as Corporate Controller and Chief Accounting Officer. In this role, she managed financial, transactional and financing activities of the company, including the IPO of Prothena Corporation, plc and the company sale to Perrigo Company, plc.

Ms. McAleese is a Fellow of Chartered Accountants Ireland, a Certified Public Accountant in the United States, and holds a Bachelors and a Masters degree from Dublin City University.

Non-Executive Director, Consultant and Adjunct Professor

Cliona Murphy is an experienced Board Director and Senior Executive with extensive global experience driving innovation, operational governance & risk; and research & development particularly in the agri-food sector. She is the former as Head of Global Quality Assurance for PepsiCo, an $86Bn business and in her 26 year career at PepsiCo held a variety of R&D and Supply Chain Leadership roles across Europe, UK, China, Asia and Ireland where she had a track record of bringing innovation to market , pioneering risk-based approaches & digitalisation to deliver business requirements and building confident, diverse, high-performing teams.

Cliona also serves as a Non-Executive Director of Bord Bia, is an Adjunct Professor at UCC and a a member of Trinity College Dublin’s Provost’s Council. She previously served as a member of the Teagasc Authority, as a Director of Portfolio Concentrate Solutions and the Global Food Safety Initiative SteerCo. Cliona is a Chartered Engineer with a Degree in Engineering from Trinity College Dublin, an MSc in Food, Nutrition & Health from University College Dublin and a Certificate in Company Director from the Institute of Directors.