Board and Committees

David is recognised as being one of the 100 powerful advocates for pathology in the global community by the Pathologist magazine in 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021. Until June 2021 David was leading the NHS England and Improvement Pathology consolidation programme, seeking to deliver efficient, high quality pathology services across England.

During the COVID 19 Pandemic David led NHS England’s laboratory response across the country by managing technology deployment, capacity, funding and workforce to ensure that all capacity requirements were met. The role included advising ministers and healthcare leaders whilst providing policy and strategic direction as a subject matter expert.

In recognition of this work and the work in transforming England’s pathology services, the Royal College of Pathologists awarded David Honorary fellowship of the college in 2020. David was also awarded honorary Doctor of Science by Anglia Ruskin University in recognition of his contribution to the national response during the pandemic. In 2021 David was awarded the CSO’s Lifetime Achievement award again in recognition of his leadership of Pathology services during the Pandemic.

David has a diverse and almost unique experience of providing and leading pathology services to primary, secondary and tertiary care across all pathology disciplines and out into other areas of Healthcare science and diagnostics.

David has previously been an elected IBMS council member for the London Region. David has also represented the IBMS on NICE diagnostic advisory panels, and various national forums including an observer on the Royal College of Pathologist Council and in the Parliamentary and Science committee.

David was appointed Chief Executive of the Institute of Biomedical Science in June 2021 to lead this global professional body representing 21,000 members across 74 countries. Additionally, David was appointed the Scientific Lead for Pathology, for NHS London, in September 2021.

Matt is the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Public Affairs Manager. He has over 20 years of experience in public affairs, engaging with government, parliament and other stakeholders to effect change in public policy. Having started his career as an MP’s researcher and then working in the health sector, Matt has since headed up public affairs at organisations such as Shelter, RNIB and Cancer Research UK before moving into the science sector. With previous experience as a media officer too, Matt has a keen interest in language and communication, originally sparked by studying Politics, German and Psychology at Durham University. He stood for election to the Science Council board to be able to use his knowledge and experience in translating often complex ideas into high impact engagement with ministers, shadow ministers and other parliamentarians. In addition, Matt works to engage individual scientists in public policy influencing, to maximise the effectiveness of the science sector’s voice. Matt is also a trustee of LGBT+ adoption and fostering charity New Family Social and lives in Brighton with his husband and son. In what spare time is left, he enjoys going to live music, reading and collecting books and is a season ticket holder at Tottenham Hotspur.

Harriet works in the commercial team at the Royal Society of Chemistry, offering guidance to companies on marketing strategies and advertising campaigns. You can also find Harriet on all major podcast platforms as the host of Lab Matters where she invites a talented selection of scientists and those in the field to talk about their experiences. Harriet has a passion for making all aspects of science relatable and accessible. She completed her Social Sciences certificate in 2020.

Before corporate life, Harriet was a show jumper on the junior international circuit and still rides occasionally. More recently, she learned to swim in order to complete the London Classics challenge and then wrote a book about it; Water Force.

Jade is currently a Senior Science Policy Officer for the Royal Society of Biology. With over five years of policy experience, key areas of interest include equity, equality, diversity, inclusion, research culture and research integrity. By working with RSB’s CEO, board of trustees, committees, staff and member organisations, Jade assists with planning and implementing a programme of work to pro-actively promote and embed EDI into RSB’s current organisational policies, practices and behaviours.

Jade also has an interest in innovative interdisciplinary research ignited by completing her PhD in biomechanics and animal welfare science via the London Interdisciplinary Biosciences Consortium, the largest BBSRC, funded Doctoral Training Partnership in the UK. To date, Jade has enjoyed various career paths working as a research technician for the Structure and Motion Laboratory, Royal Veterinary College, and as a research associate for Genzyme Diagnostics UK.

Jade has a passion for engaging and supporting the upcoming generation of scientists and assisting in creating an environment where they can thrive regardless of background. In addition, Jade enjoys volunteering as a mentor, and speaking at careers events aimed at empowering people from marginalised ethnic backgrounds to pursue careers and research opportunities in STEM.

Before retiring from government in 2008, she was a member of ECGD’s Executive Board, as Head of Strategy, Change and OR. Ruth was a co-founder of the Pro Bono OR initiative where she continues to play a leading role. She is Chair of the board of trustees of airline and maritime safety charity CHIRP,  a trustee of the Academy for the Mathematical Sciences, a trustee of Humanists UK,  and adviser to the Finance Committee of the National Federation of Women's Institutes, as well as undertaking other voluntary roles both within and beyond the OR community. She was awarded an OBE for “Services to Operational Research” in the 2016 New Year’s Honours List.

Following a career in banking, Niels now focuses on the not-for-profit sector. He holds an M.Sc. in Charity Accounting and Financial Management from Bayes Business School. He is the Treasurer and Vice-Chair of Young Camden Foundation, a member of Amnesty International UK’s Finance, Audit & Risk Sub-Committee and a charity-sector voluntary management consultant for the Cranfield Trust. The latter role involves providing free consultancy services to small- to medium-sized charities. Prior to the move to the not-for-profit sector, Niels spent 30 years in corporate and investment banking working for Mitsubishi UFJ, Bank of America and Barclays, and serving UK and international corporate clients. At Barclays, Niels was part of the senior leadership team for Corporate Debt and was head of Corporate Loans Transaction Management. Niels, originally from Denmark, left his home country in 1989, to work, for a short period, in Sapporo, Japan before moving to London in 1990. Niels enjoys the cultural offerings of London but also enjoys getting out of the capital to go hiking.

Daljeet is Head of Operations for Coventry and Warwickshire Pathology Service (CWPS) with operational oversight of the Biochemistry, Haematology, Blood Transfusion, Immunology, Virology, Microbiology, Histology, Mortuary, Phlebotomy and Specimen Reception departments across three NHS Trusts offering services to over 1.8 million patients across the region. Daljeet is a registered Biomedical Scientist with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) and a member of the Institute of Biomedical Science (IBMS). She has over 8 years’ experience in the NHS and has worked in various Pathology disciplines. She has a BSc and an MSc both in Biomedical Science, and has completed a Level 7 Diploma in Strategic Management and Leadership. Daljeet has particular experience in workforce strategy, recruitment and retention, and staff engagement. She is committed to raising the profile of Scientists and ensuring the future of the workforce is protected and expanded through training and development, and that these opportunities are accessible to everyone.

Stephanie Smith is Deputy Director of Policy at the Russell Group and is primarily responsible for policy relating to research and innovation. She joined the organisation from Universities UK International in 2014, where she helped to found UUKi’s outward mobility policy programme. Before this, she worked at the Council of Deans of Health, the representative body for university faculties engaged in education and training for the nursing, midwifery and the allied health professions. Stephanie began her career working in think tanks including the Royal Society of Arts and Institute for Citizenship.

Stephanie holds an MSc in European Politics and a BSc in Political Science, both from the London School of Economics.

Lorraine Turner is currently the Accreditation Director at the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS), where she is responsible for setting, driving and maintaining technical policy, customer service standards and management of business risks. Lorraine also oversees the international technical engagement strategy for UKAS and leads the development of new accreditation services to ensure they meet the highest technical standards.

Lorraine is a Chartered Chemist and started her career as an analytical chemist before joining UKAS in 1995. Since then, she has held numerous roles working across many scientific disciplines to develop and deliver accreditation to support policy, regulation, and business. Lorraine joined the UKAS Board in 2012, and she also sits on the Board of the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation and is Chair of the ILAC Inspection Committee.

Lorraine has extensive experience providing advice to government on scientific and policy matters. She is a member of the Forensic Science Regulator’s Advisory Council, DBT Technical Barriers to Trade working group and the Building Safety Regulator’s Industry Competence Committee and has previously been a member of the Laboratory Expert Group for the World Anti-Doping Agency.

The role of the Board of Trustees is to:

• ensure that the Science Council has a clear strategic focus
• ensure that the Science Council fulfills its charitable objectives
• ensure that the Science Council complies with its legal and regulatory requirements
• act as guardians of the charity’s assets, both tangible and intangible, and ensure the financial stability of the organisation
• monitor and hold management to account

The Charity Commission, our Royal Charter and Bylaws, our Trustee Role Description and our Trustee Code of Conduct set out the responsibilities of trustees.

Trustees serve for an initial three-year term.

There are normally four board meetings per year, held quarterly and set around the charity’s financial reporting cycle. Board meetings last approximately 3 hours.

In addition to formal meetings, trustees may also be required to serve on individual board subcommittees, working groups or be invite to represent the Science Council at external meetings and events.

Trustees are expected to attend the Annual General Meeting, which is normally held in June or July.

It is every applicant's responsibility to receive consent from their employer, if necessary, that it is willing to release the applicant for the time commitments involved.

Anyone can become a trustee of the Science Council as long as they have the energy and commitment for the role.

It is worthy noting that sixty percent of Elected Trustees will come from Member Bodies. They will be either members or employees. Up to 40% of Elected Trustees will come from outside the membership and must not be employees or members of Member Bodies.

Trustees are elected by our Member Bodies, with each Member having one vote. Ballot forms containing the name and other relevant details of candidates for election are sent to every Member Body of the Science Council at least four weeks prior to the date of the Annual General Meeting.

The Board values diversity and actively encourages applications from a wide range of backgrounds and roles to stand for election.

Applicants will be asked to provide details of their current post and summary of their career to date, a personal statement, a summary of their suitability to join the Board, and an up-to-date photo. This information will be circulated to Member Bodies to provide them with the necessary information to make a decision on your suitability for the role.

After the application deadline, the Nominations Committee will review the applications received against the Board's skills requirements. The Committee will then make a recommendation to the Board, which will then put forward candidates to election.

New trustees are expected to participate in trustee induction sessions. This will include meeting with the Chief Executive, Governance Manager and the Chair of the Board.

New trustees will also be invited to attend Board committees to get a better understanding of the work they do in support of the Board. Throughout their term of office, trustee's are encouraged to undertake training, and attend conferences and events to equip them with the knowledge needed to discharge their duties.

If you would like more information on becoming a trustee please contact Oli O’Hanlon.