The 2026 FPM Annual Conference – Pharmaceutical Medicine at the Crossroads: Preparing for a New World – marks an exciting new chapter for FPM’s flagship event. Building on the multi-award-winning legacy of the FPM Annual Symposium, our refreshed flagship event brings together leading speakers, interactive workshops, structured networking and expert debate to help you prepare for the future of pharmaceutical medicine.
Click on the following names to find out more about each speaker:
Debate Session
Plenary Session
Chief Executive Officer of the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA)
Opening Keynote: Pharmaceutical Medicine in the Year 2030
Lawrence Tallon is the Chief Executive of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). He was previously Deputy Chief Executive at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, where he led the Trust’s approach to strategy, technology, innovation and improvement. He has extensive experience across the healthcare sector in strategy and leadership roles, including within the Department of Health and Social Care alongside ministers and NHS leaders.
Lawrence is committed to patient safety and healthcare innovation, as well as life sciences and risk-proportionate regulation.
President of Wolfson College, University of Cambridge, and Professor of Pharmaceutical Nanoscience
Closing Keynote: Future Trends in Medicine and Health
Professor Dame Ijeoma Uchegbu, DBE, FMedSci is President of Wolfson College, University of Cambridge, UCL’s Professor of Pharmaceutical Nanoscience, a fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences, an honorary fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, a governor on the Wellcome board (one of the largest biomedical sciences research charities in the world), a member of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Council, as well as Chief Scientific Officer of Nanomerics Ltd, a company she co-founded.
Uchegbu is an inventor. Her company, Nanomerics Ltd. is a clinical stage biotech company, developing medicines that address sight threatening illnesses, using technology Uchegbu invented in UK academia. Nanomerics has also out licensed medicines developed in her laboratory to a US pharmaceutical company. Technologies developed in Uchegbu’s laboratory have won prizes from the Royal Society of Chemistry and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society. Nanomerics Ltd. won the King’s Award for Enterprise 2024 in the Innovation category.
Project Manager in the Pharmaceutical Industry
Workshop: Managing AI in Pharma
Belén Algaba is a pharmaceutical professional whose career is driven by a deep commitment to scientific excellence, adaptable leadership, and industry innovation. Armed with a solid scientific background, she graduated in Pharmacy before earning a Master’s degree in Pharma-Biotech Management. She later transitioned into the pharmaceutical industry, building extensive experience in Project Management that has provided her with a comprehensive, global vision of the sector. Known for her positive attitude, commitment, and perseverance, she thrives in changing environments and consistently pursues high standards of operational excellence. She is currently seeking new challenges within the pharmaceutical industry where she can leverage her diverse knowledge and experience to drive impactful projects while continuing her personal and professional development.
Head of Patient Centered Outcomes, Jazz Pharmaceuticals
Plenary: Bringing Children’s Perspectives & Guardian Voices into Clinical Research
Bryan Bennett PhD is the Head of Patient Centered Outcomes at Jazz Pharmaceuticals, bringing over two decades of extensive experience in Clinical Outcome Assessments (COAs) across clinical practice in neuropsychology, academic, and pharmaceutical industry settings. He is a recognized expert in developing and implementing comprehensive outcome strategies that prioritize the patient voice in drug development. Bryan’s work focuses on integrating robust, patient-centric endpoints into clinical trials to ensure treatments deliver clinically meaningful benefits. He has extensive experience in oncology and neuroscience therapy areas. Bryan is a strong advocate for rigorous COA methodologies and regulatory alignment. He is passionate about bridging the gap between clinical research and the real-world needs of patients.
CEO & Founder of Boyds and Consultant Pharmaceutical Physician
Debate: Is the Current Pharma Model Sustainable?
Professor Alan Boyd is an internationally recognised scientist, educator and entrepreneur whose pioneering work in cell and gene therapies led to the world’s first approved gene therapy for an inherited retinal disease. He has contributed directly to the licensing of more than 25 medicines, transforming outcomes for patients with rare and serious conditions.
A founding member of FPM, Professor Boyd played a pivotal role in establishing pharmaceutical medicine as a recognised specialty in the UK, and served as President of FPM from 2015 to 2018. His outstanding services to life sciences innovation and pharmaceutical medicine education were recognised with an MBE in the 2026 New Year Honours.
Senior Policy Manager, The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI)
Workshop: Communicating to Influence
Andy Collier leads the Reputation workstream at the ABPI, an organisation representing the innovative pharmaceutical industry in the UK. His core responsibilities are to work with members to build familiarity with the UK pharmaceutical industry amongst external stakeholders whilst improving trust in its core mission and values. This involves tracking sentiment across critical stakeholder groups, developing public-facing campaigns, and working with strategic partners to explore collective responses to the most significant challenges in the health information ecosystem.
Prior to joining the ABPI three years ago, Andy enjoyed a varied career in Government Affairs and Policy across all composite parts of the life sciences ecosystem. This included working within the NHS, academia and business organisations.
Consultant Pharmaceutical Physician
Workshop: Communicating to Influence
Harjeet is a Consultant Pharmaceutical Physician and global Medical Affairs leader with over 20 years of experience across the pharmaceutical industry. She trained in Medicine at Oxford and London, and began her career in the NHS before moving into industry. Harjeet’s work at AbbVie and GSK has spanned country, regional and global roles, with a focus on bringing innovative medicines to patients with unmet need across several therapeutic areas.
She has led medical strategy from early pipeline through to brand maturity, driving patient-centred thinking, cross-functional partnership and innovation in everyday practice. Harjeet enjoys leading teams, building a culture of trust, and supporting the growth of pharmaceutical professionals. Harjeet is an Educational Supervisor for Pharmaceutical Medicine Specialty Training and a Revalidation Appraiser. She also contributes to FPM’s clinical trials and rare diseases expert groups.
Pharmaceutical Development Consultant and former Vice President of Research & Early Development at Roche
Debate: Is the Current Pharma Model Sustainable?
Renata Crome is a Pharmaceutical Development Consultant with extensive expertise in the scientific development, regulatory approval, and commercialisation of innovative medicines. She began her career in cardiovascular research at St Thomas’ Hospital, before joining Roche, where she led multidisciplinary teams on major programmes including Tamiflu and Avastin and was subsequently appointed Vice President of Research and Early Development. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she was commissioned by the UK Government to establish and lead a UKRI-sponsored expert team to develop Covid-19 therapies. Renata has served on the FPM’s Policy and Communications Committee, led its COVID-19 and Infectious Diseases Expert Groups, holds multiple non-executive board and advisory roles, and is a Visiting Professor in Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Hertfordshire.
Co-founder of AITHENA
Case Study
Dr Will McCully is Co-founder of Aithena, the company behind MLRcle, an AI-powered Medical, Legal, and Regulatory (MLR) review tool for pharma. A clinical pharmacist by background with six years in the NHS, Will brings nearly two decades of experience across healthcare and pharma, spanning regional and global roles in medical affairs and commercial strategy at companies including GSK and Gilead. As a final signatory, he drove the strategic development, approval, and regulatory compliance of high-impact materials for patients and healthcare professionals, and served on the Medical Science Liaison Committee. At Aithena, he is applying that signatory experience to AI, helping pharma teams compress MLR review cycles from weeks to days without compromising quality.
Chief Medical Officer at ADVANCE AI
Case Study
Michael Elliott FRCP, FFPM is a physician executive with over 30 years’ experience in global biopharma. He was most recently VP Medical Affairs Europe at Gilead Sciences for 13 years, leading a 300-person team and overseeing 13 medicine launches across HIV, hepatology, and oncology. Before Gilead, he spent 15 years in VP roles at GSK in the US, Australia, and Asia Pacific, spanning Clinical Development, Medical Affairs, and commercialisation; in both regional and global roles.
Michael joined Advance AI as Chief Medical Officer in April 2026. He holds an MBA from Melbourne Business School and serves as a board director at Medicines Development for Global Health and as a trustee of the UK charity MyBigCareer.
Senior Director of Global Medical and Scientific Affairs at Jazz Pharmaceuticals
Workshop: Building Your Personal Impact
Plenary Session: Bringing Children’s Perspectives & Guardian Voices into Clinical Research
Lisa obtained her MBBS from the University of the West Indies, Trinidad & Tobago and further specialized in paediatrics with an interest in neurology. After a decade of clinical practice within the West Indies and the UK NHS, she obtained her CCST in Pharmaceutical Medicine and dedicated the past 20 years to a career that spanned various medical affairs roles of increasing seniority across large pharma and small biotechs.
In her current role at Jazz Pharmaceuticals, she remains passionate about supporting people with epilepsy and rare neurological disorders by enabling research and development of approved medicines that improve the quality of life for patients and their caregivers.
Managing Director & Partner at BCG X
Workshop: Managing AI in Pharma
Julius Neiser works at the intersection of AI and Medical Affairs. He is a Managing Director and Partner at BCG X, the AI and digital build business of the Boston Consulting Group. There he leads the work on AI in Medical Affairs globally and all healthcare work for BCG X in Europe, Middle East and Africa. He has strong practitioner insights on AI in healthcare, having built more than twenty AI solutions over the past 5 years. He also leads the BCG X work in London across all industries, allowing him to bring the latest technology advances to the world of Medical Affairs. He holds an MBA and MA in Economics and Management and has worked in healthcare for more than 15 years.
Vice-President of FPM
Debate: Is the Current Pharma Model Sustainable?
Emma Harvey is a consultant pharmaceutical physician and Vice President of FPM. She joined Pharma in 1999 working in Big Pharma and small Biotech. She has built and led teams nationally and globally, leading pre- and peri-launch projects integrating commercial, medical affairs, regulatory, clinical development, pharmacovigilance and market access expertise to develop and implement strategic plans. With the CEO, she established the EDI Forum at FPM and has championed the cause of women in becoming Fellows of the Faculty. Interests include managing misinformation and ensuring equity of access to clinical trials for all.
Operating Partner of Advent Life Sciences LLP
Debate: Is the Current Pharma Model Sustainable?
Mr Nicholson has over 40 years’ international experience in management and transactions within the life sciences sector. He has extensive Board experience in public and private companies and is currently Chairman of Bioventix plc, where he was appointed in 2004, a Board Trustee of LifeArc, a leading UK medical research charity and Chairman, Aleta Biotherapeutics UK Limited.
He has been an Operating Partner at Advent Life Sciences LLP since 2012, working with portfolio companies including Eloxx Pharmaceuticals, Amphista and NeRRe Therapeutics.
From 2013 to 2021, Mr Nicholson was CEO of F2G Ltd., an antifungal drug development company and from 2004 to 2012 he was CEO of Chroma Therapeutics Limited, a drug discovery and development company.
Career Coach and Communications Trainer
Workshop: Building Your Personal Impact
Rachel reported and presented for the BBC for nearly twenty years before pivoting into professional development. Her journalistic career was predominantly spent on the BBC’s flagship News Channel, housed in Europe’s biggest newsroom, where she covered domestic and international news and was adept at handling fast-moving stories, slippery politicians and vigorous debate. Her experience as a news anchor, coupled with in-depth ICF-accredited coach training, equips Rachel to teach the storytelling, communication and presentation skills people need to be truly impactful, whilst also working with the limiting beliefs that hold so many of us back from feeling comfortable in the spotlight.
Associate Director for Children and Young People’s Engagement, RCPCH
Plenary: Bringing Children’s Perspectives & Guardian Voices into Clinical Research
Emma Sparrow is a specialist in children and young people’s involvement and Associate Director for Children and Young People’s Engagement at RCPCH. Her work centres ensuring children and young people are active partners in shaping the decisions that affect their health and their lives. Emma works across strategy, policy and practice to embed meaningful, rights-based and inclusive engagement, bringing together children, young people, parents, carers and professionals to create change. She is passionate about empowering children and young people and helping organisations move from asking them what they think, to working with children and young people meaningfully, demonstrating how insights, experiences and ideas genuinely influence strategic decisions and outcomes.
Chief Medical Officer, Eupraxia Pharmaceuticals
Debate: Is the Current Pharma Model Sustainable?
Dr Jeymi Tambiah is Chief Medical Officer at Eupraxia Pharmaceuticals, Seattle, WA, USA. He is a UK‑trained physician‑scientist with 18+ years of pharma and biotech experience, advancing programs from early phase clinical development through to commercialisation. His expertise spans novel therapeutics including first‑in‑class small molecules, biologics, and gene therapies across immunology, oncology, and neurology disease areas. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Physicians in Clinical Research (USA) and a Fellow of FPM UK, where he serves as North American representative on the FPM Global Forum and on the Membership Committee. At home he enjoys being dad to three teenagers, a cat and a dog.
Medical Affairs Leader and Managing Director
Workshop: Communicating to Influence
Dr Fiona Thomas is a senior Medical Affairs leader with more than 20 years of experience spanning the pharmaceutical industry, clinical practice, and healthcare consulting. She has held executive medical leadership positions, including Chief Medical Officer, and has led global Medical Affairs strategy across a broad range of therapeutic areas and product lifecycles.
Currently a Managing Director in Medical Affairs consulting, Fiona partners with biopharmaceutical organisations to advance evidence generation, scientific engagement, medical excellence, and the strategic impact of Medical Affairs. She is a frequent speaker and advisor on Medical Affairs transformation, scientific leadership, and the future role of medical teams in healthcare.
Leadership Coach and Communications Trainer
Workshop: Building Your Personal Impact
Edward has spent the last 25 years dedicated to helping clients enhance their Leadership and Communication skills.
He has a BA degree in Psychology & Philosophy, a Diploma in Acting from The Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and an ILM Level 7 qualification in Executive Coaching and Leadership Mentoring. He is also a certified Systemic Team Coach through the AoEC and EMCC accredited at Senior Practitioner Level.
Edward also teaches communication skills and is a Coach at the IMD Business School in Lausanne, as part of Professor George Kohlrieser’s High Performance Leadership program and Advanced program.
Head of Medical Affairs in Oncology at Daiichi Sankyo
Workshop: Managing AI in Pharma
Michael Zaiac is a physician-leader whose career has been shaped by a deep commitment to science, patients and people. Trained in the United Kingdom and Germany, he began in surgery before specialising in surgical oncology, caring for patients with breast cancer, sarcoma, melanoma and other malignancies. He later moved into industry to help translate scientific innovation into meaningful therapeutic advances. Michael has led teams across clinical research, development, commercial functions and medical affairs, supporting medicines in oncology and other major disease areas. He holds an MD, MBA, FRCS, FFPM, specialty registration and honorary GFMD, with publications across medicine and healthcare innovation.
Co-Founder & Director of PM Life Sciences Consulting
Sheuli is currently President of FPM and is also Co-Founder & Director of PM Life Sciences Consulting. She is an experienced pharmaceutical physician in medicine development, medical affairs and life sciences policy within the UK and internationally across multiple therapy areas. Sheuli has held medical leadership roles in companies at a national, regional and international level whilst living in different countries and is the former Director of Research, Medical and Innovation at the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry.
Sheuli is a Fellow of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine, a Global Fellow in Medicine Development with IFAPP and a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of London and holds a number of other advisory roles. She was elected to the Board of Trustees at the AoMRC in November 2025.
