People
Chung Looi – Chief Executive
Dr Chung Looi has over 10 years of experience working in biomedical research and med-tech companies.
Prior to Ablatus, she led strategic partnerships with life sciences, health insurers, research organisations, and health systems in the US, Asia, and EMEA to bring cutting-edge medical devices from the UK and Denmark to global markets.
She holds a DPhil (PhD) in Experimental Psychology from the University of Oxford.
Anne Blackwood – Chairperson
Dr Anne Blackwood is currently Chief Executive of Health Tech Enterprise (HTE), a leading NHS innovation and technology consultancy based in Cambridge. Anne has been actively involved in knowledge transfer and intellectual property management in the life sciences for over 20 years.
Anne was formerly Chair and co-founder of Medovate, a venture backed innovation development company dedicated to the commercialisation of medical technologies created within the NHS. She is currently Chair of the Medtech Accelerator, a joint venture with public sector partners that awards proof of concept funding to develop medical technologies that meet a clinical need in the NHS.
Prior to joining HTE, Anne spent 4 years with Cambridge Enterprise, the technology transfer arm of the University of Cambridge. Anne holds a PhD in chemistry from Strathclyde University.
Robert Smith – Research Scientist
Robert gained his undergraduate intercalated masters degree in Genetics from the University of Sheffield. He spent his final year at GSK developing assays for biopharmaceutical activity and quantification.
He then went on to obtain his PhD from Leeds University where he used non-canonical amino acids to alter the substrate specificity of an enzyme.
Since joining Ablatus in 2018 Robert has been responsible for creating, developing and utilising the model systems used to assess the BETA generator, and he has also created and tested new needle prototypes.
Natalie Hayes – Non-Executive Director
Natalie qualified with Honours in Medicine in 2000, having obtained an intercalated First Class Honours Bachelor of Science degree in 1999. She obtained a Doctorate of Medicine for research in transplantation and immunosuppressive therapy in 2006.
She worked in the NHS in the UK surgery and radiology for 6 years, before being appointed as medico-legal adviser with the major medical defence organisation in the UK, where she worked for a further 9 years, progressing to hold a number of senior roles. She obtained a Graduate Diploma in Law with Commendation in 2008 and completed the Legal Practice Course with Distinction in 2010.
She is a Member of the Faculty of Forensic and Legal Medicine and served as Examiner for the Faculty examinations and was Chair of the Academic Committee until 2015.
More recently, she was Director of Clinical and Regulatory Affairs for a University of Cambridge medical technology start-up company, and Global Medical Director for a Canadian wound care and medical technology company. She has also provided consultancy services to a number of other healthcare organizations and medical device and technology companies.
Professor Marcus Flather – Non-Executive Director
Marcus Flather graduated from the Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine, University of London in 1982 and trained in general medicine and cardiology in London and Oxford.
In 1993 he moved to McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada until 1996 when he took up the post of Director of the new Clinical Trials and Evaluation Unit (CTEU) at the Royal Brompton and Harefield Hospitals.
In September 2011 he took up the post of Professor of Medicine and Clinical Trials at the University of East Anglia and Director of Research at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in Norwich.
Marcus Flather is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (UK) and holds a certificate of higher specialist training in Cardiology and General (Internal) Medicine in the UK (CCST). He has about 200 peer reviewed publications, is a recognised expert in clinical trials and has more than 20 years experience of collaborating with industry partners in drug and device development.
