Board of Directors and Senior Management Team

Demonstrating our breadth of experience across science, corporate and financial disciplines

Our Board of Directors, supported by the Senior Management Team, contribute decades of experience in the Life Science Industry to form a coherent, complementary team.

ValiRx has been operating since 2006. Our Board of Directors and Senior Management Team have fantastic combined knowledge and skillsets, spanning many years and disciplines to cover all bases of operations. A Scientific Advisory Board comprising external Advisors across a breadth of drug discovery disciplines provides practical and strategic support to the Management Team.

The team are led by our experienced Board of Directors, each with a wealth of experience across many sectors around the globe.

Our team are located primarily at ValiRx HQ at MediCity, Nottingham.

Board

Gerry Desler Mr Gerry Desler
Chief Financial Officer Gerry Desler

Mr Gerry Desler

Chief Financial Officer

Gerry is a chartered accountant, who qualified in 1968 with a City firm, before becoming a partner (1970) and Senior Partner (1985). During his time in the City, he has specialised in consultancy work, much of it involving funding and venture capital.

Gerry was previously the Finance Director of Premier Management Holdings plc, an AIM listed company and is on the board of a number of UK private companies.
Dr Cathy Tralau-Stewart Dr Cathy Tralau-Stewart
Chief Scientific Officer Dr Cathy Tralau-Stewart

Dr Cathy Tralau-Stewart

Chief Scientific Officer

Cathy is an experienced therapeutics development scientist and pharmacologist. Working within some of the world's leading pharma and academic research establishments she has developed a broad knowledge of drug discovery and the translation of early research innovation into developable drug discovery programs.

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Adrian de Courcey Mr Adrian de Courcey
Non-Executive Director Adrian de Courcey

Mr Adrian de Courcey

Non-Executive Director

Adrian de Courcey is a seasoned business executive with experience in both corporate and entrepreneurial environments in the UK and internationally. He began his career with KPMG and held strategy roles with Shell and Johnson & Johnson. Adrian has experience within the SME sector and helped transform a transport business to become the fastest-growing company in its sector and introduced the first fast-charging electric buses to the UK.

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Martin Gouldstone Mr Martin Gouldstone
Non-Executive Chairman Martin Gouldstone

Mr Martin Gouldstone

Non-Executive Chairman

Martin Gouldstone is currently CEO of Oncimmune, an AIM listed Biotech company, as well as sitting on the Board of hVIVO, a viral challenge business which is also AIM listed.  Martin has over 30 years experience in the Pharmaceutical sector with senior commercial roles across drug discovery, clinical CROs, and corporate Finance M&A.

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Dr Mark Eccleston Dr Mark Eccleston
Chief Executive Officer Dr Mark Eccleston

Dr Mark Eccleston

Chief Executive Officer

Dr Mark Eccleston is polymer chemist and biotechnology entrepreneur with over 30 years experience working in translation science in both drug and biomarker development. Mark is a former BBSRC Enterprise fellow and holds an MBA (Entrpreneurship).

He is an inventor on over 30 patents ranging from peptide and CAR-T cell therapies to nucleosome enrichment as well as biodegradable chewing gum.

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Management Team

Kumar Nawani Mr Kumar Nawani
Head of Operations Kumar Nawani

Mr Kumar Nawani

Head of Operations

Kumar has been working over 20 years in international trade, client & vendor management, business development, brand development, e-commerce, procurement, IT management & compliance roles with established public and private companies here in the UK and previously in Hong Kong.

Kumar has been with the ValiRx Group since January 2008 and is an active member of the ValiRx management team.

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Mark Treharne Mr Mark Treharne
Corporate Development Manager Mark Treharne

Mr Mark Treharne

Corporate Development Manager

Mark began his career in the City in 2011 and has worked in Corporate Broking and Equity sales working for numerous different firms including Daniel Stewart, Northland Capital Partners and Pello Capital. His role includes enhancing the reputation of the company within the City and working closely with City firms to identify new therapeutic assets to incorporate into the ValiRx portfolio.

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Zai Ahmad Zai Ahmad
Preclinical Project Manager Zai Ahmad

Zai Ahmad

Preclinical Project Manager

Zai has over 25 years experience in the life science industry.  Originally in Neuroscience, looking at synaptic junctions associated with memory and neurotransmitter release and pathways associated with Parkinson’s Disease and cardiovascular regulation.  Zai moved to oncology as an opportunity to be closer to patients and to have a direct impact on patient survival.  Working at the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) for 14 years, Zai established a specialism in xenograft and transgenic models for use in drug development.

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