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FPM Awards 2022: Congratulations to our Honorary Fellows, Honorary Members and Members by Distinction
Posted on: Tuesday 28 June 2022
Author: FPM
Each year, FPM Fellows are invited to nominate exceptional individuals for honorary awards.
Honorary Fellowship is the highest honour FPM can bestow, it recognises the recipient’s eminence within their own field and their outstanding contribution to pharmaceutical medicine.
Honorary Membership is bestowed to persons who have made significant contributions in the fields of research, teaching or the practice of pharmaceutical medicine, or medical or general science, or society.
Membership by Distinction is an exceptional route to Membership for individuals who have made a significant contribution beyond the normal day-to-day practice of pharmaceutical medicine. These awards are limited and may not be made every year.
We are very pleased to have approved Honorary Fellows, Honorary Members and Members by Distinction this year, including:
Honorary Fellows 2022
Dr Andrew Benzie
Dr Andrew Benzie is currently Head of Patient Focused Development at GSK and leads the global patient engagement and advocacy function. He believes passionately in patient focus and is accountable for the development and implementation of GSK’s patient centricity strategy, driving the necessary change to embed inclusion of patient insights throughout the product life cycle across a number of different therapeutic areas. Since being in the post, he has not only built a global team and established a global patient affairs network, but also embedded the patient voice in many of GSK R&D programmes and led a large transformational programme of work on optimising patient engagement and experience across the enterprise.
Dr Benzie joined GSK from the UK National Health Service in 2012 as Country Medical Director for ViiV Healthcare, UK and has since held a number of senior roles. Prior to joining industry, Andrew worked as a consultant physician in Genitourinary Medicine at Guy’s and St Thomas NHS Foundation Trust, London. He initially obtained a BSc (Hons) in Pharmacy at the Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen followed by an MSc in Clinical Pharmacology at the University of Aberdeen. Andrew studied Medicine at the University of Dundee and became a Member of the Royal College of Physicians in 2003.
Professor Lucy Chapell
Professor Lucy Chappell is Chief Scientific Adviser to the Department of Health and Social Care, Chief Executive Officer of the National Institute for Health Research, Professor of Obstetrics at King’s College London and Honorary Consultant Obstetrician at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust. She leads the NIHR together with Dr Louise Wood and is chair of the NIHR Strategy Board.
Professor Chappell has overall responsibility for DHSC research and development, including the NIHR, and supporting the department’s analysis function.
Professor Michael Okorie
Mike is a Professor of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics at Brighton and Sussex Medical School (BSMS). He is a keen medical educator and has expertise in the teaching and learning of safe and effective use of medicines and hypertension. During Specialist Clinical Pharmacology training at University College London (UCL) and UCL Hospitals Mike was awarded a British Heart Foundation PhD Fellowship. This enabled him perform studies in humans on the mechanisms underlying protective phenomena in endothelial ischaemia-reperfusion injury in order to validate potential pharmacological targets.
Mike describes himself as a card-carrying clinical pharmacologist who recognises the importance of collaboration between academia, industry, government, healthcare teams and the general public in the drug discovery and development. As a result, he has co-ordinated a partnership between BSMS, the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine and the Association for British Pharmaceutical Industry which has led to the introduction of a programme of study in drug discovery and development for medical students. This has equipped BSMS students with an understanding of drug development, clinical trials, medicines regulation, and ethics in relation to pharmaceutical medicine practice. Other UK medical schools have introduced or are in the process of introducing this programme to their students, in part or in full. Mike believes that this approach will empower clinicians with the knowledge and skill to be able to engage in safe, effective and responsible use of medicines. He also helps set the passing standard for the national Prescribing Safety Assessment which allows UK medical graduates to demonstrate competence in prescribing on graduation.
Mike is also invested in the education and training healthcare professionals in the management of hypertension and related disorders. As Chair of the Educational Programmes Working Party of the British and Irish Hypertension Society, he is immersed in a variety of educational activities that empower healthcare professionals in the optimal management of hypertension with a view to positively impacting on cardiovascular disease prevention in the UK and beyond.
Mike continues exert a direct influence on medicines policy as Chair of the Sussex Health and Care Partnership Area Prescribing Committee, Associate Medical Director for Medicines Safety and Prescribing at University Hospitals Sussex and member of the NHS England Regional Medicines Optimisation Committee (South East).
Professor Clive Page
Clive Page is Professor of Pharmacology, King’s College London and Director of the Sackler Institute of Pulmonary Pharmacology, King’s College London. Clive’s main research interests are in the pharmacology of inflammation and respiratory disease, and he has published over 300 scientific papers and book chapters.
Clive was the co-founder and previous Chairman of the Board of Verona Pharma plc, a NASDAQ listed Company developing new drugs for the treatment of Respiratory Diseases. He is a Non Executive Director of PreP Biopharma and the Non Executive Chairman of the Board of EpiEndo, as well as being a Trustee of the Fraunhofer Institute of Toxicology and Experimental Medicine in Hannover. Clive started his early career in the Pharmaceutical Industry at Sandoz Ltd, Basel, Switzerland and regularly consults to both Pharmaceutical and Biotech companies. Clive has previously held Non Executive Board positions at Cardiome in Canada, Stirling Products Ltd in Perth, Australia, Immune Regulation Ltd, Babraham Biotechnology Ltd and as a Trustee of the Babraham Institute, Cambridge.
Clive is a former Chairman of the Animal Science Group of the Royal Society of Biology and has contributed widely to the public debate about the use of animals in Research. Clive is currently President of the British Pharmacological Society.
Clive was awarded the Sandoz Prize from the British Pharmacological Society in 1988, The Tanabe Young Investigators Prize from the American College of Clinical Pharmacology in 1996 and the Society of Biology President’s Medal in 2012 for “Outstanding Contributions to the Life Sciences”. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology and an Honorary Fellow of the British Pharmacological Society. Clive was awarded an OBE for “Services to Pharmacology” in 2017.
Dr Eckart Schwarz
Dr Eckart Schwarz had a distinguished international career of over 30 years as a physician in the pharmaceutical industry, with outstanding contributions to pharmaceutical medicine and the profession.
Dr Schwarz studied preclinical sciences at Bonn University in his native Germany, came to the UK on a Foreign and Commonwealth scholarship for an M.Phil. in History of Medicine at Cambridge University, then obtained an M.B.,Ch.B. from Bristol University, and later on also an honorary Doctor of Science from the Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine, University of Missouri. After initial clinical practice in the NHS, mainly in anesthetics, Dr Schwarz joined SmithKline Beecham in 1991. In his 31 years at SB / GSK, Dr Schwarz held positions of increasing seniority in a variety of functions, including Regulatory Affairs, Clinical Development, Medical Affairs and Quality & Compliance. He has been in senior management roles as a VP or SVP for over 22 years, leading large teams globally. Dr Schwarz retired from GSK in June 2022.
Dr Schwarz was (and still remains) passionate about drug development being a truly transnational pursuit. When based in Singapore in the 1990s, he was actively involved in building GCP capabilities across Asia where at the time stringent clinical investigational methodologies had not yet been universally adopted, and throughout his career he adopted a fiercely global outlook and approach.
Looking back on a remarkably rich and varied 31-year career at GSK, i.e. a career that spanned many pharmaceutical medical specialties, a wide portfolio of products (pharmaceuticals, vaccines and OTC compounds), combined with his experience of living and working in London, Singapore, Bangalore, Brussels and Philadelphia, Dr Schwarz is now looking forward to continuing his contributions to pharmaceutical medicine and to maintaining and expanding his mentoring activities for younger colleagues in the industry.
Honorary Members 2022
Dr Jim Elliott
Jim provides leadership to the Health Research Authority on the involvement of patients and the public in health research [part time] as part of his work as an advocate for patients in research. He has been a carer for close family with cancer and other health conditions for many years. His career has been spent in health research management across the commercial, public and voluntary sectors. His combined experiences have led to an interest in helping to ensure that patients and the public can make a contribution to the design, conduct and management of health research. Jim is currently involved as a public contributor in the work of Cancer Research UK, the Wales Cancer Research Centre, Genomics Partnership Wales and in a number of research methodology projects related to the recruitment and retention of participants in clinical trials. His involvement in research also includes being a member of the Consumer Forum of the National Cancer Research Institute, Independent Cancer Patients’ Voice and Health and Care Research Wales’ public involvement community.
Dr Anzal Qurbain
Anzal Qurbain is described by his peers as a passionate, solution focussed, commercially minded pharmaceutical physician. He has been instrumental in the successful launch of numerous innovative products, that have improved the lives of thousands of patients over his 22-year career in the life sciences sector.
He qualified as a doctor from Imperial College with an additional biological science degree in genetics and statistics and went on to achieve an executive MBA at London Business School.
His career has spanned top 10 pharma and specialist rare disease biotech companies, where he has spearheaded clinical safety initiatives, clinical development programmes for first in class medicines, through to innovative medical affairs solutions, that have transformed how life science companies engage with healthcare professionals, enabling more patients to access lifesaving medicines. He has worked closely with major global regulators including MHRA, EMA, FDA and has collaborated with the Uppsala Monitoring Centre to pilot the WHO safety database.
He is an active entrepreneur and has combined this with his passion for machine learning and artificial intelligence in healthcare, to transform clinical development to enable more patients to live a life free of disease and illness. As a leading and respected expert on global industry standards including the ABPI code, he has applied this expertise to underpin the quality and excellence of successful product launches and delivery of cutting-edge medical programmes.
Currently Managing Director at MedicalGoGo, which develops transformative digital healthcare solutions to optimise engagement with the medical community to improve patient care.
Members by Distinction 2022
Dr Daniela Dastros-Pitei
Daniela Dastros-Pitei is a MD, PhD with more than 25 years expertise in clinical, academic and industry R&D with the last 15 years in senior roles (Clinical Development Head/ CMO, VP,/ TA Head, Senior Partner etc.) focused on innovation and pursuing advances in the totality of evidence required to address patients remaining unmet needs.
Daniela’s academic career started in the Diabetes Department at King’s College London, where she originally obtained her PhD and was awarded the Hunt Memorial Prize. Then her interest in clinical research led her move into the pharmaceutical industry, starting at Pfizer with the successful filing of eletriptan and continuing through the years with multiple successful NDAs and BLAs in medium-sized companies (Takeda, Eisai, UCB etc.), where she developed and led global teams and departments operating globally in US, EU and Japan. Thus she developed her expertise from Phase 1 to launch in the development of both small and large (mAbs) molecules in multiple therapeutic areas ranging from neuro-degeneration and pain to cardio-vascular and sepsis but always with an underlying interest in immunology (incl. rheumatology, dermatology, gastro-enterology etc.), which is the driving force in her current role as VP of Immunology Disease Area in Clinical Sciences at GSK.
Previously as a Senior Partner in the clinical solutions firm, tranScrip LLP she diversified her expertise through due diligence and advising on development strategy for biotechs and venture capital, leading pharmaco-vigilance in oncology for a large French company, regulatory advice and supplemental filings etc.
Daniela’s interest in shaping the regulatory environment and advancing pharmaceutical medicine through scientific collaboration between industry- academia- regulators-payors led her on to chairing the industry group in the ACTTION consortium, a collaboration between FDA and academia focused on developing guidelines for clinical trials in neuropathic pain. She also was one of the first industry members of the ABPI-MRC RA-MAP consortium board advancing the scientific understanding of early RA with the aim of enabling predictive/ preventative solutions and set-up an example of academia-pharmaceutical industry collaboration (also resulting in a Nature Review paper).
Additionally she undertook voluntary tenures in medical fields with direct societal impact, such as joining the Advisory Committee on Clinical Excellence Awards, sponsored by the UK Department of Health and Social Care driving excellence in medical delivery across. And during COVID pandemic she became a NHS Senior Clinical Adviser to NHSX at the Clinical Advisory Group for COVID Digital Health Programme pandemic providing clinical research expertise to novel technology project evaluation to enable effective NHS care provisions.
In the last 10 years Daniela has pursued her interest in teaching Pharmaceutical Sciences MSc programmes at University of Surrey and at King’s College London, where she has become a Visiting Senior Lecturer. Daniela’s mentoring aim is to transmit her passion for innovation in pharmaceutical clinical research to the new generation of pharmaceutical physicians.
Professor David J A Goldsmith
A highly motivated and dedicated healthcare professional with 34 years of clinical experience as a fully registered doctor with a license to practise in the UK from 1983 (GMC 2189411: revalidation date 2026), and over 20 years on the Specialist Register as a Clinician and Trainer.
My clinical work encompassed all aspects of acute and chronic kidney disease management, kidney and kidney-pancreas transplantation, chronic heart failure, diabetic kidney disease, polycystic kidney disease and rare genetic anomalies. I also have extensive experience in clinical and translational research with over 500 publications (H index 76), and raising over £2.5 millions in research grants, while holding honorary academic positions at King’s College, St George’s University, London, and other Universities (2010-2020).
As Director of the NIHR London South Comprehensive Local Research Network (2010-2016) I oversaw and helped grow a £20 million budget distributing research support cost grants to many hundreds of investigators, doubling the research impact. I have held positions of responsibility and esteem in the UK Renal Association*, the European Dialysis and Transplantation Association*, the American Society of Nephrology, and in the Royal Colleges of Physicians of London, and also, of Edinburgh* (all between 1997 and 2020); many of these have seen me acting as a Charitable Trustee (*). I am married with 2 adult children; my hobbies and interests include classical music, photography, artificial intelligence and whisky (production and consumption).
In 2017 I retired from routine NHS work, and started a new career as Chief Medical Officer to two start-up companies, one of which I helped found (SolasCure Ltd https://solascure.com/) in the wound care space, for which to date we have raised over £25 millions, leveraging biomimicry to try to introduce a novel biopharmaceutical agent into this neglected therapeutic area.
Dr Marcin Mankowski
Marcin Mankowski is the Managing Partner of tranScrip, of which he was a co-founder in 2008. He is a drug development expert in the areas of infectious diseases and respiratory medicine. Marcin has worked in the pharmaceutical industry for 26 years and has held a number of senior positions in big pharma and biotech companies. He has been involved in the development, registration and launch of many products. Marcin supported the regulatory and clinical strategy for many antibacterials, antifungals and antivirals, and led preparation of several successful MAAs/NDAs.
Marcin’s experience includes strategy for early development programmes from pre-clinical to proof-of concept studies, design and management of clinical trials, preparation and defence of regulatory submissions in Europe, US and Asia. Marcin graduated from the Medical University in Warsaw, where he worked for several years in pneumonology and infectious diseases departments. He is board-certified in Internal Medicine.
Before co-founding tranScrip, he held several positions at Bristol-Myers Squibb, where he worked as the Director of Clinical Research for Infectious Diseases and also as the European Medical Lead for HIV. He later worked at Chiron Biopharmaceuticals as the Senior Director for Infectious Diseases and General Medicine, responsible for drug development and medical affairs activities in Europe.
Dr Viraj Rajadhyaksha
Educational Background:
MS in Pharmaceutical Medicine from University of Surrey, Guildford, UK. MD from Seth GS Medical College and King Edward VII Memorial Hospital, University of Mumbai (2002). Recipient of Gufic prize for Best original paper on Herbal research, Indian Pharmacological society annual conference, 2000.
Professional Background:
Currently working as Area Medical Director Middle East and Africa AstraZeneca driving medical strategy across all therapy areas in the Area as well as develop medical talents. Previously was the International (Emerging markets) Oncology Medical Director preceded by Medical Director- Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei across all therapy areas. Before that, lead the Diabetes portfolio in AstraZeneca for Asia area. Experience as a pharmaceutical physician for 17 years across Emerging countries in primary and leadership positions. Diverse therapeutic area experience in oncology, infectious diseases, cardiology, ophthalmology, allergy, diabetes and pediatrics. Has had experience of Clinical Research managing Phase 2 and 3 clinical trials. Before joining industry, has had experience of working on clinical studies in cardiology.
Educational Affiliation:
Co convenor, Global Forum, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine
Member, Education committee, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine (2011-2017)
Member, Executive Council, Indian Society for Clinical research, 2011–2013 and Section Editor at Perspectives in Clinical Research, a peer reviewed indexed journal. Chair, Training Council of the Indian Society for Clinical research 2010- 2
Dr Jina Swartz
Dr Jina Swartz is currently Therapeutic Area Head of Neuroscience in Global Clinical Drug Development at MSD. She leads Clinical Development, Regulatory, Policy, Commercial, Operational, Business Development and Market Access activities across Europe and several development programmes in neuropsychiatric indications globally . Jina possesses internationally recognised expertise in Neuroscience drug development, including Alzheimer’s disease, related dementias and more. She has ten years’ experience in academic Neurology practice and research and twenty years’ experience in Clinical Development. Jina trained in Internal Medicine and Neurology in South Africa, obtaining her MBBCh (MD) degree cum laude, followed by an MSc Medicine (Neurology) and then completed a PhD in Molecular Neurogenetics at the University of Cambridge. She was recently elected to the Fellowship of the Academy of Medical Sciences.
Although her research focus is largely in Neuroscience, she has special interest in health issues in refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs), stemming from clinical work performed in rural South Africa amongst Mozambican refugees and mobile local populations displaced by political and socioeconomic factors. She also worked previously at the Medical Foundation for Care of Victims of Torture in London. Dr Swartz is also a founding member of the innovative global ‘Health and Internal Displacement Network’ (HIDN) and a member of the Inter-Academy Partnership Science in Exile initiative.
