Godfrey Smith
Chief Scientific Officer and Co-Founder
Godfrey provides scientific leadership to the company through his role as CSO and Director. Godfrey co-founded the company in 2012 and has been responsible for its scientific development since that time. Godfrey is Professor of Cardiac Physiology with a research track record in cardiac electrophysiology.
Francis Burton
Head of Software and Modeling & Co-Founder
Francis designed and developed the software behind CellOPTIQ. In addition to his work for Clyde, Francis is a lecturer in cardiovascular physiology at the University of Glasgow. His primary research interest is in discovering the mechanisms of arrhythmias in healthy and diseased hearts by imaging dynamic cellular processes with millisecond resolution at tissue and whole-organ levels. He has an active role in developing and advising on advanced imaging systems and associated software for the company.
Richard Henderson
Chief Executive Officer
Richard is an experienced CEO, CFO and venture capital partner, with a background in operational roles in industry. He is a Chartered Accountant with a BCom Hons from the University of Edinburgh.
Mark Bryant
Chief Business Officer
Dr Mark Bryant is a consultant specialising in bringing novel human based technologies to the Safety Pharmacology market. In 2001 he developed and launched the first high throughput hERG screening assay using rubidium flux and atomic absorption. In 2009 he developed and launched the first hiPS cardiomyocytes whilst working for ReproCELL. He has worked with Clyde Biosciences for 7 years helping them to develop and launch their CellOPTIQ platform, which has become one of the leading CIPA assays, using hiPS cardiomyocytes and voltage sensitive dyes.
Dr Xie He
Business Development (China)
Dr Xie He qualified in Clinical Medicine at Kunming Medical University (China) before studying for a Masters (2015) and PhD (2021) at The University of Glasgow. He participated in Clyde CellOPTIQ related research projects during his studies, funded by a grant from the China Scholarship Council. These projects included the construction of biomimetic cardiac tissues for regenerative medicine and for the pharmaceutical industries. He maintains the academic links between Clyde, The University of Glasgow, and prestigious Chinese Cardiovascular Research Institutes to promote the development of knowledge and technologies, and furthering Clyde’s commercial interests in China.
Amena Akhtar
Office & Finance Manager
Amena joined Clyde Biosciences in 2016 and has been working as an Office & Finance Manager. She is comfortable liaising at all levels, working collaboratively with the Board of Directors to support the continuous development of the organisation, ensuring the effective delivery of services and goals. Amena has over 18 years of significant experience in industries such as real estate, education, security training and manufacturing. Meticulous, confident, efficient and conscientious, Amena is able to use her own initiative to work well both autonomously and as part of a team.
Alia Jafari
Senior Business Development Consultant (USA)
Alia Jafari has been working as a consultant with Clyde Biosciences since 2019. Alia has over a decade of experience providing consulting services to a range of CROs in preclinical oncology, inflammatory diseases, bioanalysis and animal management software. At Clyde, she has developed and implemented business strategies to expand the company’s global market. She has managed external teams in US, UK and India to improve on existing sales and to identify new business opportunities.