Marc Turner qualified in Medicine from the University of Manchester in 1982 and trained in General Medicine and Haematology. He obtained his PhD in haematopoietic stem cell biology from the University of Edinburgh in 1995. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of London, a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, and a Fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists.

He is a Professor of Cellular Therapy and Medical Director of the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service (SNBTS). His research interests include immunohaematology, vCJD transmission by blood and tissues and translational research in stem cells and regenerative medicine.

Kevin Price is Chief Executive Officer of the Scottish Stem Cell Network. Until 2009 he was President of PharmAthene, a company developing a number of vaccines and other therapeutic products for use in BioDefense applications. Prior to this he gained over 25 years of business experience in the Pharma/Biotech sector and has held a number of senior positions in companies such as Avecia, AstaZeneca and ICI.

He has degrees from the University of London and University College of North Wales and started his career at the Royal Postgraduate Medical School in London where he worked on the development of diagnostic and therapeutic agents using monoclonal antibody technology.

Dr Marilyn Robertson is the Director of Operations for SSCN. She obtained a PhD in Immunology at the University of London and completed postdoctoral studies in London and Marseille. She moved to Edinburgh in 1993 as Principal Investigator on a Medical Research Council (MRC) AIDS directed programme project grant and worked for three years, building a research group in the Centre for HIV Research at the University of Edinburgh.

She joined PPL Therapeutics plc in 1997 as manager and immunologist for the company’s xenotransplantation programme. This was successfully transferred to the ownership of the University of Pittsburgh for pre-clinical development in 2003. Following this, Dr Robertson became a consultant to Scottish Enterprise Edinburgh and Lothian and managed the launch and running of the Scottish Stem Cell Network for its first 3 years. From 1997-2005, she was a Trustee and Director of the British Society for Immunology, representing the Charity internationally and gaining experience of charity management and governance.

Andrew Henderson is Programme Leader for Scottish Enterprise's flagship Life Science project - the Edinburgh BioQuarter. In 6 years at Scottish Enterprise, he has also been responsible for developing the Scottish Centre for Regenerative Medicine and the development of a national strategy for stem cell development with Scottish Enterprise, Scottish Executive and all main industry stakeholders. Andrew is a founder and Director of the Scottish Stem Cell Network.

Prior to SE, Andrew spent over 10 years working for high-profile Scottish medical device startups, including Optos and Voxar (now Barco), in a variety of engineering, product development, marketing and management roles – working with some of the world’s biggest medical companies including GE and Toshiba. Andrew has a Bachelor of Engineering degree (1st class honours) in electronics & software engineering from Edinburgh’s Heriot-Watt University, and an MBA from the University of Edinburgh’s Business School.

Joyce Tait is Scientific Adviser to the ESRC Innogen Centre (Centre for Social and Economic Research on Innovation in Genomics). She is a Professor in the University of Edinburgh with an interdisciplinary background, covering natural and social sciences, particularly developments in life sciences, strategic and operational decision making in companies and public bodies; policy analysis; risk assessment and regulation; Foresight; and public attitudes and communication. Current research foci include GM crops, stem cells, genetic databases, the agro-biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries and their governance, and synthetic genomics.

Joyce Tait’s first degree was in pharmaceutical chemistry and she has worked on several social science-related issues in the chemical and life science industries, including company innovation strategies, regulation and governance, and public and stakeholder concerns. Combining these disparate perspectives gives a much better understanding of how new technology evolves, what succeeds and what fails, and is an excellent basis for advising a wide range of government and industry bodies nationally and internationally about the development and governance of new technology.

In addition to her role in the SSCN, she is a member of the Scientific and Technical Council of the International Risk Governance Council, the Governing Council of the Roslin Institute, and a Trustee of the Scotland Foundation, Royal Society of Edinburgh. She also chairs the Nuffield Council on Bioethics Working Party on New Approaches to Biofuels, and is a member of the Food Standards Agency’s Steering Group on the UK GM Foods Public Dialogue.