Meet our new trustees
We’ve recently welcomed two new faces to our Board of Trustees, bringing an important range of experience and perspectives to guide our strategic decision-making.
Dr Annette Doherty OBE FRSC
Senior Vice President, Head of Product Development and Supply, GlaxoSmithKline
A PhD scientist with 33 years experience in the pharmaceutical industry, Annette has held a variety of leadership roles in Research and Development with international experience of leading research and development groups in USA, France and UK. She was elected to the Council of the Royal Society of Chemistry from 2012-2016, so makes a welcome return this year.
As Senior Vice President, Head of Product Development and Supply, at GlaxoSmithKline, Annette has a senior role in a global organisation comprising over 1000 research and development scientists worldwide. She has a significant scientific publication and patent record over her research career, including over 100 peer reviewed articles and reviews, and inventor on over 25 patents.
She has participated in a wide variety of external professional activities over her career, including chairing the Association of British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) R&D group from 2005-2009 and serving on the ABPI Board. She has been a Board member of the Medical Research Council (2008-2012), a Trustee and Member of the Medical Research Council Technology charity (now LifeArc) (2015-2020) and Board member of the Medicines Manufacturing Industry Partnership (2017-2019).
Annette was a Member of the UK Government Technology Strategy Advisory Board and an industry participant in a House of Lords session on Genomic Medicine. She has also served as a Council Member at Queen Mary University and as a Governor at Tonbridge Grammar school for several years. Annette was awarded an honorary degree at University of Greenwich, UK for contributions to teaching and industry/academic partnerships.
She is currently a Non-Executive Director of Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and is a Member of the Scientific Advisory group of the Nucleic Acid Therapy Accelerator funded by UKRI-MRC.
Annette was appointed Officer of the British Empire (OBE) by Queen Elizabeth II for services to the Pharmaceutical sector in 2009.
Annette says: “I think I can be a voice of one of the key industries in the UK and globally, the pharmaceutical sector, where chemical sciences are really critical to the discovery and development of new medicines.
“I'm passionate about the importance of chemistry within society and the need to continue to ensure that we have really great skills and capabilities in the people being trained across the academic and industrial sectors. I believe that being a trustee of the RSC is a really important position because you have the opportunity to influence the future of the chemical sciences, the future of education for our scientific community and support to our young people where interest in science often begins.
"There are several areas in the strategy which particularly interest me – one is clearly how chemistry is going to play a key role in developing new solutions to some of the challenges that we have in our world today, including discovering new health solutions and enhancing access globally, new forms of energy and new ways to protect the environment in which we live.
"Another area of the strategy that's very important to me is diversity and inclusion – throughout my career, I've worked in many different parts of the world and with many different cultures and talented teams of people. I think it's very important to maximize the opportunity of the diverse talent that is within the chemical sciences sector and to engage students early in their education about the importance of the chemical sciences and the impact that they can have in the future. I fundamentally believe that when you have a diversity of skill sets and therefore different ways of looking at problems, you do find more innovative solutions.
"Finally, I am really interested in education and inspiring our young people, who will become the next generation of scientists."
Saiful Islam
Professor of Materials Chemistry at the University of Bath.
Saiful grew up in London’s Crouch End and obtained his Chemistry degree and PhD from University College London, followed by a Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Eastman Kodak Labs in New York. He returned to the UK to the University of Surrey, before joining the University of Bath in 2006.
His research interests include computer modelling of new materials for lithium (and sodium) batteries and perovskite solar cells. He recently served on the Diversity Committee of the Royal Society and is a Patron of Humanists UK.
In January 2022, Saiful is to join the Materials Department at the University of Oxford, as their Statutory Chair in Materials Modelling, when he will also join the Fellowship of St Anne's College.
Saiful has received several research awards including the 2020 ACS Award in Energy Chemistry, the 2017 RSC Peter Day Award for Materials Chemistry and the 2013 Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit award. He is Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry and one of the RSC ‘175 Faces of Chemistry’.
He serves on the RSC journal Advisory Boards of Energy & Environmental Science and Journal of Materials Chemistry A, the Expert Panel of the Faraday Institution and the Royal Society Public Engagement Committee. He previously served on the Editorial Board of J Materials Chemistry, the RSC Materials Chemistry Division Council and the Diversity Committee of the Royal Society.
Saiful was invited to present the prestigious 80th anniversary Royal Institution Christmas Lectures in 2016 for BBC TV on the theme of energy, which included a Guinness World Record™ for the highest voltage (1,275 V) from a lemon battery! He has presented numerous general science communication talks for Education in Action, the Pint of Science Festival and the Royal Society’s Café Scientifique, as well as appearing on BBC Radio 4 ‘The Life Scientific’.
Saiful said: “I think it's a real honour and privilege to be invited to become a member of the board of trustees – really the governing body of the Royal Society of Chemistry. It's important to me because it's an exciting and challenging time for science in general and chemistry in particular, and with my experience, I am really keen to get involved with the strategic aims and objectives of the society.
“I believe I have quite an experience in a range of RSC activities, the first one, obviously, is my research, in the area of materials chemistry for clean energy applications. And I think one of the areas of the society’s focus is the challenging area of climate change in energy.
“I am a promoter of greater diversity and inclusion in science in general and chemistry and I've been involved with all society diversity committee so hopefully through that range of different experiences and involvement in relevant activities, I can play a strong role.”