Main Menu
Main Menu

Find out more about our Fellows elected in 2025

Honorary Fellows

Professor Dame Jane Francis

Professor Dame Jane Francis

Jane Francis is Director of the British Antarctic Survey. She is involved with international polar organisations, such as the Antarctic Treaty and European Polar Board, and is on several advisory boards of national polar programmes. Jane Francis is a geologist by training, with research interests in past climate change. She has undertaken research projects at the universities of Southampton, London, Leeds and Adelaide, using fossils and sediments to determine the change from greenhouse to icehouse climates in the polar regions over the past 100 million years. She has undertaken over 15 scientific expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctica in search of fossil forests and information about climates of the past. Dame Professor Francis was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (DCMG) in recognition of services to UK polar science and diplomacy. She was also awarded the UK Polar Medal by H.M The Queen, the Royal Geographical Society’s Patrons Medal and the 2022 Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation Award for Planetary Health. Dame Professor Francis is Chancellor of the University of Leeds, a Fellow of the Royal Society, and President of the Royal Geographical Society.

The Hon Julia Gillard AC

Julia Gillard is a former Australian politician who served as Prime Minister of Australia and leader of the Labor Party from 2010 to 2013. She was deputy prime minister from 2007 to 2010, and is the first and only woman in Australian history to hold either of these offices. Her experience and profile as a world-leading politician and public intellectual will be of enormous benefit to the Learned Society.
Ms Gillard was born in Barry, south Wales, in 1961 and emigrated with her family in 1966 to Adelaide in South Australia. She graduated from the University of Melbourne with a Bachelor of Laws in 1986 and Bachelor of Arts in 1989. After graduation, Ms Gillard became a partner in the law firm of Slater and Gordon in 1990, where she specialised in industrial law, until her election to parliament, for the Victorian seat of Lalor, in 1998.
Following her resignation as Prime Minister in 2013, Ms Gillard has been a Visiting Professor at the University of Adelaide, Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, and Chair of the Global Partnership for Education. She is currently Chair of the Wellcome Trust and Chair of the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership which Ms Gillard founded in 2018. Her autobiography, My Story, was published in 2014.

Dr Kadiato Kanneh-Mason

Dr Kadiatu Kanneh-Mason

Dr Kanneh-Mason has had a transformational impact on the appreciation of classical music amongst young people, ethnic minorities and the general public.

She has demonstrated that international standard performance of classical music can be attained when a sustained commitment is made. She is an outstanding role model for ethnic minorities and specifically black women. Her contributions have been made despite experiencing considerable initial prejudice.

Her election affirms the commitment of the Society to fostering the highest educational standards and specifically musical education and strongly attests to the determination of the Society to be relevant to diverse communities.

Dr Kanneh-Mason's contributions include:

- Outstanding impact on society more widely: her memoir, House of Music published in 2020; her second book To Be Young, Gifted and Black, published May 2025; Royal Philharmonic Society Storytelling Award in 2021; Indie Book Awards Non-fiction Prize in 2022; and BBC/CBS documentaries Young, Gifted and Classical and This House is Full of Music.

- Outstanding direct contribution to the education process: her commitment to musical education, as exemplified by the remarkable achievements of her children, was recognised with the 2018 J.M. Barrie Lifetime Award and an ISM (Independent Society of Musicians) Distinguished Musician award in 2023.

Dr Kanneh-Mason’s many leadership roles include Honorary Friend of the British and International Federation of Music Festivals; a member of the Advisory Council Royal Philharmonic Society; a member of Board of Trustees on Real Talk TV, Music Masters and MISST (The Music in Secondary Schools Trust).

Professor Edward Witten

Professor Edward Witten

Edward Witten has made profound contributions to contemporary physics, including supersymmetric and topological quantum field theory, string theory, M-theory, quantum gravity and quantum information theory. He is the only physicist to receive the Fields Medal, the mathematical equivalent of the Nobel Prize. In 1998, Witten found a three-dimensional formulation of the knot polynomial of Sir Vaughan Jones from a three-dimensional quantum field theory, developing topological quantum field theories and solving a problem posed by Sir Michael Atiyah. This was presented at the Congress of Mathematical Physics held at Taliesin, Swansea, the morning after he had dinner with Atiyah and others at Annie’s Restaurant, where his ideas crystallised, and which has become folklore. Witten is Professor Emeritus at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. His many awards include the Dirac Prize and Medal (1985), Fields Medal (1990), Crafoord Prize in Mathematics (2008), Institute of Physics Isaac Newton Medal (2010), Kyoto Prize (2014), Fellow of American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1984), National Academy of Sciences (1988), Foreign Member of the Royal Society (1999), Academy of Sciences of Paris (2000), Pontifical Academy of Sciences (2006), Honorary Fellow Royal Society of Edinburgh (2016), Honorary Member London Mathematical Society (2019).

Fellows

Professor Sashin Ahuja

Consultant Orthopaedic Spinal Surgeon, Cardiff & Vale UHB

Professor Ahuja is a consultant orthopaedic spinal surgeon and Honorary Professor at Cardiff University. He has been active in science and clinical research with multiple successful grants and is currently a co-chief investigator for a large multi-centre research trial that has a £2 million award from the National Institute of Healthcare & Research. Professor Ahuja has served as the President of the British Association of Spine Surgeons and is the current UK Spine Society board Chairperson.

Dr Padma Anagol

Dr Padma Anagol

Reader in Modern Asian History, Cardiff University

Padma Anagol is a gender and women’s historian of colonial India. Her pioneering work reconceptualises women’s agency in the Global South. She is on the editorial board of Women’s History Review, and South Asia Research and was an editor of Cultural and Social History. She was the Asia consultant for BBC History Magazine (2001-2019). Her current concern with BLM and decolonising the curriculum led her to a consultancy role with the International Baccalaureate Organisation and GCSE Wales.

Dr Manon Antoniazzi

Dr Manon Antoniazzi

Clerk and Chief Executive, Senedd Cymru

Dr Antoniazzi is Clerk and Chief Executive of Senedd Cymru, overseeing the transition from Assembly to Parliament, and the passage of reform legislation. A former Director of Culture, Sport and Tourism in Welsh Government, she has held influential policy and operational roles within the BBC and S4C, as well as the Royal Household as a senior advisor to King Charles III when Prince of Wales. Her non-executive career has spanned the National Lottery Heritage Fund, the London Philharmonia Orchestra, the Royal Shakespeare Company, The Prince’s Trust, the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama and the Strata Florida Trust.

Dr Sumina Azam

Dr Sumina Azam

National Director of Policy and International Health, Public Health Wales

Dr Azam is a public health professional, having worked in the field for 18 years, 12 of them at Consultant level, and as an Executive National Director since May 2023. She has undertaken research, and has expertise, in areas key to tackling health inequity, including Welsh policy, sustainable development, and the determinants of health, such as poverty and housing.

Dr Mahaboob Basha

Dr Mahaboob Basha

External Relations & Engagement Manager, Swansea University

In his role as external relations manager at Swansea University, Dr Basha has expanded the university’s global network and fostered high-profile collaborations, particularly across the Middle East and Far East. He founded the Sketty Youth Club and Sketty Tea Lounge to support BAME communities, engaging over 120 young people and 50 elders. Dr Basha is a recognised advocate for racial equality and diversity, honoured with the British Empire Medal, St David’s Day Award, and the Merri Williams Award for his contributions to public service and community cohesion.

Dr Zubeyde Bayram-Weston

Senior Lecturer in Anatomy and Physiology, Swansea University

Dr Bayram-Weston is an anatomist and neuroscientist with a specialism in Huntington’s Disease. Her work focuses on the cellular and molecular mechanisms of neurodegenerative diseases, particularly Huntington’s. She has contributed to numerous collaborative projects, developing animal models and conducting behavioural experiments to advance therapeutic strategies. Alongside her research, she is deeply involved in education, and is an AdvanceHE senior fellow. Her research and teaching leadership contributes to the growth and development of students and researchers within Wales, fostering the next generation of talent in neuroscience.

Dr Shannu Bhatia

Clinical Reader and Honorary Consultant Paediatric Dentistry, Cardiff University

Shannu Bhatia is a Clinical Reader and Honorary Consultant in paediatric dentistry at Cardiff University, with a background in both medical education and dentistry. She holds Fellowships with Advance HE, the Academy of Medical Educators, and the Royal College of Surgeons, England. Her main impact is in the clinical care of children, dental education, and wellbeing. As the President of British Society of Paediatric Dentistry, she advocates for the oral health of children nationally and internationally.

Prof. Simon Chandler-Wilde

Professor of Applied Mathematics, University of Reading

Professor Chandler-Wilde has broad research interests in mathematics and its applications. His major scientific contributions are to the mathematical analysis and computational treatment of problems of wave scattering and propagation, especially in acoustics, through the use of integral equation methods.

Professor Jing Maggie Chen

Professor of Financial Mathematics, Cardiff University

Professor Maggie Chen is a leading scholar in FinTech, Hawkes processes and AI for Finance. She is a well published author and associate editor for top journals in multiple disciplines. She leads EPSRC research projects including UKFin+ (£2.5m) and AI4CI (£12m). She is highly regarded in both global academic and business communities for her impactful research and educational contribution.

Professor Nick Clifton

Prof. of Economic Geography & Regional Development, Cardiff Metropolitan University

Professor Clifton has built up an international research profile with a wealth of publications about the foundational and circular economy; creativity and innovation; regional culture and branding; remote working and coworking networks; networks and SMEs; and policy-making for economic development. He has helped shape national policy for bodies such as Welsh Government, Federation of Small Businesses Wales, and Innovate UK.

Dr Amanda Collis

Dr Amanda Collis

Executive Director – Research Strategy and Programmes, UKRI – BBSRC

Dr Amanda Collis’ work focuses on research strategy, policy and funding. She is devoted to advancing ‘discovery bioscience’, interdisciplinary research, and strategic programmes across a broad range of topics, from agriculture to zoonosis. She has a passion for international partnership, working across diverse cultures to deliver opportunities for UK academics to collaborate with peers around the world. Her leadership roles in UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), the European Molecular Biology Laboratory and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) make her an influential figure in research and innovation.

Professor Huw Davies

Professor in Geodynamics, Cardiff University

Professor Davies has made significant contributions to our understanding of Earth’s interior dynamics. This includes developing models to understand the formation of magma where tectonic plates converge, as well as the dynamics and heat flux of the mantle (the region between the earth’s crust and the core). He is most renowned for developing the concept of slab breakoff, where the oceanic lithosphere detaches from the continental lithosphere during continental collision. This is a fundamental stage in plate tectonics, a concept now widely used in understanding Earth’s collision zones.

Professor Philip Donoghue

Professor of Palaeobiology, University of Bristol

Professor Donoghue’s research focuses on the causes and consequences of major evolutionary transitions, bringing together evidence from the fossil record and comparative genomics. He introduced synchrotron imaging (a type of x-ray) into palaeontology, using it to draw links between the fossils of now extinct marine creatures and the fossilised embryos of early animals and their relatives. Professor Donoghue also led on the use of fossil data in molecular clock analyses, which has established evolutionary timescales for major groupings of organisms, including the entire tree of life.

Dr Arwyn Edwards

Dr Arwyn Edwards

Reader in Biosciences & Prof. Aberystwyth University & University Centre in Svalbard

Dr Edwards is a leading environmental microbiologist who works on the diversity, geographic distribution, and impact of microorganisms on evolutionary timescales. His work was the first to use genomic approaches to explore little-studied and potentially endangered glacier ecosystems. A native of Ceredigion, he has made over 40 research expeditions to the polar regions. He also contributed significantly to the COVID-19 emergency response both locally and for Welsh Government.

Prof. Michael Fitzpatrick

Lloyd’s Register Foundation Chair in Structural Integrity and Systems Performance, Coventry University

Professor Fitzpatrick is a materials engineer working in the field of structural integrity for safety critical systems. He designs and applies advanced experimental methods for materials characterisation, using large-scale facilities in the UK and internationally. His research has led to advances in life assessment and design enhancements in the aerospace and nuclear power sectors. He has also made critical contributions to life extension programmes for Airbus and the US Air Force.

Professor Gordon Foxall

Professor Gordon Foxall

Distinguished Research Professor, Cardiff University

Professor Foxall is Distinguished Research Professor at Cardiff Business School, where he leads research on consumer behaviour analysis. His work on behavioural economics and behavioural psychology is used to explore the behaviour of both marketers and consumers. Recent books of his include The Theory of the Marketing Firm and The Continuum of Consumer Choice. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences, the British Psychological Society, and the British Academy of Management.

Professor Alan Fraser

Consultant Cardiologist & Emeritus Professor of Cardiology, Cardiff & Vale UHB  & Cardiff Uni.

Professor Fraser’s specialist expertise is imaging of the human heart and vessels using ultrasound (echocardiography). Major projects in which he has been involved include the early detection of heart muscle disease; understanding mechanisms of heart failure; providing non-invasive evidence of coronary artery disease; investigating interactions between the heart and large arteries; and studying long-term results after surgical heart valve replacement. Professor Fraser has focused recently on implantable, high-risk medical devices, providing evidence to regulators in the European Union.

Professor Wisia Furmaniak

Honorary Visiting Professor, Cardiff University

Professor Furmaniak is co-inventor on 14 patents, inventions that are used in diagnostic kits in clinical laboratories worldwide. She has developed new diagnostic methods for the most common autoimmune disease (Graves’ disease); this has led to changes in guidelines and improved patient care. She has developed methods that simultaneously test large numbers of samples for type 1 diabetes. This helps identify individuals at risk of disease who might benefit from prevention strategies. Professor Furmaniak has also devised the first new treatment in 70 years for Graves’ disease, as well as treatments for thyroid eye disease and thyroid cancer.

Professor Gwyn Gould

Professor of Cell Biology, University of Strathclyde

Professor Gould leads a multi-disciplinary research laboratory involving scientists from biochemistry, medicine, biophysics, and computational methods. His research has resulted in significant insights into how glucose moves across cell membranes. His focus on the structure and function of glucose transporters is combined with advanced imaging techniques. Together, this helps the understanding of how these transporter processes are disturbed in diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Professor Chris Greenwell

Professor Chris Greenwell

Prof. of Geochemistry, Senior Scientific Advisor, Durham Uni. and X-Ray Mineral Services Ltd

Professor Greenwell’s research seeks to understand the interactions between layered minerals, such as clay minerals and related materials, with organic molecules, using a combination of computational and experimental techniques. This work covers a wide range of applications, including the alleviation of pollution, understanding geochemical cycles, new materials and catalysts, and understanding the origin of life on Earth.

Professor Chris Hopkins

Head of the Tritech Institute and Innovation, Hywel Dda University Health Board

Professor Hopkins’ wide-ranging work includes assessing the quality and accuracy of diagnostic tests and procedures, and the evaluation of medical technologies, services and processes. He is a Chartered Scientist and a Chartered Engineer, and holds fellowships from the Academy for Healthcare Science and Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine. Chris is a member of the expert advisory committee within the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and a member of the Health Technology Wales appraisal panel. He was awarded the Excellence in Healthcare Science Research and Innovation Award at the NHS England Chief Scientific Officer’s Excellence in Healthcare Science Awards 2022.

Professor Kerry Howell

Professor, Northumbria University

Professor Howell is an expert in governance, leadership, EU policy, and research methodology. He has authored and edited numerous texts, including works on corporate governance and leadership culture. He teaches about the philosophy of research, methodology, governance and ethics. Professor Howell has also held prominent roles in professional bodies in both the public and private sectors. He has managed both consultancy and funded research projects, and has provided Higher Education institutions with advice on the development and implementation of organisational strategies.

Professor Delyth James

Professor of Health Psychology in Pharmacy Practice, Cardiff Metropolitan University

As a registered pharmacist, Professor James’ work draws on psychological theory to address problems with how people use medication. She has a track-record in leading research and teaching that informs pharmacy policy, practice and service delivery. She is also is a world-leading authority on developing the consultation skills of people working in pharmacy. Professor James has transformed clinical practice through the development of a validated framework to support medicines-related consultations. This has been used in the training of 28,000 pharmacists in England and Wales.

Professor Huw Jones

Professor of Translational Genomics for Plant Breeding, Aberystwyth University

Professor Jones develops and uses novel in-vitro tissue culture methodologies to study gene function and reverse genetics in cereals to direct breeding. This work leads to understanding the genetic basis of quality traits in grasses. Professor Jones also works on the regulatory aspects of biotechnology and food safety. He has been a member of the European Food Safety Authority’s panel on genetically modified organisms for nine years (the last three as vice-chair), and is a current member of the UK Food Safety Authority’s advisory committee on novel foods and processes, and the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs expert committees, including sub-groups that steered the writing of the UK Genetic Technologies Bill which received royal assent in March 2023.

Dr Lyn Jones

Principal Investigator, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute / Harvard Medical School

Lyn Jones has over 25 years’ experience as a medicinal chemist and chemical biologist. He has worked in both academia and industry, where he has made significant contributions to drug discovery. His research identifies the elements of proteins that can targeted by drugs, and the use of new therapies, particularly drugs that use small molecules to target proteins. His highly cited and impactful research has been recognized through international awards, invited lectures, and elected fellowships of scientific societies.

Dr Rhodri Jones

Head of the CERN Beams Department, CERN, Geneva, Switzerland

Dr Jones is Head of the Beams Department at CERN and is responsible for the operation of the CERN accelerator complex. He works on the conception and design of future particle physics accelerators, as well as precision measurement and robotics designed for controlling those accelerators. Dr Jones has played multiple roles at CERN. He has managed large infrastructures, researched innovative techniques for particle beam characterization, fostered collaboration in accelerator technology, and trained the next generation of accelerator physicists and engineers.

Professor Steven Jones

Professor of Medical Genetics, University of British Columbia

Professor Jones is Co-Director and Head of Bioinformatics at the Genome Sciences Centre, Vancouver, and Professor of Medical Genetics at the University of British Columbia. He has made important contributions to the field of genomics, having participated in projects to sequence the human, mouse, rat and bovine gene, amongst others. His research is focussed on the computational analysis of DNA sequence information, and understanding the genetic changes occurring in the development of human cancer.

Professor Terry Jones

Visiting Professor, University of California Davis, USA

Professor Jones initiated the UK’s first program in positron emission tomography (PET) in 1979. He developed advanced PET methods including scanner design, and the modes, protocols and analyses of human PET data collection. Professor Jones has fostered clinical research using PET in neurology, psychiatry, oncology, cardiology and pulmonary medicine. This work has produced new information on major human diseases. He collaborated with the University of California Davis, producing the world’s first total body PET scanner, a technology that is now becoming being more widely adopted.

Professor William Jones

Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Imperial College London

Professor Jones is eminent for his leading role in both developing and evaluating the accuracy of models of turbulence and combustion for gas turbine combustors. He has advanced the state of the art to the extent that computations are the mainstream of combustor design in the industry the world over.

Professor Deborah Kays

Professor Deborah Kays

Professor of Inorganic Chemistry, Cardiff University

Professor Kays investigates types of chemical compounds that have novel electronic properties and are highly reactive. The use of these chemical bonds and chains has resulted in new products, methods of catalysis, and mechanisms that use earth-abundant metals. Her work has contributed to advances in catalysis, chemical processes that minimise environmental impacts, magnetism and energy storage.

Professor Yukun Lai

Professor, School of Computer Science and Informatics, Cardiff University

Professor Lai’s research interests include computer graphics, geometric processing, and computer vision. He has published over 100 papers in international journals and over 100 papers in major conferences. His research has received more than 11,000 citations. He is an associate editor of IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics and The Visual Computer.

Professor Caroline Lear

Dean of Research and Innovation, College of Physical Sciences and Engineering, Cardiff University

Carrie Lear is Professor of Past Climates and Earth Systems Change. She has developed novel geochemical techniques for quantifying past changes in climate, and has applied these to reveal insights into Earth’s climate system. Professor Lear founded and chaired the UK Paleoclimate Society and is a recipient of the Bigsby Medal from the Geological Society of London, and a Philip Leverhulme Prize. She is Dean of Research and Innovation for the College of Physical Sciences and Engineering at Cardiff University.

Professor Arthur Lees

Professor Emeritus, Swansea University

Professor Lees has spent most of his career in the power industry. He uses mathematical and engineering modelling to resolve problems affecting power stations, including gear dynamics and the behaviour of spinning objects. In the early stage of his career, one of his most significant achievements was a novel analysis of gear errors. This resulted in the solution of a long-standing feed-pump fault at one power station, increasing availability for use from 13% to 85%. This modification stayed in use until the station closed 45 years later and the same ideas have been applied on other power stations.

Professor John Lloyd

Emeritus Professor of Pharmacy, University of Sunderland

Professor Lloyd is a Professor Emeritus of Sunderland University, where he was Head of the Sunderland School of Pharmacy. Previously, he held senior positions at University College Cardiff, Keele University, and Jefferson Medical College Philadelphia (USA). His research on cellular pharmacology shed light on the causes of human congenital malformations and some inherited metabolic diseases. This helped pave the way for the now burgeoning field of targeted drug therapy for cancer and other human diseases.

Professor Rainald Löhner

Distinguished Professor for Fluid Dynamics, George Mason University

Professor Lohner’s main research has been on the development and application of flow solvers based on unstructured grids. He has focused on every aspect of the simulation pipeline and, as a pioneer in this field, has a vast track record of publications, including a textbook on the subject. The methods and codes developed are used worldwide, including for the design and analysis of airplanes and drones; submarines, unmanned underwater vehicles and aircraft carriers; safety of embassies and consulates; and the targeting of bunkers and deeply buried high value targets. Hs work also elucidated the transmission mechanisms for pathogens in air, which had wide dissemination during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Professor Anthony Mandal

Professor Anthony Mandal

Professor of Print and Digital Cultures, Cardiff University

Anthony Mandal is the author of books, articles and databases that focus on nineteenth-century literature, the gothic, book history, and digital humanities. He was President of the British Association for Romantic Studies between 2019 and 2024, and is founding editor of the online journal Romantic Textualities: Literature and Print Culture, 1780–1840

Professor Paul Matthews

Chief Executive, Monmouthshire County Council

Professor Matthews supports the growth and intensity of the Welsh policy development and leadership system through his roles as a leadership mentor, board member of the Wales Centre for Public Policy, Governor at Cardiff Metropolitan University, and visiting Professor in Economic Geography at Cardiff University, where he is a frequent guest lecturer.

Professor John Mayberry

Consultant Gastroenterologist, Princess Elizabeth Hospital, Guernsey

Professor Mayberry works on identifying the degree of cancer risk in ulcerative colitis, comparing it with the risk in Crohn’s disease. His research has resulted in the reduction of cancer risk in colitis to normal levels by the use of oral mesalazine. He has investigated the high risk of inflammatory bowel disease amongst South Asian migrants, with an even greater risk in their children. This has revealed the level of discrimination in delivery of care to migrants, such as limited access to expensive therapies. It has also led practitioners to gain greater exposure to new techniques as they go through their own learning process.

Professor Angela Mihai

Professor of Applied Mathematics, Cardiff University

Professor Mihai’s broad research interests are in applied and computational mathematics at the interface with physical and natural sciences. Her major scientific contributions are in fundamental solid mechanics and the mathematical understanding of soft materials, including biological tissue and soft matter. She is the author of the research monograph Stochastic Elasticity (Springer, 2022).

Professor Emmajane Milton

Professor Emmajane Milton

Professor in Educational Practice, Cardiff University

Professor Milton has worked in the field of education for over 20 years, holding a wide range of senior leadership roles within academia, policy development, and the statutory school sector. In 2018 she became an Advance-HE National Teaching Fellow, the most prestigious teaching award within higher education. Professor Milton’s research and scholarship interests are focused on educational practice; teacher / educator professional learning and enquiry; educative approaches to leadership and mentoring; and the recruitment and retention of education professionals.

Professor Michael Morgan

Professor of Visual Neuroscience, City University of London

Professor Morgan’s two books Molyneux’s Question and The Space between Our Ears examine the history of ideas relating to the problem of how the brain uses the information from the image in the eye to construct the perception of a three-dimensional world, with ourselves as agents in it. His own experimental work has concentrated on how we reconstruct the position, movement and colour of objects from their images.

Professor John Moses

Professor of Organic & Click Chemistry, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, New York

Professor Moses’ headline research focuses on advancing ‘Click Chemistry’ for drug discovery, which has led to the development of transformative chemistries. These have boosted the discovery of anticancer drugs and innovative shape-shifting antibiotics. Professor Moses’ contributions have earned extensive recognition and impact through prestigious awards, Fellowships and major grants, culminating in numerous high-impact publications and the commercialization of technologies and spin-out companies that shape pharmaceutical development.

Professor Alexander Movchan

Prof. Alexander Movchan

Professor, Chair of Applied Mathematics, University of Liverpool

Professor Movchan has published more than 300 research articles, five research monographs, and an advanced textbook in partial differential equations and asymptotic analysis, with applications in elasticity, metamaterials, photonics and fracture mechanics. He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by Aix-Marseille University and has served in editorial roles for the SIAM MMS (associate editor), Quart, J. Mech. And Appl. Math. (board member) and Mathematika (editor).

Dr Dafydd Owen

Medicinal Chemist, Pfizer Research and Development

Trained in organic and medicinal chemistry, Dafydd Owen has conducted preclinical research in small molecule drug discovery for over 25 years at Pfizer, in the UK and USA. During the pandemic, he led the discovery of PAXLOVID, the first and only fully FDA approved oral therapy for COVID-19. The entire program was completed in just 21 months. The work was published on the front cover of Science in December 2021.

Professor Rhiannon Owen

Professor of Statistics, Swansea University

Professor Owen is an internationally recognised applied statistical methodologist, whose research has informed healthcare policy and practice. She has extensive experience of national healthcare decision-making for the NHS as a long-standing member of the Technology Appraisal Committee for UK National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). Professor Owen has extensive experience of cross-sector collaboration including as a consultant. She has provided methodological and strategic advice to the global pharmaceutical industry and international health technology assessment agencies.

Menai Owen-Jones

Chief Executive, LATCH Welsh Children’s Cancer Charity

Menai Owen-Jones is an award-winning social sector chief executive and experienced non-executive director. She is an independent adviser to the Senedd Cymru Commission and sits on several boards, including Cardiff Metropolitan University and Wales Council for Voluntary Action. Menai is a qualified Chartered Director, LLB Law Graduate and has a Postgraduate Certificate in Welsh Government and Politics. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society for the Arts, the Institute of Directors, and the Institute of Welsh Affairs.

Professor Ken Peattie

Professor Ken Peattie

Professor of Marketing & Strategy, Cardiff University

Professor Peattie is an expert on corporate social responsibility, and sustainability. He was instrumental in Business Relationships, Accountability, Sustainability and Society (BRASS) becoming the first Welsh ESRC-funded Research Centre, attracting around £13M in total research funding. He has made significant contributions to Welsh and UK policy and practice, and held leadership roles at Cardiff University and its Business School continuously between 2001-2024.

Professor Tom Rippeth

Professor of Physical Oceanography, Bangor University

Professor Rippeth is an observational oceanographer. His work has involved the development of new techniques for the measurement of aquatic turbulence, and the use of turbulence measurements to identify, unravel and quantify key physical processes which drive mixing in the ocean. Past process-based research has focused on, for example, the impact on melting Arctic sea-ice of mixing by the tide and wind. Professor Rippeth’s current research focus includes the potential environmental impacts of next generation floating wind farms in the Celtic Sea and North Sea.

Professor Hasmukh Shah

Professor Hasmukh Shah

General Practitioner, Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board

Professor Shah has worked in the NHS for 50 years. He is visiting Professor at the University of South Wales, a GP education lead and a past non-executive member of Rhondda Cynon Taf local health board. He has been secretary of the British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin in Wales, was a member of the First Minister’s BAME Covid-19 Advisory Group, and has been a trustee of the Hindu community centre, Race Council Cymru, the Vale for Africa charity and the Calon Hearts charity. Professor Shah received a British Empire Medal (BEM) in the Queen’s Birthday Honours in 2018 and a lifetime service award for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion at the 2024 International Girmit Conference in Cardiff.

Dr Changjing Shang

Dr Changjing Shang

University Senior Research Fellow, Aberystwyth University

Dr Shang’s research interests focus on computational intelligence and its applications in decision-making, pattern recognition, transportation management, and robotic control. She has published extensively in these areas, with her work receiving various international awards and leading to successful field deployments. She has supervised numerous research students and postdoctoral researchers, many of whom have become leading academics in their respective fields.

Professor Jonathan Timmis

Professor Jonathan Timmis

Vice-Chancellor, Aberystwyth University

Professor Timmis is an interdisciplinary researcher, applying computer science and mathematical approaches to biology, with a focus on immunology and evolution. He has worked extensively on computational models of immune function (computational immunology) to develop software systems that can help reduce and refine animal experimentation. This work helps with understanding environmental impact, and immune-inspired evolutionary approaches to robotics and swarm robotic systems, a focus being on fault-tolerance and detection of anomalous data.

Dr Peter Wakelin

Independent writer, curator and consultant

Dr Wakelin is an independent writer, curator and consultant specialising in art and the built heritage. He was formerly Director of Collections and Research at Amgueddfa Cymru and Secretary of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales. His books include official guides to the Blaenavon and Pontcysyllte World Heritage sites, a history of refugee artists in Britain and their impact, and monographs on several important Welsh artists.

Professor Oliver Williams

Professor of Experimental Physics, Cardiff University

Professor Williams’ research focuses on diamond growth and technology. He has developed the integration of diamond with non-diamond materials for high frequency devices, thermal management of compound semiconductors, and the production of diamond nanoparticles for quantum applications. This work has resulted in seven international patents and over 200 publications.

Sian Willliams

Sîan Williams

Head of Cultural Collections Engagement and Curation, Swansea University

Sîan Williams is a senior leader in librarianship and archives, with a career focus on public engagement. She developed the South Wales Miners’ Library at Swansea University as an internationally respected centre for research and learning in labour history; it has significant links with adult education and community-based organisations in south Wales. She now also leads the Richard Burton Archives, the Egypt Centre, the History of Computing Collection, and the university art collection at Swansea. She promotes these as research collections and as teaching and community resources, with a significant focus on previously excluded and hard to reach audiences.

Dr Yan Wu

Associate Professor in Media and Communication, Swansea University

Dr Yan Wu works on citizen journalism, soft power communication, digital inclusivity, and citizen data and risk governance. She writes and publishes in both English and Chinese. Her publications in Chinese include three co-authored books and journal articles. Her English publications have appeared in academic journals, as book chapters and policy reports. Dr Wu is also the Chairperson of the Chinese in Wales Association.

Agnes Xavier-Phillips

Master of the Worshipful Livery Company of Wales and Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Gwent

A qualified nurse and solicitor, who read law at Cardiff University, Agnes Xavier-Phillips was General Counsel and Client Relationship Manager of GE Capital, and represented the financial services industry on the Woolf Reforms, which reviewed the UK's civil justice system in the late 1990s. She is now Master of the Worshipful Livery Company of Wales, as well as a Freeman of the City of London and a Liveryman Solicitor of London. She also sits on Cardiff University Council and the boards of Cardiff University Students’ Union and Dwr Cymru.