Independent Scientific Advisory Board (ISAB)

Professor Sir Jim Smith is a globally recognised developmental biologist and leader.

Jim’s research career began at the National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR), where he established a group in 1984 before going on to lead the Division of Developmental Biology until 2000. Following 9 years as Director of the Gurdon Institute in Cambridge, Jim returned to the NIMR as Director. He oversaw the transition of NIMR to the Francis Crick Institute and served as Director of Research at the Crick. During this time, Jim also served as Deputy CEO and Chief of Strategy at the Medical Research Council (MRC).

In 2017, Jim was appointed Director of Science at the Wellcome Trust and led the development of Wellcome’s new science strategy. In 2022, he became President of the Zoological Society of London.

Jim is a Fellow of the Royal Society and of the Academy of Medical Sciences, and a Member of the Academia Europaea. He has been awarded the EMBO Gold Medal (1993), the Feldberg Foundation Award (2000), and the Waddington Medal of the British Society for Developmental Biology (2013). He was knighted in 2017 for his services to medical research and science education.

Jim’s first degree was obtained from the University of Cambridge, and his PhD was obtained from the Middlesex Hospital Medical School. His postdoctoral studies were at Harvard and the Imperial Cancer Research Fund.

Professor Donna Farber is a leading immunologist with a focus on immune memory and immune responses in tissues. Donna is the Director of a new initiative in Human Tissue Immunity and Disease at Columbia University and leads NIH/NIAID-funded Program grants on human immunity and anti-viral responses including as part of the Human Immunology Project Consortium (HIPC), and the NIH/NHLBI consortium on human lung ageing.

Donna has been the George H Humphreys, II Professor of Surgical Sciences and Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at Columbia University Medical Center since 2010, and the Chief of the Division of Surgical Sciences since 2017.

Donna is a Distinguished Fellow of the American Association of Immunologists (DFAAI), and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She serves on the governing council of the American Association of Immunologists (AAI), and was a recipient of the Rose Founders Lecture award from the Clinical Immunology Society.

She received her undergraduate degree in Microbiology from the University of Michigan and her PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Her postdoctoral studies were in the Section of Immunobiology at Yale University and at the Institute Pasteur in Paris, France.

Mr Lim Chuan Poh was appointed Chairman of the Singapore Food Agency on 1 April 2019. Prior to this, he was the Executive Chairman of A*STAR from April 2007 to March 2019; Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Education (MOE) from July 2003 to March 2007; and Chief of Defence Force of the Singapore Armed Forces from July 2000 to March 2003.

Chuan Poh has been a Board Member of Nanyang Technological University (NTU) from 1 Jul 2003 to 31 Dec 2024; inaugural Chairman of the Governing Board of the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, a joint Medical School between NTU and Imperial College from 1 Dec 2010 to 31 Dec 2024; Trustee of Asia Pacific Breweries Foundation since 2005; and Senior Scientific Advisor to MINDEF from 1 May 2019; Chairman of ST Logistics Pte Ltd from 1 Apr 2024; Member of National Records Advisory Committee (NRAC) from 1 Jan 2025. He had also been appointed Singapore’s Non-Resident Ambassador to Israel from Jan 2021 to 4 Nov 2023.

In Japan, he is a Board and Council Member of the Science and Technology in Society (STS) Forum; Member of World Premier International (WPI) Initiative under Japan Society for the Promotion of Science since 2007; and a Special Committee Member of Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) Advisory Committee since 2014. He has also become a member of the University of Illinois System President’s Advisory Council since November 2020 and Advisory Board of Green Frontier Capital Tech Fund (India) since August 2021.

Professor Jan Löwe is a molecular and structural biologist. He is known for his significant contributions to the current understanding of bacterial cytoskeletons and SMC proteins such as cohesin. Jan joined the LMB in 1996, as an EMBO Long-Term Fellow. He became a Group Leader in 1998, before he was awarded tenure in 2002. Jan was appointed as Joint Head of the Structural Studies Division in 2010 and Deputy Director of the LMB in 2016. He became the Director of the LMB in 2018.

He received a degree in Chemistry from the University of Hamburg in 1992 and completed his PhD at the Max-Planck Institute of Biochemistry under the supervision of Robert Huber.

Jan has received a number of awards including the EMBO Gold Medal in 2007 and Wellcome Investigator Awards in 2011, 2016 and 2023. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, Darwin College (Cambridge) and Germany’s National Academy Leopoldina. In 2018, Jan was made Honorary Professor of Structural and Molecular Microbiology at Cambridge University.

Professor Margaret Sheil AO is a distinguished academic and university leader, currently serving as Vice-Chancellor of Queensland University of Technology (QUT) since 2018. She is a strong advocate for science, with a focus on supporting early career researchers, women in STEM, and scientific mentorship. In 2000, she became Australia’s first female Professor of Chemistry at the University of Wollongong.

In addition to leading QUT, Professor Sheil is the lead Vice-Chancellor for Research and Innovation for Universities Australia, Chair of its Research, Innovation and Commercialisation Committee, and represents the sector on the University Foreign Interference Taskforce Steering Group.

She holds several prominent roles including Chair of the Board of the Queensland Museum Network, Chair of the Reef 2050 Independent Expert Panel, Chair of the Queensland Vice-Chancellors’ Committee, and Secretary Science Policy for the Australian Academy of Science Council.

Professor Sheil is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science (AAS), the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering (ATSE), the Royal Australian Chemical Institute (RACI), and the Australian and New Zealand Society for Mass Spectrometry (ANZSMS).

Her previous leadership roles include Provost at the University of Melbourne and CEO of the Australian Research Council. She holds a Bachelor of Science and a PhD in Physical Chemistry from the University of New South Wales.