Ann Jacqueline Hunter CBE FMedSci FBPharmacolS FRSB is a British scientist who is a board director of BenevolentAI. Hunter is also a visiting professor at St George's Hospital Medical School and

Imperial College Imperial College London, also known as Imperial, is a public research university in London, England. Its history began with Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, who envisioned a cultural district in South Kensington that included museums ...

. She is Chair of the Trustees of the Sainsbury Laboratories at Norwich, chair of the board of the Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst and chair of the board of Brainomix. She was previously CEO of the

Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), part of UK Research and Innovation, is a non-departmental public body (NDPB), and is the largest UK public funder of non-medical bioscience. It predominantly funds science, scient ...

.Jackie Hunter to be next BBSRC chief, Times Higher Education, 4 June 2013
/ref>

Education

Jackie Hunter was educated at Selwyn School, Matson, Gloucestershire and at the King's School, Gloucester. She achieved a BSc in Physiology and Psychology at Bedford College, University of London in 1977 and whilst there represented the college on the TV programme ''

University Challenge ''University Challenge'' is a British television quiz programme which first aired in 1962. ''University Challenge'' aired for 913 episodes on ITV from 21 September 1962 to 31 December 1987, presented by quizmaster Bamber Gascoigne. The BBC ...

'' in 1976. She was awarded her PhD for work carried out at

London Zoo London Zoo, previously known as ZSL London Zoo or London Zoological Gardens and sometimes called Regent's Park Zoo, is the world's oldest scientific zoo. It was opened in London on 27 April 1828 and was originally intended to be used as a colle ...

entitled 'Olfaction, aggression and sexual behaviour of owl monkeys (genus Aotus) in 1981.

Career

Hunter undertook a

Wellcome Trust The Wellcome Trust is a charitable foundation focused on health research based in London, United Kingdom. It was established in 1936 with legacies from the pharmaceutical magnate Henry Wellcome (founder of Burroughs Wellcome, one of the predec ...

Postdoctoral research A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). Postdocs most commonly, but not always, have a temporary acade ...

fellowship at St George's Hospital Medical School before joining the

pharmaceutical industry The pharmaceutical industry is a medical industry that discovers, develops, produces, and markets pharmaceutical goods such as medications and medical devices. Medications are then administered to (or self-administered by) patients for curing ...

. She worked at Glaxo Laboratories first in Greenford and then Ware on novel therapeutics for

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

. In 1986 she moved to Astra and then subsequently in 1989 to SmithKline and French just prior to the merger that created SmithKlineBeecham (SB). At SB she held a number of management positions and was responsible for delivering a number of candidate molecules to development as well as large-scale external collaborations such as the ENU mutagenesis project with the MRC at Harwell. After the merger between SB and GlaxoWellcome to create GSK, she became head of the Neurology and GI Centre of Excellence for Drug Discovery and Site Head at the GSK site in Harlow, Essex. In 2008, Hunter developed GSK's external innovation strategy and was responsible for developing the concept of the Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst and obtaining funding from government and other bodies. In 2010, she left GSK to establish OI Pharma Partners. which was established as a consultancy for the promotion of open innovation in the life sciences, working with governments, academic organisations and companies to formulate open innovation strategies and best practice. In 2013, Hunter was appointed CEO of the BBSRC. She has also been a non-executive director of Proximagen group plc and Chiltern International Group (2016–present). She was a member of the governing councils of

Royal Holloway Royal Holloway, University of London (RH), formally incorporated as Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, is a public university, public research university and a constituent college, member institution of the federal University of London. It ...

and

Bedford College, University of London Bedford College was founded in London in 1849 as the first higher education college for education of women, women in the United Kingdom. In 1900, it became a constituent of the University of London. Having played a leading role in the advanceme ...

and of Hertfordshire University. In 2016 she left the BBSRC and joined Stratified Medical which became BenevolentAI, establishing the drug discovery arm of the organisation. She retired from BenevolentAI in 2020 but remains as a board director. In 2019 she was appointed chair of the trustees of the Sainsbury Laboratories at Norwich. In 2020 she was also appointed as chair of the board of the Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst and chair of the board of Brainomix, an AI enabled imaging company.

Awards

* 2010 - Women of Achievement in Science, Engineering and Technology (SET) awards in the category SET Discovery, Innovation and Entrepreneurship * 2010 – CBE in Queen's Birthday Honours list for Services to the Pharmaceutical Industry * 2012 – Fellow of the

British Pharmacological Society The British Pharmacological Society is the primary UK learned society for Pharmacology, pharmacologists, concerned with research into drugs and the ways in which they work. Members work in academia, industry, regulatory agencies, and the health se ...

(BPS) * 2014 – Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences (FMedSci) in 2014. 2014 – Named as one of 50 Movers and Shakers in Bio-Business 2014 * 2015 – Fellow of Zoological Society of London * 2015 – British Pharmacological Society Astra Zeneca prize for Women in Pharmacology * 2016 – Honorary DSc (

Brunel University Brunel University of London (BUL) is a public research university located in the Uxbridge area of London, England. It is named after Isambard Kingdom Brunel, a Victorian engineer and pioneer of the Industrial Revolution. It became a university ...

) * 2016 – Fellow

Royal Society of Biology The Royal Society of Biology (RSB), previously called the Society of Biology, is a learned society and professional association in the United Kingdom created to advance the interests of biology in academia, industry, education, and research. Fo ...

* 2017 - Honorary DSc

University of East Anglia The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a Public university, public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus university, campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and twenty-six schools of ...

* 2017 - Named by

Forbes Magazine ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The c ...

as one of the top 20 Women Globally Advancing AI research * 2017 - Honorary Fellowship by

* 2020 - Honorary DSc

University of Sheffield The University of Sheffield (informally Sheffield University or TUOS) is a public university, public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Its history traces back to the foundation of Sheffield Medical School in 1828, Fir ...

* 2020 - Honorary DSc Royal Holloway and Bedford College

References

External links

* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Hunter, Jackie Living people 1956 births People educated at The King's School, Gloucester Fellows of the Academy of Medical Sciences (United Kingdom) Fellows of the Royal Society of Biology Commanders of the Order of the British Empire