Professor Simon Davis appointed as RDM’s first Entrepreneurship Lead

As RDM’s first Entrepreneurship Lead, Professor Simon Davis will offer advice on the potential commercial value of new ideas (within his area of scientific expertise); balancing company and scientific interests; securing pump-priming funding; pitching to venture capitalists and industry; making best use of Oxford’s start-up infrastructure; founding companies; and working with scientific advisory boards and boards of directors. Simon will be available to act as a mentor for budding entrepreneurs, particularly among students and post-docs, and can also highlight other routes to engaging the commercial sector, e.g. via consultancy and expert witnessing.

Head of Department Professor Keith Channon says, ‘I very much look forward to working with Simon in his new role as a strong and pro-active advocate of entrepreneurialism, and the further development of entrepreneurial opportunities amongst RDM’s scientific community. This is an important aspect of generating wider impact and benefit from our research’.

Simon comments, ‘I am very pleased to have been appointed as the new RDM Entrepreneurship Lead, so that I can help others to benefit from the extraordinarily rich tech-transfer resources that the University offers, in the ways that we have done in the recent past. I look forward to sharing my experiences and offering advice, and helping turn the great science done here at the RDM into commercially attractive opportunities.’ Simon’s co-developed spinout company MiroBio was acquired by Gilead Sciences for $405m in summer 2022, bringing valuable revenue to the Department.