Wellcome Trust appoints new Director of Innovations

Professor Caddick, who is currently Vice Provost Enterprise and London at University College London, succeeds Dr Ted Bianco, who retires from the Trust later this year.

Over the past five years, Professor Caddick has led UCL’s strategy for enterprise and innovation, as well as well as the development of the University’s proposals for a second major campus on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, UCL East. He is Vernon Professor of Organic Chemistry and Chemical Biology, and has previously served as UCL’s Head of Department of Chemistry.

Dr Jeremy Farrar, Director of the Wellcome Trust, said: “Steve has played a vital role in establishing UCL’s international reputation as a university that leads the way in translating basic research into healthcare benefit. He will be an outstanding successor to Ted Bianco, and is exceptionally well-placed to build on Ted’s achievements making innovation, translation and impact on health central to the Wellcome Trust’s mission.”

Professor Caddick said: “I am delighted to be joining the Wellcome Trust, an organisation that I have greatly admired over many years. The Innovations division has achieved a great deal under Ted Bianco’s leadership and I am looking forward to working with the team to build on those achievements.”

Professor Caddick is a member of the London Enterprise Panel, a member of the Scientific Advisory Board for MRC Technology and Chair of the League of European Research Universities (LERU) Enterprise and Innovation Community. He has played an important role in the development of the chemical biology strategy and facilities within the Francis Crick Institute. He is co-founder of Synthetic Pages – an open access website – and Thiologics – an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) biotech spinout company. His academic expertise is in organic chemistry and chemical biology, and his laboratory focuses on chemical modification of proteins and antibodies for development of therapeutics and diagnostics.

Professor Caddick will join the Wellcome Trust on June 8, as a member of its Executive Board.

Dr Bianco will focus on developing and enhancing the Wellcome Trust’s Sustaining Health initiative until he retires from the Trust in August after 13 years as Director of the Innovations division (previously Technology Transfer). Richard Seabrook and Daniel Nelki will lead the Innovations division on an interim basis until Professor Caddick’s arrival.