37 - Appointment

The Gates Medical Research Institute (MRI) has appointed Charles Wells as Chief Medical Officer (CMO) and Head of Medical Development. He has been serving as interim CMO and head of development since October 2025.

Wells joined the Gates MRI in 2019 as a clinical development leader, then served as Head of Therapeutics Development. He leads Gates MRI’s efforts in the PAN-TB Partnership.

Before joining the company, Wells served in executive leadership roles at Sanofi and Evotec. Prior to joining Sanofi, he served as Senior Medical Director and lead clinician at Otsuka Pharmaceuticals. He also previously served as Chief of the International Research and Programs Branch of the Division of Tuberculosis Elimination at the US CDC and in the CDC’s Epidemic Intelligence Service.

ZPB Associates as appointed Rachel Allan as Managing Director. Allan joined the agency as a Senior Account Manager in 2016, before being appointed to Delivery Director, a role that she has held since 2020. Allan has over 20 years’ experience in healthcare marketing and comms, including at the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), NHS England and the Care Quality Commission (CQC). At ZPB, Allan has led teams to deliver award-winning, landmark public health campaigns, through to writing growth strategies and integrated marketing campaigns for private providers, tech companies and multinational healthcare organisations. ZPB has also appointed Milena Marinkovic as Senior Research Analyst to lead on data and marketing analysis, and Hannah Williams in an Insights and Strategy role.

Delphia Therapeutics has appointed David Kerstein as Chief Medical Officer (CMO). Kerstein brings significant experience in oncology drug development across early- and late-stage precision oncology programmes. He most recently served as CMO of IDRx, a clinical-stage precision oncology company, before its acquisition by GSK in 2025. Prior to that, he was CMO at Theseus Pharmaceuticals and Anchiano Therapeutics. Prior to these roles, Kerstein served as senior medical director in oncology clinical research and lung cancer clinical portfolio strategy lead at Takeda, and senior medical director of clinical research at ARIAD Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Takeda in 2017). Kevin Marks, co-founder, president and CEO of Delphia, said: "With David's strong track record...his leadership will be instrumental in shaping our clinical strategy."

Fondazione Telethon has appointed Graciana Diez-Roux as its new Scientific Director. With extensive experience in biomedical research management, the development of international scientific programmes and the coordination of high-impact collaborative projects, Diez-Roux will lead the Foundation’s scientific activities with the goal of further strengthening its role as a leading organisation in rare genetic disease research. She has a deep understanding of Fondazione Telethon and the Italian research system. Since 2003, she has held positions of increasing responsibility at the Telethon Institute of Genetics and Medicine in Pozzuoli, where she contributed to the development of the institute’s scientific strategy and to the establishment of its Scientific Office.

Broken String Biosciences has appointed Bruce Eaton as Chairman of the Board. Eaton has more than 30 years of experience in the biotech sector, spanning operational, business development and corporate strategy roles for both public and private companies. He has founded and successfully grown multiple companies, including I2 Pharmaceuticals and Velocity Sciences. More recently, as Executive VP, CTO and CBO for Editas Medicine, Eaton oversaw a multidisciplinary team driving a strategic realignment initiative while leading the company’s R&D programme in sickle cell anaemia. Now focusing his expertise in an advisory capacity, Bruce is currently Independent Director for Renova Therapeutics, and serves as a Strategic Advisor to biotech companies.