The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has appointed Dr Junaid Bajwa, Professor Graham Cooke, Dr Paul Goldsmith and Raj Long as four non-executive directors to the board for three years.
In addition, Haider Husain has been appointed as a non-voting associate non-executive director to the Board.
Their terms come into effect from today (September 1) to replace Dr Barbara Bannister MBE, Professor Bruce Campbell, Anne-Toni Rodgers and Professor David Webb CBE whose terms ended on August 31.
Welcoming the new members to the board, Stephen Lightfoot, chair of the MHRA Board said: “Their appointment brings a wealth of diverse experience and expertise that will add huge value to the strategic leadership of the Agency.”
Bajwa has a wide range of global digital health experience.
He is the chief medical scientist at Microsoft Research, a practising GP in London, non-executive director at University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, non-executive director of Nahdi Medical Corporation in Saudi Arabia and a visiting scientist at the Harvard School of Public Health in the US.
Cooke also has an extensive experience of international clinical research. He is NIHR professor of Infectious Diseases at Imperial College in London and leads the translational infection research within the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre.
He was also the principal investigator for the REACT study of Covid-19 home testing and chaired the WHO Committee on the Selection & Use of Essential Medicines.
The third non-executive director Goldsmith has a breadth of clinical, drug development, digital health and governance experience. He is a consultant neurologist and has held NHS clinical networks, vanguard and senate roles. He is also president, chief innovation officer and co-founder of Closed Loop Medicine Limited.
The fourth appointee Raj Long is a deputy director for safety and pharmacovigilance at the Gates Foundation and also supports the WHO Covid-19 vaccine manufacturing taskforce.
Associate non-executive director Haider Hussain is an experienced international healthcare IT business leader with a strong technology background.
He is the chief operating officer of Healthinnova Limited, a non-executive director of Milton Keynes University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and is the panel chair for the Safe and Effective Use of AI in Healthcare at the British Standards Institute.
