The Team

Mi-Trial

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The Team

Professor Alex Horsley

Chairman

Bio

Professor Alex Horsley

Chairman

Alex is a Professor of Respiratory Medicine at the University of Manchester, consultant at the Manchester Adult Cystic Fibrosis (CF) Centre, and CF academic lead for the NIHR Manchester Biomedical Research Centre (BRC). He is director of the NIHR Manchester Clinical Research Facility at Wythenshawe Hospital, where he oversees trials activity in a wide range of specialties. Alex is also the chair of CF Trust Clinical Trials Accelerator Platform, chair of the NIHR Respiratory Translational Research Collaboration, and CF specialty lead for the NIHR Clinical Research Network.

He is responsible for initiating and maintaining one of the largest CF trials programs in the country, having led >25 trials of new therapies in CF since 2012 and making Manchester one of the leading sites for CF clinical trials internationally. He has been national or global lead on trials of several ground-breaking therapies, including transformative new CFTR modulator therapies. He has experience at all phases of clinical trials and has also helped design and deliver clinical trials in acute COVID-19.

Professor Jacky Smith

Chief Scientific Officer

Bio

Professor Jacky Smith

Chief Scientific Officer

Jacky is a Professor of Respiratory Medicine at the University of Manchester and an Honorary Consultant at Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust. She runs a multi-disciplinary research team whose focus is on understanding mechanisms underlying pathological cough and a regional clinical service seeing patients with refractory chronic cough. She is Director of the NIHR Manchester Respiratory Biomedical Research Centre (BRC), and previously Director of the Manchester Clinical Research Facility.

Professor Paul O’Brien

Chief Executive Officer

Bio

Professor Paul O'Brien

Chief Executive Officer

Professor Paul O’ Brien was appointed CEO of ELAROS 24/7 in April 2012. Paul has held senior posts in the private sector (Chief Executive), local government (Chief Officer), health (Director in West Essex NHS Trust) and education (Head of Department).

He has previous venture start-up experience having established the Essex Development and Regeneration Agency with a turnover of £8.5 million and funds under management of £15 million – employing 60 planners, economists, surveyors, bid writers and fund managers.

He has extensive experience of public sector transformation having externalised a local government service and more recently the externalisation of a £33 Million NHS Service. Paul also has broad non-executive board experience gained over a 15 year period and has completed the Institute of Directors Diploma in Company Direction. Paul’s work in business & management education in Russia and Bulgaria, in the 1990s, secured the Queen’s Anniversary Prizes for Higher & Further Education.

Paul is a visiting lecturer to the University of Surrey on its MBA & MSc Entrepreneurship programmes.

James McMunn

Chief Technology Officer

Bio

James McMunn

Chief Technology Officer

James has worked for 20+ years around a broad set of technologies and across a wide range of sectors including: Health, Insurance, Finance, and Travel (The British Library, Jet2, and Confused.com).

James has worked on complex software projects from building databases, assessing security risks, and streamlining backend code to building cloud infrastructure.

James has been working with ELAROS on a range of health apps and on a web-based health commissioning platform.

James is the lead software developer for the Mi-Trial platform.

Izaak Walker

Commercialisation Manager

Bio

Izaak Walker

Commercialisation Manager

Izaak joined Mi-Trial in October 2025 as our Commercialisation Manager after graduating with a First Class Honours in his integrated MEng degree in Bioengineering at the University of Sheffield.

With a distinct interest in the MedTech industry, during his degrees’ integrated year in industry he worked at a global orthopaedic company assisting in the development, introduction, and sustainment of commercialised implants and instrumentation within a cross-functional team, playing a pivotal role in driving innovation, ensuring regulatory compliance, and promoting a culture of continuous improvement within the company; as part of this role, he also worked directly within the New Product Introduction (NPI) team on the company’s new bespoke implant system and associated instrument set, working to achieve 510(k) clearance for US market penetration.

Daniel Weatherill

Management Accountant

Bio

Daniel Weatherill

Management Accountant

Dan studied Business Management at The University of Sheffield. He particularly enjoyed the maths and data side of his course, exploring how software can assist with decision making. He also found a particular interest in the responsible business side of the course, such as Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Corporate Governance. This led to his decision to begin studying for CIMA’s CGMA qualification in August 2023.

Scarlett Shaw

Software Quality Assurance Lead

Bio

Scarlett Shaw

Software Quality Assurance Lead

Scarlett graduated with a First Class Honours BSc in Computer Science with Artificial Intelligence from Sheffield Hallam University. Her academic journey encompassed modules in AI and Machine Learning, Advanced Programming, and Algorithms and Data Structures, reflecting her deep-seated passion for technology and problem-solving.

Scarlett is currently working on platform demonstration and training materials for the Mi-Trial platform, supporting user onboarding, and providing customer support.

Davide Righi

Business Development Associate

Bio

Davide Righi

Business Development Associate

Davide first joined ELAROS as a Digital Health Marketing Intern in August 2024 and has recently concluded his eleven-month industrial placement as a Business Development Associate where he was involved in commercialisation through lead generation, outreach, and website re-design working alongside colleagues on the autonom-e and NROL platforms.

He is currently studying Biomedical Engineering (BEng) at Loughborough University where his studies comprise a range of topics including tissue engineering, biomaterials, and digital systems completing projects such as designing a prosthetic arm using CAD software and research into scaffold preparation and cell seeding for skin tissue cultures.

While returning to Loughborough university in September to finish his degree, Davide will now be working on lead-generation and outreach for Mi-Trial.

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