London, UK, 28 June 2023: The European Laboratory Research & Innovation Group (ELRIG) UK today announced a reorganisation of the governance and workgroup structure bringing together the Science Strategy and Networking Events Workgroups into one Scientific Programme Workgroup under the leadership of Saleha Patel (Associate Principal Scientist, Emerging Innovations Unit, AstraZeneca).ELRIG UK would like to acknowledge the efforts and support of Katy Kettleborough (Translation Challenge Leader, Chronic respiratory Infections, Lifearc) who, at the end of the year, is stepping is stepping down from both her role as chair of the Science Strategy Workgroup and from the ELRIG Board to focus on other commitments. ELRIG is dependent on the support of volunteers within the Life Sciences community and is very grateful to all who have given their time supporting the two workgroups alongside their careers.
Katy’s work establishing ELRIG Conferences as industry-leading opportunities to learn about emerging topics in drug discovery is highly valued. Saleha has chaired the Networking Events Workgroup since 2019 and is also a Director on the ELRIG Board. She has developed a complementary programme of successful one-day Forums that now regularly feature alongside Networking meetings and Conferences in the ELRIG calendar. The merging of the workgroups will bring together these two programme streams; aligning the scientific content, leveraging the full expertise and networks of our volunteers and continuing to deliver high quality scientific content to our ELRIG community.
Melanie Leveridge, Chair of ELRIG UK, and Senior Director of Screening and Sample Management at GSK, said: Over recent years ELRIG’s program of scientific events has grown and we are engaging a wider community and breadth of subject matter than ever before. In particular, we have seen huge demand for one day meetings on dedicated topics, making high quality science accessible to the ELRIG community in their local geography. We have responded to the demand for these events by creating our Forums, which are now a core part of our events calendar. It is therefore the right time to combine our legacy Science Strategy and Networking Events Workgroups into a Scientific Programme Workgroup with accountability to define the complete programme of Scientific events – including our larger Conferences, one day Forums and informal Networking Events. I am delighted that Saleha Patel will take on the leadership of this newly combined workgroup. Saleha has been pivotal in the development of our Forums and brings great energy and ideas to the Board. At this time Katy Kettleborough will step back from the ELRIG board to focus on her day job. I would like to offer my sincere thanks to Katy for her leadership of the Science Strategy Workgroup for the last four years and her wider contributions to the ELRIG Board.
Saleha Patel, Board Director, newly appointed Chair of Scientific Programme Workgroup and Associate Principal Scientist, Emerging Innovations, Discovery Sciences, R&D, AstraZeneca, Cambridge, UK, said: I am excited to take on this new role as Chair of the Scientific Programme Workgroup. ELRIG plays an important role in supporting the global life sciences eco-system; enabling opportunities to connect, collaborate and learn from each other. The joining of the Science Strategy and Networking Events Workgroups provides a unique opportunity in bringing together two groups of exceptional volunteers, and leaders, from across our industry in order to deliver our future scientific programme. I look forward to continuing our mission in bringing high quality scientific content to our community on an open access basis.
For more information about the ELRIG work groups, please visit: www.elrig.org/workgroups/