Our people

Dr Taylor has 25 years experience in Business Development and licensing, mainly working in medium and large pharmaceutical companies (GSK, Norgine, Eisai, SOBI, MSD). In his roles he has been responsible for scientific search and evaluation plus the execution of deals covering Neurology, Rare Diseases and Oncology amongst others. About half of this time has been looking at early-stage therapeutics, and half late stage. His most recent role was with MSD (known as Merck Inc in North America) where he has worked as Executive Director Transactions specialising in Transactions but across all therapy areas at early stage. Richard obtained his PhD from the University of Glasgow in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry. He has also worked at the Technology Transfer office of the University of Bristol. Richard currently keeps fit with cycling on and off road and loves any water sport but now mainly restricted to warmer climes! Read more about Dr. Richard Taylor

Dr Fagan is a cell and molecular biologist by training, gaining his PhD at McGill University, Canada. This was followed by a postdoctorate at the Imperial Cancer Research Fund, London, and then the National Institute for Medical Research.

Richard left to join AstraZeneca as a team leader in the Department of Target Discovery, then worked for SanofiAventis as a senior team leader. In 2001 he left SanofiAventis and joined Impharmatica as Associate Director Target Discovery and worked very closely with the business development team.

In 2006 he joined UCL Ventures as Assistant Director BioPharm, becoming Director in 2007. Read more about Dr. Rick Fagan

Dr Garcia Gomez joined us in 2018 as an Associate Business Manager. She is now responsible for supporting the BioPharm team on the assessment of market and patentability for technologies arising from UCL academics, as well as being involved in the commercialisation pathway.

Sara covers the UCL Medical School, UCL Cancer Institute, Centre for Clinical Pharmacology, Centre for Rheumatology, Division of Surgery & Interventional Science, UCL GOSH ICH, Institute for Liver & Digestive Health, UCL School of Pharmacy, and Zayed Centre for Research into Rare Disease in Children.

Prior to joining UCL Ventures, she held a position on the translation team at the Francis Crick Institute where she was assisting on IP assessment, set-up of translational projects and mediating industry collaborations. She has extensive experience as a scientist in molecular biology, cancer biology and DNA damage repair.

Sara has a PhD from the Universidad Autonoma de Madrid in biochemistry and molecular biology. Read more about Dr. Sara Garcia Gomez

Shivam supports the Accountant in delivering core financial operations. His role focuses on the Income side of the business, with primary responsibility for the Sales Ledger and Financial Distribution Activities.

He graduated with First Class Honours in BSc Finance and Accounting. He has also gained experience working with HM Revenue & Customs, where he was involved in handling and processing high-profile contracts and associated invoices.

In addition, Shivam has a background in Audit, having completed an internship as an Audit Intern, further strengthening his understanding of financial controls and compliance. Read more about Shivam Kishore

Stephen is currently Executive Director of Strategic Finance at UCL, working in a job share with Jessica Yuille. Together, they lead key financial functions including Financial Planning & Analysis, Finance Business Partnering, Management Accounting, and Investment and Treasury Management.

Prior to this, they headed UCL’s Financial Planning & Analysis Directorate. Before joining UCL in 2022, Stephen and Jessica were Senior Civil Servants at the Department for Work and Pensions, where they held joint leadership roles in Strategic Finance, Governance and Finance Business Partnering. Stephen is a Chartered Management Accountant and a Fellow of CIMA.

Outside of UCL, Stephen serves as a Board Member of B3Living, a housing association managing over 5,000 homes and supporting 12,000 residents across Hertfordshire. He currently chairs the Audit and Risk Committee and is a member – and former chair – of the Treasury Committee. He has also previously served as a Non-Executive Director and Trustee of a Multi-Academy Trust in South London.

In addition to his finance career, Stephen is a BACP-accredited psychotherapist, running a private practice. Earlier in his career, following university, he trained and worked as a professional actor. Read more about Stephen Glover

Tania Zulu Holt is a Senior Partner for McKinsey & Company’s London office with global experience leading diverse teams and delivering transformative impact in the private, public and social sector.

She advises a range of healthcare, pharmaceutical, public sector and social sector institutions on strategy, operations, organisation and culture and is the leader of the European Social Sector Practice.

She has a deep commitment to social impact and is active in several educational groups; serving on the leadership advisory council for the Harvard University Center for African studies and the Vice Chancellor advisory board for the University of Global Health Equity.

Tania holds a MSc in Health Economics/International health policy from the London School of Economics and a BSc in Economics from Copenhagen University. Read more about Tania Holt

Tom is responsible for creating marketing, communications, and PR copy for UCL Ventures and its subsidiary companies. His role includes planning, writing, creating, proofreading, and editing content for UCL Ventures’ website, publications, and case studies. You can find him interviewing some of the brightest minds at UCL and helping shape, write, and produce content across targeted media channels.

Tom has an MA in Journalism, and has edited publications in the events sector. Read more about Tom Hall

Vinh has worked within the IT sector for over 10 years. He holds a BSc in Computer networking from University of Westminster in 2015. Prior to joining UCL Ventures, he worked as a Senior IT Officer for Stonewall Equality Limited. Read more about Vinh Chau

Viviana joined UCL Ventures in 2022 and supports the BioPharm team across life sciences and healthcare research areas, helping manage relationships with UCL departments and NHS partners.