Executive Board

Professor Kent Woods qualified in medicine from Cambridge in 1972, followed by higher clinical training in Birmingham and epidemiological training at Harvard School of Public Health. In 1984 he was appointed Senior Lecturer in Clinical Pharmacology at Leicester University, where he now holds a personal chair in therapeutics. His clinical and research interests have been in coronary heart disease. He was Regional Director of R&D, NHS Executive Trent, from 1995-1999 before becoming Director of the NHS Health Technology Assessment programme. Kent took up the post of Chief Executive at the MHRA in January 2004.

Clive Bray joined the MDA (Medical Devices Agency) in 1981 after working in the NHS. He initially worked in the pharmaceutical technology area and later with life support devices. Since 1994 he co-ordinated safety and technical issues across the entire range of medical devices, and was appointed to the post of Director, Device Technology and Safety in December 2000.

He has chaired a number of European and UK committees responsible for the development of safety standards for medical devices, as well as representing the Agency on external committees involved in improving the safety of medical device technology.

Peter Commins took up the post of Chief Operating Officer on 29 August 2006.  Peter joined the MHRA from the Royal Free teaching hospital where he was Finance Director for four years. Prior to this he held positions as Finance Director of two health authorities and an executive agency. He has also been a Non Executive Director and Audit Committee Chairman of Harrow Primary Care Trust.

Alison Davis  took up the post of Director of the Information Management Division of the MHRA in January 2006.  She graduated in chemistry and initially worked as a pharmaceutical research chemist before moving into the IT field in 1986.  Since then, Alison has held a variety of IT posts with Glaxo, DuPont and DuPont Pharmaceuticals.  For the past four years she has been based in Paris, as Director of IM for the Europe, Middle East and Africa region of Bristol-Myers Squibb’s Worldwide Medicines Division.

Shaun Gallagher took up the post of Director of Policy in November 2005. He joined the Department of Health in 1993, and has worked in a wide variety of policy and management posts. These have included working as Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Health, a period of secondment to an NHS Trust, and acting as head of policy teams working on aspects of health and social care policy. His most recent post in the Department was as Head of the Chief Executive's Office, and immediately before that spent three years as Head of Industry Policy, responsible for the Government's relations with the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries.

Simon Gregor took up post as Director of Communications in January 2005. A graduate in English, he took his first job in public relations at accountancy and consultancy firm, Grant Thornton, before moving into healthcare communications at the Royal Free Hospital and Medical School in North London. From there he moved to the Public Health Laboratory Service, the national agency responsible for the monitoring and control of infectious diseases, where he ultimately headed up the communications team. Immediately prior to joining the MHRA, Simon was Director of Communications and External Relations for the National Clinical Assessment Authority which helps the NHS manage performance concerns in doctors and dentists. Simon is an associate member of the Institute of Public Relations, and has particular interests in reputation and branding, change management, risk communication and crisis management.

Gerald Heddell took up the post as Director of the Inspection & Standards (I&S) Division on 4 January 2005.

Gerald is a microbiologist who is a Chartered Biologist and a member of the Institute of Biology and the Royal Society of Chemistry. Since leaving the NHS in 1978, he has worked in a succession of progressively senior roles in manufacturing and quality assurance for The Wellcome Foundation, Glaxo Wellcome and GlaxoSmithKline. Gerald has experience in most aspects of pharmaceutical manufacture and control, with a particular interest in sterile products.

Dr Ian Hudson is a physician who has practiced as a paediatrician for a number of years. He was formerly a research fellow at the University of Glasgow. He joined SmithKline Beecham in 1989 where he held various appointments in clinical research and development. He joined the MCA (Medicines Control Agency) in January 2001 as Director of the Licensing Division. He is the CHMP (Committee for Human Medicinal Products) delegate for the UK.

Geoff Le Fevre joined the MCA (Medicines Control Agency) in March 2002 as Head of Human Resources and was appointed to the role of Director of Human Resources in April 2004. A qualified human resources practitioner, he is a Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and a Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute. Geoff has wide ranging human resource and personnel management experience gained in the public and private sectors and his previous employers include Police Information Technology Organisation, Gold Group International Limited, English Heritage and Sealink.

Dr Susanne Ludgate joined the MDA (Medical Devices Agency) in 1991 and was appointed Medical Director in 1993. She was previously a Consultant Radiation Oncologist in Edinburgh and Westmeed Hospital in Sydney. She has published extensively on the Medical Devices Regulations and the reporting and handling of device-related adverse events. She is a member of the Advisory Committee on Topic Selection for NICE, a member of the HTA Diagnostic Technologies and Screening Panel and a member of the NICE Advisory Committee on Interventional Procedures.

As part of the MHRA structure Susanne now holds the position of Devices Clinical Director.

Dr June Raine qualified in medicine at Oxford University, and undertook postgraduate research leading to an MSc in pharmacology. After general medical posts and MRCP, she joined the then Medicines Division in 1985, and has worked in several licensing areas including the Review of Medicines, new drugs and abridged. From 1992 she has acted as Principal Assessor to Medicines Commission.

Since 1994, when the Post Licensing Division was formed, she has had responsibility for variations, renewals, change of legal status, patient information and advertising. In October 1998, she took on the leadership of the Division, following the death of its first Director, Dr Susan Wood. She was formally appointed Director in June 1999.