Rick is Professor of Analytical and Clinical Metabolomics at the University of Liverpool. He has spent the last 25 years working in metabolomics from being a technician in Sheffield to his current role in Liverpool. He has a passion for developing chromatography-mass spectrometry untargeted/targeted assays for collection of high quality data and in developing new tools (software) and resources (MS/MS and retention time libraries) for metabolite annotation/identification. He applies these to study health and disease in humans and other mammals. He is passionate about training the next generation of scientists. He is President of the Metabolomics Society and is Reviews Editor for the journal Metabolomics. He was awarded a Honorary Fellowship by the Metabolomics Society in 2020 for his commitment to the society and metabolite annotation.
Suvi Takala is Head of Unit of Chemistry, European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), with over 20 years of experience in regulation of chemicals. At ECHA she has been involved from the early days in setting up the REACH processes, in particular on substance identification. She is currently leading the Chemistry unit that assesses the substance identification information under the REACH, CLP, PIC, POP and Biocides regulations and provides advice on chemistry, including on the analytical methods used for identifying substances.
Before joining ECHA Suvi worked in the Finnish chemical industry on regulatory affairs and product stewardship. She holds a degree in Environmental Science and in Economics and Business Administration.
Dr Sasha Woods has a diverse academic background. She holds a BSc in Natural Sciences from the University of Birmingham, an MSc in Reproductive and Developmental Biology from Imperial College London, and a PhD in Medicine from the University of Bristol. Her postdoctoral research at prestigious institutions further solidified her expertise. She explored Parkinson's Disease at Harvard Medical School (2015-2016) and delved into retinal development and disease at University College London (2016-2019). Since 2016, Sasha has been a dedicated educator, serving as a Teaching Fellow for the Psychology and Neuroscience of Mental Health course and Applied Neuroscience program at King's College London. Recognizing the urgent need to address climate change and biodiversity loss, Sasha transitioned her focus to socio-environmental science. She now leads the Science and Policy team at Earthwatch, where she ensures the organization's work is scientifically rigorous and solution-oriented.
Dr David Megson is currently a Reader in Chemistry and Environmental Forensics at Manchester Metropolitan University (UK). He also works on pollution litigation cases as a Senior Environmental Consultant at Chemistry Matters (Canada).
Dr Megson investigates sources of legacy and emerging persistent organic pollutants and monitors them in the environment using advanced analytical techniques including multidimensional chromatography and high-resolution mass spectrometry. Much of Dr Megson’s research has an environmental forensics aspect which involves identifying the sources of contamination, transport pathways and the magnitude of pollutant exposure. As a recognised international expert in this area Dr Megson regularly contributes to expert witness reports for large (>$100 million) litigation cases involving environmental pollution in North America. His current research group includes 6 PhD students and 2 post-doctoral researchers. He has attracted >£4.5 million of research funding since his appointment as a lecturer in 2016.
Dr Megson is currently Chair of the International Network of Environmental Forensics (INEF) and sits on committees for the Royal Society of Chemistry (ESEC), British Mass Spectrometry Society (EFASIG), Northwest Brownfield Regeneration Forum (NWBRF), British Standards Institution (BSI) and International Organization for Standardization (ISO). He has a H-index of 24, i10 index of 37 and his work has received over 1000 citations. He has organised 10 international conferences, published >60 peer reviewed manuscripts, 4 book chapters and acted as editor for 8 books and journal special issues.
After a 10 year commercial career in the Speciality Chemicals industry, Santi cofounded Mestrelab Research SL in 2004, with an initial focus on processing and analysis of small molecule NMR data, which has then been extended to other analytical techniques and to extensive workflow automation solutions. Since 2022, he is the president of the Integrated Data Solutions division of Bruker, SciY, through the acquisition of Mestrelab by Bruker. SciY, an organization with facilities in 6 countries and a headcount of over 300, is focused on supporting the biopharmaceutical industry readiness for Artificial Intelligence, by focusing on data capture, standardization and preparation. During his career, Santi has cofounded 4 other life science companies (in clinical diagnostics and biotech) and has held Board positions in 7 life science companies and Advisory Board positions in a further 5 and in an Advanced Institute of Organic Chemistry Research (CIQUS, University of Santiago de Compostela). He is also a board member of the Galicia (North Spain) biotechnology cluster.
