Our Management Team

Pro-Cure has recently strengthened its Board and management and now has a very strong management team in place with a wide mix of experience and skills ranging across leadership, general management, cancer and molecular biology, pharmacology, chemistry, account management and finance.

Brian Greenwood (Executive Chairman)
Brian became Chairman of Pro-Cure in 2007 and has a wide business experience in both the Private and Public sectors. He is also currently Chairman of the York Central Board, a Member of Council and Court at the University of York, a Board Member of the University Management School, a Board Member of the National Railway Museum and has a diverse range of current interests.

He has had a lifetime experience managing people and technology at BT plc as UK Director of Operations and as Non Executive Regional Director and Chairman of the Board for Yorkshire and the Humber. He was a Director of the former YHDA and a founder member of the Board of Yorkshire Forward, serving three terms of appointment and Chairing its Audit Committee for six years. He has also been a member of the Board of the Learning and Skills Council for North Yorkshire, the University of York Businesses Committee and a Director of the LNT Group. He was a member of the CBI Regional Council from 1992 to 2005 and has been a member of the Chartered Management Institute since 1979.

Dr John Knights (CEO)
John has a PhD in Chemistry from the University of Birmingham where he worked on organic fluorine compounds. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants and is an experienced financial/commercial professional who in a career spanning 33 years in the telecommunications industry held a series of senior positions in British Telecommunications plc including the Finance Director roles for a range of significant business units encompassing what are now O2 and Yell. He was also Chairman and CEO of Argensys Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of BT Group providing a range of billing outsourcing and e-payment services. He was appointed CEO of Pro-Cure in 2007.

Professor Norman Maitland (CSO)
Norman is currently the YCR Professor of Molecular Biology and Director of the YCR Cancer Research Unit at the University of York (since 1991). The Unit is housed (since 2002) in state of the art facilities within the Biology Centre, a 5A rated department, and currently contains more than 20 staff with an annual income of more than £1 million from a variety of national and international sources. He a member of the MRC College of Experts, the CRUK Project Grants Panel, The YCR Scientific Advisory Board and numerous advisory boards for smaller cancer Charities, including the Orchid Trust in Bart’s Hospital (chair) and the Prostate Cancer Charity.

He also sits on a number of editorial boards and is a frequent reviewer of papers and grants, both nationally and internationally. The York laboratory is a member of the Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre, based at the University of Leeds, with special responsibilities to bring gene-based therapies into the clinic for prostate cancer. He is past Co-ordinator of a successful FP5 gene therapy network for prostate cancer (PIG), and is coordinator of a new 9.7M euro FP6 program for new prostate cancer therapies (GIANT). He is on the management boards of both the NCRI Northern Collaborative for Prostate Cancer (£5m) and a further 3 FP6 programs in prostate cancer (PRIMA with 8.9m euro) and gene therapy (BACULOGENES with 2.5m euro). He is the past chairman of the British Prostate Group, and is the current Chairman of the European Society for Basic Urological Research.

He has published more than 120 refereed papers and many reviews on both virology and cancer biology and has organised several international and national conferences on prostate cancer, acting as meeting and session chairman. He has also presented plenary lectures and has taken part in scientific trade missions to many countries, including the USA and Japan.

Norman founded Pro-Cure in 2001, gaining the initial investment from the White Rose Fund, while making a personal investment in the company.

Professor Tony Robards, O.B.E., Ph.D., D.Sc., F.I.Biol. (Non-Executive Director)
Tony was educated at The Skinners’ School, Tunbridge Wells, and University College London where he took first and higher degrees in Biology. He was appointed to the University of York in 1966 and has published over 130 scientific papers and books in pure and applied biological research for which he was awarded a D.Sc. by the University of London and a Personal Chair at the University of York. He has been President of the Royal Microscopical Society and now holds the HSBC Chair of Innovation at the University of York after a period of eight years as Pro-Vice-Chancellor for External Relations.

Throughout his career, Tony has shown commitment to an increasingly commercial university environment, and he is now involved in a wide range of external business activities. He has been President of the York and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce and a Non-Executive Director of a number of public and private sector organisations and businesses including Business Link York and North Yorkshire, York Professional Initiative Ltd, Venturefest Yorkshire Ltd, York Science Park Ltd., York Science Park (Innovation Centre) Ltd, YorkTest Group Ltd, and Avacta Group plc. Tony is currently also Chairman of The Captain James Cook RN (Charity Trust) Whitby Ltd and a Trustee of Yorkshire Cancer Research.

As a co-founder, Tony remains heavily involved with the nationally-acclaimed Science City York initiative in which relevant local organisations, including the University of York and the City of York Council, are working together to provide a strong national and international focus for the development of knowledge and technology-based companies.

Tony was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List, 2002, for “Services to Higher Education” arising from his work to link the University with the local business community; in November 2003 he received the first ever ‘Lifetime Achievement Award” at the Yorkshire Evening Press Business Awards ceremony. His leisure interests include music, sailing, horology and photography.

Dr Rukmal Abeysekera (Company Secretary)
Rukmal is the Operations Manager for the Enterprise & Innovation Office at University of York. She has a M.Sc. degree in Cell & Molecular Biology from the University of Auckland and a doctoral degree in Biology from Dalhousie University. She carried out postdoctoral research both in Canada and in York before becoming the Manager of the Macromolecules Unit at the Department of Biology at York.

Rukmal obtained a Diploma in Management Studies at York and became the General Manager for Bioincubator York Ltd. in 2003. In 2004, she was appointed the Acting Commercial Manager and in 2005 the Operations Manager for the Enterprise & Innovation Office at University of York. Rukmal has provided operational support for Pro-Cure Therapeutics Ltd. since 2003 and was appointed Company Secretary in May 2007.

Dr Deborah Carter (Account Director)
Deborah is an expert on technology transfer with a broad range of experience in Life Sciences. She has a wealth of experience of negotiating, drafting and closing licensing deals and collaborative agreements with both large and small Pharma and Biotech companies. She also has extensive experience of managing worldwide patent portfolios, developing patent strategies and carrying out due diligence prior to fund-raising.

Previously Deborah was an Associate Director at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research where, in addition to managing a large and varied patent portfolio and negotiating many licences and collaborative agreements, she was responsible for setting up the Institute’s first two spin out companies, PIramed and Lymphatix.

Deborah has a first class honours degree and a PhD in Pharmacology from Kings College London and an MSc in the Management of Intellectual Property from Queen Mary Westfield College. Deborah joined Pro-Cure in June 2007.

Mr Michael Slade (Finance Director)
Michael is a Chartered Accountant who qualified with Peat Marwick Mitchell (now KPMG) in 1986. His work experience covers both the private and public sectors as follows:

1986 – 1988 Rowntree plc, Group Internal Audit
1988 – 1990 Farnell Electronics plc
1990 – 1995 FB Humberclyde Group
1995 – 1996 HM Prison Service
1996 – date University of York