Jonathan Milner

Chairman

2025 - Current

Chairman

2024

Chairing the Board of Directors

Co Founder

2016

The Consortium will initially operate from the Wellcome Trust/Cancer Research UK Gurdon Institute, but will move into the Milner Institute in early 2018. The Milner Therapeutics Institute One of the major aims of the Institute will be to help understand how drugs work and to push forward new ideas and technologies to improve the development of novel therapies. A major, but not exclusive, focus of the Institute will be cancer. It is envisaged that the Milner Institute will be equipped with core facilities, such as high-throughput screening of small molecules against cell lines, organoids (‘mini organs’) and tumour biopsies, as well as bioinformatics support to help scientists deal with large datasets. Its facilities will be available to researchers working on collaborative projects within the Therapeutics Consortium and, capacity permitting, to other scientists and clinicians within the Cambridge community. In addition, the Milner Institute will have space for senior and junior scientists to set up independent research groups. There will also be associated faculty positions, which will be taken up by scientists in different departments, whose research and expertise will benefit from a close association with the Milner Institute. The Milner Institute will be housed within the new Capella building, alongside the relocated Wellcome Trust/MRC Cambridge Stem Cell Institute, a new Centre for Blood & Leukaemia Research, and a new Centre for Immunology & Immunotherapeutics. Jonathan Milner, whose donation has made the Milner Therapeutics Institute possible, is a former member of Tony Kouzarides’ research group and experienced entrepreneur. - See more at: https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/cambridge-researchers-and-pharma-in-innovative-new-consortium-to-develop-and-study-early-stage-drugs#sthash.gko3rT1x.dpuf

Co Founder

2015

The University of Bath has founded the Milner Centre for Evolution, a unique cross-faculty research centre bridging biology, health and education. Core objectives of the new Centre 1. Asking the big evolutionary questions Evolutionary biology underpins the whole of the Life Sciences. Through the new centre, we aim to understand how and why species change over time. We will develop our understanding of what it means to be human by addressing broad evolutionary questions, such as: Why do we have about the same number of genes as a worm but many fewer than rice? Given our modest number of genes, why do we have such a large amount of DNA? Can we predict which species are likely to survive a mass extinction? 2. Finding new technological and clinical research applications Applied evolutionary research focuses on developing tools to tackle real-life challenges, like tracking bacterial disease epidemics in real time and improving agriculturally important animals and plants. The ability to respond to urgent questions has never been more important than in our rapidly changing environmental climate. By better understanding evolution, we can make more informed decisions and use research to guide policy; for example, around optimised use of antibiotics or improved nutritional advice. 3. Taking evolutionary research into the community Evolutionary biology has a unique and popular appeal and touches upon issues of philosophical and imaginative interest. It tells the story of our own origins and offers a window into humanity's future. Our aim is to provide world-leading public communication of evolutionary science. We will work directly with schools to improve evolution teaching and will actively engage in the public debate on evolutionary issues.

Investor

2018

LIfT BioSciences is a socially-minded Biotech start-up developing The World's First Cell Bank of Cancer Killing Neutrophils (a type of white blood cell) to destroy all solid tumours, irrespective of strain or mutation. The Cell Bank will enable us to provide a range of potentially life-saving immuno-oncology cell therapies for different solid tumour types. Our innate immunity platform is known as Neutrophil only Leukocyte Infusion Therapy (N-LIfT), a first-in-class patented cell therapy. N-LIfT is produced ex-vivo and benefits from being more scalable with potentially better and more consistent efficacy and safety than other forms of leukocyte infusion

Investor

2018

SolasCure’s mission is to support healthcare professionals with wound care products that significantly improve the health and wellbeing of patients with chronic wounds.

Investor

2017

Gelmetix Ltd, Manchester, UK, is introducing a novel, non-surgical procedure for the treatment of Chronic Lower Back Pain (CLBP) caused by Degenerative Disc Disease (DDD). Gelmetix, originating from the University of Manchester, develops a novel approach which addresses DDD at an early stage before the onset of irreversible disc degeneration of both the nucleus pulposus and annulus fibrosis material.

Lead Investor

2017

More than 170 million people in the world are living with neurodegenerative diseases or coronary heart disease. As our society ages, this number will double during the next 20 years. Despite two decades of intensive research, no drugs have been approved that can reverse the symptoms of these diseases. Recent discoveries by several academic research teams have highlighted the role of the cellular energy system in age-related diseases. A common finding is the detection of an increased level of mutations in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). When this damage rises above a critical threshold, mitochondria are no longer able to provide sufficient energy to sustain the normal healthy functioning of the cell. Mitochondrial gene shifting – reversing the progression of mtDNA damage – represents a new therapeutic opportunity. Shift Bioscience is a UK biotechnology firm that is creating new drug targets and diagnostic tools to enhance healthy lifespan through the repair of mitochondrial genes.

Lead Investor

2017

Psyomics aims to deliver better outcomes in mental health through prevention, early diagnosis and personalised intervention. Prevention – Digital solutions to empower individuals to take the right positive action to improve their own mental health and wellbeing. Diagnosis – Developing proteomic diagnostics to improve early diagnosis and treatment outcomes for those with neuropsychiatric disorders including depression and bipolar disorder. Discovery tools – Providing digital and biological patient stratification tools to support clinical trials for new psychiatric treatments.

Non Executive Director

2015

PhoreMost is a new-model drug discovery company based in Cambridge, UK: Using its core expertise to open up new ‘druggable’ target space and working with a global network of co-invested academic and industrial collaboration partners, we aim to bring a wide array of novel ‘targeted’ therapies more efficiently to market and pass these cost savings onto patients.