For Thought 2022

Evie Aspinall is a Senior Researcher at the British Foreign Policy Group where she leads research on public opinion on UK foreign policy, climate change and transatlantic relations.

Jane Burston is Clean Air Fund’s founding Executive Director. Jane was featured by WIRED as one of their changemakers of tomorrow and was named as a ‘Young Global Leader’ of the World Economic Forum and a social entrepreneur of the year in the UK.

Ritu Dhand was appointed Chief Scientific Officer, Springer Nature in January 2022. In this role, she is responsible for championing, promoting and driving editorial excellence across the Springer Journals Portfolio.

Elected to Parliament in 2010 after a 15 year career in the Cambridge cluster founding high-growth technology companies, George has served in the last three Governments. He is currently serving as Minister of State for Science, Technology and Innovation at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

Rosa Furneaux is a global health reporter at the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, specialising in access to healthcare. She received the Amnesty International Gaby Rado New Journalist Award for her coverage of COVID-19 vaccine inequity.

Andrew George is an immunologist with a history of developing research ethics. He was Chair of the National Research Ethics Advisors’ Panel and is now on the Board of the Health Research Authority and co-Chair of the UK Committee on Research Integrity.

Professor Dame Anne Johnson became President of the Academy of Medical Sciences in December 2020. Dame Anne has had a distinguished career in epidemiology and public health, focusing on topics including HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted infections, influenza and diagnostics for infectious diseases.

Baroness Beeban Kidron OBE is the Founder and Chair of 5Rights. She is a Crossbench member of the House of Lords and sits on the Democracy and Digital Technologies Committee. She is a Commissioner for UNESCO's Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development.

Nicola Millard is Principal Innovation Partner at BT. Nicola has been involved with some BT firsts, including the first application of AI into BT’s call centres and initial experiments with home working.

Chris Stark is Chief Executive of the Climate Change Committee, the UK’s statutory climate advisers. Chris led the Committee’s work to recommend a ‘Net Zero’ target for the UK, the world’s first legislated Net Zero target.

Jamie Susskind is the author of The Digital Republic: On Freedom and Democracy in the 21st Century and the award-winning bestseller Future Politics: Living Together in a World Transformed by Tech, an Evening Standard and Prospect Book of the Year.

Sir Mark Walport is Chair of Imperial College Health Partners, taking up the role in January 2022. Sir Mark has previously worked in leadership roles in North West London. He also previously worked as the Government’s former Chief Scientific Adviser.

Devyani Vaishampayan is an experienced Independent Non-Executive Director. She is Audit Chair at Norman Broadbent Plc and on the REMCO Committee at The England & Wales Law Society & The British Quality Foundation.

Lord David Willetts is currently Chair of the UK Space Agency. He is a life peer and was previously Minister for Universities and Science. He is a former Chair of the British Science Association and is co-Chair of For Thought.

Samira Ahmed is a British journalist, writer and broadcaster. Samira has presented Radio 4's PM, The World Tonight and Front Row. She has also fronted the Proms for BBC Four.