About
Ray is a senior manager supporting research in the area of emerging and endemic infectious diseases of pandemic potential, and facilitating knowledge exchange with industry. In August 2022 he became Chief Operating Officer at The Pandemic Institute (hosted by The University of Liverpool), following six years as Director of Research and Innovation Services at The Royal Veterinary College (RVC), University of London.
Ray has a track record in driving impact at local, regional, national and international level through large-scale translational research programmes and new scientific infrastructures. While at RVC, Ray authored a successful bid to BEIS for a Science and Innovation Audit of London's Knowledge Quarter (2019). Between 2018 and 2021 he won a total of £6.9 million from Research England and >£1 million from industry for 'The Bloomsbury SET', a multi-disciplinary consortium led by RVC, to combat infectious disease and antimicrobial resistance. In the same period Ray secured £9.2 million for RVC from bids to the BEIS Single Local Growth Fund, to co-fund new centres in Veterinary Vaccinology and Regenerative Medicine (2018-22), and Translational Research and Clinical Imaging (2019-23), respectively.
Ray has contributed to science policy-making at national level through contributions to ARMA, Jisc, PraxisAuril and Vitae; through interactions with Research England and the government's Cities and Local Growth Unit; as a member of London's Knowledge Quarter; and in supporting Local Enterprise Partnerships in developing Local Industrial Strategies for Hertfordshire, and Leicester and Leicestershire, respectively.