Our People

Our team inspiring a sustainable change to the future of healthcare

Leadership

Simon Mangan
Managing Director

Simon Mangan

Managing Director

With over 25 years of experience in the med tech field Simon has a real passion for the transformative potential of the human microbiome. Having held MD, sales & commercial director roles along with global corporate and marketing communications posts Simon is now bringing all of his energy & know how to making microbiome science a central part of personalised health & wellbeing.

Dr. Emma Beamish, PhD FIBMS
Laboratory Director

Dr. Emma Beamish, PhD FIBMS

Laboratory Director

Emma attained a PhD in Biomedical Science from Lancaster University which explored the role of intestinal dysbiosis in local and systemic pathologies. Emma has over 10 years of experience working across the clinical-academic research sector, international standards laboratories and contract research organisations and holds an Honorary Research Fellowship with the University of Liverpool and NHS. Prior to joining Invivo in July 2022, Emma led a team of 139 Scientists in delivering the UK’s National Testing Programme for SARS-CoV-2 at the Alderley Park Lighthouse Laboratory. She brings a wealth of clinical research and testing experience, paired with a love of the microbiome to Invivo. Emma leads Invivo's Bristol-based human microbiome lab and drives the strategy to deliver the best-in-class microbiome profiling for better human health and ecology.

Michael Bucher
Chair of the Board

Michael Bucher

Chair of the Board

With a 28-year career spanning the UK, Europe, and the Far East, Michael is a seasoned business professional. His extensive experience includes a 20-year tenure at investment bank Morgan Stanley, including 7 years as a Managing Director. As the founder of a business performance consultancy and holding various executive and non-executive directorships, he offers a wealth of expertise in performance leadership, customer relations, change management, mentoring, and commercial acumen.

Nick Richards
Nick Richards
Non-Executive Director

Nick Richards

Nick Richards
Non-Executive Director

Nick has been in business for over 30 years at board level, as Commercial Director, Managing Director, Non-Executive Director and Chairman. Nick is a certified GDPR Practitioner, is CIPP/E qualified and has acted as DPO and provided data privacy advice across a number of sectors including healthcare and the charity sector. Nick comes armed with a wealth of experience in business planning, growth, fund-raising, structure/restructure, mergers & integration, acquisitions and company sales, sales and marketing including brand creation and development.

Don Maree
Non-Executive Director

Don Maree

Non-Executive Director

Don founded Invivo in March 2007. With a background in human health and performance, Don was motivated to find the highest quality tools to drive improvement. Invivo has been a leader, shaped by innovation and incredible people. This continues as the company pioneers new frontiers in this exciting and wonderous space.

Faye Ingram
Non-Executive Director

Faye Ingram

Non-Executive Director

As a chartered management accountant, Faye has enjoyed working across several different industries including manufacturing, patient handling and health tech. She has held both CFO and Managing Director positions here at Invivo in the past and is passionate about the company’s values and the fantastic team that drive to make it successful. Alongside her role at Invivo, Faye also has her own start up, is a business mentor and a trustee for a mental health charity.

Management

Belinda Gilbert
New Product Development & Category Manager - Supplements

Belinda Gilbert

New Product Development & Category Manager - Supplements

Belinda studied Food & Nutrition in Australia, then moved to Canada, Bermuda and the UK, where she developed a keen interest in natural and organic products. After a long stint working as a buyer for an organic grocery chain, she joined Invivo in 2017 as the Buying and Compliance Manager. She is currently studying beekeeping and is Invivo's resident sourdough aficionado.

Kath Child
Katharina Child
Business Analyst & Sustainability Lead

Katharina Child

Kath Child
Business Analyst & Sustainability Lead

Kath has a BSc in Forestry from University of Copenhagen and worked most of her professional life in project management in geospacial development and analysis. Kath moved to Stroud in 2011 where she founded a geospatial software consultancy. A personal interest in community and change making, saw her founding a community space focussing on textiles and sustainable living. Kath's first project with Invivo was to facilitate B Corp certification and to understand our environmental and social impact.

Robyn Pulford
Marketing & Communications Manager

Robyn Pulford

Marketing & Communications Manager

Currently on maternity leave.

Originally from South Africa, Robyn relocated to the UK in 2014. With marketing management as her academic background, she has amassed a diverse range of marketing experience across both countries. Throughout her career, she has worked in multiple industries such as telecommunications, exports, interiors, and currently healthcare. Robyn has a specific focus on marketing strategy, analysis, user research and user experience, which she has furthered through recent studies in UX Design.

Tessa
Tessa Hathaway
Finance Manager

Tessa Hathaway

Tessa
Finance Manager

Tessa joined Invivo in April 2019 as the Assistant Finance Manager. Tessa is AAT and Prince 2 qualified.

Naomi Jones
Sales Manager

Naomi Jones

Sales Manager

Naomi is a Nutritional Therapist and joined the Clinical team in 2019. After 20 years managing customer relationships in travel industry and airlines, Naomi enjoys supporting practitioners with understanding how best to use Invivo's testing and therapeutics in their clinical practice to get the best outcomes with their clients. As an NT, Naomi is passionate about helping the physical and mental health of business travellers and travel industry professionals and has always had a keen interest in gut health, which has grown into a love of all microbiomes through her time at Invivo.

Hannah Braye
Clinical Education Team Manager

Hannah Braye

Clinical Education Team Manager

Clinical Education

Debbie Cotton
Head of Clinical Innovation

Debbie Cotton

Head of Clinical Innovation

After previous studies in music and early childhood education, Debbie found her way to naturopathy and completed an Advanced Diploma of Naturopathy, Bachelor of Health Science and a Masters of Integrative Psychotherapy. Debbie has been in clinical practice for over fifteen years, including time in the NHS, and has been a lecturer in health sciences throughout this time too. Debbie joined Invivo in 2018 as a part of the Clinical Education team and the Product Development team.

Emily Blake
Clinical Education Team

Emily Blake

Clinical Education Team

Emily started her career as an archaeologist specialising in prehistoric human nutrition before training as a Nutritional Therapist to translate her enthusiasm for human nutrition into personalised, cutting-edge nutritional and lifestyle medicine. Emily has seven years of clinical experience within the industry from running her own private practice, working within the functional testing and supplement industry, and lecturing in Nutritional Therapy around the country.

Lesley Harper
Clinical Education Team

Lesley Harper

Clinical Education Team

After a previous career as an engineer, Lesley’s own health issues led her to explore nutritional therapy as an option to support her health. Benefiting significantly, Lesley’s interest in the subject was ignited and she made the decision to retrain in order to practice and promote the development of nutritional therapy. Lesley has been providing individual consultations and workshops to various organisations, course tutor and for several years ran nutrition workshops for fitness retreats and has provided sessions for first and second-year medical students. Lesley continues to run a private practice specialising in clients with chronic gut issues.

Ashley Roy
Clinical Education Team

Ashley Roy

Clinical Education Team

Ashley's passion for nutrition and ecology was born through travelling to different cultures, which opened the door to a new way of supporting health and wellness. This led her to retrain as a Nutritional Therapist. Since then, she has continued to run a busy private practice, as well as hosting workshops and retreats centred around nutrition and lifestyle medicine. 

Bethany Horne
Clinical Education Team

Bethany Horne

Clinical Education Team

Laura Milano
Sales Executive

Laura Milano

Sales Executive

Laboratory Team

Mercedes
Mercedes Wright, DipHE
Laboratory Supervisor

Mercedes Wright, DipHE

Mercedes
Laboratory Supervisor

Mercedes attained a level 5 certificate of higher education in Animal Science while studying at the University of the West of England. After her studies she worked for two years as a microbiologist before joining Invivo as a Laboratory Technician. Mercedes focus is DNA and protein extractions alongside ELISAs.

Dr Suzie Forrest, PhD
Senior Research & Development Scientist

Dr Suzie Forrest, PhD

Senior Research & Development Scientist

Suzie has a PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Cambridge. Prior to her doctorate she attained a BSc in Microbiology and spent a year researching neuropharmacology in Barcelona. She has also previously worked as a Healthcare Scientist in microbiology diagnostics for the NHS.

Suzie joined Invivo in July 2021 and is excited to be leading the R&D efforts to develop our testing platforms.

Dr Jonathan Nzakizwanayo, PhD
Associate Senior Scientist

Dr Jonathan Nzakizwanayo, PhD

Associate Senior Scientist

Jonathan has a PhD in Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences from the University of Brighton. Following his PhD, he has held Research fellow positions at the Universities of Brighton and Bath in molecular microbiology and virology. He conducted various research projects and has a strong track record of publications in areas spanning from host-microbe interactions, infection diagnosis and therapy, to microbiome analysis. Jonathan joined Invivo in January 2023 and is excited to bring his academic research experience into translational research restoring human health and ecology through the microbiome.  

Sophie
Sophie Cleaver, MSc
Laboratory Scientist

Sophie Cleaver, MSc

Sophie
Laboratory Scientist

Sophie has a BSc in Biochemistry from Royal Holloway University. Following that she completed a Master by Research there, with research into quantifying antibodies and immunology. Now she works as a Laboratory Scientist at Invivo.

Nicola Hill, MSc
Laboratory Scientist

Nicola Hill, MSc

Laboratory Scientist

Driven by her interest in health and microbiology, Nicola is a multi-tasking, error-solving genius. She lives and thrives in discussions and projects about microbiomes, female health, remedies and food. She completed a Bsc in Biomedical Sciences from University of Reading and a Master's by Research at the University of Bristol, studying the genetics of Parkinson's Disease, sleep and memory.

Alex Xavier
Laboratory Technician

Alex Xavier

Laboratory Technician

Alex is a microbiologist fascinated by the microscopic ecosystem. With a Master's in Infection Biology from the University of Glasgow, he dives into the intricate world of microorganisms, exploring their interactions and dynamics. He is passionate about advancing our understanding of microbiology and its implications for human health. Join him on this journey as you unravel the wonders of the microscopic realm together.

Bethan Dublin
Laboratory Technician

Bethan Dublin

Laboratory Technician

Evelyn Tootill
Laboratory Technician

Evelyn Tootill

Laboratory Technician

Manjinder Gill
Quality Officer

Manjinder Gill

Quality Officer

HQ Team

Sian Elliot
Operations Coordinator

Sian Elliot

Operations Coordinator

Sian has many years of customer service experience across different industries, both in the UK and Zimbabwe, where she is from. Sian is one of the original team and has helped in all departments as the company has grown.

Matt
Matt Howson
Customer Services Lead

Matt Howson

Matt
Customer Services Lead

Rob
Rob Haines
Customer Services

Rob Haines

Rob
Customer Services

Tina Cowan
Customer Services

Tina Cowan

Customer Services

Phoebe Wood
Laboratory Services Administrator

Phoebe Wood

Laboratory Services Administrator

Phoebe joined the Invivo team in April 2022 as a laboratory services administrator. Alongside work, they are studying towards a BSc degree in biology, with the goal of specialising in microbiology at the postgraduate level. In their free time, they enjoy playing chess and studying the piano.

Jack
Jack Fry
Finance Assistant

Jack Fry

Jack
Finance Assistant

Jack completed his bachelor's degree in International Business and spent a Sandwich year in the Netherlands focusing on business ethics and sustainability. His dissertation focused on building trust and reputation in Indian Foreign Exchange markets.

Lisa Wilkinson
Finance Administrator

Lisa Wilkinson

Finance Administrator

George Alder
Marketing Assistant

George Alder

Marketing Assistant

Rebecca Howes
Creative Designer

Rebecca Howes

Creative Designer

Rebecca graduated with a BA in Illustration and has since pursued a career as a Graphic Designer and Illustrator. For the past 6 years, she has sought out sustainable and holistic practitioners to collaborate with, in order to align with her personal values. As a yoga teacher with a keen interest in the microbiome, she is committed to helping people improve their overall well-being. By joining Invivo, she aspires to visually convey the complexities of this subject matter in a simplified and accessible manner, one step at a time.

Angus Perry
Warehouse Operative

Angus Perry

Warehouse Operative

Scientific Advisory

Dr Tim Mak
Dr Tim Mak
PhD

Dr Tim Mak

Dr Tim Mak
PhD

Dr Tim Mak is a medical microbiologist who completed post-doctoral research at the University of Cambridge, working on the gut microbiota and epigenomics in paediatric gastrointestinal health and disease. He was also a visiting scientist at the Sanger Institute before working as a Senior Scientist in Janssen, a J&J company, where he led and managed projects on oncology, microbiome, and vaccinology. He has 10 years' international experience in pharmaceutical industry drug discovery while also acting as an advisor for venture capitals and biotech start-ups.

Dr David Moyes
Dr David Moyes
PhD

Dr David Moyes

Dr David Moyes
PhD

Dr David Moyes gained his PhD from Imperial College London before working at the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology investigating the link between microbes and rheumatoid arthritis. At King's College, he was part of a team that identified the central mechanisms by which epithelial cells discriminate between commensal and invasive forms of Candida albicans. The Moyes lab at King's College London studies the interactions between the human host and the microbiota that reside at the different mucosal surfaces, including the bacteria, fungi, and viruses. David is also a lecturer in host-microbiome in the Centre for Host-Microbiome interactions.

Dr Angela Nobbs
Dr Angela Nobbs
PhD

Dr Angela Nobbs

Dr Angela Nobbs
PhD

Dr Javier Ochoa Reparaz
Dr Javier Ochoa Reparaz
PhD

Dr Javier Ochoa Reparaz

Dr Javier Ochoa Reparaz
PhD

Dr Javier Ochoa-Reparaz is an Assistant Professor at Eastern Washington University. His research is focussed on host-microbial gut interactions and mechanisms of immunomodulation associated with protection against CNS inflammatory demyelination, with a particular focus on the impact of gut microbes regulating disease. Javier obtained his BSc and PhD in Cellular and Molecular Biology at the University of Navarra in Spain. He received postdoctoral training at Montana State University and at Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth College. Javier has industry experience as a senior scientist with a focus on neuroimmunology and drug development.

Clinical Advisory

Leah Hechtman
PhD (Candidate), MSciMed (RHHG), BHSc(Nat), FNHAA

Leah Hechtman

PhD (Candidate), MSciMed (RHHG), BHSc(Nat), FNHAA

Leah is an experienced and respected clinician and has been in private practice for over 20 years. She specialises in fertility, pregnancy and reproductive medicine and holds fellowships and memberships with many International organisations. She sits on multiple Scientific Advisory boards and is a Past President of the NHAA.

She has completed extensive advanced training and is currently completing her PhD through the School of Women’s and Children’s Health (Faculty of Medicine [UNSW]). Her research is exploring ovarian biomarkers in women with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) and Premature Ovarian Failure (POF).

Leah is the Director of The Natural Health and Fertility Centre, in Sydney Australia. Over the years she has helped thousands of couples conceive healthy, vibrant children often in situations where they were told there was no hope left.

She is a keynote speaker at conferences locally and internationally to both the functional and complementary medicine communities as well as the wider fertility and gynaecological areas of medicine. She is the author of multiple seminal naturopathic textbooks and is a contributor to journals and other texts within the Naturopathic and Functional Medicine areas as well as general gynaecology, fertility and infertility.

Most importantly, she is a mother to two gorgeous boys who keep her grounded, humbled and consciously aware.

Moira Bradfield
Moira Bradfield
PhD (Candidate), M ACU, B NAT

Moira Bradfield

Moira Bradfield
PhD (Candidate), M ACU, B NAT

Moira is a PhD Candidate at Griffith University in the area of the vaginal microbiome and recurrent vaginal infections. Moira also holds a Bachelor of Naturopathy from Southern Cross University and a Master’s degree in Acupuncture from Southern Cross University. She has over 18 years of clinical experience as a Naturopath, Acupuncturist and educator. During this time she has developed specific interest and expertise in the treatment and assessment of recurrent vaginal infections, optimal vaginal and genitourinary health as well as hormones and the vaginal microbiome. She is the founder of Intimate Ecology clinical and education services.

Dr George Tzortzis
PhD (Microbiology & Glycobiology)

Dr George Tzortzis

PhD (Microbiology & Glycobiology)

Dr George Tzortzis completed his PhD in gut microbiology and glycobiology at Reading University in 2003. Since then George has been both Director of R&D and CSO at Clasado Biosciences, developing a 17-year track record of successful strategic and tactical leadership within the biotech industry. He has a consistent track record of successfully handling all complexities pertaining to therapeutic discovery, pre-clinical and clinical studies, and international regulatory compliance; while holding nine patents in the area of gut microbiota/microbiome and health.

Dr Andrea Monteagudo
PhD (Microbiology)

Dr Andrea Monteagudo

PhD (Microbiology)

Dr Andrea Monteagudo completed her microbiology PhD at the University of Leon. Andrea’s primary research has focused on the evaluation of the potential probiotic of lactic acid bacteria strains. She has also assessed several intrinsic characteristics of different strains of probiotics, including, gastric and bile tolerance, antimicrobial activity, adhesion ability to intestinal cells. Before joining Reading University, she was a post-doctoral researcher, with Dr Andrea Azcarate at the Microbiome Core Facility. Currently, she is a post-doctoral researcher investigating the influence of iron in modulating the composition and metabolism of the microbiota.

Dr Victoria Sampson
BDS U(Lon), MFDS, RCS Ed

Dr Victoria Sampson

BDS U(Lon), MFDS, RCS Ed

Dr Victoria Sampson obtained her Bachelor in Dental Surgery from Barts and the London. She is now known for her work in developing salivary diagnostics, microbiome testing and incorporating artificial intelligence into everyday care. Her work has been acknowledged worldwide resulting in her becoming a scientific advisor, board member and clinical lead of multiple dental companies globally. She also has a postgraduate Diploma in Periodontology.

Victoria has been at the forefront of change in dentistry, by undertaking research projects in multiple fields of dentistry and taking a special interest in the relationship between the mouth and the body. She has published numerous papers both in the UK and internationally, with her most recent publication in the British Dental Journal being the most cited and viewed article ever published. Most recently, Victoria was shortlisted as one of the most promising young scientists in Europe for the Forbes 30 under 30 in Science and Healthcare 2022 for her efforts and devotion to healthcare. She is the first dentist to ever shortlist for Forbes.

In both 2021 and 2022, Victoria was also recognized for her achievements, as one of the finalists for the award for Best Young Dentist in England by the Private Dentistry Awards as well as winning the Best Young Dentist Award by the British Endodontic Society. She has also won national prizes from the British Society of Dental Maxillofacial Radiology and the Association of British Academic Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons for her research. Victoria is one of the founders of the The Health Society in Mayfair, London; the first multidisciplinary health centre where she practices functional and precision dentistry as well as heading clinical research trials from.