Meet the team

  • Dr Owen Jackson

    Personal details

    Director

    What I can help with

    Dr Owen Jackson is Director of the Policy Forum, connecting ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ’s world-class research to the policy debates that matter. Prior to this he was Director of Policy and Public Affairs at Cancer Research UK, the world’s largest independent funder of cancer research. He previously worked in the UK’s Government Office for Science, where he was Deputy Director for Global Issues and Opportunities, responsible for developing science and research policy with the Government Chief Scientific Adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance.

  • George Woodhams

    Personal details

    Policy and Programme Manager (AI)

    What I can help with

    • Policy area: Artificial Intelligence
    • George leads the Forum's AI policy engagement activities. His background is in international affairs, having previously worked   at Chatham House,  in cybersecurity in the Cabinet Office and on UAVs at the UN in Geneva. He joined ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ from Parliament, where he worked for the Defence Committee and established a new capacity-building programme for Select Committee researchers.
  • Dr Craig Whittall

    Personal details

    Policy and Programme Manager (Space, Security and Telecoms)

    What I can help with

    • Policy area: Space, security (inc. cyber), telecoms, biosecurity, defence, quantum, resilience.
    • Craig leads the Forum's engagement programmes across a portfolio including defence, security and resilience. He is the IPF lead for the ' Space, Security and Telecoms ' theme of ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ's School of Convergence Science and sits on the Management Board of ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ's Centre for Quantum Engineering, Science and Technology ( QuEST ). Craig joined ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ after spending five years at The University of Manchester, where he specialised in health policy engagement. Prior to that, he worked with the Liberal Democrats in local government and in the offices of three Liberal Democrat MPs in northern England. He undertook a part-time PhD in political theory and colonial Indian history, awarded by Durham University in 2021.
  • Christina Taylor

    Personal details

    Projects Officer

    What I can help with

    • Courses and Fellowships for policymakers
    • Christina oversees the courses for policymakers at the Policy Forum. Before this, she worked as a Senior Content Editor at the Financial Times, managing global conferences and events in technology and finance. Christina has a degree in Politics and International Relations from the University of Bath, and is currently studying for her MA in Conflict Resolution in Divided Societies at King's.
  • Heather Smith

    Personal details

    Policy and Programme Officer (Energy and Resilience)

    What I can help with

    • Policy area: Energy and resilience
    • Heather joined from the Carbon Trust, where she was a Climate Policy Associate in the Energy Transition team. She previously worked in the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on EU-exit trade policy and COP26 Energy Day, and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on agricultural policy.