Dr Sally Nicholas

Dr Sally Nicholas (PhD, MBA) is Head of Health Systems and Environment at the Wellcome Trust and currently leads a team which seeks to strengthen health systems and increase access to medicines globally. Sally's team also focuses on research to elucidate the link between global heating and enteric and vector-borne diseases.

In her previous role, Dr Nicholas designed and led one of Wellcome's flagship initiatives, deploying £20 million per year to reduce the burden of enteric and diarrhoeal disease in low- and middle-income countries by accelerating vaccine and monoclonal antibody development. Dr Nicholas additionally led the Innovator Award funding program, supporting early-stage translational projects to develop small molecule drugs, biologics, vaccines and diagnostics across a range of disease areas.

Prior to joining Wellcome, Dr Nicholas spent several years in the technology transfer sector, successfully commercialising a number of early-stage technologies. She holds a PhD in Immunology and a Master's in Business Administration (MBA).