Ben Williams
Associate Consultant
Ben has been working with health data for over 20 years, including building data infrastructure, designing measurement frameworks, developing forecast models, reporting and visualisation. He has also led mixed methods evaluations in clinical areas including ambient AI, maternity, respiratory and cardiovascular across secondary, primary, mental health and social care settings. In his spare time, Ben enjoys walking Max (12-year-old Westie) on Ashdown Forest and is studying for MSc in Health Informatics.
Conor Briant
Principal Consultant
After acquiring an MRes in Economics, Conor moved into the healthcare industry with a passion for supporting quality improvement and addressing inequalities through data. Conor’s experience in healthcare centres around the AHSN Network’s national programmes, health tech evaluations, and population health. Conor is, sadly, an Arsenal fan but looks to his cat and his cocker spaniel to pick him up after matches.
David Clayton-Smith
Board Advisor (Meeting Chair)
David is Board Advisor (Meeting Chair) at Unity Insights, and working across several organisations, supporting collaboration between NHS, academic and commercial partners to drive innovation and economic growth. He has extensive NHS leadership experience, including joint Chair at Dorset County Hospital and Dorset HealthCare, previously Chair of East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust and Independent Chair of Improving Healthcare Together. His earlier career spans 25 years in senior commercial roles and multiple board positions across retail, media and start-ups, alongside non‑executive and trustee roles in the public, housing and not‑for‑profit sectors.
Fay Maddock
Consultant
Fay joined the team in November 2021 after graduating with an MSc in Psychological Research. Previously, she has completed an internship in collaboration with Bangor University and Oxford University to examine an NIHR-funded antibullying RCT trial with primary school pupils. Fay currently leads on several projects, with her skills primarily lying in quantitative and qualitative analysis and reporting. Outside of work, Fay enjoys running and going to concerts.
Dr Fiona Craig
Non-Executive Director
Fiona has extensive international experience in pharmaceutical and biotech development across both SMEs and global companies. She has led interdisciplinary partnerships, supported product registration and commercialisation, and contributed to intellectual property strategy and due diligence for acquisitions. She also brings significant healthcare change management experience, including national contract management for the Independent Sector Treatment Centre programme at the UK Department of Health and senior leadership roles across commissioning, organisational development and turnaround.
Ian Mylon
Chief Operating Officer
With a background in the private and public sectors and nearing 20 years’ experience in analytical and leadership roles, Ian has a breadth of knowledge that has been transferrable across industries. His remit includes operational delivery, finance, and reporting, and he can talk for hours on creative dashboard design. When he’s not at work, you can often find Ian enjoying some live sport or music; he watches both better than he plays.
Marie-Anne Demestihas
Chief Services Officer
Marie-Anne oversees the development and delivery of specialised portfolios of research, evaluation, and analytics services. She has an interest in the human factor of data-driven solutions in healthcare, and embedding social determinants of health and behavioural approaches to care models. When unable to travel to her home countries, either lounging on a Greek beach or sipping French wine, she tries to escape Cambridge’s grey weather by running and meditating.
Nick Birch
Data Protection Officer
After 22 years working in senior management across Health Authorities, acute hospital trusts, and PCTs, Nick’s final NHS post was as Director of Information Security at Sussex Health Informatics. During his NHS career, Nick gained experience across a range of disciplines, including information management, programme management, and web development, before going on to set up Exigia Ltd. Now, Nick supports Unity Insights in working with stakeholders that have complex information governance requirements, informing the design of data processing and data sharing approaches that seek to minimise risk and ensure alignment with principles of data protection by design and by default.
Peter Aldridge
Consultant
Prior to joining in 2018, Peter worked in financial services, supporting product and process development, quality improvement, and regulatory change. He has undertaken several evaluations, with particular focus on regional stroke services and digital transformation. Peter has also led on activity modelling work using system dynamics techniques, while using his prior experience to support the company’s data protection and information governance processes. In his spare time, Peter enjoys playing the guitar, while trying to get to as many gigs or football and rugby games as he can.
Richard Lee-Wright
Chief Executive Officer
Having worked previously in the private sector, Richard moved to the NHS in 2011, where his experience largely centres on large scale commissioning and transformational change. His focus has always been around utilising analytics and improvement science to demonstrate impact and value. Outside of work, Richard loves playing sports/games, and generally dancing through life.
Sage Bannister
Principal Consultant
After obtaining a BSc in Neuroscience, Sage joined the team in 2019. She has developed a keen interest in understanding health and behavioural economics, and human factors engineering. Sage is particularly interested in projects evaluating AI technologies that are intended for diagnosis, and projects that are clinically focused. Her weekends are spent touring the country for touch rugby tournaments, having joined a team earlier this year.
Tom Myers
Principal Consultant
Tom has been part of the team since 2017, having graduated with a degree in Forensic Science. He has a breath of skills and experience across the NHS innovation landscape; primarily focussing on demonstrating the Health Innovation Network’s local and national impact with patient outcome, workforce. and health economic perspectives. Outside of work, Tom can usually be found starting his day a little earlier than planned, thanks to his very vocal cat, Monty.