Robin Fears

Dr Robin Fears has 29 years experience in the pharmaceutical industry in the UK in R&D. The first 20 years were focused on cardiovascular disease and neurosciences, from discovery through to marketed product. The final 9 years of this industry experience was occupied in setting up and leading a policy group for R&D in Europe. While in industry, he served on committees advising UK and EU trade associations, UK government, Research Councils, university groups and the European Commission and he was Honorary Senior Fellow at the School of Public Policy, University College London. Since leaving the UK pharmaceutical sector, he has worked as advisor to various bodies including academies, universities, businesses and parliamentary groups on issues relating to biomedical science and innovation within the European policy environment. He has provided biosciences support to EASAC since 2002. His activities in the EASAC Biosciences Programme have included projects on health, plant breeding, plant health and emerging technologies (such as synthetic biology, genome editing). A report published by EASAC in 2019 focused on climate change and health, discussing risks in Europe, particularly in the near future and the opportunities for adaptation and mitigation. This work has continued as a global project by the InterAcademy Partnership with participation by regional working groups in Africa, Asia and the Americas.