What

if

our team
could change
the game?

Russ Tucker

Co-Founder
(aka The Hog Father)

Russ holds a PhD in Biomedical Engineering from Oxford University. His grandparents on both sides were in the meat trade, owning their own butchery shops or livestock farms. Russ previously worked as a management consultant and commercial advisor to supermarkets at The Boston Consulting Group, where he first had the idea for Ivy Farm. 

When he’s not at Ivy Farm, you’ll find Russ walking in the Oxford countryside with his Great Dane, Dauntless, who is also the unofficial Chief Tasting Officer at Ivy Farm. 

Rich Dillon

CEO
(aka The Hog Whisperer)

Rich is a commercial leader with a history in building successful brands. First at Proctor & Gamble, both in the UK and the US, later at Red Bull, and more recently in the international expansion of craft brands owned by Heineken. He holds an MBA from Sam Walton Business School in USA and a BA in Business from the University of Sheffield.

Rich can often be found playing champions league garden football with his three energetic children who are also the unofficial Chief Animal Huggers at Ivy Farm.

Azamat Kokov

CFO
(aka Master of Coin)

Azamat has spent most of his career in technology investment banking at Goldman Sachs, Société Générale and more recently Barclays, advising technology companies on various corporate finance transactions, including fund raising, initial public offerings, mergers and acquisitions, and others. He has been especially focusing on food tech, working closely with such companies as Gousto, Delivery Hero, Just Eat Takeaway, Oda, Hungry Panda, and others.

Azamat is a passionate skier, soccer player and karaoke singer.

Emma Lewis

Chief Commercial & Product Officer
(aka Product Perfecter)

After completing a degree and PhD in Food Science at Leeds University, Emma has almost 20 years’ experience in delivering successful innovation across Europe and the US, for companies such as Mars, Heinz and Nomad Foods. As a founding member of Nomad Foods’ Plant Protein Business acceleration team, she built the company’s portfolio of Green Cuisine branded plant protein products (Europe’s fastest growing plant protein brand). Now at Ivy Farm, she is working with some of the best engineers and scientists in the UK to develop the technology needed to produce cultivated meat at scale, without the need for intensive farming.

Debra Syme

Chief People Officer

As the Chief People Officer of Ivy Farm, with over 20 years of experience in Human Resources leadership, Debra has supported complex client groups globally and led teams in large private sector organizations.  Her focus is on inspiring growth and talent development and motivating individuals to improve their performance and in turn that of Ivy Farm. In her spare time, Debra can be found running with her vizsla, who may need some encouragement to keep up

Professor Cathy Ye

Co-Founder, Board Observer

Cathy is Associate Professor with a PhD from Oxford, where she is also currently a member of faculty at the Institute of Biomedical Engineering. Cathy specialises in bioreactor technology, which is instrumental in scaling up cell production and tissue growth. She first met Russ while assessing his first year as a PhD student. Cathy has experienced the challenges of largescale livestock farming personally having seen her father, a professor of veterinary science who specialises in pig diseases, work to curtail the effects of swine flu viruses in China.

Dr. Alasdair Russell

Board Chair

Alasdair is passionate about translating scientific discoveries into real-world outcomes. His interests centre on exploiting engineering principles in biology to drive societal change. Alasdair has over 25 years’ experience in the fields of cancer, DNA repair, adult stem cell biology and genome editing. He is widely published, an inaugural editor of the CRISPR Journal, and has secured many prestigious research grants. In 2015 he established Cancer Research UK’s first genome editing facility. In 2020 he founded Zygosity, a company that sits at the interface between CRISPR technologies and AI. Alasdair has successfully raised both venture-backed and academic funding, has led and managed high-functioning teams of 50+, has consulted globally across life science, translational research and genome engineering and has filed patents in these sectors. An experienced C-suite exec, Alasdair also holds positions on various regulatory and ethics committees and has produced insight for governmental bodies to aid in driving regulatory change.

Rich Dillon

CEO

Rich is an experienced commercial brand builder having previously worked internationally at Procter & Gamble, Red Bull and Heineken.

He holds an MBA and a BA in Business.

Rich also sits on the advisory board of two purpose driven companies that play in the online market-place sector and in the natural health food sector.

Azamat Kokov

CFO

Azamat has spent most of his career in technology investment banking at Goldman Sachs, Société Générale and more recently Barclays, advising technology companies on various corporate finance transactions, including fund raising, initial public offerings, mergers and acquisitions, and others. He has been especially focusing on food tech, working closely with such companies as Gousto, Delivery Hero, Just Eat Takeaway, Oda, Hungry Panda, and others.

Azamat is a passionate skier, soccer player and karaoke singer.

Professor Ramiro Alberio

Scientific Advisor

Ramiro is a Professor and Director of the Centre for Large Animal Biotechnology (CeLAB) at the University of Nottingham School of Biosciences, where has held positions in teaching and research for over 20 years. Initially a Veterinary Medicine graduate at the University of La Plata in Argentina, today Ramiro specialises in animal biotechnology and undertakes research in animal cell development. His research has been fundamental in exploring the potential for genetic selection within livestock, and for developing underpinning technologies to produce cultivated meat.

Professor Austin Smith

Scientific Advisor

Austin studied Biochemistry at the University of Oxford and gained his PhD at the University of Edinburgh. He conducted post-doctoral research at the University of Oxford, becoming a specialist in the field of pluripotency and embryonic stem cells. Austin joined the Centre for Genome Research in Edinburgh as a Group Leader, and then Director. In 2006, Austin moved to the University of Cambridge and was the founding Director of the Cambridge Stem Cell Institute. Today, he is Director of the Living Systems Institute at the University of Exeter.

Professor Dong Chen

Scientific Advisor

Dong is a Distinguished Professor at Soochow University and Founding Head of the School of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Soochow University. His professional interests include life quality engineering, bioinspired chemical engineering, food engineering, and particle technology. Previously, he held Chair Professorships at Xiamen University, Monash University and The University of Auckland respectively. He was an academic at The University of Auckland and was a Senior Research Engineer at New Zealand Dairy Research Institute. Has received many awards including, but not limited to; The IDS Founder Award for Outstanding Contribution to Drying Research; IAEF Lifetime Achievement Award in Food Engineering and Most Favourite Teacher of Soochow University to mention a few. Dong  has published roughly 650 journal articles, 230 conference papers and several books. He has over 23000 citations for his published work and a H-index of 74. Personal interests include painting, singing, reading and mathematics.

Dr. Bert Frohlich

Scientific Advisor

Bert’s most recent role was at BlueNalu, a US-based cell-cultured seafood company. As VP of Engineering and Commercialisation, Bert designed and managed the construction of its largescale R&D and manufacturing facility. He has experience in the cell culture process development for human therapeutics, in designing chemical and biochemical processes, and has held numerous senior technical leadership roles within large, biotech businesses. Bert has an MEng in Chemical Engineering and a PhD in Biochemical Engineering.

Professor Fred Relaix

Scientific Advisor

Professor Fred Relaix is a recognised expert in the field of muscle stem cells, and currently serves as a Director of Team Biology of the Neuromuscular System at Université Paris-Est Créteil (UPEC). Fred is a vice-dean for Research at UPEC Faculty of Medicine and leads a multi-disciplinary team of researchers in a range of studies related to stem cells, as well as on novel therapeutic approaches for muscular dystrophies.