Our Team

R8ER's leadership team is a balanced mix of highly qualified and experienced professionals, whose talents and knowledge of both the medical, computer science and financial industries made them ideal for R8ER's long-term vision and mission.

Dr. Milla Marinova
Founder & Chief Executive Officer

With over eight years' experience as a medical doctor, Milla holds an M.Sc. in International Health Policy from LSE and an M.Phil. in Bioscience Enterprise from Cambridge University.

After completing her medical training, Milla secured several key positions in various institutes including as an Honorary Research Fellow at Imperial College London, as an external consultant to McKinsey and is currently contributing to Scottish government healthcare reform work.

Having worked with the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh in partnership with the WHO on quality governance in international healthcare, she then went on to become principal with GrayBella Capital, a growth-capital VC investing in European health companies.

Mr. Pavel Marinov
Chief Operating Officer

After graduating with a B.Sc. in Computer Science with Management from King's College London, Pavel became a Churchill Next General Leadership Development Fellow before taking roles with Cisco Systems as a project manager and development supervisor, and at Cornucopia Capital as an investment analyst.

In addition to his role at R8ER, Pavel is also the founder and director of Navic Ltd, a tech business specialising in consulting for infrastructure, IT and building control solutions. Moreover, he has undertaken Cyber Security qualifications and has experience consulting SMEs on how to best secure their cloud and web applications in line with relevant frameworks.

Advisory Board

Professor Christopher Lowe OBE

Equipped with over forty years of experience in the field of healthcare biotechnology, Professor Lowe is not only one of Britain's finest academics, but also recognized internationally as the "Most Entrepreneurial Scientist of the UK".

With more than four hundred publications, one hundred patents and multiple spin outs, Professor Lowe is the recipient of more than twenty major national and international awards including Order of the British Empire.

In addition to his position as a R8ER advisor, he continues to serve as both Emeritus Professor of Biotechnology and Director of Cambridge Academy of Therapeutic Sciences at the University of Cambridge.

Professor Derek Bell

Recognized as the first UK Professor of Acute Internal Medicine at Imperial College, Professor Bell has dedicated himself to a career focused on respiratory, general medicine and acute care.

Having recently left his position as President of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh and director of the NIHR CLAHRC for Northwest London, Imperial College, Professor Bell continues as an NIHR Senior Investigator and is special advisor to the Scottish Government.

With more than 180 papers published and having ran multiple national collaboratives, he is also the recipient of an OBE for services to unscheduled care and quality improvement.

Mr. Steve Barber

As current Senior Independent Director of National World PLC and a past non-executive director and chairman of the audit committees of Next PLC, the AA pLC, Domino's Pizza PLC, Intu Shopping Centres PLC, Helphire PLC and Fenwick Limited, Steve brings a wealth of experience as a highly respected businessman and advisor. Having previously served as Co-founder of AFC Energy PLC and the Objectivity Partnership LLP, he was also the past chairman of Fenwick Limited and the Design Objectives Group, past CFO of Mirror Group PLC and Whitehead Mann PLC. As one of R8ERs advisors, his experience as a senior partner at Price Waterhouse, as well as running and overseeing highly scalable businesses will add immense value to both investors and entrepreneurs alike.

Prof Alan Barrell

Alan has worked in Health Care & Medical Research, as Chairman and Chief Executive of large multi-national companies and smaller technology start-ups. He teaches in Universities in UK, Europe, North America & Asia with Professorships in European & Chinese Universities. Raised & managed a Venture Capital Fund, Business Angel Investor & Trustee of charities.

He was honoured with The Queen’s Award for Enterprise Promotion in the UK & membership as Knight First Class of the Order of the White Rose of Finland for services to Education. His last full-time position was as Director of Studies at Cambridge Innovation Academy.

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