Who We Are

Rob specialises in public policy, strategy & advocacy and is an expert in effective external engagement. He has supported many organisations to establish leadership in their communities and facilitated impactful policy development in a wide range of public health areas at home and abroad, including obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular and rare diseases. Rob is Chair of the British Society of Gerontology Special Interest Group on Ageing, Business and Society, and was awarded a Master of Public Administration from The School of International Public Affairs (SIPA) at The University of Columbia in New York.

Steve is a serial entrepreneur in healthcare communications and has successfully created two multi-award-winning agencies which are now part of bigger groups. Steve specialises in healthcare communications with a laser focus on improved health outcomes for the patient, the health service and broader society. He innately understands the power of storytelling and the channels through which messages should be delivered to maximise their impact. He has supported many healthcare innovators to establish rapid uptake and long-term adoption of their product or service.

Supported by a network of Special Advisers

Multidisciplinary representatives from healthcare professionals, academics, policy makers, commissioners, customer engagement, quality improvement, pharmaceutical marketing, medical and legal

Ensure our propositions are robust, realistic and deliverable

Enable us to understand the true challenges faced by healthcare organisations at a global and local level

Augment and complement our skillset

Meet Our Newest Advisers

James Lawrence

James is a business journalist and client-engagement expert. His love of language and communication has led to a multi-faceted 30-year career in media and marketing. This has included roles such as editorial consultant and brand guardian for one of the world’s biggest global magazine franchises, operating at its peak in more than 30 countries, and editorial director at the UK’s largest content marketing agency. There, he headed content strategy and execution for a wide range of blue-chip global brands, with a particular specialism in C-suite engagement, enterprise technology, and highly regulated industries. Since 2018, he has been running his own content marketing business which delivers consultancy and outputs for SMEs and start-ups.

Tony Dixon

Tony Dixon has over 30 years’ commercial experience working for both pharmaceutical and medical devices companies promoting hospital specialist products to clinicians predominately in oncology. Most recently he has spent the last seven years in a senior leadership position as EVP of sales and marketing EMEA responsible for the regional commercial function at Sirtex Medical. He moved from traditional big pharma sales roles to working for start-up organisations where being able to work with agility across distinct functions and closely with clinicians is essential for success. Tony enjoys working in rare diseases where there is a strong unmet medical need and understands the importance of cross-functional working within an organisation to execute ambitious plans successfully. Tony has a passion for improving patient outcomes through effective leadership and collaboration.

Jens Birkenheim

Jens is an independent healthcare innovation coach and advisor with over 15 years experience in the pharma, medical device and healthcare analytics industries. During this time he has successfully led high-performing teams through the idea-build-launch phases for new solutions and business models within diabetes and cardiovascular health. He is a strong advocate for, and experienced practitioner of, lean innovation principles and methodologies to drive evidence-based strategic, go-to-market and product decisions in healthcare.

Kevin Loth

Kevin has 25+ years’ experience in the public sector and biopharmaceutical industry, predominately in European Corporate Affairs. His passion for patient centred decision-making and building trusting relationships has made him instrumental in the creation of impactful public health campaigns in rare diseases, oncology, cardiovascular disease and paediatric medicines. As VP, Corporate Affairs, Worldwide Markets, at Celgene, from 2007 to 2019, Kevin built a fully integrated Corporate Affairs community of 80 professionals across the globe that encompassed external and internal communications, government relations and patient advocacy. Kevin and his team were instrumental in shaping European laws, building trusting relationships with the patient community and delivering ground-breaking communication campaigns.

David Thorne

Originally a nurse, David has held NHS leadership positions within hospital, community, primary care and commissioning organisations. He has been a Chair and CEO of several primary care alliances, a past CCG Manager of the Year and programme director of transformation projects. David works part time as Director of Transformation at Well Up North Primary Care Network, covering north Northumberland and is a trustee of Hospice Care North Northumberland. He has 30 years’ experience of pharma and medtech market access through field-roles, management of teams and consultancy advice provided to some 250 companies.

Diane Hawley

A senior executive with a proven track record of consulting, interim and permanent roles at Global, European and UK levels in large and small biopharma companies. This breadth of experience enables her to integrate quickly into client teams. Diane is driven by putting the people we treat at the centre, taking a humanistic approach to bringing them innovative medicines, particularly in underserved, marginalised or neglected disease areas. Her skills/expertise areas include early pre-launch commercialisation, brand development, launch planning/execution and inline brand management, sales optimisation, market access and lifecycle strategies and execution and delivery through external partnerships/global alliances. Diane describes herself as a strategic partner with the ability to identify priorities, adapt to specific requirements, simplify complex challenges, and build a clear vision with a path to execution.

Heike Galbraith

Heike is a distinguished public affairs professional with over 20 years of experience in EU health policy, stakeholder management, and advocacy. Her career spans corporate, non-profit, and political sectors, delivering creative solutions for complex healthcare challenges. She is passionate about centering people in healthcare initiatives, driving not only health outcomes, but also creating social and economic value. Heike’s expertise covers a wide range of public health areas, including HIV/AIDS, oncology, vaccination and respiratory health. She has a track record in building strong stakeholder relationships and shaping policy to foster a dynamic and responsive healthcare environment.

Neil Causey

Neil Causey is a seasoned Public Affairs strategist with over two decades in policy shaping, having worked in the European Parliament, in-house at a global pharmaceutical company, and in consultancy. Having navigated complex policy, political, and corporate environments, Neil brings a deep understanding of stakeholder dynamics crucial for effective health engagement. His expertise spans developing strategies that align with human-centred approaches, fostering collaboration, and driving purposeful policy change. A skilled facilitator of workshops that build consensus and innovative solutions, Neil is poised to contribute to Covostra’s mission of human-centred health engagement, ensuring strategies that resonate profoundly with stakeholders and society.

Simon Wootton

Simon commenced his career in the NHS as a Biochemist and was formerly Chief Accountable Officer at NHS Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale CCG and prior to this, Chief Operating Officer at North Manchester CCG. He was the Greater Manchester Devolution (GM) CCG lead on Estates, and GM CCG lead on Elective Care as well as Vice Chair of GMMMG. In his prior career he was a Pharmaceutical Healthcare Consultant, a Regional Healthcare Team Manager and an NHS Business Unit Manager in the pharmaceutical Industry. He has written and had published books on Strategic Planning, Brain training and Managing Public Services.

Alison Finnegan

Allie is an insight, strategy and data expert with over 20 years’ experience working for some of the best-known media companies in the UK and Australia. Her expertise lies in designing data and research programmes to deliver extensive and robust consumer understanding, and translating this insight into targeted actionable strategic, media and marketing planning. Allie’s career has been defined by a consistent commitment to excellence, a depth of expertise and a proven track record of delivering tangible and impactful solutions. Her work exemplifies the invaluable relationship between data-driven insights and strategic vision.

Dr Emma Harvey

Emma Harvey is a freelance pharmaceutical physician. A self-confessed Medical Affairs maven, Emma has worked in Pharma since 1999, across a range of therapeutic areas, from Big Pharma to small Biotech. She has built and led teams for many years, both nationally and globally, leading pre- and peri-launch projects integrating commercial, medical affairs, regulatory, clinical development, pharmacovigilance and market access expertise to develop and implement strategic plans. She is a Member of the Royal College of Physicians and a Fellow of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine where she will take on the position of Vice President in November 2024.