RGHI is led by Simon Sinclair, PhD MB BChir, Executive Director and Dave Wheeler, Operations and Strategy Director. The research agenda is led by an Expert Panel consisting of world renowned, leading independent experts. RGHI also has a network of global partners and supporters.
RGHI is led by an experienced Executive Team.
PhD MB BChir, Executive Director, RGHI
RGHI’s founding Executive Director, Simon Sinclair, brings a track record of public-private partnership and organisational development in the pursuit of improved health outcomes: First in academia and the UK’s National Health.
Service, and then from a progression of healthcare industry roles.
Simon currently serves as Reckitt Benckiser’s Chief Safety Officer, a position from which he assures the safety of RB’s consumers in the use of all their products. Before joining RB Simon was at Johnson and Johnson Medical Devices, first as International Clinical Director, then leading Medical Affairs for its EMEA region. There he provided strategic medical support and insights to the region’s key markets, and created and chaired the company’s regional Innovation Council, which partnered broadly with surgeons, health economists and innovators. Previously, Simon was at Merck and Co (MSD) in the USA. There, he led translational medicine efforts and the early clinical development of a range of drug candidates in glaucoma, migraine, osteoporosis and infectious disease. While there, he created the company’s ‘Global Trial Optimisation’ department, which became an industry model for the translation of Clinical Sciences into global operational execution. Originally trained as an ophthalmologist, Simon holds a medical degree and a PhD in neural transplantation from the University of Cambridge. He lives in rural Yorkshire.
“Hygiene is the conditions and practices that help to maintain health and prevent the spread of diseases. Good hygiene saves lives, improves health and economies, and dramatically reduces health inequalities and health costs.
Hygiene, and its impact on health, is an issue which affects us all – COVID-19 is a perfect example of that. It is also a complex area that is fraught with social and cultural nuances. Lack of infrastructure, consumer beliefs and economic value, to name but a few, are all elements that will play a role in how we effect change.”
Operations and Strategy Director, RGHI
David is a global leader in developing and executing investments in R&D, clinical science, and analytics to drive highly successful transformations in healthcare. This work has included delivering results across Johnson & Johnson Medical Devices and Medtronic’s Surgical Solutions businesses, as well as working with startup organizations as a consultant earlier in his career. He has consistently delivered development strategies and organizational designs, enabling the successful integration of new procedures and technologies into patient care, resulting in improved outcomes. As a result of his efforts, better, safer care is available to patients worldwide.
David is currently the Director of Operations and Strategy, Reckitt Global Hygiene Institute (RGHI). In this role, he is building an organization dedicated to improving the human condition by understanding and disseminating best practices in hygiene. The Institute is a public health research and innovation hub that will bridge epidemiology, public health, and behavioral insights to generate practical, high-quality scientific research that leads to enduring behavior change.
Following a 15-year career working for Covidien, Medtronic, an Industrial Design Consultancy, and several startups, David joined Johnson and Johnson Medical Devices as Sr. Director, Medical Affairs Operations. In this role, David led cross-functional project teams to develop and improve processes for EU MDR compliance, Tech File remediation, clinical science, pre-clinical science, patient safety, financial management, and physician education. Many of these projects aimed to improve the linkage between business strategy and science, primarily focusing on improving the safety, performance, commercial impact, and medical relevance of the company portfolio. Before working in Medical Affairs, David held roles in clinical affairs, product development, manufacturing, and marketing. David is the founder of the consulting firm Cognitive Sequence, which focuses on developing medical device and biotech companies’ strategies.
David holds an MBA from Babson College, Olin School of Business. He also has a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and a master’s degree in manufacturing engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI). He is a past president of the WPI Alumni Association.
RGHI is supported by an advisory Expert Panel of leading scientists, researchers and drawn from RGHI’s Partner Institutions. Together the Expert Panel leads RGHI’s research agenda providing independent expert advice and Input.
