Dr Ian Ragan is a neuropharmacologist and an independent consultant in the biomedical sector. He spent nearly 20 years in the pharmaceutical industry, most recently with Eli Lilly as Executive Director, Neuroscience Research, Europe, and Executive Director, European Scientific Affairs. He was the Lilly representative on the Research Directors’ Group of the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA). He has been Chair of the R&D Committee of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry and the Executive Director of the European Brain Council. He has been a board member or scientific advisor to a number of companies and organisations including Autistica, Biovail, Capsant Neurotechnologies, EFPIA, Evotec AG, and Psynova Neurotech and a Project Co-ordinator for the European Partnership for Alternative Approaches to Animal Testing. Currently he is Project Director of the National Autism Project, a Board Member of the National Centre for the 3Rs; a member of the Advisory Boards of the Digital Health Forum, the University of Southampton Biological Sciences and the University of Glasgow Institute of Molecular, Cell and Systems Biology; and a member of DrugScience and the MRC Stratified Medicines Expert Panel.