Ian Humphery-Smith
Director at African Renewable Energies Limited
Director at Deomed Limited
Deputy Director of Key Partners for Skolkovo
After 15 years of experience in the Internet industry as founder or co-founder with Ian was born in Australia in 1955, but now enjoys French citizenship. He trained in infectious diseases / tropical medicine, immunology and molecular biology and is recognized internationally as a pioneer in the field of proteomics. Since 2002, Ian has consulted internationally for Deomed Limited offering sector expertise in Biotech, IT, Pharma R&D, analytical instrumentation businesses, healthcare and over time exposure to an increasingly diverse range of business areas, especially cleantech. In 2005 to 2007, Ian worked as CEO of the Biosystems Informatics Limited, a UK / Russian IT R&D enterprise funded by the UK Government. Internationally, his consulting duties have encompassed the private & public sectors, listed & non-listed companies, family ventures and multinational enterprises - all with a focus on business strategy development. Previously, he was CEO of Glaucus Proteomics B.V., a protein biochip company based in The Netherlands. He established Glaucus Industries, Australia in late 1996 and prepared a move off-shore, facilitated by Fujisawa Investment Fund. Fujisawa is now part of Astellas, Japan’s largest pharmaceutical company. His early proteomics work in Australia was funded by GlaxoWellcome and he has successfully raised capital in Australia, Japan, UK, Europe and the USA. In 2001, he founded the Human Proteome Organisation to take-up the gauntlet of the next phase of the Human Genome Project internationally and has significant experience in both academia and industry. His publications include 5 books, >100 articles & 10 patents. For many years, he has been a keen proponent of the need to transform medicine into a more mathematically-driven discipline and was honored for these efforts in 2001 by TIME Magazine as a member of their Top Digital 25. In 2008, Ian founded African Renewable Energies Limitedwith a view to improving all aspects of human endeavour on the African continent through the provision of utility-scale renewable energy. He is currently Deputy Director of Key Partners for Skolkovo, a Russian Presidential initiative designed to stimulate high-tech innovation and economic diversification.