What happens when someone has seen the healthcare system from every angle: doctor, banker and patient?
In this episode of Oxford+, host Susannah de Jager speaks with Dr Ceri Morgan, Partner at Dalloway Partners, about her three careers and what they reveal about the strengths and structural weaknesses of UK life sciences. Ceri explains why NHS-focused business models were long undervalued by investors, how the UK’s relatively shallow public life sciences market has steered founders towards private capital and trade sales, and why commercial success in science often depends on much more than the science itself.
Now in a new role focused on helping foundational science and first-time founders scale, Ceri discusses the practical work of mentoring leadership teams, unlocking investor networks and strengthening Oxford’s innovation ecosystem. Set against a shifting funding backdrop - with UK biotech raising £1.8 billion in 2025 and early signs of recovery in 2026 - the conversation explores how capital, talent and experience can be recycled more effectively to support the next generation of companies. Drawing as well on her perspective as a cancer patient and patient advocate, Ceri offers a candid view on what it will take to build a system that better supports both innovators and the people they aim to serve.