Coulter Partners places Chief Scientific Officer at Slingshot Therapeutics
LONDON, UK – November 19, 2025 – Coulter Partners, the global expert building leadership teams for Health, Science and Technology innovation businesses, successfully completed a search assignment for Slingshot Therapeutics Limited (“Slingshot”) and is pleased to announce the placement of Dr. John Isaac as Chief Scientific Officer (CSO). Slingshot’s founding CSO Richard Wooster will now transition to a non-executive role as Scientific Advisor and Board member.
Slingshot Therapeutics, the Syncona Accelerator, is a platform built to identify, de-risk and advance therapeutic programs from the work of leading academic researchers.
As CSO, Dr. Isaac will be responsible for the Company’s scientific strategy, overseeing progress across the pipeline, and delivery of valuable therapeutic assets. He will also lead the critical process of identification, technical assessment and selection of early-stage drug discovery programs and assets to add to the Slingshot pipeline.
Dr. John Isaac is an internationally recognized neuroscientist and drug discovery expert with over 30 years of experience. A proven scientific leader, he most recently served as Chief Scientific Officer of AviadoBio, guiding strategy and discovery operations. His background includes significant roles in external innovation and asset evaluation at Johnson & Johnson Innovation and early career leadership at Wellcome and Eli Lilly & Co.
Edward Hodgkin, Executive Chair of Slingshot, said: “We see a valuable opportunity to translate academic innovation into drug candidates that are ready for clinical development. The combination of Slingshot’s industry-experienced drug development team with Syncona’s investment expertise is creating a powerful platform for the acceleration of academic research. John will play an invaluable role in this, and we are delighted to welcome him to the team.”
John Isaac, Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) at Slingshot Therapeutics
John brings more than 30 years of experience, as an academic and in drug discovery, across a range of therapeutic indications and modalities. John is an internationally recognized neuroscientist, most recently serving as CSO of AviadoBio, a clinical stage biotech where he was responsible for the scientific strategy and pipeline, and led the research and discovery organization. Prior to that he was Head of Neuroscience, External Innovation, EMEA at Johnson & Johnson Innovation. In this role he led search and evaluation of neuroscience assets across EMEA from Discovery through to Phase II development, as well as related business development activities. John’s previously roles include Head of Neuroscience at Wellcome and Head of Neurophysiology at Eli Lilly & Co.
John received a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry and pharmacology, and a PhD in neuroscience from University of Southampton, UK, and has held academic faculty positions in the UK and USA.
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About Slingshot Therapeutics
Slingshot Therapeutics Limited, the Syncona Accelerator, was built to identify, de-risk and advance therapeutic programs from the work of leading academic researchers.
Slingshot provides an innovative platform with access to centralized expertise, resource, funding and operational support to accelerate exceptional academic science into attractive biotech assets ready for clinical development. Slingshot aims to accumulate a pipeline of small molecule programs across a range of therapeutics areas where there is significant unmet medical need, identified from world-leading academic institutions in the UK, US and Europe.
For more information please visit: slingshot-accelerator.co.uk
About Coulter Partners
We are executive search and leadership development specialists working to build a better future. As advisors and consultants to companies at the cutting edge of Health, Science, and Technology, we are united by our mission to build teams that change the world. Operating uniquely as one global team, we have honed our expertise, platform, and data for over two decades, working across three continents, and in 40 countries. Applying what we learn through our work with boards, leadership teams, and investors in the world’s most innovative companies, we bring together and develop the right people at the right time to propel them to achieve their worthwhile goals.
