Sherry Kothari

With a distinguished career spanning various roles in life sciences, Dr Sherry Kothari brings invaluable expertise and experience to the Business Advisory Board, where she is working with the Mayor and business leaders from across the region to drive economic growth in South Yorkshire.

Sherry has been a founder/investor in four spin-out companies and is currently leading her fifth, Plasma4, commercialising an exciting plasma-materials based platform technology to deliver therapeutics in clinical indications such as cancers, autoimmune diseases and infections. She has a passion for spotting early-stage opportunities at the health/industry/research interface, supporting and advising on early-stage start-up feasibility and technology development.

Sherry’s extensive professional journey includes leadership roles in the UK and Australia, including as chief executive, company director, and a founder and investor in start-up ventures. Most recently Sherry’s portfolio has expanded to include Chair of Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park where her ability to navigate complex, multi-stakeholder environments to drive tangible social and economic impacts is supporting the Park to deliver innovative solution-led collaborations.

Sherry was recently appointed as Policy Fellow (health innovation) at the University of Central Lancashire. In her previous role as Director of the Health Innovation Campus at Lancaster University, she developed and established a regional hub, which brought together multidisciplinary and cross-sectoral stakeholders to focus on social and health inequalities. Her commitment to social responsibility is evident through her involvement with organisations like North West Cancer Research, the Design Council, and Active Lancashire, where she has served in advisory and directorial roles.

With a clinical background, and academic achievements including a PhD and an MBA from the University of Sheffield, Sherry brings a deep understanding of the relationship between research, health, and industry. Her international background traverses health, medicine, business and research, has given her a unique skill set and perspective on different cultures and the ability to speak the right language - an important factor in bringing together people from different disciplines, sectors and communities.

Sherry is a strong advocate of partnerships, having experienced, first hand, the benefits of working collaboratively with diverse stakeholders. Sherry provides strategic leadership and brings imaginative thinking to problem solving. She has a keen interest in technology and health innovation, governance, culture and leadership. This is complemented by an ability to think things through from different perspectives, bringing a high level of emotional intelligence and a natural affinity to overcome barriers. She has a track record in having done this - under her inclusive leadership of a large, complex R&D organisation in Australia (with partners including government, health providers and businesses), she identified an important, transformational industry need, with two successful legacy spin-out companies, exploiting smart surfaces for implanted medical devices and technologies for cancer immunology, and a foundation trust.