Meet the Team

Prof. Paul O’Brien
Chief Executive Officer and Director

Professor Paul O’Brien

Chief Executive Officer & Director

Professor Paul O’ Brien was appointed CEO of ELAROS 24/7 in April 2012. Paul has held senior posts in the private sector (Chief Executive), local government (Chief Officer), health (Director in West Essex NHS Trust) and education (Head of Department).

He has previous venture start-up experience having established the Essex Development and Regeneration Agency with a turnover of £8.5 million and funds under management of £15 million – employing 60 planners, economists, surveyors, bid writers and fund managers.

He has extensive experience of public sector transformation having externalised a local government service and more recently the externalisation of a £33 Million NHS Service.

Paul also has broad non-executive board experience gained over a 15 year period and has completed the Institute of Directors Diploma in Company Direction.

He is a visiting lecturer to the University of Surrey on its MBA & MSc Entrepreneurship programmes.

Peter Cunliffe
Finance Director

Bio

Peter Cunliffe

Finance Director

Peter Cunliffe qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1983, having trained in Birmingham with one of the then ‘Big 4’ accountancy firms, Deloitte Haskins and Sells.

Since qualifying, Peter has worked in various finance and accounting roles for a wide spectrum of businesses, both in terms of size (£3m up to £1.2bn turnover) and industry sector (including retail, engineering, steel stockholding, laboratory analysis and specialty chemicals).

His early positions were in large blue-chip companies, roles which gave him a full understanding of the importance of pertinent, current management information and the need for strict financial disciplines to augment performance and safeguard assets.

Recognising that most small companies do not need a full-time financial director, Peter set up Flex FD Ltd in 2004, providing a flexible financial direction service for start-up and early-stage companies, particularly in the life science and healthcare sectors, and has helped raise £7m in funding across 10 businesses.

Román Rocha Lawrence
Director of Research
& Development

Bio

Román Rocha Lawrence

Director of Research & Development

Román Rocha Lawrence joined ELAROS in July 2019 as our Graduate Research & Development Manager after graduating from The University of Sheffield with a First Class Honours MEng Degree in Bioengineering.

As part of his degree which drew on various engineering disciplines, management, science and medicine, Román specialised in Biomaterials, Tissue Engineering, Medical Devices and Computational Medicine; completing a summer research project with INSIGNEO in 2018; Europe’s largest research institute dedicated entirely to the development, validation, and use of in silico medicine technologies.

Román made a substantial impact at ELAROS in his first year using his broad depth of knowledge of interdisciplinary STEM subjects and entrepreneurial experience outside of academia, forming key partnerships for the company at an early stage and managing two pivotal Innovate UK funded projects for ELAROS.

Román has led on the development and nationwide adoption of the (digital) C19-YRS with ELAROS’ industrial, academic, and clinical partners and will be responsible for increasing the uptake of the system by patients and healthcare organisations in the NHS and private sector.

Oscar Petherick
Programmes Director

Bio

Oscar Petherick
Programmes Director

Oscar joined ELAROS in July 2021, following the completion of the University of Sheffield’s multidisciplinary MEng Bioengineering degree. During his dissertation he evaluated in-silico methods for the assessment of non-invasive mask fit.

Appointed to the role of Graduate Research and Development Associate, Oscar worked across all aspects of the development of the C19-YRS, which was quickly gaining traction amongst NHS Long COVID clinics. During this time, he worked with the team to garner and convert interest in the system as well as designing and testing new features, and instructing users.

Currently, Oscar oversees ELAROS’ pre-commercial activity, acting as Project Manager for ELAROS Innovate UK Projects, Neu-Restore and Open-OH. He also lends support to the management of projects such as MammoScreen and the Smart Coasters. Other aspects of this role involve identification and application for new funding opportunities, development of elaros.com, creation of marketing materials, and supporting new staff.

Oliwia Zwara
Business Development Manager

Bio

Oliwia Zwara

Business Communications Manager

Oliwia was selected to join the company’s summer placement programme whilst completing her University of Sheffield’s MEng Bioengineering degree.

Whilst specialising in Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering, the degree also offered her exposure to fields like computer science, medicine and material science as well as industry focused project management.

Having worked on designing and manufacturing a thermal cycler for COVID-19 testing and hearing about the Elaros’ C19-YRS app and clinical portal, it seemed like the perfect collaboration.

Over her time at the company she has worked on different aspects of the C19-YRS including the commercialisation and implementation, as well as the resource research for www.c19-yrs.me and Elaros’ most recent project, Neu-Restore.

Jennifer McDonald
PPIE Manager and MammoScreen Project Manager

Bio

Jennifer McDonald

PPIE Manager and Project Manager of MammoScreen

In March 2023, Jennifer began in her new role at ELAROS as MammoScreen Project Manager. Her primary responsibility will be delivering ELAROS’ role in the multinational MammoScreen project, which uses ultra-wideband (UWB) imaging methods for accurate, effective and safer screening of breast cancer.

After graduating from the University of York with a master’s degree in Biotechnology and Microbiology, Jennifer started as a QC Analyst at a company in Harrogate. Here she focused on testing a variety of different drugs for client companies, utilising the knowledge and skills she developed through university.

In 2024 Jennifer acquired the role PPIE Manager, where she manages all Patient & Public Involvement & Engagement (PPIE) activities within ELAROS, involving patients and members of the general public in all projects. This ensures that the outcomes of the project reflect the needs of the end users and allows the public to be involved throughout the duration of the project.

In addition to running all PPIE activities, Jennifer has led the formation of a successful User Co-Design Board that runs throughout the Open-OH project, involving various charities and organisations through the representation of patient advocates and experts in their respective fields.

Toby Boud
Research and Development Manager

Bio

Toby Boud
Research and Development Manager

Toby is a graduate of The University of Sheffield, with an MEng in Biomaterials Science and Engineering. This is an interdisciplinary degree studying materials for use inside the body, it draws aspects from materials science and bioengineering; covering topics such as materials processing, cell and molecular biology, physics of living systems, design of medical devices, metallurgy, and materials for biological applications.

His master’s thesis investigated the viability of using slug mucus as inspiration for a next-generation medical adhesive, within the Naturals Materials Group.

As the Research and Development Manager, Toby is responsible for the project management and development of Open-OH, a publicly available mobile app to support users in their journey with Long Covid, Fibromyalgia, and ME/CFS. Alongside this Toby manages an early-stage portfolio of R&D, with a focus on Elaros’ rapidly developing sleep portfolio.

Outside of work, Toby has a passion for a wide range of outdoor pursuits from cycling to sailing, climbing and mountaineering. He is a qualified RYA keelboat instructor and spent the summer after completing his degree teaching sailing on the Norfolk broads, for a small family run boatyard and sailing school.

Dr Tom Richards
Scientific Director of
Neu-Restore

Bio

Dr Tom Richards

Scientific Director of NeuRestore

Dr Thomas Richards joined Elaros in 2022 as Scientific Director of the Neu-Restore platform. He studied a BSc in Medical Science (2014) followed by a PhD in neurophysiology (2018) at the University of Leeds. During his doctoral studies, he worked both in research, studying motor control pathways, and in education, demonstrating practical laboratory skills to undergraduates. He has also worked closely with Memorial University in St Johns, Canada, where he seconded in order to conduct experiments on a collaborative project.

Thomas’s main focus of study has been the physiology of motor control pathways, towards the goal of improving personalised therapies for conditions such as stroke, spinal cord injury, and cerebral palsy. He has worked with several different programming languages in order to apply a range of signal processing, statistical, and clustering techniques with which has developed a number of analysis pipelines.

Whilst working at Leeds Institute of Data Analytics (LIDA) from 2019-2021, he also worked on projects studying prescription patterns of inhalers across the COVID-19 pandemic and agent-based models to which would integrate live to data in order to model movement of people around a building.

At Elaros, he is implementing the skills and knowledge he has accrued towards Neu-Restore, a stroke-management platform and assessment, which aims to create the gold standard for stroke management and diagnostics.

Daniel Weatherill
Management Accountant

Bio

Daniel Weatherill
Trainee Management Accountant

Dan is a recent graduate from The University of Sheffield, studying Business Management.

He particularly enjoyed the maths and data side of his course, exploring how software can assist with decision making. He also found a particular interest in the responsible business side of the course, such as Corporate Social Responsibility and Corporate Governance.

This led to his decision to begin studying for CIMA’s CGMA qualification in August 2023, currently at the managerial level. He joined us as a Trainee Management Accountant in September 2023.

Bárbara Silva Passadouro
PhD Researcher

Bio

Bárbara Silva Passadouro

PhD Researcher

Bárbara is a MRC DiMeN funded PhD student at the University of Leeds interested in the neurophysiology of chronic pain in Long COVID. She graduated with a First-Class Honours BSc Neuroscience with Industrial Experience degree from the University of Manchester.

As part of her final year academic research project, she joined the University of Manchester’s Human Pain Research Group to investigate brain activity in chronic pain patients, which prompted her interest in pain research.

She first got involved with ELAROS’ work on the C19 YRS app in her Research Assistant in Rehabilitation Medicine role at the Leeds Institute of Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Medicine.

She is now working together with the ELAROS team to create a platform for her PhD study that aims to measure pain symptoms and assess the impact of chronic pain in individuals with Long COVID.

Owain Medford
PhD Researcher

Bio

Owain Medford

PhD Researcher

Owain is currently a PhD student in Electronic and Electrical Engineering at the University of Huddersfield after graduating with a First Class BEng (Hons) in Electronic and Electrical Engineering.

In addition to general engineering principles and the generation and manipulation of electrical power, his undergraduate degree also covered the implementation of electronics, computer programming and embedded systems. During this time, he specialised in the use of IoT devices as remote measurement and monitoring tools for organisations to improve user quality of life.

Utilising ELAROS’ expertise in healthcare technology development, strong links with the NHS and hydration-focused academics at other partner institutions, Owain works to develop Internet of Things (IoT) devices and studies their use for improving hydration monitoring.

James McMunn
Senior Software Developer

Bio

James McMunn

Software Developer

James has worked for 20+ years around a broad set of technologies and across a wide range of sectors, including; Health, Insurance, Finance, and Travel (The British Library, Jet2 and Confused.com).

James has worked on complex software projects, from building databases, assessing security risks, streamlining backend code to building cloud infrastructure.

Over the past four years James has been working with ELAROS on a range of health apps and on a web based health commissioning platform.

James is the lead software developer for the Mi-Trial and Neu-Restore platforms.

Lakshitha Kumaranayakalage
Software Developer

Bio

Lakshitha Kumaranayakalage
Software Developer

Lakshitha is a dedicated and skilled software developer with over six years of experience in the IT/SE sector. He is a graduate from the University of Salford with a Master’s degree in Data Science, which complements his extensive hands-on experience across various domains of software development.

His career includes a notable role as a Research Associate at the University of Salford and ELAROS 24/7 Ltd, where he spearheaded the development of ‘Sleepy Fox,’ a pioneering mobile app aimed at addressing children’s sleep issues. Currently, Lakshitha applies his expertise as a Software Developer at ELAROS, focusing on enhancing and developing innovative healthcare applications.

Lakshitha’s professional journey is distinguished by a diverse range of roles. He has experience in project management, social media marketing, and has served as a Lecturer in IT and Software Engineering. This diverse background has honed his skills in communication, teamwork, and problem-solving, enabling him to contribute effectively to multifaceted projects.

Beyond his professional work, Lakshitha is passionate about leveraging technology to solve real-world problems and is dedicated to continuous learning and development in the ever-evolving tech landscape.

Blesson Ezra
Graduate Research and Development Manager

Bio

Blesson Ezra
Intern

Blesson is a MEng Bioengineering graduate at the University of Sheffield, specialising in Tissue Engineering and Biomaterials, who will be joining ELAROS full time in September 2024.

He has a keen interest in the future of digital healthcare, biomimetics and biomaterials. He’s particularly driven in the natural materials aspect of his degree and will be undertaking a master’s project in studying the structure of silk and the subsequent clinical application. He also enjoys playing tennis, cricket, running and exploring the beautiful Peak District.

On his placement in summer 2023, a significant portion of his time was dedicated to researching the clinical context of Long COVID and the pivotal role played by the C19-YRS, a digital assessment and monitoring tool within Elaros’ pipeline of products. Blesson found out more about the company’s efforts to expand its reach internationally and its commitment to a collaborative triad of academics, clinicians, and industry partners.

He explored potential avenues for the expansion of Elaros’ C19-YRS system into other chronic conditions. His research focused on Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROM) for pulmonary rehabilitation, particularly with regard to the clinical needs of individuals suffering from COPD, which further emphasized the importance of digitisation in terms of time efficiency and the quality of care provided.

Iona Doyle
Graduate Digital Health Marketing Manager

Bio

Iona Doyle
Digital Marketing Intern

Iona Doyle is a recent MEng Bioengineering graduate from the University of Sheffield, specialising in Tissue Engineering and Biomaterials. She was particularly drawn to the multidisciplinary nature of the degree, which offered her exposure to areas such as medical imaging, pharmaceuticals, sustainability, and project management. For her Final Year Project, she chose to design and test an in-vitro model for breast cancer metastasis research.

Iona’s first experience in the healthcare industry was as a carer for children with disabilities. This role involved using various medical devices, for patients with a wide range of clinical needs, which sparked her interest in patient-centred healthcare solutions. She was drawn to ELAROS’ focus on understanding patients’ unique needs while designing effective medical technologies.

Iona joined ELAROS as a digital marketing intern, focusing on in-depth market research into various long-term conditions, including ME/CFS, PoTS, fibromyalgia, chronic pain, Lyme disease, and other post-viral infections. Her findings aim to enable Elaros’ solutions to reach a wider range of patients, supporting them in the treatment and management of debilitating symptoms.

Celia Hobbs
Graduate Product and Quality Assurance Manager

Bio

Celia Hobbs
Software Quality Assurance Intern

Celia is a graduate from The University of Sheffield, with a First Class MEng (Hons) in General Engineering and a specialisation in Medical Technologies. The interdisciplinary degree involved studying principles of many engineering disciplines, such as civil, mechanical and electrical, and understanding their specific applications within the medical industry.

Celia joined Elaros in July 2024, completing the Software Quality Assurance Internship. In January 2025 she started her role as the Graduate Product and Quality Assurance Manager where her responsibilities include testing product quality, UI/UX design and development, and user support.

Aside from her role at ELAROS, Celia was the co-founder and president of The University of Sheffield Ceramics Society and enjoys playing touch rugby with the Sheffield Engineers RFC.

Davide Righi
Digital Marketing Intern

Bio

Davide Righi
Digital Marketing Intern

Davide Righi is joining Elaros in August 2024 to step into the role of digital marketing intern.

He has recently finished his first year studying Bioengineering (BEng) at Loughborough University.

Bioengineering stood out to him due to both personal interests and the multidisciplinary nature of the engineering degree whilst learning more about biological processes. His first year has exposed him to a broad range of modules such as computer aided design, electronics and materials science and additionally, he has enjoyed conducting research assignments into cell culturing and material testing for biomedical applications.

As a digital marketing intern at ELAROS he will have the chance to gain a lot of knowledge about the company and industry, as well as build many valuable relationships with the team.

Izaak Walker
Regulatory Affairs Intern

Bio

Izaak Walker
Regulatory Affairs Intern

Izaak is a final–year integrated MEng Bioengineering undergraduate student at the University of Sheffield, with a distinct interest in the MedTech industry; he joined ELAROS on a part–time basis in January 2025 while wrapping up his master’s degree.

During his degree’s integrated year in industry he worked at a global orthopaedic company assisting in the development, introduction, and sustainment of commercialised implants and instrumentation within a cross–functional team which played a pivotal role in driving innovation, ensuring regulatory compliance, and promoting a culture of continuous improvement within the company. He also worked directly within the New Product Introduction (NPI) team on the company’s new bespoke implant system and associated instrument set, working to achieve 510(k) clearance for US market penetration. Following his placement year, he has a verified passion for the research, design, and development of medical devices in preparation for market launch – a passion which is underpinned by his desire to improve patient wellbeing and outcomes.

His drive to address unmet clinical demands led to his industrial collaboration with Metallobio to support his master’s thesis where he is developing photocurable, antimicrobial, drug–eluting material treatments to mitigate periprosthetic infections within the Biomaterials Group at the university. In addition, following his recent university regulatory work – where, as a medical device regulation consultant, he provided a manufacturer with a nuanced regulatory burden report for entering the UK and US markets with a prospective Personal Care Plan (PCP) software application – he is now supporting ELAROS as a Regulatory Affairs Intern, gaining further experience within industry as he considers his graduate options.