Prime Minister Appoints Five New Trustees to the Board of the Science Museum Group

Priya Guha, Professor Thomas Solomon and Toufic Machnouk are among five new Science Museum Group Trustees announced by the Prime Minister.

Priya Guha MBE is a member of the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Board and a Venture Partner at Merian Ventures. Toufic Machnouk is Managing Director of GBRX, the strategic innovation body for Britain’s railway, and a member of the National Railway Museum Advisory Board. Professor Thomas Solomon CBE is Director of the Pandemic Institute and of the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Health Protection Research Unit in Emerging and Zoonotic Infections in Liverpool.

Also announced as new Trustees are Ann Allen MBE and Janice Lane. Ann Allen MBE is a Chartered Surveyor who is leading the team reshaping the University of Leeds campus and was previously a trustee of the National Museum of Scotland. Janice Lane is a cultural heritage leader and member of the Board of Techniquest Science Discovery Centre, who previously served for 12 years as an executive director at Amgueddfa Cymru-Museum Wales.

All five Trustees will take up their posts from 1 July for a period of four years.

Sir Tim Laurence, Chair of Trustees of the Science Museum Group said: ‘I am delighted to welcome these eminent individuals to the Board of Trustees. They bring with them a wide breadth of skills, expertise and perspectives that will help the Science Museum Group to continue inspiring millions of visitors each year. I look forward to the valuable contributions they will make to our museums and to the care of our world-class collection.’

Alongside the five new appointments, the Prime Minister announced the reappointment of Professor Anya Hurlbert and Baroness Nicky Morgan who will serve for an additional four-year term from 1 November 2026.

Anya Hurlbert is Professor of Visual Neuroscience and Dean of Advancement at Newcastle University, and Chair of the Advisory Board of the National Science and Media Museum. The Rt Hon Baroness Morgan of Cotes is the Science Museum Group’s Deputy Chair of Trustees, a member of the House of Lords and a former Government Minister and Conservative MP.

The Science Museum Group welcomes millions of visitors a year to its six sites: the Science Museum in London, the National Railway Museum in York; Locomotion in County Durham, the Science and Industry Museum in Manchester, the National Science and Media Museum in Bradford and the Science and Innovation Park in Wiltshire.

Trustees are appointed by the Prime Minister following a public appointments process administered by DCMS and overseen by the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments.

The Science Museum Group’s new Trustees are:

Ann is a chartered Surveyor currently leading a team helping to reshape the University of Leeds campus to better support the ambitions of the University and the experiences of all students and staff. Previous to this, she led the University of Glasgow £1bn campus redevelopment programme. She is passionate about the built environment and how it can support cohesive and engaged communities. Previous non-executive roles include roles as Chair of Architecture Design Scotland, Chair of Built Environment Trust and Chair of the Scottish Board of Women in Property, trustee of the National Museum of Scotland and board member of Scottish Future Trust, Crown Estate Scotland and the Water Industry Commission.

Ann was awarded an MBE in 2019 for services to higher education.

Priya is deeply embedded in the UK and global tech ecosystem through her roles in government, investment, startups and corporates. Priya has had a career centred on the intersection of science, technology, innovation and geopolitics and is a passionate advocate for the importance of science and innovation in the UK’s future and is active in supporting work to garner the benefits of the transformative potential of frontier technologies.

Amongst other roles, she is a Non-Executive Director at UK Research and Innovation, the Herald Investment Trust, Reach plc and the Digital Catapult. Priya is also a Member of the Investment Governance Board of Future Planet Capital and an Advisor to Gallos Technologies.

Priya used to be a career diplomat, most recently as British Consul General to San Francisco and previously in India and Spain. Priya was awarded an MBE in 2021 for services to international trade and women in innovation.

Janice is an experienced cultural heritage leader with more than 30 years working in multi-disciplinary and multi-venue museums in England, Scotland, and Wales. Most recently, she was an executive director at Amgueddfa Cymru-Museum Wales for 12 years where she had responsibility for diverse portfolios including visitor experience, learning, exhibitions and public programmes, operations, heritage skills, major projects and sustainability.

Janice brings extensive experience of major museum projects, having worked on award-winning redevelopments such as Kelvingrove Museum and Art Gallery and Riverside Museum in Glasgow and then St Fagans National Museum of History in Cardiff. She also led the delivery of major exhibitions and learning and engagement programmes, working with national and international partners. She is a Getty Leadership Institute alumna and a former board member of International Council of Museums UK.

Now working as a consultant and non-executive director, Janice helps organisations understand, measure, and strengthen their social value, offering a collaborative and outcomes focused approach. She currently serves on the boards of Techniquest Science Discovery Centre, The Sherman Theatre, and Gregynog Trust, and is a Heritage Network expert panel member. From beginning her career as a teacher and museum educator, Janice remains committed to widening access to culture and improving public understanding of science.

Toufic is Managing Director of GBRX, the strategic technology and innovation body for Britain’s railway, and a member of the sector’s Executive Leadership Team. He leads work across government, industry and academia to accelerate the adoption of strategic technologies, including artificial intelligence, advanced computation, intelligent sensing, robotics, quantum technologies, data systems and cyber security.

Before establishing GBRX, Toufic created and led the Industry Partnership for Digital Railway, mobilising one of the UK’s largest strategic enterprise partnerships to support a multi-billion-pound national technology investment portfolio. His work has focused on building the relationships, delivery models and institutional capability required to enable large-scale technology adoption and system transformation.

Toufic is a strong advocate for public engagement with science, engineering and technology. He teaches and speaks regularly on leadership, innovation and strategic technologies, supporting the development of future capability in engineering, technology and systems leadership. He holds a degree in Design Engineering and an Executive Master of Business Administration with Distinction from the University of Bath.

Tom is Director of The Pandemic Institute and Academic Vice President of the Royal College of Physicians. He is Director for the Health Protection Research Unit in Emerging and Zoonotic Infections at the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). He is also Chair of Neurological Science at the University of Liverpool and an honorary Consultant Neurologist at the Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust.

He studied medicine at the University of Oxford, completed a PhD on central nervous system infections in Vietnam, and a post-doctoral fellowship in the United States, before building an international career at the interface of global health and neurological and emerging infections. Under his leadership, Liverpool has become a recognised centre for health protection research and impact, contributing to control of Japanese encephalitis, Ebola, Zika, Covid-19.

He has held senior national roles for NIHR, and the Medical Research Council, chairing major funding boards and advising the UK government and international agencies on pandemic preparedness and response. He was Vice President (International) at the Academy of Medical Sciences, and is Academic Vice President of the Royal College of Physicians, where he leads the College’s communications, policy and research work. Tom is also an active science communicator, working with media and the Science Media Centre, and was awarded a CBE in 2021 for services to neurological and emerging infections research.

Anya Hurlbert is Professor of Visual Neuroscience and Dean of Advancement at Newcastle University, where she co-founded the former Institute of Neuroscience and now steers the Centre for Transformative Neuroscience. She holds degrees from the US and UK in physics, physiology, brain and cognitive sciences, and medicine. Her 200+ scientific publications include papers in Nature, Science and Current Biology, handbook chapters, and invited reviews.

Her research interests follow two themes: fundamental and applied science of human colour vision, using psychophysics, computational modelling, and neuroimaging, with applications in colour vision deficiency, imaging, lighting, and visual art; and AI-based retinal image analysis.

She co-authored the book Color in Nature (Princeton University Press; 2024), received the Newton Medal (the Colour Group GB; 2022) and the Edridge-Green Medal (the Royal College of Ophthalmologists; 2017) amongst other awards. She is Associate Editor of the Journal of Vision, member of the Rank Prize Optoelectronics Committee, former Vice President of the Vision Sciences Society, Director of the International Colour Vision Society, former Scientific Trustee of the National Gallery, a current Trustee of the Science Museum Group and Chair of the Advisory Board of the National Science and Media Museum.

The Rt Hon. the Baroness Morgan of Cotes (Nicky Morgan) is a former Conservative MP and Minister. She is now a member of the House of Lords and has a portfolio career with roles across the private and public sectors, including Senior Independent Director at Santander UK, Chair of the Advertising Standards Authority and Chair of the Careers & Enterprise Company.

Baroness Morgan was the elected MP for Loughborough from 2010 to 2019, she entered the House of Lords in 2020. During her parliamentary career, Baroness Morgan held several key ministerial roles, including Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (2019–2020), Education Secretary and Minister for Women and Equalities (2014–2016), Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Minister for Women (2014). She was an Assistant Whip in the coalition government until her appointment as Economic Secretary to the Treasury in 2013. She was also elected Chair of the House of Commons Treasury Select Committee (2017-2019).

Before being elected she worked as a solicitor specialising in Mergers and Acquisitions.