Our New Executive Group Co-Chairs 

The UK Young Academy is pleased to announce the appointment of Denis Newman-Griffis and Ed Pyzer-Knapp as Executive Group Co-Chairs. These key appointments will help support the now fully established Executive Group in ensuring that the UK Young Academy remains an innovative, interdisciplinary platform – enabling emerging leaders to connect, drive change, and advance progress across sectors.

The Executive Group plays a key role in shaping and guiding the UK Young Academy’s activities. While Denis and Ed will help coordinate high-level discussions and oversee key governance processes, leadership will remain a shared responsibility across the Executive Group. Together, the group will continue to shape strategic direction, strengthen partnerships, and drive progress in key areas. 

Denis and Ed bring extensive expertise from their respective fields. Denis is a leading researcher in AI and disability and a Lecturer in Data Science at the University of Sheffield. Their work focuses on using artificial intelligence to improve healthcare access and disability resources. Ed is the co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer at Xyme, a stealth-mode startup in the field of AI for Science. Previously, he was Head of Research Innovation at IBM UK and Ireland.

These appointments come at a pivotal time for the UK Young Academy as we work to establish our business-as-usual activities, continue to expand our portfolio of member-driven projects and work programmes, build both local and international connections, and prepare to welcome a new cohort of interdisciplinary members at the end of the month. 

The Executive Group held elections at the end of last year, where members self-nominated, and Co-Chairs were appointed from within the group. Having previously served as Co-Chairs for the Interim Executive Group, Denis and Ed will now build upon the work and foundations established over the 18-months to take forward into their new terms.  

The UK Young Academy looks forward to their leadership in the months ahead. 

For more information about the newly appointed Executive Group Co-Chairs: 

Denis Newman-Griffis, Lecturer in Data Science, University of Sheffield

Denis Newman-Griffis (they/them) is an interdisciplinary researcher and educator working at the intersection of responsible and ethical artificial intelligence (AI), health, and disability. Their work is breaking new ground in the principles, practices, and skills underpinning responsible data science and AI, combining technical and SHAPE approaches to learn how we can use AI effectively and ethically as part of healthcare and research. 

Denis is an international leader in AI and disability, and has developed significant innovations in natural language processing methods for analysing information about the lived experience of disability, as well as new critical approaches to examine ethical AI and data design through a disability lens. Denis’ work on AI and disability was recognised with the American Medical Informatics Association Doctoral Dissertation Award in 2021. They are also leading research projects on practical approaches to Responsible AI in organisations, working with non-academic partners across public and private sectors and civil society.

Denis is a Lecturer in Data Science at the University of Sheffield’s Information School and a Research Fellow of the Research on Research Institute, and a former Visiting Fellow of the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center. They hold a BA from Carleton College, a PhD from Ohio State University, and completed a National Library of Medicine postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh. 

Edward Pyzer-Knapp, co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer, Xyme

Ed is a co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer at Xyme – a stealth-mode startup in the field of AI for Science. Previously he was Head of Research Innovation at IBM UK and Ireland, providing leadership on the convergence of HPC, AI and Quantum Computing to accelerate scientific discovery.

He is interested in the use of powerful emerging technologies to help to answer some of the biggest challenges of our time, especially through the lens of modelling and simulation. He obtained his PhD from the University of Cambridge, and then moved to Harvard University, finally leaving to help start the IBM Research Lab in the UK in 2015. He holds a visiting Professorship at the University of Liverpool, and an honorary position at the University of Cambridge.Ed is also Editor in Chief of the Wiley journal Applied AI Letters, has authored more than 60 papers and conference proceedings, filed multiple patents, and has authored a textbook on the use of AI for physical science, published by Wiley in 2021.