Mark Dollar
Chief Executive Officer
Mark joined SYNLAB UK and Ireland in March 2017 and is responsible for all operational activities across the company. Previously Mark served for 10 years in the Army with the Household Cavalry Regiment before leaving as a Major to enter into the Healthcare arena.
Mark was a founding member of the management team at Virgin Care where, for the last 10 years, he has undertaken roles that span the corporate and regional operations sphere and more latterly with the position of Chief Operating Officer. He has a BSc (Hons) from Reading University in Land Management (Development).
Tom Evans
Chief Financial Officer
Tom joined SYNLAB UK and Ireland in March 2018 and is responsible for all financial activities and governance in the business. He joined the company from Capita Plc where he held a number of senior Finance Director roles, most recently as Portfolio Finance Director for the Local Public Services division. ACA qualified with Deloitte, he previously worked as an Equity Analyst for JPMorgan and Gartmore Investment Management focussing on the European utilities market. Tom graduated from UCL with a BSc in Statistics.
Robert Booth
Chief Operating Officer
Robert started his career in performance management and project management. He worked as a political advisor and then in PR and communications before moving back into project and programme management as part of a contract management unit handling a unique joint venture partnership between local authorities and IBM. He joined SYNLAB in 2012 and project managed the delivery of the Southwest Pathology Services transformation to the Hub and Spoke laboratories model. As the company has grown, Robert has established the programme/project management team, delivered multiple improvement projects including one of the first digital histopathology implementations in the UK, and supported the integration of acquisitions such as SYNLAB Laboratory Services and VPG.
Jennifer Aikman
HR Director
Jennifer has been involved with iPP since it was established in 2010, joining in a full time capacity in April 2014. She is responsible for the strategic and operational development, management and planning of the HR and OD portfolio for the various iPP entity companies in the UK.
Jennifer began her career working in the hotel industry specialising in front office management before moving into operational and commercial management within the facilities management sector. After moving into HR in 2004 and working across a number of business streams from Healthcare, Defence to Business and Industry, Jennifer has extensive experience in managing large organisation change projects, complex industrial relations issues, and contract optimisation activity.
Jennifer is a Member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and has an MA in Human Resources Management.
Hannah Blackburn
Business Development Director
Hannah joined SYNLAB UK and Ireland in July 2015, prior to this Hannah was head of business development for Pathology at Spire Healthcare, one of the UK leaders in private hospitals. Hannah brings with her over 5 years’ experience of working in pathology and has been involved in exciting projects such as delivery of the pathology services for the London 2012 Olympics and the roll out of novel tests in the UK.
Hannah’s main focus is on the delivery of new partnerships between SYNLAB UK and Ireland and the NHS, and will drive Labco’s launch of innovative molecular diagnostic & high value tests across the UK. Prior to Spire Healthcare Hannah gained numerous years of sales experience in pharmaceutical and chemical products after studying part-time for her degree in Applied Chemistry from Huddersfield University whilst working in research.
Selina Herlihy
Commercial Director
Selina joined iPP in 2011, now heading the Commercial team responsible for all contracts and commercial arrangements with customers and suppliers, as well as overseeing legal matters for the company.
A Chartered Accountant and Admitted Solicitor, Selina has extensive commercial experience in both the public and private health sectors. Prior to joining iPP, Selina was Head of Commercial for the Department of Health’s NHS Contracting Division, managing deals with private sector entities.
Dr David James
Medical Director
Dr David James graduated from the Welsh National School of Medicine at University Hospital Cardiff where he also undertook his postgraduate training in Chemical Pathology.
Alongside David’s current role as Consultant Chemical Pathologist and Clinical Director within SPS, he also provides Medical Director and development support to SYNLAB UK & Ireland. David is also the appointed Caldicott Guardian for SYNLAB UK & Ireland.
David has also had experience of working within Europe (Munich and Brussels) including as Vice-president of laboratory operations for a global clinical trials laboratory. He is currently the chair of the Royal College of Pathologists Joint Working Group on Quality Assessment, and a current member and past chair of the National Quality Assessment Advisory Panel for Chemical Pathology.
Chris Cook
Chief Information Officer
Chris joined SYNLAB UK and Ireland in May 2020 to take on responsibility for information technology support, development and strategy. He also holds the role of senior information risk officer (SIRO).
Chris worked in IT at British Airways for 10 years and has subsequently held a number of chief information officer (CIO) and IT director roles in organisations such as Nuffield Health and Alliance Medical before taking on an interim CIO role for Bolton NHS Foundation Trust. Outside the healthcare sector he was CIO for P&O Ferries where he led an ecommerce transformation programme; he also held interim CIO roles at Manchester Airports Group and the Royal Society of Chemistry before returning to the healthcare sector with SYNLAB. He has a BA in Mathematics from the University of York and an MSc in Information Technology from the University of Warwick.
