Dr Ian Ragan is a retired neuropharmacologist and an independent consultant in the biomedical sector. He spent nearly 20 years in the pharmaceutical industry, finally retiring from Eli Lilly as Executive Director, Neuroscience Research, Europe, and Executive Director, of European Scientific Affairs. He was a founder member of the Research Directors’ Group of the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) and one of the originators of the Innovative Medicines Initiative. He has been chair of the R&D Committee of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry and the Executive Director of the European Brain Council.
Now largely retired, he has two main areas of activity. He has a long-standing interest in research and interventions in autism and is currently the sole neurotypical director of the UK National Autistic Taskforce. His other interest is the use of animals in biomedical research, and he has been associated with the UK National Centre for the 3Rs for several years as a Board Member and chair of many working groups, panels and committees. He was a project coordinator for the European Partnership for Alternative Approaches to Animal Testing involved in aspects of regulatory toxicology, and he is currently the chair of the Animal Welfare and Ethical Review Body of the UK Centre for Macaques.
