Dr Helen Demarest is director of Clinical Operations at Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV). She provides strategic and technical guidance to ensure MMV sponsored trials are properly planned, resourced, and executed, in alignment with the project strategy and portfolio priorities, and in collaboration with the project or clinical leader. She assigns resources and provides oversight of all clinical trial operations with regards to planning, execution, and reporting to ensure trial design and conduct are fully compliant with International Council for Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for Pharmaceuticals for Human Use/Good Clinical Practice, National Regulatory Authority, and Stringent Regulatory Authority standards.

Prior to joining MMV in early 2012, Dr Demarest had over a decade of experience working for a contract research organization in the commercial clinical research industry in phase I to IV trials in a variety of therapeutic areas. She has worked as a clinical research associate and project manager, and has experience supporting the quality assurance department in Clinical Compliance, undertaking standard operating procedure writing, and review, dissemination of information, and training and assessing compliance through quality control checks. At Oxford University, Dr Demarest worked on academic clinical trials, where she was responsible for regional coordination within the project and the development of systems and processes for collection of trial endpoint data for clinical adjudication, including setting up and maintaining the Trial Master File. She earned degrees in Zoology and Psychology at the University of Reading and a Doctor of Philosophy at the Royal Veterinary College in the United Kingdom.