Scott Allen

As Associate Director of Biosecurity Policy, Scott helps lead a team working to safeguard against pandemics and address extreme biological risks through targeted policy engagement.

Scott is a national security professional with 18 years of leadership across a broad range of operational and strategic roles. He served for over 12 years in the Royal Air Force in multiple posts and operational theatres with these roles having a uniting principle of effective and decisive leadership and tackling systems-level challenges.

On leaving the Royal Air Force, Scott led the strategic science and technology assessment team within the Cabinet Office, providing critical policy, geopolitical and technological analysis for senior Government ministers and officials. He was also the Head of the UK Delegation to a senior international science and technology assessment group.

After moving to the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology he took up the role of Head of Engineering Biology; designing, driving and leading UK policy making for one of the UK’s frontier technologies. His responsibilities covered the growth of the sector, as well as responsible innovation, biological security, economic security and AI-Bio convergence policy making. He also directed international engagement and served as the UK delegate to the Biotechnology working party at the OECD.