Hayden is a scientist and biotech operator, with a track record in company creation and scaling. 

Prior to joining RQ Hayden was Director of Corporate Development at Enara Bio, an Oxford-based immune-oncology biotech, where he led a large pharma partnership delivering candidate targets for a therapeutic cancer vaccine. As part of the founding team, he also held leadership roles in operations and program management, helping drive the company's growth over several years from inception to preclinical stage with a pipeline of in-house and partnered assets.  

Hayden has a scientific background in genetics and stem cell biology. He obtained a PhD in developmental genetics at the University of Edinburgh followed by postdoctoral research in paediatric brain tumour biology at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto and at The Gurdon Institute, University of Cambridge.