Meet the team

Tris has led Challenge Works from its origins as a Nesta experiment to being a global hub for expertise and insight on challenge prizes. His aim is to deliver challenge prizes that inspire and enable the development of high impact innovations  

Before joining Nesta, Tris co-founded and led the social enterprise Tempo and was included in the first cohort of the Observer’s New Radicals. Tris has also run a Welsh university think tank, founded a social sector consultancy and was a Teach First Geography teacher.

Caroline leads the Health team at Challenge Works, overseeing the design and delivery of our health portfolio of Prizes. Previously at Challenge Works, Caroline has led the design and delivery of the Global Surgical Training Challenge with Intuitive Foundation and worked across the Longitude Prize portfolio of challenge prizes. 

Prior to Challenge Works, Caroline has worked across a range of programme management and development roles in the life sciences including as Programme Manager for the Antimicrobial Resistance Programme at Public Health England and as a Senior Scientific Editor at Informa.  

Amalia is the Data Programme Lead for the Prize. She oversees the technical aspects of the Prize.

Before joining Challenge Works, Amalia was a Senior Research Fellow at the UK Dementia Research Institute at UCL, where she led research on neurodegenerative diseases, particularly Alzheimer’s Disease. Her work involved using advanced imaging, electrophysiology and machine learning techniques to study brain function and disease progression.

Jasmin is a Senior Programme Manager at Challenge Works. Before joining the Longitude Prize on ALS, she managed various prizes within the Health team, including the Longitude Prize on AMR - an £8m prize to incentivise the development of novel point-of-care diagnostic tests that rapidly and accurately identify the presence of a bacterial infection and the right antibiotic to prescribe.

Jasmin is particularly interested in global health, and holds a degree in the subject. Before Challenge Works, she worked at the Wellcome Trust in a number of roles, including evaluation, science funding, and programme management. 

Seoana leads the communications team for the Longitude Prize on ALS, where she oversees website development, events, and digital campaigns.

With a background in journalism and over ten years’ experience spanning media, public policy and technology, Seoana brings a distinctive editorial perspective to mission-driven communications. Her work focuses on connecting ambitious ideas with broad audiences, shaping narratives that drive awareness, partnership and impact.

At Challenge Works, Fernanda contributes to the successful delivery of the Global Health portfolio, including the £7.5M Longitude Prize on ALS and, previously, the £4.4M Longitude Prize on Dementia (on assistive technology).

Her career spans ~9 years working across the public, private and third sectors, where she has steered various initiatives to advance social good. Prior to joining Challenge Works, Fernanda led grassroots programmes to tackle labour precariousness (Oxfam Mexico), partnerships to guarantee clean energy access in rural and off-grid communities (B Corp ilumexico), and public sector initiatives to advance international human rights agendas (Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs).

Dina is currently a Programme Coordinator at Challenge Works, where she supports the global health team.

Prior to joining Challenge Works, Dina worked as a Programme Coordinator at the UN World Health Organization’s Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean Region (WHO/EMRO). In this role, she contributed to several projects funded by the EU, World Bank, and FCDO, focusing on developing and strengthening health systems to enhance their resilience. In 2023, she was part of the emergency response team based in Egypt, addressing the humanitarian crisis in Sudan.