Giles Lomax

How does it feel to receive an Edinburgh Napier Alumni Award? “I feel incredibly privileged. Edinburgh Napier played a huge role in shaping my life. I arrived here unexpectedly, had an amazing undergraduate experience, returned for postgraduate study and built a career in Scotland. "To receive an award of this calibre from a university that has meant so much to me is a real honour. I'm genuinely delighted and very grateful to be recognised in this way.”

What brought you to Edinburgh Napier?

“My path to Edinburgh Napier wasn't exactly straight forward.

"I grew up in Northern Ireland and, after doing well at GCSE and AS Levels, I unexpectedly failed one of my A-levels. My original plan had been to study biomedical engineering, but when my results came through, I had to rethink.

"My uncle suggested Edinburgh as a city, so I came over to visit and immediately loved both the city and the university. I played a lot of rugby and had a strong interest in sports science, particularly the study and treatment of sports injuries. Through Clearing, I secured a place at Edinburgh Napier University.

"That was 2006 and 20 years later I’m still in Edinburgh.”

Tell us about the role sport played in your student experience

“Rugby was a huge part of my university experience.

"I played rugby at a high level before I joined Napier, and I continued to play while here. Napier's rugby league team competed against top university sides through the BUCS league, which helped me develop as a player. I earned Full Blues and Full Colours and played in the Scotland Students, Scotland 9’s and Scotland ‘A’s . A year after I graduated, I earned a professional Scotland cap.

"The friendships I formed through Napier rugby exist to this day.”

Describe your career journey after graduating

“I graduated in 2010 with a BSc (Hons) Sport & Exercise Science (Sports Injuries). I played semi-professional rugby, in Scotland and England while working a variety of jobs. The job market was challenging at the time, much like it is today, and I found it difficult to get my career off the ground.

"In late 2011 I secured my first role in sport with Edinburgh Leisure. I had considered different fields, but I chose the sports development industry. I spent over a decade working for national governing bodies including Scottish Curling, Scottish Gymnastics and Scottish Triathlon.

"Growing sport starts with creating positive experiences. While the sports themselves varied, the core purpose of my work remained the same: helping more people access and enjoy sport, and creating positive, lifelong experiences through high-quality coaching and well-designed development pathways.

"During this time, I returned to Edinburgh Napier to undertake a postgraduate diploma in Sports Performance Enhancement (Coaching).”

In 2023 you moved from sport into the charity sector and joined SMA UK as CEO. What inspired that change?

“There were two factors. Professionally, I was looking for a new challenge and an opportunity to make a significant impact and personally, this is an area close to my heart.

"Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) is a rare genetic condition that causes progressive muscle wasting and weakness. If SMA is identified before symptoms appear, most children can grow up without experiencing the life-limiting effects of the condition, however, until recently, there was not a routine screening programme to test newborn babies.

"My twins were born in 2018 and in 2019 they were diagnosed with SMA. I had been involved with SMA UK as a parent and in 2023 an opportunity came up to lead the charity. I believed I could bring together everything I'd learned in sport leadership, governance and organisational development and apply it to create meaningful change.

"Taking on the Chief Executive role was a leap into the unknown, but it felt right.”

SMA UK recently achieved two momentous milestones with the introduction of better diagnosis and treatment programmes. Tell us more.

“When I joined SMA UK three years ago, I had two long-term ambitions which I called my “Everest”: securing routine newborn screening for SMA and ensuring long-term access to life-changing treatments. Incredibly, we’ve achieved both in the last year.

"Within five days of birth, babies in Scotland and England now receive a heel-prick blood test which now includes SMA. The sample is sent for immediate analysis and, if SMA is detected, treatment will begin by the time a baby is just 10 days old. Since March 2026, all newborn babies in Scotland are being screened for SMA. The rollout in England began in October 2026, with the aim of achieving full national coverage within a year.

"One of my proudest achievements has been helping establish Scotland's screening laboratory. While England already had some existing infrastructure, Scotland had to build its capability from the ground up. We needed to secure funding, develop infrastructure and bring partners together to make it happen.

"Another huge milestone was increasing access to drug treatment therapies. Previously these treatments were offered through a managed access agreement. This was essentially like a trial where patients had a limited-time arrangement to receive the treatment while more data was collected. However, April 2026, it was announced that NHS England would provide access to these treatments, providing patients and families with long-term certainty.

"Both these achievements have the potential to transform lives for generations to come.”

You’ve helped drive two significant breakthroughs in the last year. How does it feel to know your work has made such a lasting impact?

“I can’t tell you how demanding these past few months have been!

"The charity had already done a huge amount of work before I joined, but over the last couple of years our engagement with government officials and healthcare decision makers gathered significant momentum.

"November and December 2025 was an intense period as we worked to finalise a report which would eventually lead to the drug treatment getting over the line. Then on 5th January 2026 former Little Mix band member Jesy Nelson shared publicly that her twins had been diagnosed with SMA. The resulting media attention was a major catalyst. We worked hard to use that increased awareness to amplify the campaigning and advocacy work that had already been underway and to build public momentum for further change.

"It's very rare in life that you get the opportunity to make such a huge change for the future. The emotional weight of my responsibility was significant, but successfully getting those approvals across the line made it worthwhile.”

What’s next for you and SMA UK?

“We've achieved some significant milestones, but newborn screening is currently operating as a pilot programme. We must continue gathering evidence and demonstrating its impact to secure a permanent recommendation.

"We'll also continue supporting both sides of the SMA community: those identified through newborn screening and people already living with SMA, for whom it is too late to benefit from screening. These groups have very different needs and experiences, and it's important that we continue to advocate for and support them both."

What advice would you give to someone wishing to follow in your footsteps?

“Life does not care about your plans. Once you realise that, you stop measuring yourself against milestones that you think you should have reached by a certain age or stage. Instead, focus on continuing to learn, developing your skills and remaining open to opportunities.

"I've come to think of life as a meandering river. Sometimes you're steering it and sometimes it's taking you somewhere unexpected. Either way, if you keep growing and moving forward, you'll eventually find your path.”