Our People

Dr Aadarash Zia

Scientist - Drug Delivery

Aadarash is a scientist in drug delivery at MDC with 7 years of experience, specializing in the study, design, and exploration of bio-nanoparticles/formulations for therapeutic and diagnostic purposes. Following her graduation, she worked as a researcher at an Oncology & Radiotherapy institute, focusing on developing radiotracer-payload carriers for non-invasive in-vivo imaging.

She furthered her expertise by completing a PhD at the Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at Monash University, Australia. Her interdisciplinary research involved developing novel multifunctional nanoparticles tailored for brain targeting. Her contributions extend to unravelling the intricacies of intracellular uptake within a microfluidic-based human blood–brain barrier on-chip model.

At MDC, her role is multidisciplinary, ranging from formulation development and optimization to setting up in-vitro oncology cell models. This allows her to study cellular responses, drug interactions, and other aspects relevant to drug delivery in research.

Dr Adam Rolt

Senior Scientist

Adam is a senior scientist within the complex medicines group at MDC. Following a PhD in Chemistry, he carried out postdoctoral positions at the NIH and the University of Oxford, where he was awarded a fellowship and transitioned into a molecular biology role.

At MDC, Adam is responsible for the development of novel phenotypic assay systems for drug discovery, working across several different areas of biology. Adam’s personal research interests lie in translational science, human ageing and the understanding of drug action.

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Adriana Gambardella

Lead Scientist

Adriana joined Medicines Discovery Catapult in 2023 as part of the Virtual Research and Development team to help SMEs develop their strategies and re-disk their programmes.

Building on over 18 years of research experience within academia and industry (both CROs and biotech companies), working on translational research and drug discovery programmes across different disease areas, from cancer immunology to inflammation and fibrosis.

Following a PhD in BioMolecular Science and Biotechnology at European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Italy, she moved to UK for her post-doctoral fellowships (first on inflammation and liver fibrosis at the University of Edinburgh (SCRM), then on Haematology and Stem cell biology at the University of Oxford (WIMM)).

In 2016 she joined Immunocore where she used her NGS and flow cytometry expertise to lead the work of her team of scientist and bioinformatics in the Target Validation group to identify new cancer targets. After a couple of years working at Concept Life Science as the Immunology Department Leader, where she gained commercial experience, she joined Redx where she worked as drug discovery Project Leader for the fibrosis and immunology programs and Lead Translational scientist for the most advanced programs: Ph1 study in Chron’s disease and the Ph2a study in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF).

Dr Andrzej Rutkowski

Lead Scientist

While in academia, Andrzej worked in different scientific fields, from oncofoetal antigens to herpes viruses. His projects revolved around changes in gene expression, which is where he developed an array of skills transferrable to biomarker research.

While in AstraZeneca, he developed and multiplexed droplet digital PCR assays and used them to monitor cancer-related mutations in liquid biopsies from patients in early-phase clinical trials.

In 2018, he started the position of senior scientist in biomarkers at Medicines Discovery Catapult, where he introduced super-sensitive molecular biology techniques, including droplet digital PCR from Bio-Rad and Simoa from Quanterix. During the pandemic, he was seconded as Assay Innovation and Evaluation Lead to the ISO15189-accredited Alderley Park Lighthouse Lab, which delivered COVID-19 diagnostics. This two-year placement allowed Andrzej to better understand diagnostics from the scientific and regulatory sides.

Furnished with these skills and experience, he was appointed lead scientist in Good Clinical Laboratory Practice (GCLP) biomarkers in MDC, leading the development of a framework for carrying out exploratory analyses on clinical samples in compliance with GCLP guidelines.

Dr Benedetta Arno

Lead Scientist

Benedetta is an expert scientist, with over 10 years of research experience within academia and industry. She has experience in leading in vivo drug discovery projects, with the main focus on characterising complex medicines distribution and efficacy using a broad range of imaging modalities including PET, CT, optical imaging and ultrasound as well as ex vivo tissue analysis. With great project management skills, she has successfully delivered multiple projects across a variety of diseases and therapeutic areas. Benedetta has a BSc in biotechnology and MSc Hons in biomedical science before completing her PhD in Neuroscience.

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Dr Beverley Isherwood

Partnership Lead

Beverley has responsibility for setting up and providing strategic and scientific leadership and direction for MDC’s infectious disease Syndicate portfolio, including the CF AMR Syndicate.

Bev has extensive experience in the development and delivery of collaborative research consortia bringing together experts from different sectors to shape research agendas and drive research efforts focused on unmet needs including working with and supporting SMEs who are developing the next generation of medicines for patients. The current focus is on shaping an ecosystem of partnerships in Infectious Disease working with colleagues internally and across the sector to help accelerate medicines development in this area. MDC representative on the cross-Catapult Research and Technology Group.

Bev has 15 years of experience in drug discovery across a broad range of disease indications and therapeutic modalities having previously held leadership roles in the biopharmaceutical industry. Bev is an Associate Editor for SLAS Discovery, and holds an MA (Natural Sciences) from Cambridge University and a PhD in Molecular Virology from the MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research. Member of the Association of Strategic Alliance Professionals with CA-AM accreditation.

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Dr Bruno Bellina

Lead Scientist

Dr Bruno Bellina obtained his PhD in Molecular Spectroscopy from the University Claude Bernard Lyon 1. He then moved for a year to the University of Southern California, Los Angeles (US) where he worked as a post-doctoral researcher in Molecular Physics.

Following this, he joined the institute of biotechnology in Manchester (UK), as a post-doctoral and then as a senior experimental officer, where he led a project coupling an ion mobility mass spectrometer with laser spectroscopy. Bruno also managed research activities and facilities for the collaborative mass spectrometry centre, MBCCMS. His research at MDC now focuses on delivering innovative instrumentation in the drug discovery field with a focus on native mass spectrometry and ion mobility techniques.

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Catherine Eagle

Lead Scientist

Catherine has over 10 years of experience in the biotech industry, primarily in drug discovery with a focus on immuno-oncology and translational science. Catherine has an MSc by Research in cancer cell biology from the University of Bristol. She has expertise in establishing methods to assess drug mechanism, target engagement and PD biomarkers in both pre-clinical and clinical studies.

As lead scientist, Catherine develops complex primary immune cell assays, utilising the innovative analysis capabilities available at Medicines Discovery Catapult to support immunology drug discovery projects.

Constance Takawira

Partnership Manager

Constance joined the team as the Partnership Manager for the CF AMR Syndicate.

Constance’s main background is in clinical pharmacy, working both in the UK and in New Zealand. During her time in New Zealand, she specialised in respiratory medicine and served as a member of the antimicrobial stewardship committee. Her current focus is on building and supporting the CF AMR Network and the UK CF Infection Biorepository to further the cross-collaborative medicines discovery vision at the heart of the Syndicate.

Constance holds a MPHARM in Pharmacy from the University of Brighton and an MSc in Global Health from Gothenburg University.

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Dr Dhifaf Jasim

Senior Scientist

Dhifaf has over 12 years of experience in the field of Pharmacy (industry, clinical, community, teaching, and research).

After obtaining M.Sc. in drug delivery from the School of Pharmacy University of London with distinction, she was awarded the ORS Award from UCL School of Pharmacy to complete her PhD in Pharmacology/Nanomedicine which was carried out at both UCL School of Pharmacy and the University of Manchester. She has made, characterised, and labelled various nanoparticles and biomolecules with different labels whether for optical imaging or nuclear imaging purposes.

Dhifaf has extensive experience in vivo imaging (SPECT/CT, IVIS) and in vivo/in vitro toxicity with the aim of understanding the structure-activity relationships. Dhifaf also holds an honorary teaching role at the University of Manchester where she teaches both MPharm and postgraduate (CDT) students.

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Dr Ekta Patel

Partnership Manager

Ekta is responsible for the management of the Psychiatry Consortium.

Ekta is a translational scientist with over 8 years of drug discovery research experience in both academic and industrial roles. Combining her scientific knowledge and experience of working across SMEs, academic research groups and pharmaceutical companies, Ekta provides in-depth support to our collaborators to develop and deliver our portfolio of projects.

Alongside her role at the Psychiatry Consortium, Ekta is a member of the Greater Manchester HRA Research Ethics Committee and is a strong advocate of patient involvement throughout the drug discovery process.

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Eleanor Platt

Molecular Scientist

Eleanor Platt is a Molecular Scientist within the Biomarkers team at Medicines Discovery Catapult.

Eleanor undertook a degree in Molecular and Cellular Biology at the University of Bath and completed her M.Phil. in Molecular Cancer Studies at the University of Manchester, with a focus on the role of glucocorticoid receptor in small cell lung cancer cell apoptosis.

She was offered the opportunity to work within the pharmacokinetics laboratory in a large CRO, processing and testing patient biological samples. She subsequently worked within the R&D Department at a leading molecular diagnostics company for five years, developing PCR-based diagnostics to better direct treatment of patients with cancer and infectious diseases.

Eleanor’s current research interests focus on ageing and age-related diseases, particularly expression of age-related biomarkers in plasma and the mechanisms through which bisphosphonates such as Zoledronate may reduce the rate of ageing, as well as the incidence of cancers and cardiovascular disease.

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Dr Emily Offer

Head of Cellular Sciences

Emily has 20 years’ experience in cell and molecular biology applied to drug discovery.

Emily’s academic research involved the development and validation of stem cell derived models of disease and has subsequently led teams in large global pharma and biotech companies, developing cellular assays for both screening and phenotypic analysis of large and small molecule drugs, from target identification and validation through to candidate drug selection.

Emily is currently working at Medicines Discovery Catapult as Head of Cellular Sciences, supporting SMEs, academics and drug discovery researchers to evaluate their drug or technology. Her team applies cell and molecular biology expertise in vitro using cellular models coupled with advanced technologies to evaluate cellular response. From target engagement to phenotypic response, the team aims to build translational evidence for a partners asset aligned to their key goals.

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Dr Emma Jones

Lead Scientist

Emma is a lead scientist with more than 15 years of experience investigating neuronal and glial cell function in the developing and diseased CNS across academic and industrial settings.

Emma has a PhD from the University of Manchester and carried out postdoctoral research at McGill University (Montreal, Canada). In her role at Medicines Discovery Catapult, Emma is responsible for developing innovative complex CNS cell models and cell behaviour assays for drug discovery projects.

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Dr Eve Corrie

Postdoctoral Scientist

Eve joined Medicines Discovery Catapult in January 2022 following her PhD in Biomedical Science at the University of Sheffield.

There she focused on research into the mechanisms of chronic neuropathic pain and the use of novel, retargeted botulinum toxins to prevent or reverse it. As part of a MRC iCASE studentship, she gained experience of both academic research at Sheffield and translational research within industry at Eli Lilly. In her role within the cell models team at MDC, she applies her expertise of functional neuronal assays to complex iPSC-derived CNS models.

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Gayle Marshall

Head of Biomarkers

Gayle has more than 20 years of experience, in biomarker and omics research.

Leading a large, multi-skilled translational science laboratory team, within a global Pharma department supporting biomarker strategies across 14 drug discovery programs covering more than 20 clinical studies, through to leading a large multi-disciplinary team within MDC. Gayle directs multi-biomarker analysis and assay development, supporting diagnostic development initiatives, and delivering key pre-clinical and clinical biomarker data.

Gayle is currently working at Medicines Discovery Catapult as Head of Biomarkers, supporting SMEs, academics and drug discovery researchers to identify the right biomarkers and clinical approach for their drug or asset development.

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Dr Graeme Wilkinson

Head of Virtual R&D

Graeme is Head of Virtual R&D at Medicines Discovery Catapult.

A pharmacologist by training, and with over 25 years of experience in the industry, Graeme has a track record of successfully leading drug discovery and capability enhancement projects in large pharma and start-up across many disease areas. In addition, Graeme has also significant experience in instigating and leading open innovation, and drug repositioning programmes.

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Dr Hervé Barjat

Lead of Bioimaging Informatics

Following undergraduate studies in chemistry at Université Claude Bernard in Lyon, and an M.Sc. in physical methods of chemical analysis at UEA, he specialised in NMR spectroscopy whilst studying for a PhD at the University of Manchester with Prof. Gareth Morris. He developed novel data acquisition methods as well as analysis tools in high-field liquid-state NMR spectroscopy, with applicability to MRI. This work continued in Cambridge with Prof. Ray Freeman.

He subsequently joined GSK as a founding member of a small imaging team focused solely on the application of MRI for the study of models of Neurology and gastrointestinal diseases. He joined AstraZeneca in 2007 and worked in a multi-modality imaging department (MRI, PET, CT, ultrasound) studying drug efficacy and toxicity in a range of therapeutic areas. During part of this time, he was the industry-side project manager for the IMI QuIC-ConCePT project aimed at assessing whether selected quantitative imaging measurements can be used as validated biomarkers of treatment effect on tumours.

After a brief period at STFC’s Scientific Computing Department in Daresbury, working on modelling some properties of active pharmaceutical ingredient formulations, he joined MDC in early 2019. He is focusing on imaging informatics, in particular the management and analysis of the wide range of imaging data produced in the laboratories.

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Ian Dunlop

Head of Informatics

Ian is the Head of Informatics at MDC and has been architecting and developing software systems of all shapes and sizes for over 20 years. His most important task at MDC is to ensure that people follow best practices and test their code properly. He has used far too many programming languages over the years but his favourites are probably Scala, Ruby and JavaScript.

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Dr Irma Berrueta Razo

Senior Scientist

Irma completed a PhD at the University of Manchester studying molecular imaging on mouse brain samples using the TOF-SIMS technique.

Prior to joining MDC, Irma worked as a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Manchester. During this time, Irma developed methods for applying Mass Spectrometry Imaging (MSI) to a range of samples using cutting-edge techniques to answer biological questions. Irma has experience with imaging biological tissues using techniques such as DESI, MALDI and TOF-SIMS.

Irma’s current interest is the analysis of complex biological systems using MSI in multi-disciplinary projects and applying new methods and technologies.

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John Vincent

Senior Scientist

John is a senior scientist with more than 25 years of experience in drug discovery roles, developing biochemical and cellular assays in a range of technologies and formats, utilising an array of laboratory equipment and automation.

John has a degree from the University of Nottingham and previously worked for 23 years at AstraZeneca in roles spanning microbiology, oncology and high-throughput screening. In his role at the Medicines Discovery Catapult, John is responsible for the development and validation of robust cellular and biochemical in vitro assays to monitor target engagement and modulation and provides expertise in the areas of drug discovery, screening and automation.

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Jonathan Thomas

Business Development Manager

Since joining Medicines Discovery Catapult in April 2022 as a Business Development Manager, Jonathan has worked with the Biomarkers team, supporting SMEs, academics, and drug discovery researchers in identifying suitable biomarkers and clinical approaches for their drug or asset development. Jonathan’s passion for innovation has led him to excel in commercial roles within the Life Sciences and Biotech sectors since his departure from the laboratory in 1998.

Dr Juliana Maynard

Head of Translational Imaging

Juliana Maynard is an expert Imaging Scientist specialising in pre-clinical imaging technologies, which ultimately aims to advance innovative drug discovery, bringing medicines to patients, faster.

An enthusiastic, proactive, very committed and hard-working individual Juliana has worked with a broad range of imaging modalities including PET, SPECT, CT, ultrasound and MRI. She has a proven track record of research for over 15 years as evidenced in her publications across a wide range of disease and therapy areas. She possesses good project management skills and has successfully delivered multiple projects with a strong delivery focus. She enjoys working across boundaries using her interpersonal skills to engage with customers and to “put an idea” into practice

Juliana has been based in the North West since earning her PhD at the University of Edinburgh in 2006. She worked at the University of Manchester and then spent 9 years in increasingly senior roles at AstraZeneca. On leaving AstraZeneca, Juliana recognised the opportunity that medical imaging can have in improving and accelerating drug discovery and set up the creation of a commercial imaging service offering with the ambition to make this readily available for use across the UK drug discovery community.

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Dr Kerry Shea

Lead Scientist

Graduating with a BSc in Biochemistry from the University of Sheffield, Kerry completed an AstraZeneca-funded Ph.D. from the Randall Centre for Cell and Molecular Biophysics at King’s College London, examining protein/protein interactions during cell migration.

Subsequently moving into industry, she has worked in large pharma, small biotech and CRO organisations and has significant experience in all aspects of small molecule drug discovery, primarily within the neuroscience, oncology and anti-infectives disease areas. Initially focussing on cell assay development and screening at the DNA damage response biotech, KuDOS Pharmaceuticals, she later progressed to leading drug discovery projects and managing their progress through the portfolio.

Later moving to AstraZeneca she continued to work in oncology drug discovery (DNA damage response, growth factors and metabolism). Following experience within the varied fields of anti-infectives and neuroscience, she moved to Medicines Discovery Catapult in 2017 and has worked within both the Biomarkers and Cell Model Analysis and Validation groups. Her interests are within the field of neuroinflammation, identifying biomarkers of neurodegenerative disease and building and profiling iPSC microglia cell models and assays that are more predictive of human disease.

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Dr Kevin Randall

Lead Scientist

After graduating from Manchester University with a degree in Biochemistry Kevin spent 6 years working in a clinical histopathology laboratory at the Queen’s Medical Centre, Nottingham, where he achieved State Registration as a Biomedical Scientist.

In 1997, shortly after gaining a Masters degree in Biomedical Sciences from Nottingham Trent University, he moved to AstraZeneca at Alderley Park to join Safety Assessment. During his 17 years at AZ Kevin lead a small team developing, validating and applying tissue-based assays in drug discovery, preclinical safety assessment and translational medicine.

After leaving AZ, Kevin spent 4 years with Hematogenix, a Chicago-based CRO, establishing and managing their European CAP/CLIA accredited histology/molecular pathology facility.

In February 2019 Kevin joined Medicines Discovery Catapult and has built a Molecular Pathology capability in support of in-house projects and providing access to state-of-the-art molecular pathology facilities and expertise for UK-based biotech, pharma and CROs.

Kevin has extensive experience in histology, immunohistochemistry, in situ hybridisation, image analysis and electron microscopy, and has authored/co-authored many peer-reviewed publications.

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Dr Lauren Toms

Scientist

Lauren is a Scientist in Single Molecule Localisation Microscopy (SMLM) with over six years’ of experience using and optimising super-resolution microscopy techniques.

Lauren has a PhD from the University of Manchester, where she used advanced microscopy to investigate the ultrastructure of proteins in cardiac myocytes in health and heart failure.

At Medicines Discovery Catapult, Lauren has established the SMLM technique for use in drug discovery across a wide range of sample types to answer different biological questions. This technique provides more information than previously possible with fluorescence microscopy, achieving resolutions of <20nm.

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Dr Lorna Fitzpatrick

Lead Scientist

Lorna is a Lead scientist with over ten years’ of experience in molecular biology and genetic engineering in primary, stem and cancer cells. Lorna has a PhD from St. George’s University of London and carried out post-doctoral research at Manchester Metropolitan University before joining Medicines Discovery Catapult.

In her current role, Lorna develops reporter models of disease pathways for both in vitro and in vivo readouts. She also has developed expertise in establishing capabilities to characterise intracellular delivery of complex medicines.

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Dr Lucy Frost

Senior Scientist

Following a PhD in Molecular Biology from the University of Warwick, Lucy joined Medicines Discovery Catapult in April 2021 as a Postdoctoral Scientist.

Lucy has a key role in the biomarkers team to develop bioinformatic tools and pipelines for the visualisation and interpretation of transcriptomic data. Lucy combines knowledge in molecular biology with bioinformatic techniques to interrogate large data sets and translate them into valuable biological information. Developing advanced data processing tools and techniques is essential for maximising the informational output of biological data to improve biomarker identification and advance therapeutic strategies against disease.

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Dr Lynne Braidwood

Board Member

Lynne joined Medicines Discovery Catapult (MDC) in 2021 as part of the Business Development Team. She supports MDC’s capabilities in Cellular Sciences, Translational Imaging, and Biomarkers. In this role, Lynne collaborates with pharmaceutical companies, biotech firms, SMEs, and academic researchers, helping them develop and execute studies by leveraging MDC’s expertise, technology, and wet lab capabilities.

Lynne has a strong research background in oncology and virology. She holds a BSc (Hons) in Molecular Biology and Genetics from the University of Edinburgh and a PhD in Oncolytic Viruses in combination with targeted anti-cancer agents from the Centre of Virus Research at the University of Glasgow.

Lynne was a scientist at the Beatson CRUK labs and then with small biotech company developing an oncolytic virus, which sponsored her PhD. Her role within the company transitioned from a lab-based scientist to a business development role, where she played a key role in the company’s acquisition by a major US biotech firm. Since then, Lynne has worked in commercial roles within the Life Sciences sector before joining Medicines Discovery Catapult.

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Dr Maike Langini

Senior Scientist

M.Sc. Maike Langini obtained her Master’s degree in Bio- and Pharmaceutical Analysis at the Fresenius university of applied sciences in Idstein (Germany). She is finishing her PhD in chemistry at the Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (Germany) with Prof Kai Stühler in the Molecular Proteomics Laboratory. Previous research focused on lncRNA based perturbations of protein signatures in brain tumours, secretome analysis in cancer cell lines, tumour tissue proteomics and phospho-proteomics. Currently, Maike is working at Medicines Discovery Catapult with a focus on applying mass spectrometry-based proteomics in the field of drug discovery.

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Dr Malcolm Haddrick

Lead Scientist

Malcolm is a Lead Scientist at MDC with 20+ years of experience in diverse Drug Discovery projects for efficacy and safety targets working at Pfizer and AstraZeneca.

Malcolm has a PhD from the University of Leicester, followed by a postdoctoral position at the NIH in the USA studying HIV-1 pathogenesis. At MDC, his current role is the development of more predictive cell models by exploiting multi-cellular cultures,  organ-on-a-chip technologies and leading-edge detection techniques.

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Dr Martina Sykorova

Senior Scientist - Complex Medicines

Martina is a senior scientist with experience in cell biology techniques and genetic engineering approaches for adoptive therapy. Martina completed her master’s degree in medical genetics and molecular diagnostics at Masaryk University in Brno, Czech Republic, followed by a placement at the Molecular and Clinical Cancer Medicine department at the University of Liverpool. During this time, she focused on highly multiplexed detection of RNAs and proteins in single cells, using CYTOF mass cytometry.

In 2018, Martina joined the Research and Development team at Immetacyte Ltd, where she helped develop tumour infiltrating lymphocyte engineering platforms, which is advancing towards clinical application. In 2023, Martina joined Complex medicine’s team at Medicines Discovery Catapult, working on a novel high-throughput, automated workflow to screen lipid nanoparticle payloads and formulations, as well as enhanced in vitro methods to interrogate their biology in detail.

Dr Michael Eyres

Lead Scientist

Michael joined Medicines Discovery Catapult as an intern at the start of 2019 at the end of his PhD in Oncology at Oxford University.

Michael stayed at MDC to volunteer at the Lighthouse COVID test labs at the start of the pandemic and then joined MDC as a senior scientist in spatial biomarkers. Now he applies spatial proteomic and transcriptomic techniques on a wide range of tissues and diseases.

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Dr Michael Fairclough

Lead Scientist

Michael has worked in the field of PET radiochemistry for over 15 years, obtaining his PhD in radiochemistry from the University of Manchester focussing on PET radiochemistry for the investigation of pain and inflammation. Michael also holds an honorary lecture position at the University of Manchester teaching basic and advanced PET radiochemistry theory for MSc students.

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Dr Nisha Ponnappan

Scientist - Complex Medicines

Nisha joined as a scientist at MDC in 2021 after obtaining her PhD in Biological Sciences from Indian Institute of Technology Delhi. Her academic research focussed on identifying and characterising small peptide sequences from animal toxins that can act as drug delivery vectors in mammalian cells. The work led to an award of patent for a novel cell-penetrating peptide sequence in 2021.

At MDC, Nisha is involved in complex medicines projects. Her work mainly focusses on characterising efficacy of drug delivery vectors and nucleic acid therapeutics in vitro along with development of bioassays for better understanding of behaviour of nanoparticles within the cellular environment.

Regine Anderson

Senior Scientist, Biological Samples

After completing a Master’s Degree in Advanced Biomedical Sciences at De Montfort University, Regine began working as a biobank tissue co-ordinator for Nottingham University Hospitals, managing donor consent and tissue preservation.

She later joined the University Hospitals of Leicester as part of a team enlisted to manage an Emergency Department ‘hot’ lab, performing urgent biochemistry and haematology tests.

Regine later obtained state registration from the IBMS and worked as a Biomedical Scientist validating and authorising haematology test results, within a multidisciplinary Fast-Track laboratory.

After some time, Regine accepted a role as a Specialist Biomedical Scientist within the Point-of-Care Testing department and was heavily involved in validating new devices and other governance activities.

Regine left the Midlands to join the Biomarkers team at Medicine’s Discovery Catapult (MDC) in March 2022 where her main focus is sourcing human samples to support the various discovery projects. Regine also sits on MDC’s Internal Ethics Committee to assist with compliance to HTA regulations.

Regine’s path to research was untraditional, but an emphasis on quality control has been a common theme throughout her career. Regine now calls on that experience as she works to ensure that MDC and the science community they serve, have better access to the highest quality samples for research.

Dr Paul Sharp

Lead Scientist

Paul is a Senior Preclinical Imaging Scientist with over 15 years of experience in driving innovation in translational research within academia and industry.

Paul has a PhD in neuroscience and expertise across multiple therapeutics areas from oncology to CNS disorders, with a strong focus on applying anatomical and functional imaging modalities for disease phenotyping, PK/PD readouts and evaluating whole-body biodistribution of complex medicines.

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Dr Phil Auckland

Lead Scientist

A chromosome biologist by training, Phil has spent 12 years utilising fluorescence microscopy to visualise molecular processes at the single-cell level.

Phil completed his PhD and early postdoctoral studies at Warwick University, where he developed imaging methods to understand the force-generating mechanisms that move chromosomes during cell division. He then moved to Rice University as a Fellow to work on cell-fate decision making during early human development. In 2021, he established an independent research group at the Randall Centre for Cell and Molecular Biophysics at King’s College London. He joined Medicines Discovery Catapult to lead the Advanced Microscopy team in 2023.

In his current role, Phil develops bespoke microscopy assays for the mechanistic characterisation of disease phenotypes and novel medicines. He also leads the establishment of novel imaging technologies to ensure that the MDC is at the forefront of microscopy-based drug discovery.

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Dr Philippa Hart

Lead Scientist

Philippa’s interest in MS imaging began during her PhD studies with the application of MALDI in the group of Prof. Malcolm Clench.

Philippa has over 13 years of experience in the field gained in both academia and industry, including roles at both Shimadzu and Waters. During this time she gained experience in clinical applications of MALDI MS and expanded her knowledge of MSI to the application of DESI.

At MDC, Philippa is driving and leveraging the use of MS surface analysis in drug discovery. Her main focus is to apply MSI in combination with other analytical techniques, to help MDC clients and collaborators in their research, through increased understanding of biodistribution, biomarker studies and beyond.

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Dr Robert Pedley

Molecular Scientist - Biomarkers

Dr Sally-Ann Emmas

Lead Scientist

Sally-Ann is a highly experienced scientist and project leader with over 25 years of experience in Research and Development.

Her expertise covers diagnostic and pharmaceutical fields, with experience in pre-clinical and clinical development across different disciplines, with a focus on translational research.

Following a PhD in surgical research, Sally-Ann joined GE Healthcare in 1999 as a biologist to develop and subsequently lead projects developing new diagnostic imaging agents. In 2007, she joined AstraZeneca to lead a team (initially in the UK and then globally) evaluating translational imaging biomarkers with the aim of providing earlier clinical readouts to accelerate drug development. In 2016 Sally-Ann joined Tangerine Holdings to lead Research and Development to support their existing product portfolio and drive new product development.

She has over 40 publications, 1 book chapter, 8 invited presentations and 10 published patents.

Sally-Ann joined the Medicines Discovery Catapult in 2021 as part of the Virtual Research and Development team to help SMEs develop their strategies and re-disk their programmes.

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Sarah Brockbank

Strategy Leader - Complex Medicines

Sarah Brockbank leads the strategy for Complex Medicines at Medicines Discovery Catapult.

In this role she draws on internal expertise and the external environment, through membership of national programmes and a portfolio of client projects, to develop and implement a core strategy for complex medicines that is responsive to the needs of this emerging area.

Sarah has 35 years’ of experience in the pharmaceutical industry. She is a molecular biologist with a focus mainly in target identification & validation and has worked across a broad range of disease areas. Sarah was a Drug Discovery Project Leader at AstraZeneca, and she also has extensive experience in the leadership and management of large public-private consortia and collaborations.

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Dr Tara Bowen

Scientist

Dr Tatiane Takahashi

Senior Scientist

Tatiane has over 11 years of pre-clinical research experience within academia and industry. She has expertise in psychiatric disorders and oncology, as well as experience in leading in vivo drug discovery projects of complex medicines. Tatiane is well acquainted in applying non-destructive imaging modalities in in vivo studies, such as PET, CT, MRI and IVIS, and a vast experience in ex vivo tissue imaging and molecular analysis. Tatiane holds a BSc and MSc in Pharmacology and has received a PhD with Magna cum laude distinction in neuropsychopharmacology from Heidelberg University in Germany.

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Timothy Rudd

Senior Scientist, Next Generation Sequencing

Timothy is an expert in Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) technology and library preparation methods; his experience developed through 5 years within genomics service and scientific positions, utilising instruments from several leading genomics companies, including Illumina, 10X Genomics and MGI tech.

After completing an epigenetics Honours project within Professor Stan Gronthos’ Mesenchymal Stem Cell Laboratory (South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute, SAHMRI), Timothy worked in the SAHMRI Genomics Core Facility before it evolved into the South Australian Genomics Centre, playing a pivotal role in the new centre’s establishment. His mastery of library preparation methods (including RNAseq, WGS, WGA, WGBS/EMseq and 16S), single cell platforms and sequencing instruments served clients in academia, industry, and the clinic.

Currently, Timothy is building Medicines Discovery Catapult’s NGS offerings and utilising his expertise in SME genomics projects.

Tracy Hall

Senior scientist

Tracy is an expert senior scientist who has a wealth of expertise over many years and now specialises in pre-clinical imaging technologies, which ultimately aims to advance innovative drug discovery, bringing medicines to patients, faster.

An enthusiastic, proactive, very committed and hard-working individual Tracy has worked with a broad range of imaging modalities across a number of therapeutic areas. She has a proven track record of research for over 20years and a wealth of industry expertise. She excels in good project management skills and has successfully delivered multiple projects with a strong delivery focus.

Tracy started her career at Zeneca and has previous experience with DMPK and toxicology projects.  Now at Medicines Discovery Catapult Tracy enjoys working across various models of translational projects with advanced imaging capabilities and surgical procedures. Tracy plays a pivotal role in supporting our SME and industry partners in their pre-clinical imaging studies.

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William Drewe

Business Development Manager

William joined Medicines Discovery Catapult (MDC) in 2021 and is a member of the Business Development Team supporting MDC’s Translational Imaging capability. In this role William works to support pharmaceutical companies, SMEs and academic researchers develop and execute pre-clinical imaging studies by connecting them with MDC’s expertise, technology and wet-lab capabilities.

William has a research background in medicinal and biological chemistry (MSci Biochemistry and Biological Chemistry – University of Nottingham; PhD in the Rational Design of G-Quadruplex DNA Interacting Ligands – School of Pharmacy, University of London). Following a period of Post-Doctoral Chemistry Research at the University of Nottingham, William joined the Leeds-based toxicology software company Lhasa Limited as a Scientist, before transitioning into the Global Alliance Team, working closely with global regulators and big pharma to foster the wider adoption of in silico approaches across the industry.