Associate Director of Project Management - Biology

• May 2022 - Present

I lead C4XD External Sourcing and New Projects with the goal to choose the best projects to feed into C4XD pipeline and the best academic and industry collaborators to work with.

Commercial Secondee

• Mar 2021 - Aug 2022

I supported the C4XD Corporate Strategy and Development team by being the link between the commercial and scientific sides of our DD programmes and tech platforms. I was responsible for commercially evaluate potential new projects for the company to start to work on and progress them into an early pipeline and also to identify, evaluate and coordinate potential collaborations with academic partners.

Drug Discovery Project Manager - Biosciences

• Nov 2019 - Apr 2022

In this position I was responsible for finding the right CROs and/or academic partners to run the most appropriate in vitro assays and in vivo models to test the compounds our super chemists develop with our super cool technology (Conformetrix)! And then manage all of that - assay development, routine results, quality of data, timelines, communication between scientists (external and our own), priorities, risks, mitigation planning, trouble shooting, budgets, commercial alignment of projects, etc... Because my background is Biology I also gave scientific support on in vivo models and in vitro assay development and I overseen our Biology-CROs across all projects. Because of my vast experience in academia I also overseen most of our academic collaborations. I worked very closely with our Tax3 (our other cutting edge technology) team as their Project Manager and Biology support. Show less

Biology Project Coordinator

• Oct 2018 - Oct 2019

I was responsible for CRO and academic partnerships coordination, early stage drug discovery project management, biology support for in vivo and assay development.

Volunteer Science Tutor

• Sep 2018 - Sep 2018

I went to the Nisala Nenasala Learning Centres in Udubaddawa and Kuliyapitya (Colombo region) via Projects Abroad as a Science Tutor and gave short workshops to children of various ages: English to 6-8 years old, basic astronomy and genetics concepts to 9 - 14 years old and basic concepts of first aid to 15-18 years old. I went to the Nisala Nenasala Learning Centres in Udubaddawa and Kuliyapitya (Colombo region) via Projects Abroad as a Science Tutor and gave short workshops to children of various ages: English to 6-8 years old, basic astronomy and genetics concepts to 9 - 14 years old and basic concepts of first aid to 15-18 years old.

Translational Research Scientist and Project Manager @ Leicester Drug Discovery & Diagnostics

• 2015 - 2018

The aim of the Leicester Drug Discovery & Diagnostics (LD3) was to identify (within the college of Life Sciences of the University of Leicester ) projects with potential for becoming part of a Drug Discovery programme or give origin to an innovative diagnostics method and support the academics to progress them in the right direction.My role within LD3 involved:• Analysis, selection and management of translational research projects;• Development of commercial strategy and preparation of data packages to establish commercial partnerships;• Development of cell based assays (mammal and bacterial) and pre-clinical models (both in-vivo and ex-vivo) for target validation and target engagement;• Writing of scientific manuscripts and translational grants;• Managing branding materials and website. Show less

Visiting Research Fellow @ Dep of Genetics

• 2013 - 2015

The work I developed in this position included:• Optimisation and management of a quantification methodology project for analysis of bacterial populations in human samples;• Establishment of collaborations with different departments of UoL (Genetics; Infection, Immunity and Inflammation; Mathematics and Bioinformatics), companies and hospitals in the NL, Switzerland and Gambia; • Presentations at International scientific meetings.

Visiting Fellow

• Aug 2017 - Aug 2017

Secured funding from MRC Proximity to Discovery Award to develop scientific and managerial exchange of knowledge as part of the DPAc collaboration. Secured funding from MRC Proximity to Discovery Award to develop scientific and managerial exchange of knowledge as part of the DPAc collaboration.

Visiting PhD Researcher

• Feb 2013 - Feb 2013

Marie Curie Early Stage Researcher

• 2010 - 2013

I was a member of the Marie Curie Network through the project STARS - Scientific Training in Antimicrobial Research Strategies. This network consisted in an international, multicultural, multidisciplinary team of companies, research institutes and universities, working in Italy, the UK, the NL, Spain and Latvia for the development of new antimicrobials, using a structure based drug design approach. In this project I : • Was responsible for compound screening and in vivo validation; • Made presentations at international scientific meetings, including meetings with European funding bodies for Horizon 2020. Show less

Research Fellow

• 2008 - 2010

In this position I was responsible for the management and practical execution of a collaborative project between two academic groups to optimise an in-vivo NMR system for the study of S.aureus metabolism and antibiotics resistance. In this position I was responsible for the management and practical execution of a collaborative project between two academic groups to optimise an in-vivo NMR system for the study of S.aureus metabolism and antibiotics resistance.

Student Tutor @ Junta de Freguesia de Sta Isabel

• 2005 - 2009

I was a tutor in a prevention programme against drug addiction and other risk behaviors, for children and adolescents (6-18) - Programme INTERVIR from the Lisbon City Council (Câmara Municipal de Lisboa), Portugal I was a tutor in a prevention programme against drug addiction and other risk behaviors, for children and adolescents (6-18) - Programme INTERVIR from the Lisbon City Council (Câmara Municipal de Lisboa), Portugal

Master's Erasmus Intern

• Feb 2007 - Aug 2007

The work developed in this position included hospital diagnostics routine at the Molecular Biology Laboratory and research about childhood insulin resistance and obesity. I was the liaison in a collaboration between the Molecular Biology Laboratory and the Pediatrics Department. The work developed in this position included hospital diagnostics routine at the Molecular Biology Laboratory and research about childhood insulin resistance and obesity. I was the liaison in a collaboration between the Molecular Biology Laboratory and the Pediatrics Department.