Can you describe yourself in three words?
Tall, Scientific and inquisitive.
At 6’7”, the “tall” part is a given! As will become clear to anyone reading this, I have a strong drive to explore, question and understand the world around me, not just in my professional work, but in everyday life as well. I'm naturally curious and enjoy diving deep into research and discovery.
You went to the University of Aberdeen to study chemistry. When did you first realise that was something you wanted to do?
I was just excited to get into university and I hadn’t given much thought to what would come next. One of the great things about studying in Scotland is the flexibility, you're not locked into a single subject or degree path right away. In my first year, I had the chance to explore psychology, biology and chemistry.
Chemistry stood out to me, not only because I’d enjoyed it in school, but also because university-level teaching allowed me to engage with it in a completely different way. At school, the subject didn’t really play to my strengths and was more about remembering and re-calling information, so I never performed as well as I could have in my school exams. I’ve always had a diagnostic mindset, and as the course progressed and the focus shifted towards problem-solving, I found myself thriving. It became something I enjoyed and excelled at.
You’ve worked in a variety of different toles at TauRx, how did your career path lead you to a role here?
After completing my degree, I was offered a PhD at the University of Aberdeen, sponsored by Quadrant Healthcare, a company focused on novel drug delivery systems. My research contributed to the intellectual property behind their devices, and that experience gave me a solid foundation and helped me stand out when Claude (Wischik, TauRx cofounder and CEO) was building the team.
I really enjoyed the PhD as it was rewarding to know my work could help tackle real healthcare challenges. That sense of purpose is what ultimately drew me in and shaped the direction of my career.
I joined TauRx in 2002 when the company was still small and I was finishing up my PhD. In those early days, I spent most of my time in the lab, synthesising new compounds, studying metabolites and developing analytical methods to support the research. As the company grew, so did my role. I moved from hands-on lab work into more coordination and support, especially in areas like drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics (DMPK), and later worked closely with partners on non-clinical studies. We also established an in-house bioanalytical lab to conduct our own clinical analysis.
On the chemistry side, I’ve developed and transferred analytical methods to external partners, making sure they could implement them successfully and stepping in when needed.
Over time, my role has evolved to cover both technical and strategic aspects, bridging early-stage research, method development and operational oversight. That mix of responsibilities has kept the work both challenging and fulfilling.
Did you ever see yourself working in the life sciences sector?
It’s not something I spent a lot of time thinking about. I’ve always believed it’s better not to stress too much about having everything figured out, sometimes it’s best to just see where life takes you. If you get too caught up in chasing a specific idea of how things should be, you often set yourself up for disappointment.
Can you tell us about your role as a Head of DMPK / Analytical Chemistry at TauRx?
DMPK has played a key role throughout the years in supporting our understanding of how our compound behaves in the body. We've done a lot of work with various partners to build up the body of evidence required for regulatory submissions.
At this stage, and now that we are submitted for approval, the focus has shifted. DMPK is still relevant, especially when responding to regulatory questions around metabolism and bioanalysis, but much more of my time is now spent on the chemistry and manufacturing side.
We’re working closely with the companies that produce the compound to ensure everything meets the necessary quality and compliance standards. That involves a lot of work in the CMC (Chemistry, Manufacturing, and Controls) space to make sure we can answer any questions from regulators and fill any gaps in understanding.
One big focus this year is around reference standards. This is essentially a precise analytical standard used to release batches of our compound to ensure quality and consistency of material for human consumption. It’s similar to how a ruler needs a master template to ensure its accuracy when it is manufactured. We have to continue to work to stricter quality expectations the closer we get to commercial launch.
What has been the highlight of working at TauRx so far?
From a company perspective, announcing the results of our Phase 2 trial back in 2008, which was a first for us and was the lead on the BBC night-time news.
On a more personal level, the work we've done has been quite different due to the complex nature of the compound we're studying. We realised early on that using external labs for routine analysis could be problematic, so we decided to set up our own lab at the University of Aberdeen. We built up the equipment, developed the processes, and trained the team ourselves.
When the MHRA came to inspect, they sent their lead inspector because they had some concerns with a university lab that had come from nowhere in such a short time. After two days, the inspection ended with no findings. He mentioned it was the first time he'd had a startup inspection with no issues, which we were very pleased to hear!
What is the best professional advice you can give or have been given?
It's important to take initiative and responsibility. Coming from an academic background and having done a PhD, you're often given a problem where you need to conduct research, understand the issue, develop a solution, and then carry out the work to communicate your findings. That whole process teaches you a lot about self-sufficiency. If you're willing to step up, take ownership of tasks, and see them through, it can make a big difference, not just in your work, but throughout all aspects of your life.
Tell us something about yourself that would be a surprise to most people
I'm at that stage in life where the kids are starting to leave home, and it's given me the chance to reconnect with hobbies I used to really enjoy. During my undergraduate years, I was part of the university rowing team. After quite a long time away from the sport, I've recently been roped back into rowing with my local village club this time out on the North Sea, which is quite a change from the calm rivers around Aberdeen!
