Leadership Team
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Dr Lucy Foley Exmoor Pharma
Lucy is the CTO at eXmoor Pharma Concepts
Prior to joining the eXmoor Lucy was Lead Biopharmaceutical Engineer at the National Biologics Manufacturing Centre and a lecturer in Biopharmaceutical Engineering in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Advanced Materials at Newcastle University. Previously Lucy was a Research Associate in Newcastle University Business School where she worked with Profs Lyddiatt and Whitaker to understand the route to widespread adoption and process industrialisation of advanced therapies. Lucy holds visiting posts at Monash University, Melbourne and Newcastle University.
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Prof Michael Whitaker Newcastle University
Michael is Professor of Physiology and co-Director of the joint Durham/Newcastle/NHS North East England Stem Cell Institute.
He is a Director of The Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products (ATMP) Manufacturing Community Limited and chairs the company board.
Michael is a Trustee of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom and sits on the boards of several companies in the biosciences and energy sectors, including the Cell Therapy Catapult.
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Dr Michael Delahaye Director of Cell Therapy Bioprocessing, BioPharmaceuticals R&D Cell Therapy Department, AstraZeneca
Michael has recently joined the BioPharmaceuticals R&D Cell Therapy Department at AstraZeneca, and brings with him almost 15 years of industrial experience within the cell and gene therapy sector. His key focus is the development and delivery of robust manufacturing processes, supported by rapid, high resolution characterisation tools to facilitate the production of cell therapies.
Previously, Michael held the position of Head of the Viral Vector Industrialisation team at the Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult. He’s led teams of experienced scientists within the Viral Gene Delivery program, responsible for managing the developmental output of the group within collaborative, commercial and supporting R&D operations. Prior to that, he held roles at TAP Biosystems (now part of Sartorius Stedim) and completed his EngD in 2011 following industrial collaboration with both OnyVax Ltd and ReNeuron Plc.
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Abby Clark Bioindustry Association
Abby is a Senior Manufacturing Programme Executive at the Bioindustry Association. She was appointed director of the AMC in 2023 after her three years of support to the ATMP manufacturing community.
Prior to joining the BIA, Abby began her career as a Degree Level Apprentice at CPI in 2019, achieving her 1st class degree in Biotechnology alongside working as a Downstream Processing Scientist. During her time as an apprentice, and then downstream scientist at CPI, she worked on a large variety of projects; specifically focusing on continuous processing and automation before moving onto dedicating her time to RNA process development, specialising in mRNA and saRNA purification. Abby won NEPIC Apprentice of the Year award in 2023.
Advisory Board
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Chris Mason AvroBio Inc.
Chris Mason is a co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer at AvroBio Inc., an ex vivo gene therapy company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Since 2008, he has been Professor of Regenerative Medicine Bioprocessing in the Advanced Centre for Biochemical Engineering, University College London working on the clinical translation and commercialization of cell and gene therapies.
He has a multidisciplinary track record, spanning R&D, clinical medicine, bioprocessing, regulation, healthcare economics, reimbursement and business.
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Dr Stephen Ward Cell Therapy Catapult
Stephen was appointed Chief Operating Officer of the Cell Therapy Catapult in January 2013. He brings over 20 years of biological medicine research, development, and manufacturing experience to the organisation.
Stephen enjoys bringing cutting edge technologies to patients, by developing commercially viable products and has developed and validated scaleable, commercial manufacturing processes for cell based medicinal products, vaccines, and recombinant biologicals using Quality by Design principles.
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Mark Lowdell Royal Free Hospital London
Professor Mark Lowdell PhD FRCPath FRSB is the Professor of Cell & Tissue Therapy at University College London and Director of the Centre for Cell, Gene & Tissue Therapeutics / Honorary Consultant Immunologist at Royal Free Hospital London.
He is a qualified diagnostic immunopathologist as well as holding MHRA Qualified Person status for the release of ATMPs for clinical trials and is the current Vice President (Europe & Middle East) of the International Society for Cell Therapy.
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Paul Kemp HairClone
Paul is co-founder and Chief Executive Office of HairClone, a cell therapy company developing treatments for androgenic alopecia.
He has built a successful track record in all aspects of the business, from carrying out translational research, in-licensing technologies from Universities and out-licensing products to a variety of HealthCare Companies, designing, obtaining regulatory approval and running clinical trials in the US, Canada, UK and Europe.
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Colin McLean Tissues, Cells, and Advanced Therapeutics (TCAT) at the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service (SNBTS)
Colin McLean is the Head of Quality Control for Tissues, Cells, and Advanced Therapeutics (TCAT) at the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service (SNBTS) in Edinburgh, where he oversees QC laboratories conducting Flow Cytometry, Cell Enumeration, Molecular Biology, Microbiology, and Chemistry testing across three established cGMP sites producing cell and gene therapy products for patients across the UK and Europe.
With 15 years of experience in GMP environments, Colin previously managed the setup, establishment, and licensing of two MHRA-licensed, ISO 9001-accredited QC laboratories from inception to full operational status. He has collaborated with clients worldwide to deliver advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMPs), developed analytical testing strategies, potency assays, and conducted multiple tech transfers from development settings to GMP environments.
Colin’s extensive expertise in people management, quality assurance, and quality control provides a deep understanding of laboratory operations and regulatory standards within today’s advanced therapeutic industry. He holds a Master’s in Transfusion, Transplantation, and Tissue Banking from the University of Edinburgh.
Colin.McLean@nhs.scot
We are always looking for new members of the team. If you are interested please get in touch. contact@atmpmanufacture.org
If you think you would like to help us with the running of the amc community we would love to hear from you.