Epilepsy Society

Board Trustee

LifeArc

Accountable for setting LifeArc’s portfolio strategy in line with charitable objectives and delivering the portfolio through effective project leadership and management. Develop and lead the Translational Challenges as a core element of strategy; these programmes accelerate healthcare innovation by transforming promising life science ideas into life-changing medical breakthroughs for patients. They consider the entire patient pathway – from diagnosis through to treatment and lifestyle support in complex areas of healthcare need. LifeArc provides translational insight, spanning our core offerings of science, funding and advice and connect these collective strengths and resources with the expertise, capabilities and funding of other life sciences partners to catalyse the translation of innovation.

Chief Project and Portfolio Officer

Accountable for LifeArc’s Translational Challenges to accelerate healthcare innovation by transforming promising life science ideas into life-changing medical breakthroughs for patients.

Head of Translational Challenges

Accountable for ensuring effective governance, processes, systems and resource are applied across the entire company including our scientific research programmes, IT improvements, strategic and infrastructure, together with those utilising LifeArc’s offerings of advice and funds.
Developing and implementing strategy, translating LifeArc’s strategic ambitions into well-crafted and achievable operational plans, managing the portfolios, ensuring focus on the highest-level company priorities. Leading major change initiatives to support integration of emerging technologies and adapting operating model design for delivery and agility.

Head of Corporate and Portfolio Project Management

Accountable for building and maintaining productive collaborative relationships with major research partners. Managing the Tech Transfer of antibody technology platforms into LifeArc (transgenic mice, B cell sorting and screening, and in silico bioinformatics for candidate selection) ensuring all facilities, equipment and resources in place to optimise use for therapeutic discovery.

Consultant, Alliance Manager

KQ Labs

Accelerator programme run by the Francis Crick Institute, supporting innovative early-stage data-driven health start-ups to validate their ideas and put their exciting companies on the path to receive further investment.

Governance Board Member

PIPMG

The aim of PIPMG is to support development of the Project Management profession in the global pharmaceutical, biotech and associated industries by:
1. Encouraging recognition of the key role of project management in the industry
2. Enabling learning and sharing of best practices in portfolio, programme and project management
3. Providing Training, Coaching and Continual Professional Development
4. Providing a forum for communication and information exchange between members
5. Introduction, participation in and support of initiatives intended to improve the practice of project management internationally

Executive Committee Member

BTG plc

Global Head of Immuno-Oncology 
Accountable for the strategic direction and commercial success of our Immuno-Oncology platform, managing collaborative partnerships with global pharmaceutical companies, leading research institutions and societies. 
Lead a broad portfolio of pre-clinical and clinical research projects investigating the ability of our interventional oncology therapies (selective internal radiation, ablation solutions, embolics) to drive immune responses, both alone and in combination with immunotherapeutics (check point inhibitors, next generation immunotherapies).

VP Immuno-Oncology

Head of Global Project Management organisation  
Managed R&D governance process, annual portfolio review, and business analytics to track and improve performance, prioritising budget and resource on a risk-balanced pipeline of R&D projects that maximise business value.

VP Project Management

Head of Global Project Management organisation 
Line management of a global team (US, EU, APAC), set project management vision and strategy, ensuring effective project management resource, processes and systems applied across the business, with high standards for delivery.

Group Manager of Project Management

Clinical lead of multiple out-sourced clinical trials with small molecules, peptides, biologics and medical devices (spanning Phase I, II, III and IV).

Clinical Development Executive

Merck

Directed exploratory neuroscience research project teams, selecting multiple candidates for clinical development using pre-clinical models.

Research Manager

Directed learning and memory disorder program, heading GABA α5 inverse agonist pre-clinical research project for the treatment of mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease.

Project Director

Headed an exploratory research team of technical personnel running electrophysiological assays for Neuroscience disorders (CHO cell lines, Xenopus oocytes, mouse brain slices) for structure-activity relationship assessment of novel small molecules and drug candidate prioritisation.

Team Leader

Conducted exploratory research, characterising the pharmacology of tachykinin receptors in the brain (nucleus tractus solitarius, dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus, amygdala, entorhinal cortex).

Senior Research Biologist

Karen Skinner is Chief Project & Portfolio Officer at the medical research organisation, LifeArc with accountability for their portfolio of Translational Challenges. These ambitious programmes focus primarily on Rare Disease (including ultra-rare diseases, MND and rare dementias, rare respiratory conditions and childhood cancer), and Global Health. In addition to her role at LifeArc, Karen is a Board Trustee of the Epilepsy Society and member of PIPMG Executive team. 

She has over 30 years of experience within the life sciences industry, having held numerous leadership roles in blue chip big pharma, specialty pharma, biotech and nonprofit organisations. 
She is passionate about biomedical science and technology, applying that knowledge to create innovative products that make a real difference for patients. She believes that collaboration is the key to accelerate the progress of scientific discoveries to create medical breakthroughs that transform the lives of those living with disease. 

Life Sciences | Director | Transformational Leader | Portfolio Management | Keynote Speaker

Karen Skinner

The University of Edinburgh

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research (CVR)

Facility Manager of CRUSH: Antiviral Drug Screening and Resistance Hub at the Centre for Virus Research (CVR) at the University of Glasgow. CVR CRUSH aims to become a fully integrated hub for SARS-CoV-2 and other high-consequence viruses drug screening and resistance assays including in pre-clinical animal models.

I manage industry and academia sponsored research projects from start to finish, including project feasibility assessment, cost estimation, generating quotes, teamwork, organising and delegating lab work, generating results reports, and presenting to various internal and external stakeholders. I work closely together with business development manager, academic lead, finance and legal teams.

Specialist Facility Manager of the CVR CRUSH facility

I worked in 4 Research Groups: 
Prof Richard Elliott's Group, 
Bunyavirus Research Group, 
Prof Brian Willett's Group, 
Dr Emilie Pondeville's Group.
Post-doctoral project 1: A One Health approach to pan-valent morbillivirus vaccines. 
Post-doctoral project 2: Establishment of hantavirus reverse genetics.

- Optimised methods for propagation, titration, neutralisation assays, and drug screening assays for SARS-CoV-2.
- Optimised MinION, Oxford Nanopore sequencing of St. Abb’s Head bunyavirus from tick samples, and PPRV from livestock swab samples.
- Established protocols for RNA extractions from swab and blood samples from livestock and trained technical staff at the Nelson Mandela African Institute of Science and Technology, Arusha, Tanzania (6 weeks in early 2019).
- Optimised a method of screening animal sera for phleboviruses, like RVFV, BHAV and SFTSV using neutralisation assays in CL3 laboratory.
- Established methods for growing up ZIKV to high titres in mammalian cell culture.
- Established SOPs to study vertical transmission of ZIKV in Ae. aegypti mosquito model in CL3 laboratory.
- Generated Puumala hantavirus sequence data using NGS.
- Managed daily laboratory operation.
- Supervised and mentored students and junior members of the team.

Research Fellow

Formal training program to acquire the skills and knowledge to transition into careers in technology transfer.
Curriculum includes practical and theoretical aspects of technology transfer, like innovation assessment and valuation, market research, IP, innovation disclosures, agreements (MTA, CDA).
AUTM and ASTP memberships, and attendance at annual meetings. Access to a wide network of technology transfer professionals.

LifeArc AUTM Technology Transfer Fellow

University of St Andrews

Research Group of Prof Richard Elliott.
Post-doctoral project: Role of Bunyamwera virus NSs protein in mosquito cell lines. Establishment of hantavirus reverse genetics, a system of virus recovery from cloned cDNA.

Investigated expression of virus specific small RNAs by Northern blotting
Studied antiviral activity of RNAi response in mosquito cells. 
Established restriction free cloning methods to generate plasmids.
Optimised methods to grow up Puumala hantavirus to high titres in mammalian cell culture.
Supervised students and younger members of the team.

Institut Pasteur

Research Group of Prof Michèle Bouloy, and Dr Anna-Bella Failloux
Investigated bunyavirus infection in living Ae. aegypti mosquitoes in Biosafety Level 3 conditions.

Visiting Scientist

University of Glasgow

Investigated influence of Interferon and Multiferon on presence of HCV replicons in Huh7 cell lines.

Visiting Student


Currently working with SARS-CoV2 in cl3, optimising virus grow up, titration, neutralisation (serology), and drug screening methods.

Otherwise highly organised PhD level researcher with extensive expertise (10+ years) in virology, cell and molecular biology. Background in working to GxP standards with pathogens in containment levels 2 and 3 laboratories. Effective communicator with experience of writing scientific reports, training and mentoring, maintaining research lab operations, and problem solving and creativity.

taplio

The Battle

Karen Skinner

Agnieszka Szemiel

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