Nexxus Scotland

Head of in vitro biosafety, Moredun Scientific - Stewart Shaw 

Q: So, for those of us who don't know - what does the Head of in vitro biosafety at Moredun Scientific actually do?

Moredun Scientific Ltd, the commercial arm of the Moredun Group based at the Pentlands Science Park near Edinburgh, is a contract research organisation providing a range of testing  services to the animal health, pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries.  I head the in vitro biosafety testing group.  We provide microbiology testing services to the biopharmaceutical industry, testing final products and in-process materials to ensure they are free from contamination. Our portfolio of tests includes sterility and mycoplasma testing. 

My role involves leading the microbiology team and managing the facility. Key areas are preparation of study plans to meet international regulatory guidelines and management of the workflow to ensure that all tests are carried out to defined protocols and to meet the schedules agreed with our clients. I am also involved in staff recruitment and training, client audits, liaising with suppliers and assay development.

Our work is carried out in a highly regulated environment since our studies comply with GMP/GLP as requested by our clients. This means there is a lot of paperwork covering standard operating procedures, study plans and client reports.

Q: Tell us about a typical day (or is there no such thing?)

A typical day includes review of agar plates and broths which are part of ongoing client tests and reporting of results, booking in new client test articles (eg cell banks used for vaccine production, recombinant proteins) and preparing client reports. I also spend time with the team ensuring their work plans for the day are clear, discussing projects and test results.

Communicating by phone and email also take up a large part of my time, mainly with clients reviewing their specific projects and with our commercial partner, Vitrology, who are based in Glasgow.

Ongoing validation of our sterility and mycoplasma testing facilities is also a daily focus.  I am accountable for ensuring that we constantly monitor the environmental parameters and take rapid action should any issues arise.

Q: So what's taken up most of your time recently?

Working towards GMP accreditation, which we achieved in September 2008, took up a large amount of my time.  Since then it's been the launch of several new assays (including bioburden testing), client audits and training staff in new processes, systems and assays.

Q: What's on the cards for the next few months?

A key objective is to review our processes and materials and look for opportunities to streamline our operation, resulting in efficiency improvements which will benefit the company and our clients.

We are also looking to extend our assay portfolio in line with client demand and to accommodate this, I will spend time with marketing and the management team agreeing priorities and moving ahead with projects.

As our business is growing, forward planning and management of the workload is essential.  We will be working to ensure we are well placed to handle increasing numbers of samples for testing.

Q: What would you want to do if you weren't doing this job?

Hmmm.....not an easy one. I hadn't really had much of an idea what I wanted to do until I went to Glasgow University to study Biology and Chemistry. I drifted into Microbiology by default rather than as a conscious choice. However once I had started in the field I realised I had found my niche. I spent a couple of years in research working on a Salmonella vaccine for chickens at Glasgow University Vet School in the early 1990s at the height of the Edwina Currie scare and really enjoyed my time there. I then moved to a contract research organisation. I spent 15 years there and was involved in the set-up of the microbiology department from its initial conception right through to its expansion into a multi-million pound generating department.

I have always been interested in music but as I have as much musical ability as a brick, a career as a musician is not an option - the limited shelf life of the average musician is also not too attractive!  Leading on from that, running an independent music label for up and coming punk bands would be the most likely choice of alternative career.

For further information contact Stewart
T: 0131 445 6206
E: sshaw@moredun-scientific.com

Or for more information generally on Moredun Scientific see www.moredun-scientific.com/.