In this episode, we speak with Catherine Campbell, Associate Director of the MedTech team at BioTalent. With over a decade of experience in the sector, Cat shares her perspective on the evolution of MedTech and the growing role of AI across the industry. 

She reflects on her early career from helping out in her father’s pub to her first official role as a medical technician and how those experiences shaped her leadership style. Cat also gives us a glimpse into life beyond recruitment, from long walks in Hampstead Heath to a surprising Olympic pick: synchronised swimming. 

Her favourite quote, “All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them,” perfectly captures her drive, leadership, and outlook on life.
 
Tune in for a conversation packed with industry insights, personal stories, and authentic perspective.

Introducing Behind The Talent, BioTalent’s new podcast series, created to share the stories, perspectives and passions of the people driving our business forward.

Each episode offers a glimpse into the voices of the individuals who shape our culture, contribute to our success, and bring our purpose to life.

In this episode, Brand Manager Becca Boulton chats with BioTalent CEO and founder James Cox about his journey from launching BioTalent in 2018, his passion for life sciences recruitment, and the company’s rapid growth since joining The IN Group in 2023. James shares his approach to leadership, the importance of culture, and why focusing on what you can control is his core philosophy.

We also get an insight into James, who’s a big fan of Viking history, a keen tennis player, and once earned £3.12 an hour carrying compost at a garden centre. Whether he’s leading a team or playing Monopoly (orange properties only!), James brings ambition and authenticity to everything he does, qualities that continue to shape BioTalent’s journey and inspire those around him. 

In the latest instalment of the BioTalent Social podcast, our very own Steven Fuller, Global Community Manager of Race In Stem, sat down with Sarah Mardle to talk leadership, gender bias, the evolution of the life sciences industry and creating lasting change. 

“I definitely wanted to be a scientist and I was able to do two degrees, one in pharmacology and one in biochemistry, and was also lucky enough to have a year out in industry. And that really opened my eyes to what I might want to do next.”

Sarah Mardle is an experienced healthcare executive known for her adept leadership in quality, regulatory, and operations management. With a two-decade track record in biotech, pharma, and medical devices businesses, she has guided organisations through complex projects, regulatory processes, and sustainability initiatives.

As the Business Operations Director at Team Consulting, a medical device consultancy, Sarah oversees the strategic development and operational management of Team's Business Operations teams. She is committed to fostering diversity and implementing sustainable practices.

Listen to the complete conversation (or watch on YouTube) to hear how Sarah has grown from strength to strength professionally, but also gain insight into her personal life and how she navigated life and a senior position.

More about BioTalent Social

Our BioTalent Social podcast is for professionals in the life sciences industry, who can have access to wide-ranging discussions that are led by market-leading experts, who offer sharp, focused insights on current affairs within the Life Sciences sector.

Our BioTalent Social podcast is for professionals in the life sciences industry, who can have access to wide-ranging discussions that are led by market-leading experts, who offer sharp, focused insights on current affairs within the Life Sciences sector. 

In this conversation, Steven Fuller had the pleasure of engaging with Heather Wells, a Senior Director of Quality Management at a mid-sized CRO.  Throughout our discussion, Heather shared her vast and illustrious career journey within the realm of Quality Assurance, reflecting on her early career, and how she grew as a professional across pharma, bio, and research as a now-recognised GxP Quality subject matter expert. 

Visit us on our website at www.biotalent.com

Our BioTalent Social community came together for an informative discussion on ‘The Next Generation of Cell & Gene Therapies,’ hosted by our very own James Hume. The discussion touched on a multitude of topical themes and insights, including: 

• The role of tech-transfer offices in turning early-stage interventions into products 
• Current challenges and opportunities for CGT start-ups in Europe  
• The complexities of clinical trials, and how we can make this smoother 
• PHDs: the importance of scientific and entrepreneurial learning 
• Viral vs. non-viral vectors 
• Mindset in CGT: the importance of resilience, perseverance and ambiguity tolerance 

Thank you to our wonderful panel members Stephen Sullivan, Kerstin Papenfuss and John Counsell for their sharp and focussed insights. 

In our most recent podcast, we were invited to listen to a conversation between Jogesh Bowry, Recruitment Consultant here at BioTalent, and Mirasbek Kuterbekov, Senior Scientist at Hoxton Farms where he combines his passion for animal welfare with his expertise in tissue engineering to create the most delicious slaughter-free animal fat.

Mirasbek is a Senior Scientist at Hoxton Farms, where he combines his passion for animal welfare with his expertise in tissue engineering to create the most delicious slaughter-free animal fat. Prior to this, he was a Senior Research Specialist at The Dow Chemical Company as part of their Research Assignment Program working on a wide range of projects from plastics recycling to tech scouting. Originally from Kazakhstan, Mirasbek had the opportunity to study and work in the US, Germany, Belgium, France and the Netherlands before his most recent relocation to London, UK. He has been active in several LGBTQIA+ organisations throughout his career and is currently a Director at the OUTbio UK, an independent network run specifically for the LGBTQIA+ professionals and their allies within the biotech community in the UK. 

In this podcast episode, Mirasbek discussed his early career, growing up in Kazakhstan and finding a passion for science, where he was highly influenced by his chemistry teacher before gaining a scholarship to study in the U.S.  The cultivated meat industry was also discussed, outlining the environmental benefits which included a reduction of carbon emissions and greenhouse gases, as well as the number of  ethical impacts it has on humans, animals and plants. The topic also explored the LGBTQIA+ community, where Mirsabek impactfully spoke about how watching the annual Pride march in the New York inspired him to open up about his sexuality. Mirsabek now co-organises his own Pride network, OUTBio, regularly hosting monthly events.

If you would like to discuss project managing and strategies on how to build comfortable and safe teams, wherever in the world you might be, please do reach out to us or visit our website at www.biotalent.com

Take a listen to our latest episode, 'Clinical in Switzerland: Start up Bio vs. Pharma'. Please note this panel discussion is a pre-recorded webinar. We felt the content was so impactful, we decided to share it with our podcast listeners. 

Led by Indya Lofthouse-Smith, the discussion delved into an array of topics and insights, which included: 

• From accessible candidate pools to quality of life: why Switzerland is such a desirable place to work and live 
• There are benefits to working in both a specialist and cross-functional role, and worth exploring both  
• To gain a leadership position in start-up bio or pharma firm, be both strategic and tactical  
• Digital health, particularly AI, has accelerated over the last year and projects relating to this are being delivered 
• Switzerland’s large university presence allows for mentorship and study project opportunities for young people in their career 
• To the future: China’s ever-growing presence within Switzerland  

Meet our next confirmed speaker, Lorraine Liu. Lorraine is the Global Competency Leader of Project Control Management and at the same time Manager of 13 Project Controls globally at DSM.  She is a CBC (China burn Canadian) and passionate about how things work since she was a kid, which might be an indication of her future career in the Engineering field. After obtaining her degree in Biotech Engineering and 2nd degree in International Economic Law, she clearly knows Engineering will be her career direction.  She is a multi-languages speaker, able to communicate in 4 different languages (Chinese, Japanese, English and German) which combine with her Engineering education background brings her on a continuous ex-pat journey in the field of Project management and Engineering. She works as Project Control Manager in multiple countries (China, US, Canada, Germany, Singapore) at multiple mega-investment(up to 5.2Billion EUR) CAPEX projects. With living more than 15 years in different countries, she is deeply aware of the value of diversity and inclusion and how different voices could bring the best outcome. She is currently living in the Netherlands and seeking her next journey in her career. 

Head of Quality (innovative and accomplished Quality Systems Professional) with a broad background in Pharmaceutical and Laboratory sciences (specializing in business development) with R&D and commercial manufacturing (sterile and non-sterile) experience with over 15 years of industry practice.  Overall background and specialities include GMP & GLP, which have led to the strategic management of major programs such as gap analysis and transformation of Product Quality Systems (PQS), SOP transformation and optimization, QMS frameworks, and operational systems audits. She is passionate about continuous improvement activities and consistently building quality in each area of the life sciences.  Advocate and Gala Committee Member for the Tourette’s Association of America, Advocate for Make-A-Wish NJ and Powershift Ambassador for Shark Tank’s Daymond John. 

www.tourette.org is the Tourette Association of America and the TS Impulse Jam 2022 benefit concert is here: https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/c87HCyPXq4urNyogFZBuZw?domain=tourette.org

Quality is so important within the Life Sciences; however, identifying similarities and differences which are all very much organically grown across pharma, biotech, Medical Devices and CROs and the interactions between them across different GxPs stands for interesting discussions.

Come together with our BioTalent Social community and join a panel of market-leading experts as we identify how to build and grow your career within quality, uncovering the tips and tools required to succeed.


Panel

• Darren O'Connor - Host and Chair at BioTalent
• Katie Henchir Terry - Vice President, Quality at Acceleron Pharma, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc
• Greg Whitehead - Chief Quality Officer at Rubius Therapeutics
• Jared R. Auclair - Associate Dean of Professional Program and Graduate Affairs in the College of Science at Northeastern University

Katie Henchir Terry

Katie is a biotech veteran with over 20 years of experience across technical operations and quality. She excels at building right-sized quality management systems enabling drug approval, global drug supply, and ongoing product quality oversight. Katie is passionate about advancing organizational & quality culture focused on patient safety, data integrity, and continuous improvement. She currently serves as the Vice President, of Quality at Acceleron Pharma Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc. Katie holds a Bachelor of Science from Utica College and an M.B.A from Simmons School of Management.

Greg Whitehead

Greg brings more than 25 years of quality-related experience to Rubius. He joins the company from bluebird bio, Inc., where he most recently served as vice president, quality. During the four years he spent at the company, Greg oversaw a 10-fold expansion of the quality unit to support multiple gene therapy clinical trials and to prepare for commercial production in the U.S. and Europe. Under his leadership, he established a culture of quality dedicated to patient safety and data integrity. Prior to bluebird bio, Greg spent 10 years at Dendreon Pharmaceuticals, LLC, most recently serving as director, of corporate quality. While there, he established the corporate quality vision and mission and the company’s strategic roadmap for continuous improvement in quality systems. He also led critical initiatives, including regulatory interactions and the successful transition from clinical to commercial production upon product approval. Earlier, Greg was a supervisor of bioanalytic chemistry at BioPort Corporation in Michigan and lead medical technologist in the toxicology testing centre at Sparrow Health System in Michigan. Greg received his B.S. in forensic science from Michigan State University.

Jared R. Auclair

Jared R. Auclair is currently the Associate Dean of Professional Program and Graduate Affairs in the College of Science at Northeastern University and Associate Teaching Professor in the department of chemistry and chemical biology. In addition, Dr Auclair is the Director of the Biopharmaceutical Analysis Laboratory (BATL), the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Center of Regulatory Excellence in Biotherapeutics and Advanced Therapies and oversees the International Council for Harmonisation training. Lastly, Prof. Auclair serves as the Technical Supervisor for the Life Science Testing Center at Northeastern University, which is a state and CLIA-certified lab. Dr Auclair collaborates with both academic researchers, industry and government in the area of biopharmaceutical and cell/gene therapy development and analysis. He has expertise in mol. biology, protein biochemistry, analytical chemistry, protein crystallography, and biological mass spectrometry; and is interested in use-inspired research for the biotechnology industry.