Key Personnel
Aidan Courtney (Chief Executive Officer)
Aidan is the Chief Executive Officer of Roslin Cells. Since moving to Scotland fifteen years ago, Aidan has worked with a wide variety of high technology start-ups and early stage companies. In each case his role has been to help the core scientists and engineers transform their novel technology into a strong business proposition. Most recently co-founding Roslin Cells Ltd and initiating the creation of Roslin Cellab Ltd.
After graduating in Economics, Aidan qualified as a Chartered Accountant and worked for eight years in property finance, before moving over to the high tech sector. He holds a masters degree in law specialising in Intellectual Property law and is a visiting fellow at the School of Law at the University of Edinburgh. He is a member of the BIA RegMed Industry Group Advisory Committee and the Scottish Stem Cell Network Advisory Board.
Paul De Sousa (Chief Scientific Officer)
Dr. Paul De Sousa has trained as a developmental and reproductive biologist, with a specific interest in mechanisms controlling the creation of developmentally competent eggs and embryos and cell regeneration. In 1998 he joined the Roslin Institute in Scotland where he began applying his basic research interests to animal biotechnology. In 2002 his group began focusing on the derivation of new human embryonic stem cells in accordance with emerging regulatory standards for therapeutic use. In 2005 he joined the University of Edinburgh as a Senior Research Fellow establishing a laboratory focused on the use of human embryonic stem cells in regenerative medicine and underpinning egg and embryo biotechnology. In concert with this he co-founded Roslin Cells Ltd.
Malcolm Bateman (Chairman)
Malcolm is a Chartered Management Accountant who spent about 30 years working in different parts of the UK and overseas with UK, US and German multinationals in the automotive and pharmaceutical sectors. He held a variety of financial posts but was latterly the Managing Director of major automotive component manufacturer. In recent years he has worked with and maintains directorships in a number of innovative emerging companies. Formerly the Director of Finance for the Roslin Institute, Malcolm is currently the CEO of the Roslin Foundation, a role that includes being the CEO for its science park, the Roslin BioCentre, and a Director with its four spin outs Roslin Cells, Well Cow, Roslin Eggs and Roslin Cellab. He is also a Director of Roslin Developments which is currently building a new research facility located at the University of Edinburgh's Easter Bush campus. He also holds directorships with organisations in the public and voluntary sectors.
Professor Marc Turner (Director)
Marc Turner is Professor of Cellular Therapy at the University of Edinburgh, Clinical Director and Consultant Haematologist in the Edinburgh and Aberdeen Blood Transfusion Centres and honorary Consultant Haematologist at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. He qualified in Medicine from the University of Manchester in 1982 and trained in General Medicine and Haematology before moving into Transfusion Medicine. He obtained his PhD in human haematopoietic stem cell biology from the University of Edinburgh in 1995. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of London, a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, a Fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. His research interests include immunohaematology, variant CJD transmission by blood and tissues and translational research in stem cell and regenerative medicine. His more general interests lie in managing the sometimes challenging interface between science, medicine and public health policy and in this regard he has provided specialist opinion to a number of national and international advisory committees and regulatory bodies. He is Associate Director of the Scottish Centre for Regenerative Medicine and a non-executive Director of the Scottish Stem Cell Network and Roslin Cells
Janet Downie ( Operations Manager)
Janet is the Operations Manager for Roslin Cells and is responsible for overseeing all aspects of the GMP operation within the company. Janet has a BSc (Hons) in Biological Sciences and over 16 years experience of working in a regulated scientific environment, both GMP and GLP. When she started her career she joined Inveresk Research as a Research Scientist, and later became a Study Director. She later moved into Quality Assurance for PPL – Therapeutics which was a leading Scottish biotechnology company. Prior to joining Roslin Cells, Janet was GMP Quality Assurance Manager with Charles River Laboratories overseeing quality for contract batch release testing and IMP manufacturing. Janet joined Roslin Cells as Quality Manager in 2007 and later took over as Operations Manager to build our dedicated, quality focused, Production, Quality Control and Quality Assurance teams delivering clinical grade human embryonic stem cells.
Kevin Bruce (Quality Manager)
Kevin Bruce holds a BSc (Hons) in Microbiology and Biotechnology and has over 9 years experience working to GMP. In 2001 Kevin joined PPL Therapeutics working within Quality Control for the manufacture of therapeutics from transgenic animals. Kevin then worked for Inveresk Research (subsequently Charles River Laboratories) as a Study Director overseeing contract research projects for biopharmaceuticals. In 2007 Kevin joined Roslin Cells and has been involved with implementing the principles of GMP for stem cell derivation and culture and the continuous improvement of Roslin Cells’ Quality Management Systems and Quality Control capabilities.
