About Me

I am a chemist with strong IT skills who has over 13 years of experience in analytical chemistry. I am a really fortunate person as I had the chance to work with and gain knowledge on quite a broad range of tasks and instrumentation related to pharmaceutical R&D, preclinical and clinical studies, including GMP, GLP and GCP regulated areas.

First steps into the pharma world
During my PhD studies in aerosol chemistry, I started a part-time job in the pharmaceutical industry in a GMP regulated area.
My first tasks as an analyst included water analysis (TOC and conductivity) but I soon joined a particle inspection laboratory where I mainly worked with a Malvern Morphologi G2 (later upgraded to G3) digital microscope to determine particle size distributions and morphological parameters of APIs.
I also had some experience with other particle size determination (PSD) systems such as Malvern’s Mastersizer 2000 and Scirocco 2000 systems.
First full-time job
My very first full-time job was in the GC group of the R&D Laboratory for APIs of Egis Pharmaceuticals PLC (part of the Servier group).
In that lab, we had almost all brands and types of GCs available, including different Varian, Agilent and PerkinElmer models, and a Shimadzu.
Deep into pharmacokinetics
In 2013, I joined the Department of Pharmacokinetics where I started working with GCP (bioequivalence) studies, acting as a study director. This was the first time I worked with Sciex and Thermo triple quadrupole mass spectrometers coupled with Agilent HPLCs and Shimadzu UHPLCs.
Besides performing method development, validations and sample analysis for large clinical studies (2–3000 samples each), I gained insights into data evaluation via performing PK calculations (NCA, IVIVC and BE) and basic level PK modelling with Phoenix WinNonlin.
In the CRO world
I wanted to enhance my knowledge in an environment where I can see how some of the best labs of the industry work, so I decided to continue my career in the UK. I worked there between January 2016 and August 2020 at multiple CROs: LGC, Envigo (now Covance), ABS Laboratories, and finally Pharmaron. During this period, I had the chance to gain insights into most bits of nonclinical research, including in vitro and ADME work, as well as a wide range of toxicity studies.
I have hands-on experience as senior scientist and study director. In my latest role, I was a senior technical specialist. The projects I was involved in were mainly GLP regulated but there were nonreg and GCP studies, as well as work according to SANCO (chemicals). My tasks involved method development, validation and sample analysis (including tissue and formulation analysis).
In the UK, I gained experience with a wide range of mass spectrometers: AB Sciex triple quads and QTRAPs (4000–5000–5500–6500+), Waters Xevo TQ-S triple quads, which were coupled to various LCs and autosamplers, including Agilent HPLCs and UHPLCs, Jasco UHPLC pumps, CTC autosamplers, AB Sciex (Shimadzu) Nexera UHPLCs, and of course, Waters Acquity (I-Class) UPLCs.

TECHNICAL SKILLS

I have strong IT skills, and I am an advanced user of Sciex Analyst. I have previously worked with MassLynx, as well as Thermo’s XCalibur and LCquan.

I know other software packages, including electronic laboratory notebooks and laboratory information management systems (ELN and LIMS), such as Waters NuGenesis or the industry leading Watson LIMS.

I used robotic liquid handlers such as TomTec Quadra or CyBio SELMA, and had pivotal role in finding a new, advanced level liquid handler for one of the labs.

I take pride in that the macros and templates I created are used by over 100 scientists at multiple companies, on a daily basis.

I was so lucky that I gained insights into most parts of nonclinical tests, including dosing of test subjects, a range of TK studies, in vitro and ADME work, and metabolite identification.

I learnt at some of the biggest and best bioanalytical labs in the UK and Europe. Each place provided something extra and new. It was very interesting to see the different approaches to certain tasks at each place.

These altogether became the basis of my approach to method development, troubleshooting and documentation, to make tasks more effective.

I would like to present you this combined knowledge, the essence of what I learnt at all these excellent labs.

PERSONAL

FAMILY

I am a very happy and proud father of two wonderful kids, and live together with my beautiful wife.

HOBBIES

In my free time (what’s that?), I (would) enjoy a wide range of activities (cycling, hiking, running, taking photos) and passivities, including reading, listening to quality music, and watching movies.