Angela Valerio-Fernandes
London,UK
Summary
- Industry Team Leader & project management experienced and dedicated to enhancing employee satisfaction and business success.
- Diplomatic and friendly with proven commitment to employee training. Hardworking team player bringing necessary experience and knowledge to tackle any operational demand.
- Organised and successful at managing multiple priorities with positive attitude. Willing to take on greater responsibilities to meet team goals.
Overview
8
8
years of professional experience
13
13
years of post-secondary education
Work History
Team leader
Achilles Therapeutics
London, London
12.2021 - Current
- A Team Leader role as a member of the Process Development department is focused on the optimisation of the next generation of T cell manufacturing
processes. - Management of a team of scientists, oversee activities of a team based in the UK and coordinate operations within the wider Process Development department.
- Management of patient-derived models (tumour organoids) development and biobank creation for functional assays of a personalised immune cell therapy.
- Management of activities related to sample
allocation and processing, training and supervise the team carrying out this work and work closely with
members of the Process Development department and other functions within Achilles to ensure that processes run in a smooth and efficient manner. - Set-up, implement and ensure the Sample Processing operational workflow plan runs in an organised and
efficient manner to support the chain of process development. - Coordination of sample (pre-clinical and FiH for RUO) allocation within the Process Development Department.
- Guidance on experimental design and assisting with data analysis where necessary.
- Ensuring analytical plans and sampling plans and associated documentation are up-to-date.
- Coordination of lab management operations within the wider Process Development department.
- Provided leadership and direction for team members, supervising activities to drive productivity and efficiency.
- Collaborated with colleagues from different functions (clinical, PSO, manufacturing) to tackle new challenges.
- Prioritised and assigned tasks for strategic and optimised distribution of workloads.
- Mediated team decision-making and problem-solving for peaceful resolutions and decision-making.
- Streamlined processes to improve and optimise department operations.
- Coached team members through new or difficult workflows.
- Delegated tasks to make best use of individuals' skills.
- Supported team to overcome new challenges by forecasting knowledge and skills gaps.
Senior scientist - Tanslational Oncology
UCB Pharma
slough
01.2021 - 11.2024
- Support an early clinical stage oncology project with translational research to increase our understanding of the drug's mechanism of action, its applicability to additional disease indications and identify clinically-relevant biomarkers
- Cross-functional project team - research, clinical & bioinformatics - to develop and apply complex in vitro/ex vivo primary human cell models
- 2d/3d models generation from human patient-derived biospecimens - normal, tumour & blood
- Development of functional assays for: drug mechanism of action and functional investigation; drug combination screening; clinically-relevant biomarker discovery
- Investigating interactions between tumour and stromal cells in the tumour microenvironment
- Development of human tumour cell culture assays (2d and 3d) to model the cancer microenvironment and application of these to anti-cancer drug testing
- Protein biomarker discovery and analysis: plate-based assay platforms (elisa/msd)
- Use of cell and molecular biology techniques: flow cytometry, imaging-based proliferation /apoptosis assays and phospho-signalling, rt-pcr and rna isolation for rna_seq analysis
- Contribute to the development and incorporation of new technologies and/or techniques and mentoring/training of other scientists
- Using deep technical knowledge and experience of drug discovery to drive project progression
- Liaise with external industrial and academic collaborators to remain at the forefront of drug discovery and disease understanding
- Focus on a common goal: delivering therapeutic treatments.
Higher Scientific Officer (HSO) - Translational Immunotherapy
The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR)| The Royal Marsden Hospital
London
01.2020 - 01.2021
- Translational immunotherapy research program in gastrointestinal cancers
- Trial sample management
- Trial sample processing: including establishment of 3D patient-derived organoid and T cell cultures
- Genetic, transcriptomic and immunological analysis to identify immune cell target-antigens and mechanisms regulating immune cell activity
- Supervise the trial sample biobank
- Lab and tissue culture management
- Supervising and training junior researchers on areas of expertise
- Training in the principles of Good Clinical Practice, the Human Tissue Act and applicable human sample management and trial guidelines
- Project Management
- Academic and Industry collaboration for translational research and clinical trials.
Translational Immuno-Oncology scientist
IMMUNOCORE LIMITED
UK
01.2017 - 01.2020
- Immunocore is a dynamic biotech developing a unique platform of T Cell antigen receptor-based therapies - ImmTACs, as a novel class of therapies for cancer
- Generating patient testable hypothesis to further understand and predict ImmTAC responses in clinic
- In vitro functional immuno-(cell) assays
- Mechanism of Action (MoA)/Resistance
- Tumour (Immune) Microenvironment Phenotype
- 3D patient-derived models generation (e.g., tumour organoids, spheroids)
- 3D Live Imaging potency assays (e.g., Opera Phenix High Content Screening System)
- Human Tissue Act (HTA) sourcing, procurement and management
- Dissection and processing of patient-derived fresh biospeciments (e.g., tumour and match blood).
Education
Ph.D, Biomedicine and Experimental Biology - Oncology & Pharmaceutical Biotechnology
IIIUC, University of Coimbra
Portugal 09.2011 - 07.2016
MS.c, Legal Medicine (Immunology) - Forensic Biology
ICBAS, University of Porto
01.2008 - 04.2010
Post-graduation, Forensic Sciences - Forensic Biology
ICBAS, University of Porto
01.2007 - 04.2008
BSc, Research Biology - Research
University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro (UTAD) & Charles University
01.2002 - 04.2006
Skills
- Project Management
- Operations
- Leadership
- Strategic planning
- Process Improvement
- Strategic research
- Team development strategies
- Operational planning
- Communication skills
- Problem-solving
- Public speaking
Accomplishments
- Roche best poster presentation in the category of Translational & Clinical Research at XXII Porto Cancer Meeting & III Porto-Bordeaux Joint Meeting - TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH IN CANCER
- Module III: Nanotechnology - Combining targeted and triggered drug delivery to tumor cells and the tumor microenvironment. Pharmaceutical Biotechnology Master, FFUC, 6th December 2014
- Targeting Nucleolin in Lung Cancer - an emerging strategy to overcome stroma-mediated anti-VEGF drug resistance. Doctoral Programme in Health Sciences: Oncobiology - targeted therapies with multifunctional nanoparticles. Faculty of Medicine, University of Coimbra, Portugal, June 28, 2012
- Therapeutic impact of targeted drug delivery to the tumor microenvironment in resistant human lung cancer.
Custom
- Music summer festivals
- Boxing
- Travel meeting different cultures, people & places
References
References available upon request.
Timeline
Team leader
Achilles Therapeutics
12.2021 - Current
Senior scientist - Tanslational Oncology
UCB Pharma
01.2021 - 11.2024
Higher Scientific Officer (HSO) - Translational Immunotherapy
The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR)| The Royal Marsden Hospital
01.2020 - 01.2021
Translational Immuno-Oncology scientist
IMMUNOCORE LIMITED
01.2017 - 01.2020
Ph.D, Biomedicine and Experimental Biology - Oncology & Pharmaceutical Biotechnology
IIIUC, University of Coimbra
09.2011 - 07.2016
MS.c, Legal Medicine (Immunology) - Forensic Biology
ICBAS, University of Porto
01.2008 - 04.2010
Post-graduation, Forensic Sciences - Forensic Biology
ICBAS, University of Porto
01.2007 - 04.2008
BSc, Research Biology - Research
University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro (UTAD) & Charles University
01.2002 - 04.2006
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