James Vango

Manage end-to-end biosample operations, acting as the primary contact for laboratories, hospitals, couriers, suppliers, and internal stakeholders to ensure smooth sample processing, sequencing, and service delivery.

Provide operational expertise across the full sample lifecycle, including collection, handling, transport, storage, metadata validation, and downstream processing in line with study specifications and quality standards.

Lead logistics and stakeholder coordination, overseeing courier activity, urgent operational requests, and regular performance meetings to resolve issues, mitigate risks, and maintain service continuity.

Monitor operational performance and drive continuous improvement, using service management tools and data analysis to investigate incidents, identify trends, manage non-conformances, and support strategic decision-making.

Maintain compliance and governance documentation, including SOPs, reports, presentations, meeting materials, and procurement records, ensuring alignment with regulatory requirements.

• Management of Biological Samples for the Pulmonary Hypertension Biobank at Imperial college; this includes processing, storage, data management and transportation of samples.
• Oversee auditing processes to ensure continued HTA and GCP compliance.
• Maintenance and management of equipment such as freezers and participate in out of hours cover of Clinical Research Facilities.
• Ordering laboratory consumables and arrangement of samples to external sites (domestically and internationally).
• Carrying out a range of laboratory procedures for clinical trials for the Imperial Clinical Research Facility.

• Training all new research staff basic laboratory procedures, how to use laboratory equipment correctly and the correct health and safety procedures to follow.
• Responsible for the maintenance of all laboratory equipment and freezers including responding to problems and arranging servicing and fault resolution to respective engineers.
• The processing of blood samples and snap freezing of tissue samples
• Teaching and Supervising junior members of staff.
• Overseeing the Freezer Working Group where members of staff regularly using the facilities discussed any issues or concerns to Biobank team.
• Performing regular audits to ensure HTA compliance.

• Processing, embedding and microtomy of tissue samples.
• Performing special staining procedures.
• Assisting with Immunocytochemistry requests.