Development Team
Laurence Tisi, CEO
As well as responsibility for the day to day operations of Lumora, Laurence guides and supervises the R&D strategy of the company. As co-founder of Lumora and inventor of the core technologies, Laurence is key to the IP strategy of Lumora and realising the value of Lumora's proprietary technology. Laurence manages both internal and external development projects including hardware development, collaborative projects and technical due diligence by interested parties. A key factor to the rapid progress of Lumora has been the exceptional quality of the development team that he has been able to recruit:
Nigel Appleton, Product Development
Nigel Appleton brings to Lumora many years of experience helping build successful companies in the IVD industry including IQBio, Cambridge Biomedical, Porton Cambridge and Newmarket Laboratories. Prior to joining Lumora he was a founder and Technical Director of Newmarket Laboratories Ltd, before it was sold to new owners in 2006/7. In his Business Development role at Lumora, he will help turn the company's science and technology into commercially attractive products and licensing opportunities.
Michael Wigglesworth, Industrial Project Manager
Michael has over a decade's experience of senior management and technical roles in food microbiology laboratories. Before joining Lumora he was Group Microbiology Technical Manager for a leading UKAS accredited laboratory. He brings to Lumora a working knowledge of food laboratories, food microbiology and is focused on developing and introducing "BART" technology to the food industry. Michael is responsible for the management of Lumora’s industrial projects and draws on a wealth of experience in QA, operations, project and change management.
Prof. Jim Murray, Co-Founder and Scientific Advisor
Jim Murray is currently Professor of Molecular Biotechnology at the University of Cambridge. His research interests included molecular biology of yeasts and plants and applications of firefly luciferase. He is author of around 100 research papers and 10 patents, and runs a large research group within the Institute of Biotechnology. He is a long-standing collaborator with the biotechnology industry and is also Academic Director of the Masters in Bioscience Enterprise course.
Olga Gandelman PhD, Senior Scientist
Olga joined Lumora in March 2003 as a world-leading specialist in bioluminescence with 20 years of experience in fundamental enzymatic research and the development of bioluminescent assays. She then advanced into molecular diagnostics, where she succeeded in filing a number of patents and became actively involved in developing a new generation of kits for the food and medical sectors. Olga represents the company at international conferences and meetings and is responsible for publicising its proprietary technology.
Guy Kiddle PhD, Senior Molecular Biologist
Guy has 20 years experience in applied molecular biology in the food research sector. At Lumora Guy is developing and optimising novel and current isothermal amplification technologies (iNAATs) for the detection of DNA and RNA targets. Guy has been instrumental to Lumora's iNAAT development, responsible for key enabling know-how. He is currently focusing his efforts on utilising LAMP and RDC amplification technologies to target GM markers as part of the EU research programme; COEXTRA.
Cathal McElgunn PhD, Senior Molecular Biologist
Cathal has over 10 years experience working in molecular diagnostics, including tumour suppressor gene discovery at Novartis K.K and MLPA R&D at MRC Holland. At Lumora Cathal has significantly contributed to Lumora's expertise in NAAT technologies and the development of a novel Listeria test. Presently, Cathal is focusing on the benefits of BART-based assays as compared to PCR, with particular reference to susceptibility to inhibitors.
Clint Pereira, Technical Development Manager
Clint has 11 years corporate R&D experience gained at Pfizer Global R&D, Cytocell Ltd and British Biocell International. His core experience is in isothermal amplification technology development in food and medical diagnostics. Clint is working on advancing the company’s food product portfolio, including the development of rapid sample preparation techniques. He is responsible for setting up Lumora’s technology platforms for external evaluation and has been key to the success of trials at CCFRA. Clint also plays a key role in laboratory management and health and safety.
Rebecca Jackson, Laboratory Manager
Rebecca has 17 years research experience gained in Rheumatology Research at Addenbrooks hospital. At Lumora Rebecca has been concentrating on enhancing reagent stability and working as part of the RDC amplification development team. Rebecca is also responsible for laboratory management at Lumora.