Senior R&D team
Michael Wigglesworth, Operations 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.
Olga Gandelman PhD, Senior Scientist, Team leader: HIV load tests for low resource settings
Olga joined Lumora in March 2003 as a world-leading specialist in bioluminescence with 21 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, Team leader: Digital Amplification
Guy has 21 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, Team leader: Enteric disease detection
Cathal has over 11 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 12 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 18 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.