ApconiX Welcomes Dr James Sidaway
ApconiX is delighted to welcome Dr James Sidaway who joins us as Target Safety Team Lead. The target safety assessment team is growing as the demand for our service continues to increase significantly.
James (also known as Sid) is an experienced and innovative toxicologist having worked for over 20 years in the pharmaceutical industry with AstraZeneca and Phenotox. James brings broad toxicology knowledge coupled with a track record of TSA delivery and process improvements. He also has practical experience of bioinformatics and systematic literature analysis.
James studied for a degree and PhD in molecular biology at Manchester University. He joined AstraZeneca as a Post Doc in the Molecular Toxicology group, where he progressed to be a Principal Scientist. During this time, he led many investigative toxicology activities in support of drug discovery and development projects from across the major therapy areas. James pioneered the application of advanced in vitro models, biomarkers and informatics approaches for organ toxicity safety screens during drug discovery. James was also Coordinator of an EU public-private consortium for drug induced liver injury and Honorary Lecturer at Liverpool University, where he collaborated with Dr Mike Cross and Professor Keven Park in cardiovascular safety research.
After leaving AstraZeneca James started Phenotox, to develop novel scientific concepts and technical solutions for enabling optimal safety assessment. Phenotox was awarded funding from the National Centre for the 3Rs (NC3Rs) as the lead organisation in the CRACK IT open innovation scheme for three animal-free technology development projects. James was also the expert toxicologist for the TSA reporting service of a major informatics service provider. He then set up Phenotox’s TSA reporting service for pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry clients.
James commented, “I am enjoying working with the team of exceptional scientists at ApconiX. The Acuity Target Safety Assessment service has an excellent reputation and is well positioned for meeting the challenges of target-related toxicity. I am really excited by the opportunity to develop the platform to meet the ever-increasing demand and ensure the continued high standard of customer service”.
Professor Ruth Roberts, Co-founder and Director of ApconiX added, “We are delighted to have Sid join us here at ApconiX – he brings a wealth of experience of drug discovery and an especially impressive track record in designing and delivering target safety assessments “.
