Placement Student
Zac is a Neuroscience student from the University of Warwick with hands-on experience in manual patch-clamp techniques. He is joining ApconiX as an industry placement student for one year as part of his BSc. He will work across both the Ion Channel Laboratory and Safety Science Group, contributing to project support. Zac is passionate about Neuroscience and is keen to learn more in the lab.
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Placement student
Stanley is a microbiology student from the University of Nottingham with laboratory experience in molecular biology and microbiology. He is joining ApconiX for one year as an industry placement as part of his degree and will support both the Ion Channel Laboratory and Safety Science Group. Stanley is a jovial team player who likes to learn and is eager to broaden his horizon across both teams.
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PhD
Dr. Sean Brennan joins ApconiX in the Ion Channel Laboratory and will help with screening services and bridge the gap between electrophysiology laboratory work and advanced analytical approaches. With a PhD researching Kv7 ion channels and extensive postdoctoral experience spanning hERG screening, cardiovascular research, and the development of DeepChannel—an AI-assisted analysis tool—Sean brings deep technical expertise to the team through his diverse academic background combined with commercial evaluation experience through the ICURe Discover programme. Sean is a great team-player who enjoys learning and expanding his knowledge.
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Sophia joined ApconiX in 2024 and works in Business Development alongside Dr Laurence Bishop. After completing her master’s in pharmacology from the University of Liverpool, Sophia continues to bring her passion for science and communication into our Business Development team. She initially joined ApconiX as a laboratory placement student working with Dr Kimberly Rockley in CNS liability and has continued to be a part of the ApconiX team ever since.
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PhD
Dr Louisa Zolkiewski is part of the Ion Channel Laboratory at ApconiX, optimising and validating in vitro MEA assays to detect alternative liabilities in addition to seizure. Louisa used in silico, in vitro and in vivo models during her PhD in mammalian genetics from the University of Oxford. She also has experience in writing plans and reports for clients thanks to her previous position as GLP Principal Investigator at Gentronix. Louisa is a driven scientist, passionate about developing new methodologies that could improve preclinical screening strategies.
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PhD
Dr Katie Newman has a background in neuroscience and cell-based in vitro models. After working on a rat model of hyperglycaemia during her MSc Katie developed a strong wish to reduce the use of animals in research. Her PhD involved investigating the causes of genetic small vessel disease (SVD) by developing an alternative in vitro approach with induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) and CRISPR gene editing technology. Katie is a great team-player who wants to contribute to bringing life-saving drugs on the market.
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Charlotte left school straight after her GCSEs’ and joined Thor Specialities as a microbiology Laboratory Technician. Later she joined AstraZeneca as a scientist, initially working on a wide range of histopathology techniques in the Drug Safety Department. Studying part-time, Charlotte gained a BSc in Biomedical Science at Manchester Metropolitan University. Charlotte moved into a Facility Manager’s role whilst still working as a scientist. The role involved scheduling programmes of work within her team, attending project meetings and ensuring capacity was available when needed. Charlotte also managed the laboratory instrumentation and stock. Joining Gentronix as a Laboratory Technician before moving into a scientist role carrying out genetic toxicology testing, then Charlotte became a Facility Manager once again. This role involved keeping the equipment and facility compliant to GLP regulations, whilst also being involved with the expansion of laboratories within the company, looking after health and safety and purchasing new laboratory equipment.
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Isabelle Heys is an industrial placement student from the Newcastle University studying for a BSc in Biochemistry. They joined the Ion Channel Laboratory team and will be working on demonstrating the specific differences that exist between rodent and human seizurogenic responses. Isabelle’s project will be focused on ion channels and a combination of bioinformatics and electrophysiological techniques.
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MSc, EurBiol, CBiol, FRSB, ERT, FBTS
David is a European Registered Toxicologist and a Fellow of the British Toxicology Society, as well as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology. David has over 45 years’ experience as a Toxicologist, both in the pharmaceutical industry and as a Regulator. In his 25 years at the MHRA, the UK’s Regulatory Agency, he was responsible for assessing the nonclinical data for Clinical Trial Authorisation Applications and Marketing Authorisation Applications. He also chaired over a hundred scientific advice meetings every year on behalf of the Agency’s Clinical Trials Unit. While the UK was a member of the EU, David represented the MHRA in a number of working parties, including the Safety Working Party and the nonclinical group supporting the Paediatric Committee. David represented the EU at ICH for many years and had input to most ICH Safety guidelines. His many years of experience at the MHRA provide invaluable insight to clients looking to take drugs into clinical trials.
MSc
Magali joined ApconiX in 2021 as an electrophysiologist to work both on manual and automated patch-clamp for client work. She completed 2 Bachelor of Science Degrees in Life Science and Biotechnology in Paris, France where she is from, before gaining a MSc in Pharmaceutical Science from the University in Bordeaux, France. After 3 years of laboratory experience at Sanofi in manual and automated patch-clamp, she spent 2 years in Cambridge working on cell-line engineering and neuroscience. Magali decided to go back to electrophysiology and joined ApconiX where she brings her love for ion channels, especially sodium channels, and her passion for patch-clamp.
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