People

Meet some of Them...

Jennifer Stewart

I joined Crusade after graduating with a degree in Biomedical Science from the University of Glasgow. I have now been working for the company for 5 years. Since day one, I have been involved in many different aspects of the company. I enjoy this about my job as it gives me a wide range of knowledge in diverse areas of the business.

During my time with the company, I have worked closely with the Directors and the team of clinicians, scientists and clinical research professionals to take forward the research and clinical trials. I have been involved in compiling applications for grant funding, ethical and regulatory approvals to the Gene Therapy Advisory Committee (GTAC) and Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). Another major achievement was the application for Orphan Medicinal Product designation for HSV1716 which was granted in July 2003. The compilation of these applications and their subsequent approvals is an important part of the progress of HSV1716 and the company’s other research and is something that I am proud to have been involved in.
I also spend some of my time assisting in the administration of the company’s patent portfolio and have seen many aspects of the scientific research transferred into patents.

Currently I am mainly involved in the set up of our next trial using our investigational product (HSV1716) in patients with recurrent glioblastoma multiforme, a type of brain tumour. I have worked together with the various regulatory bodies to ensure that our trial complies with the new EU Directive which was introduced in May 2004.

When people ask me what I do at Crusade, the most important thing I always say is that I get great job satisfaction knowing that one day the work that we are doing may help patients suffering from many different diseases.

Kathleen Simpson

I am a graduate with more than 14 years experience as a laboratory research scientist. My primary role at Crusade is to assist the Directors and ensure the efficient, co-ordinated administration of the Company’s research and development programmes.
I manage schedules, essential documents, administer grant funding, liaise with external agencies, plan and prioritise meetings, produce minutes, presentations etc and am the main point of contact for general enquiries.

I enjoy working as a member of the enthusiastic, dedicated team at Crusade in a multi-disciplinary role and being part of the Company’s quest to translate biomedical research into effective oncolytic human therapies.

Jonathan Scott

I joined Crusade after graduating with an honours degree in Microbiology from Glasgow University, and have been working here for over two and a half years. I was initially employed to assist in the analysis of clinical trial samples, but have been lucky enough to gain a wide variety of experience in this exciting area of science whilst working closely with experts in the field of Herpes virology and cancer treatment.

I began by becoming familiar with the diagnostic processes involved in each clinical trial sample – from the importance of sample logging and storage to each diagnostic assay and their significance in our studies. Alongside this I was able to translate a lot of theoretical work I covered whilst at university into practical lab work by becoming proficient in the fundamental virology techniques which form the backbone of our technology.

I have been involved in many aspects of work relating to our investigational product (HSV1716), such as our short and long term stability testing programs which have elucidated many important characteristics relating to its use in the clinical environment – such as storage temperatures, thawing requirements and exposure to different temperatures. More recently, I have been involved in safety testing and have assisted in the validation of clinical trial related assays. I have also been involved in generating and maintaining laboratory standard operating procedures (SOPs), thus ensuring an excellent and reproducible standard of laboratory work can be routinely carried out by every member of staff in the laboratory.

The main thing that I enjoy about working here is the variety of different work that I can undertake. Unlike many other companies, Crusade doesn’t just treat me just as a laboratory worker, but instead I have been given the opportunity to understand some of the business issues within the company and really feel part of the team.

Ultimately I get great satisfaction in knowing that we are pushing forward a pioneering treatment, which will help in the fight against a variety of cancers and other diseases which affect whole families and not just the patients alone.