Jess has 15 years of clinical research experience, with much of that time uniquely focused on rare and orphan diseases. Most recently, Jess oversaw clinical operations at the University of Pennsylvania’s Orphan Disease Center and Gene Therapy Program, both housed within the Perelman School of Medicine. While at Penn, Jess worked closely with biotech companies to implement strategic clinical development initiatives and with thought-leaders to foster collaboration within the rare disease community. She oversaw vendor partnerships to create patient registries and natural history studies, and, most impactfully, she worked hand-in-hand with patient advocacy groups, providing rare disease patients and their families with data-driven guidance while accelerating the clinical research process.
Prior to Penn, Jess spent eleven years in the CRO industry with Syneos Health, formerly INC Research, where she held director level positions growing their therapeutic business units, with a specific focus in global rare disease and pediatric trials.
Jess earned bachelor’s degrees in both Molecular Biology and Psychology from Meredith College in Raleigh, NC.
Shannon Macquarrie has over 20 years of experience building and growing global clinical development teams. Within this realm she has developed processes that have implemented technologies that have been applied to strategy implementation through all phases of clinical development from start-up through site close out. Ms. Macquarrie has been responsible for development and roll-out of full operational and risk oversight of clinical programs and product portfolios. She regularly serves on client executive steering and joint oversight governance committees. She is a focused leader and articulate communicator capable of building long lasting relationships with key stake holders at all levels. Ms. Macquarrie’s therapeutic experience is broad and has extensive experience in the oversight of pediatric and cell therapy operating models and has designed initiatives to improve the delivery of oncology and immune-oncology programs.
Paul has been Head of the Radiological, GM, Novel Foods and Feed Additives Team since Jan 2019. He has been with the FSA since its formation in 2000, having previously been in the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF). He has led on several policy areas of food safety including leading on food defence then Allergy & Intolerance team
