Dr Amanda Baxendale

About

I am the Head of Research and Innovation Services.

I have spent my entire career working at the interface between University and industry. This has included working for a spin-out company of the University of Nottingham which exploited the properties of super critical fluid to encapsulate pharmaceutical companies into proprietary drug delivery technologies.

I have worked in technology transfer and knowledge transfer roles at the University of Birmingham and University of Sheffield, within healthcare and biosciences, before moving to Derby. I have now spent four years at the University of Derby supporting knowledge transfer across a wider range of disciplines, before moving to focus my efforts on engineering and manufacturing at IISE.

As Head of Research and Innovation Services, I work with companies to develop collaborative relationships. This may involve facilitating innovation discussions, planning projects, making connections with relevant research staff, identifying and applying for funding to deliver collaborative projects.

Professional interests

Everybody else's research! I like helping others achieve what they want to out of their research and ideas.

Membership of professional bodies

I am a Member of the Academy of Pharmaceutical Science of Great Britain www.apsgb.co.uk

Qualifications

BSc (Hons) Biochemistry, University of Birmingham
PhD: Constitutive activation of the CD40 pathway in cell transformation, CRUK Institute for Cancer Studies, University of Birmingham

Experience in industry

I worked as a Biologics Scientist and Pre-Clinical and Clinical Studies Manager, for Critical Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Nottingham. I was a member of a small close-knit team within Critical Pharmaceuticals for over two years. The majority of my time was spent working on the proof of concept of use of the company's proprietary technology for controlled release single dose vaccines. Working towards Good Laboratory Practice (GLP), I ran my own research programme (a BBSRC Small Business Research Initiative), planning and undertaking my own research including devising new assays and collaborating with Unviersity of Nottingham. I also got a good grounding in the running of a small business. I was involved in operations management, preparing reports to our funders (private investors and Research Councils), exploring business development opportunities, marketing and PR, and advising and taking advice from our Directors and advisers.

I have also worked in the biochemistry laboratories of an NHS hospital; what was then, the Derbyshire Royal Infirmary, which gave me a good insight into the automation and quality management requirements of a high throughput laboratory.

Additional interests and activities

I regularly attend industry focused and networking events, to develop contacts to bring back into the University. I am always willing to visit organisations with academics, allowing the partnership to focus on the project being developed together, whilst I take care of the collaborative process.

Recent publications

Baxendale et al., Single shot tetanus vaccine manufactured by Nanomix(TM) is as effective as multiple doses of an alum adsorbed vaccine. (In submission)
Baxendale et al., Constitutive activation of the CD40 pathway promotes call transformation and neoplastic growth. Oncogene. 2005
Hill et al., Activation of CD40 in cervical carcnimoa cells facilitates CTL responses and augments chemotherapy-induced apoptosis. J Immunol. 2005