DIRECTOR

Mr Luke Southan heads the technology transfer function of Aston University and has a strong background in translational Biology.

Whilst working as a Research Scientist at The Binding Site he was involved in the development of multiple diagnostics found in clinical use. He spent two years at the Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin before returning to the region in 2018.

Since then whilst working for Aston University he has raised over £20 Million from public and private sources to support translational projects in the bio/med/healthtech sectors.

Alongside his role at Aston he is the COO of Estuar Pharmaceuticals, a preclinical stage drug development company, and the Director of SPARK UK, the first UK branch of the globally run Stanford preclinical accelerator model.

REGULATORY AFFAIRS STRATEGIST

Dr. Randhir Tindal holds a PhD in Analytical Chemistry and has over twenty years of experience in the medical device industry across the full cycle of product development. The majority of this time has been as the Regulatory and Quality lead for startups in the Oxford MedTech ecosystem.

Dr. Tindal has been involved with medical devices that include; active, implantable, sterile, Class IIa, Class IIb, Class 3, sensing (ultrasound, fluorescence spectroscopy and laser doppler spectroscopy), polymeric particles, silicone-based hydrogels and software as a medical device.

Dr. Tindal has also been responsible for both 510k and de-novo regulatory submissions to the FDA in the United States.

Randhir is now employed by Aston University to lead on Regulatory Affairs support for groups that are on the new pre-clinical accelerator programme SPARK The Midlands.

SPARK PROJECT MANAGER

Miss Chynna Pascual has a background in clinical trials, and a BSc in Pharmacology and Physiology and an MSc in Drug Discovery and Development from University College London.

Prior to this role, she was a Clinical Trials Manager for the Cancer and Haematology Academic Research Team at Imperial College London, supporting the development and oversight of phase 1-3 oncology clinical trials. Studies that she has been a part of include LANTana, in collaboration with Astex Pharmaceuticals and Novartis/AAA and STARKAP funded by GlaxoSmithKline. She also has experience in delivering trials working for Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust in providing surgical, therapeutic and qualitative gynaecology and upper gastrointestinal, national and international studies to patients. She was a key member of the principal early phase trials team at Hammersmith Hospital led by Dr David Pinato.

Miss Justine Seibaka is a Regulatory Affairs Specialist with extensive experience in in vitro diagnostic medical devices. Previously, Justine served as a Regulatory Affairs Specialist at The Binding Site, later acquired by ThermoFisher, where she managed IVDR-compliant technical file planning and provided regulatory strategy for New Product Development (NPD) across the UK, US, and Europe.

Her expertise includes: Regulatory Submissions (preparing and submitting IVDR technical files to notified bodies), Compliance Management (maintaining quality systems under ISO 13485, MDSAP, and IVDR standards) and Human Factor Testing (developing Standard Operating Procedures and data tracking systems validated to FDA standards).

Justine’s career began in research and development, working as a Research Scientist involved in the experimental design and validation of novel immunodiagnostic assays. She holds a BSc (Hons) in Human Biosciences from Coventry University and is a certified Lean Competency System Improvement Champion.

Dr Matt Vassey has over 15 years’ experience in translational research, commercialisation, and health innovation, working at the intersection of academia, industry, and the NHS. Prior to SPARK he was Senior Business Development Manager at Aston University, where he supported research translation/commercialisation, spinout formation, and external partnership development and managing a portfolio of early-stage projects.

His research and development experience spans academia - with a PhD from Nottingham University in host-pathogen interactions and a post-doc in biomaterials development and immune-modulation – as well as government institutes and a drug discovery CRO.

Matt is also active across other national translational networks—including the NHS Innovation Accelerator, Innovate ICURe, Birmingham Health Partners and the West Midlands Health Tech Innovation Accelerator.