Tom Payne

Tom Payne has a diverse work experience spanning over 15 years in the biotechnology industry. Tom most recently served as the Chief Operating Officer at Laverock Therapeutics, where they played a key role in the development of programmable, iPSC-derived cell therapies. As the COO, they managed company operations and scientific teams.

Before that, Tom worked as a Biotechnology Consultant in 2020, providing their expertise in the field. Prior to that, they were the Head of Platform Development at Cellinta Limited from December 2020 to April 2021. In this role, they focused on gene therapy approaches targeting cancer stem cells and was responsible for bioinformatics, functional screening, viral vector engineering, and CMC.

From 2016 to 2020, Tom held various positions at OXGENE, including Chief Scientific Officer, Chief Technology Officer, and Head of Cell Engineering. As the CSO, they managed scientific teams across multiple business units, overseeing process development, laboratory automation, and bioinformatics.

Tom began their career at Lonza in 2011 as an Associate Principal Scientist in the Cell Engineering group. Tom focused on optimizing mammalian host cell lines for the production of therapeutic proteins. Prior to that, they worked as a Senior Research Scientist at Novozymes from 2006 to 2011, where they contributed to the further development of yeast-based protein expression platforms.

Overall, Tom's work experience demonstrates their expertise in gene therapy, cell engineering, protein expression, and biotechnology consultancy.

Tom Payne completed their education in the field of biology. Tom earned a Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree in Molecular Cell Biology from the University of Nottingham between 1999 and 2002. Later, they pursued further academic achievements and obtained a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D) degree with a specialization in Molecular Biology from the same institution, during the period of 2002 to 2006. In 2014 to 2015, they attended The Open University and completed a Postgraduate course focused on Managing Technological Innovation.