Our People

Management Team

David Burns

Chief Executive Officer

David has more than twenty years of International executive experience as a sales, marketing and business development professional. Prior to joining Renishaw Diagnostics, David held previous senior leadership positions in the US and Canada with Cyntellect Inc. as VP Sales and Marketing and COO, GE Healthcare Life Sciences (formerly Amersham Biosciences) where he filled the roles of Head of Strategic Growth and VP Commercial Alliances. Prior to that, he was CEO of Imaging Research Inc. in Ontario, Canada which was acquired by Amersham in 2003. David joined IRI and the Amersham group from a role as Vice-President Business Development and Marketing at Packard-BioSignal Inc. in Montreal, Quebec. David’s prior experience included other executive business development and marketing positions with Packard Bioscience in the USA and Netherlands and in scientific sales with Pharmacia/LKB in the UK.

Ewen Smith Ph.D

Chief Scientific Officer

Professor Smith is CSO of Renishaw Diagnostics. He is a spectroscopist and chemist with particular expertise in understanding and applying surface enhanced resonance Raman spectroscopy (SERRS) in the development of informative and sensitive assays. He is an emeritus professor and a co-director of the Institute of Nanometrology at the University of Strathclyde. Professor Smith has over 290 published papers and with G Dent has published a book entitled Modern Raman Spectroscopy – A Practical Approach.

Caterina Netti Ph.D

Director of Operations and Technology

Caterina is Director of Operations and Technology in Renishaw Diagnostics and has been with the company since its foundation (July 2007). She was Chief Scientist and co-founder of Mesophotonics Ltd (2001-2007) where she led the research, development, and commercialization of Klarite SERS substrates acquired by Renishaw Diagnostics. She has over 10 years experience in developing novel optical-based analytical applications and materials. She was awarded a PhD in Physics (1997).

Alastair Ricketts Ph.D

Product Development Manager

Alastair is Product Development Manager at Renishaw Diagnostics, where he oversees all work in the Diagnostics, Development and Science sectors of the business. He has held positions as a research fellow in the areas of forensic science, cancer biology (Beatson Institute for Cancer Research) and SERRS bioanalysis (University of Strathclyde Centre for Molecular Nanometrology). As part of the POC+ team funded by Scottish Enterprise that led to the foundation of D3 Technologies Ltd he has been involved with the company from the start. Alastair was awarded a BSc (hons) in 1998 and PhD in 2001, both in Molecular Microbiology.

David Eustace Ph.D

Project Leader – Development

David is Project Leader for development work at Renishaw Diagnostics as well as overseeing Klarite™ production. He has successfully led high profile publicly funded projects from NHS-SBRI and Scottish Enterprise. Prior to Renishaw Diagnostics, David worked as a postdoctoral research associate at the Dept. of Materials, Imperial College London from 2005-2008. He was awarded a MSc (Hons) in Chemistry in 2002 and a PhD in Solid State Physics (electron energy loss spectroscopy) in 2006.

Karen Fitchett Ph.D

Project Leader – Diagnostics

Karen is Project Leader for the diagnostic areas of Renishaw Diagnostics, leading all aspects of the diagnostic product development programs carried out within the company. Prior to joining Renishaw Diagnostics in December 2007, Karen worked in data management at a leading CRO and at the University of Strathclyde as the main postdoctoral research associate on the POC+ team funded by Scottish Enterprise that led to the foundation of D3 Technologies Ltd, she has been involved with the company from the early stages. She was awarded an MSci in Pure Chemistry in 2002 and PhD in 2006 in Analytical Chemistry (A flow cell surfaced enhance resonance Raman scattering (SERRS) detection system).

Graeme McNay Ph.D

Project Leader – Science

Graeme is Project Leader for the scientific areas of Renishaw Diagnostics. He leads the blue sky research carried out within the company and interacts with both development and diagnostic projects to help drive those areas forward. Prior to joining Renishaw Diagnostics in November 2007, Graeme worked as an Analytical Development Chemist at GlaxoSmithKline and as a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Strathclyde where he investigated the use of SERS as a tagging technology. He was awarded an MSci in Forensic and Analytical Chemistry in 2002 and PhD in 2006 in Chemistry (advancing SE(R)RS techniques for use in biological applications).

Allana Johnstone

Head of Compliance

Allana is Head of Compliance at Renishaw Diagnostics. She has worked in medical device product development for 10 years and has worked in the implementation of Quality and Regulatory strategies and systems for Medical Devices for 9 of those years. During this period she has worked with companies such as Sulzer Vascutek, Biosil, Tayside Flow Technologies Ltd and Stirling Medical Innovations. Projects managed were Product Development; Quality Management System Implementations; ISO Certifications, Clinical Trials and CE marking activities for medical devices and in vitro diagnostic devices such as Vascular Grafts; Breast Implants; and Meter and Strip Micro-fluidic IVD device systems. Allana has been a Member of the Chartered Quality Institute since 2005 and a Chartered Member since 2008. She has been awarded a BSc in Biochemistry and Microbiology and a Masters Degree in Bioengineering, both attained at the University of Strathclyde between 1993 and the year 2000.

Founders & Board Directors

Board of Directors and Founders

Ewen Smith

CSO and Founder

Professor Smith is a spectroscopist and inorganic chemist with a long track record of research in Raman and surface enhanced resonance Raman scattering (SERRS). Before joining the company he was a full time academic at Strathclyde University where he had periods of office as Head of Inorganic Chemistry and Head of Department. He still retains a part time research position at Strathclyde. His particular expertise is in the understanding of SERS and in developing informative and sensitive analytical methods which use SERS detection. His DSc from Glasgow University was awarded in 1983. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and the Royal Society of Chemistry. He has close to 300 published papers and with G Dent has published a book entitled Modern Raman Spectroscopy – A Practical Approach.

Duncan Graham

CTO and Founder

Duncan Graham obtained his BSc Honours in Chemistry from the University of Edinburgh in 1992 and his PhD in Bioorganic Chemistry in 1996 under the direction of Prof. Tom Brown investigating the use of modified oligonucleotides to inhibit HIV. He then moved to the University of Strathclyde where he joined the group of Prof. Ewen Smith as a postdoctoral fellow to examine the use of surface enhanced resonance Raman scattering (SERRS) for DNA analysis with Zeneca Diagnostics. Breakthroughs during that period of research lead to the award of a five-year David Phillips fellowship from the BBSRC to examine the area of DNA analysis by SERRS. In 2002 he won the RSC's Analytical Grand Prix Fellowship which provided funding for another period of five years to further develop his chosen area of using synthetic chemistry to create and develop new methods of bioanalysis using optical spectroscopy. In 2004 he was awarded the SAC Silver medal for the 'Innovative synthesis of new analytical reagents for sensitive and selective analysis' and in 2005 he was presented with the Nexxus Young Life Scientist of Year award. He was appointed a lecturer in 2002, promoted to senior lecturer in 2003 and to professor in 2004. In 2005 he was cofounder of the Strathclyde Centre for Molecular Nanometrology which operates jointly between the Departments of Chemistry and Physics and exploits the natural synergy in molecular manipulation and optical spectroscopy for the study of biological systems on a nanoscale. He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 2007.

Karen Faulds

Director of Research and Founder

Karen Faulds obtained her BSc Honours in 1998 from the University of Strathclyde in Forensic and Analytical Chemistry and her PhD in Chemistry in 2003 under the supervision of Ewen Smith. This involved the development of surface enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) for the detection of drugs of abuse during which she published the first quantitative detection of amphetamine by SERS. She then moved to a postdoctoral position with Duncan Graham in 2003 to evaluate the use of SERRS for the detection of DNA. During this time she demonstrated the first quantitative detection of DNA by SERRS and showed the technique was more sensitive than fluorescence. She was appointed as a proleptic lecturer in March 2005 and took up her full time position in April 2006. Her main interests are in creating new methods of bioanalysis that can be used in molecular diagnostics. The focus of this research is the use of modified oligonucleotides to generate functionalised nanoparticles that can act as nanobiosensors.

David Burns

Board Director

Allen Roberts

Board Director

Geoff McFarland

Chairman

Simon Holden

Board Director

Norma Tang

Company Secretary