Course Tutors

John started his industrial career at Rhone-Poulenc (formerly RTZ chemicals) in Avonmouth- Bristol, working on fluorination technology, before gaining a chemistry degree and organic chemistry PhD at the University of Bath in 1995. He then did postdoctoral research at the University of Sheffield before joining the process chemistry group at Oxford Asymmetry working on route development and optimization, scale-up and custom synthesis.

In 1999 John joined Vertex Pharmaceuticals (Europe) in the discovery chemistry department, spending a number of years working in oncology and inflammation therapeutic areas. He then formed a scale-up group to support synthesis of pre-clinical candidate molecules and intermediates and in 2010 oversaw construction and commissioning of a new kilo lab facility. In 2012 John was appointed to head of process chemistry for Vertex (Europe), overseeing synthesis of compounds for preclinical toxicology assessment, designing safe, scalable synthetic routes and working with external vendors and global CRO’s to deliver key intermediates and develop new enabling technologies. He was also responsible for developing chemistry for cGMP synthesis of early phase clinical material.

John joined Scientific Update in August 2018 as Scientific Director. He is involved in delivering & developing training events and advising on scientific content for the conference programme. He also leads the consultancy arm of the business and has a keen interest in scientific writing and communication.