Connor Sampson

I worked as part of a small team to bring the Ankryon product line from concept to customer. I managed projects from design to implementation. Fundamental biology, troubleshooting, process management, supplier negotiations, and anything else needed to get the job done. I also took care of ~ £500,000 of equipment, and worked with other departments to automate their workflows. Key Responsibilities & Achievements. * Process Design: Designed and automated multiple key processes, including cloning platforms and plasmid extraction workflows, now integral to production. * Workflow Scaleup & Automation: Automated a wide range of existing bacterial, molecular, and immunoassay-based processes, significantly enhancing efficiency and throughput. * Sequence Management: Developed high-throughput systems for generating, processing, annotating, and storing large volumes of sequencing data, using Excel, R, and VBA. * Project Management: Led a major internal project with a budget exceeding £100,000, a team of graduate scientists, and complex data handling challenges. * Equipment Management: Pioneered the adoption of automation technology across departments, providing programming, troubleshooting, user training, and maintenance for approximately £500,000 worth of equipment, including liquid handlers, stackers, cranes, plate readers, and more! * Technical Support: Provided support for both scientific processes and automation equipment, continuously working to keep the company moving smoothly.

Worked as the first member of a new research group, developing new biochemical assays for the examination of a key membrane protein. My focus on low-resource, high-throughput method development allowed us to punch above our weight in data output, creating two first author papers during my three years. Key Responsibilities & Achievements. * Method Development: Implemented a wide range of experimental frameworks, from thermostability assays to nanodisc systems. * Labgroup Establishment: Trained and guided more junior members of staff, developed multiple projects, and left a range of established protocols for future research. * Paper Writing: Produced two first author publications; one based on thermostability assays, and the other on biochemical accessibility measurements. * Presentation & Communication: Regularly presented on behalf of the lab group, undertook AFHEA education training, and won university awards for presentation.

Associate Fellowship Scheme. Teacher training course consisting of classes, assignments, and teaching observations. Qualified to the level of a higher education teaching assistant, and an Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (AFHEA).

First, I examined the impact of translational errors upon cell health, and examined possible pathways involved in the regulation of translational errors. Second, I examined the impact of translational errors upon the function of proteins. Third, I computationally examined a mass spectrometry derived dataset containing naturally occurring translational errors.