James Wood

Biomedical Scientist

Point of Care Testing(POCT) and Bowel Cancer Screening Services

Gateshead NHS Trust, Newcastle

March 2022–Present

I hold a senior role leading and supporting teams in a fast-paced environment where quality and patient care are paramount, despite staffing challenges in the NHS. Clear communication, adaptability, and self-led working have been essential to my success in this role, particularly in driving workplace innovation. Strong administrative, organisational, and clerical skills have helped my passion for science and technology. Encouraging my continuous professional development and an appetite for lifelong learning. 

• Led sustainability work to reduce laboratory waste. I developed a paperless laboratory plan and supported the design and implementation of a digital interface for healthcare professionals. This included troubleshooting and improving the UI using JSON syntax.  
• Supporting innovation around workforce optimisations, such as the introduction of hand scanners for sample management and automated alerts for urgent samples to reduce human error. 
• Provided training to medical staff implementing new procedures, such as the Cepheid Covid tester, blood gas analysers, and Glucose/Ketone meters. An eye for detail and clear communication meant that staff left training able to carry out work safely and confidently; demonstrated by the success of the program and the decision to implement procedures for urgent care patients. 
• Traveled across the country to support modernisation and innovation in multiple Trusts. The chance to train a wide range of people in diverse circumstances, and in a variety of technologies has allowed me to develop professionally while increasing the efficiency of the whole service.
• Provide internal and external quality control to confirm laboratory effectiveness. 
• Involved in research and development via clinical trial support. These varied tests required knowledge of a wide array of testing devices and differing standard operating procedures. 
• Health and safety expertise and due diligence due to CCOSH, including the handling of clinical waste and designing new protocols for safe sample disposal.
• Responsible for multiple computer systems, across three hospitals, that tracked and maintained the functionality of hundreds of analysers. 

Healthcare Science Associate 

Integrated Covid Hub North East (ICHNE), Newcastle NHS Trust

February 2021–March 2022

Responsible for delivering training in and technical operation of high-throughput qPCR robotics bays in a facility testing over fifty-thousand COVID samples a day. Worked under periods of exceptional pressure, staffing challenges, and rapid change in a facility that pushed innovation in COVID testing procedures.  The innovation we supported enabled brand new procedures and practices to be developed for national pandemic response at a scale never seen before. 

• Operated an advanced sample management system to control the flow of thousands of anonymised samples through multiple complex procedures. Pulled information from this system needed for reports for more senior staff and used it to troubleshoot handling errors in the lab. 
• Frequently trained staff in safe working or technical processes who had n previous experience of lab work. 
• Supported Variant Testing of Concern (VOC) that was essential to the national tracking of emerging COVID variants. 
• Gained a high level of proficiency in many technical areas, including pipetting, dilution preparation, and PCR, as well as developing general laboratory skills.
• During the Pandemic 12-hour shifts were essential for a high throughput of samples. A concise handover and clear accounting of tasks and objectives was crucial for effective working in one of the nation’s largest laboratories.

Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Science (Hons) 2:1

• Dissertation (Pan-genomic of Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis strains to determine conservation of virulence genes between distinct lineages) required a wide array of analytical and computational skills that gave experience with database investigation and a quick adaptability to using new applications. Fascination with Bioinformatics led to a more in depth and fulfilling investigation that explored a much wider breadth of topics with vast amounts of data analysis.
• The efficient utilization of excel was essential to tabulate the original record for later comparison. Specialist command line software Prokka and Roary was used for rapid full annotation, enabling further manipulation of the 3,789 genes present in the pan genome. Multi Locus Sequence Typing and the Basic Local Alignment Search Tool command prompt software was then used in conjunction to investigate the clades in more detail.
• Demonstrated quick problem solving with Intensive investigative research using credible scientific literature to identify 4 distinct clades within the phylogenetic tree. This research allowed the use of varied softwares to uncover a solution for a multifaceted challenge.