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Making Pharmaceuticals Conference: Meet our Panel Speakers

meet our speakers

The Making Pharmaceuticals Conference is almost here!

NEPIC is hosting a dedicated 60-minute panel session at the conference, which is being held at Coventry Building Society Arena on 21st and 22nd April. The session is designed to showcase the strength, innovation, and interconnectedness of the North East’s life sciences cluster.

The panel will explore why the region consistently delivers excellence across the entire pharmaceutical lifecycle.

Key discussion themes include:

  • Supplier Engagement & Excellence: Defining what “good” looks like and why the North East supply chain excels.
  • Innovative Collaboration: Exploring successful models currently driving the sector, including the “Extended Bench” approach.
  • Sustainability & Green Chemistry: How regional manufacturers are investing in waste reduction and carbon-neutral operations.
  • Future Outlook: The strategic value of the NEPIC cluster and the future of regional pharmaceutical manufacturing on a global stage.

Meet our panel speakers:

  • Julie Anderson, Senior Director Strategy & Execution at FUJIFILM Biotechnologies.

    With over 25 years’ experience in biopharmaceutical manufacturing, Julie has led major programmes spanning process development, GMP operations and advanced therapies.Previously, Julie led CPI’s RNA Centre of Excellence, establishing the UK’s first GMP-ready RNA manufacturing capability and supporting pandemic response initiatives. She is known for translating strategy into delivery and aligning teams to drive impact. Julie is also a passionate supporter of mentoring programmes and Women in Biotech, championing diversity and future talent across the sector.

  • Dr Sam Brogan, Vice President Research & Development, Sterling Pharma Solutions

    Sam was educated at the University of Cambridge, graduating with MSci in Natural Sciences, before earning a PhD in Organic Chemistry from the University of Edinburgh. She started her career at Sterling in 2012 as a Development Chemist and later Senior Scientist within the laboratory. In 2019, she moved into her first management role as a Lab Project Manager and R&D Group Leader. After a 3-month secondment at Sterling’s site in North Carolina, USA, Sam returned to the UK to become Head of Research and Development at the Cramlington site. In 2024, she took up her current role as Director, Global Research and Development, in which she is responsible for the alignment and integration of Sterling’s R&D teams and services across the six sites.

  • Dr Catherine Bladen, Chief Scientific Officer, Vector Laboratories

    Catherine leads the technical development and innovation teams at Vector Laboratories, Inc. She has more than 25 years of experience in biochemistry research (specifically protein identification, purification, and characterization) both in the UK and the USA. She completed her PhD in 2001 in the Cancer Research Unit at Newcastle University, studying novel proteins involved in p53 independent cancer pathways.

  • Dr Stephen Byard, Principal Research Fellow, Arcinova (A Quotient Sciences Company)

    Stephen completed his post-graduate research at the Department of Organic Chemistry, University of Leeds. He has spent more than 37 years working in the pharmaceutical industry for major global R&D organisations, with extended periods in the USA, and is currently a Principal Research Fellow at Arcinova’s Alnwick site in the UK.He has strong interests in physical and molecular characterisation, formulation development, structure elucidation, materials science and molecular biology. In particular, he has had extensive involvement in the applications of solution and solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance, including magnetic resonance imaging, computational chemistry and chemometric analyses, within these disciplines.

  • Joanne Smith, CEO, NEPIC

    Joanne joined NEPIC as business development director in 2020, before becoming CEO and NEPIC’s first female leader in 2024. She has spent over 25 years working within North East England across the public, private and voluntary sectors.Joanne is an experienced business specialist with strengths in building relationships developed from her previous roles working for the North East Chamber of Commerce and Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council.Working with and influencing North East businesses for many decades made Joanne the perfect fit to lead our organisation. Recognised as one of the region’s best connected individuals, she was named in the North East’s Most Influential 500. She is philanthropic and believes in giving back to the community, having been appointed as a board member of the Middlesbrough Football Club (MFC) Foundation in 2017. She dedicates her time to raise the aspirations of young people across the Tees Valley.

If you’re attending the conference, please visit the NEPIC team on stand 727 and catch up with the NEPIC team, Joanne Smith, NEPIC CEO,  Karen Woodland, Senior Account Manager and Daniel Shenton, Pharmaceuticals Account Manager.