TOPRA Staff
Christopher Bailey
Regulatory Intelligence and Training Manager
One of Christopher's key tasks is to support all of TOPRA's working parties in their endeavours to develop exciting and informative training programmes with well-briefed speakers to deliver the best in regulatory education and training. Christopher is a Biology graduate and also holds a Diploma in Management Studies and the TOPRA Diploma in Regulatory Affairs. He has worked in the pharmaceutical industry in sales and finance before moving into regulatory and has also worked as Advanced Regulatory Specialist for 3M Health Care.
Vincent Costello
Management Accountant
Vincent joined TOPRA as Management Accountant in 2010.
Prior to joining TOPRA Vincent gained work experience in finance roles in the architecture/design, charity, recruitment, media/broadcasting, technology & banking sectors.
This extensive work experience includes roles successfully completed in Ireland, UK, US and Australia.
Vincent is a Certified Accountant and also holds a BA (Hons) Degree in Accounting & Finance having graduated from Athlone Institute of Technology and Griffith College Dublin, Ireland
Neil Fisher
Director of Education & Training
Prior to joining TOPRA, Neil was working as a Consultant in Vocational Education and Training. He has a Master's degree in Education and has held roles in Business Development and as Vice Principal of a Further Education College. Latterly he has been Director of Strategic Partnerships and Chief Executive of NCC Workforce Development UK. Therefore his experience is especially beneficial in focusing on the business aspects of the TOPRA programme, including exploring external funding and strategic partnerships.
Lisa Gordon
Membership and Subscription Co-ordinator
Lisa has a long association with TOPRA – in fact she joined BIRA in the late 1990s as office service assistant. In early 2000 she was lured to the sunny climes of St Lucia for an extended working holiday. But back to reality in 2002, Lisa found herself once again back on the TOPRA team. This time as academic administrator for the MSc – a role she held until 2004 until the birth of her first child. Returning from maternity leave, Lisa then took on the role of membership and advertising coordinator which she is still enjoying today.
Hayley King
Accounts Assistant (temporary)
Hayley has a degree in Geography from Portsmouth University and this is her first role after graduation. She had worked at TOPRA at the end of 2007 and in early 2008 on a temporary basis before going travelling to Australia, New Zealand and the Far East. After all that excitement she has returned to the UK to settle and has now taken up the post as a permanent employee. She is responsible for all office administrative support, including booking meeting rooms - so it is she that you need to get in touch with if you need a room for your working party, committee or even to hire for a company meeting.
Emma McNeely
Regulatory Training Executive
Emma has recently joined TOPRA. Her main role is the project management of the TOPRA CRED programme, in conjunction with the working parties, to ensure that TOPRA continue to deliver top quality regulatory education and training. She will also be developing TOPRA activities in the area of e-learning. Emma joins us from GlaxoSmithKline where she gained over 10 years of wide-ranging regulatory experience, most recently in regulatory education and development.
Sarah Roberts Purenins
Senior Conference Co-ordinator
Sarah joined TOPRA in January 2006 when she took over the role of maternity cover for the Meetings Co-ordinator before joining TOPRA on a permanent basis in April 2006.
Before starting at TOPRA, Sarah managed the membership and conferencing section of the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA). The LCIA is an international institution which appoints legal advisers to multi-million pound arbitration and mediation cases. It organises a world-wide programme of seminars and conferences, which are attended by the most eminent legal practitioners in the world. Sarah was responsible for organising seminars and conferences in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, England, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, The Netherlands, New Zealand, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, UAE and USA.
At TOPRA Sarah manages the logistics of the meetings including delegate registrations and venue and meeting liaison to ensure that the TOPRA events go smoothly and are run to an excellent standard.
Erik Smit
Membership Development and Communications Manager
Erik is responsible for meeting the Board's objectives to grow membership, explore additional services and continue to build the external profile of TOPRA. He also deals with the advertising and sponsorship opportunities that TOPRA offers to service companies to see how these can be extended for the benefit of the whole membership.
Erik was previously Marketing Executive with the Sector Skills Council for Science & Engineering Manufacturing Technologies, and his key responsibilities included promoting SEMTA's corporate identity through the creative design and development of advertisements, corporate promotional literature and publications. He was also responsible for marketing and budget planning, development and promotion of the website (www.semta.org.uk), exhibition management and organising conferences. Prior to that he was Marketing & Development Executive for Miller Freeman, producers of publications such as Food Manufacture, Manufacturing Chemist and the leading food industry website, thefoodsite.com.
Erik is Dutch by birth and speaks fluent English and German. His degree is in International Management from Arnhem Business School, Holland, and he has a Postgraduate Diploma in Marketing from Kingston Business School, UK.
Tania Taljaard
Accounts Assistant
Tania is an assistant in the TOPRA Finance department, helping with invoicing, and with customer and supplier queries. She trained as an internal auditor in Johannesburg, South Africa, and has been working in Finance for eight years. She came to the UK last February, looking for new adventures, and enjoys travelling at weekends. Currently Tania is on maternity leave following the birth of her daughter.
Lynda Wight
Executive Director
Lynda holds an honours degree in Biological Sciences and an MSc in Information Science.
She was a Regulatory Affairs professional in the pharmaceutical industry. She then helped establish a global clinical research organisation for which she became Executive Vice President. She also set up ‘Rostrum’, a company offering training services to the pharmaceutical industry.
Lynda was an active member of her professional association from the start of her career and was Chairman of the Publications Committee, Company Secretary and a member of the Board. In 1998 she became an employee of BIRA and its European trading arm ESRA. In 2004, BIRA and
ESRA were integrated into TOPRA, and she is now Executive Director of the new global organisation, working at its headquarters in Canary Wharf.
Lynda is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine, and has served as Honorary Secretary for the Section of Pharmaceutical Medicine and Research. She is a Fellow of the Institute of Association Management and a member of the Steering Committee for the Professional Associations Research Network (PARN). She has published extensively on topics relating to drug development, clinical research and regulatory affairs.
Jenine Willis
Director of Publishing Services
Jenine worked as an editorial consultant for TOPRA before taking on the permanent role of Director of Publishing Services. She is responsible for managing all TOPRA’s publications, the website and enhancing social networking opportunities for members. She is proud to have helped set up the TOPRA RA Awards, which are a great way of recognising the commitment and excellent work of RA professionals in improving healthcare. Jenine has 25 years+ experience as a journalist in healthcare publications, including Nursing Times and Scrip Magazine. Her previous full-time role was Editor of the Good Clinical Practice Journal.
Kay Wood
Postgraduate Administrator
Kay joined TOPRA in July 2006 as maternity cover for the Membership and Advertising Secretary. She then went on to become Office Co-ordinator. When the previous Academic Registrar left in October 2007, Kay took over the position as Postgraduate Administrator. The MSc currently has around 100 students studying for their Masters in Regulatory Affairs. She is currently studying Business Studies with the Open University which has given her a better understanding of her students' needs.
Steve Wratten
Director of Corporate Services
Steve Wratten is TOPRA's Director of Corporate Services, with responsibilities for Finance, HR, Facilities and IT. Steve has experience of similar roles in the fiancial, telecoms and transport sectors and has worked in a voluntary position in the charity sector and also as Acting Chief Executive of the Haemophilia Society.
