Welcome to the heart of Test Labs!

Tautvydas Karitonas is an experienced professional with a over a decade of involvement in developing cutting-edge healthcare products that are now widely used in hospitals globally. He presently serves as the Managing Director at Test Labs, a Medical Device Testing Laboratory dedicated to accelerating access to market for medical devices. Adept at balancing technical expertise, strategic vision, and the ability to inspire others, his leadership is defined by a distinctive blend of proficiency, strategic thinking, and effective guidance.

Tautvydas holds BSc and MSc degrees in Mechanical Engineering, which provides him with a distinctive approach that links product design and development process with device verification and validation. He has used his experience in developing hydrogen peroxide and UV-C light technologies to influence the laboratory design and expedite research timelines. Tautvydas is proud of leading the Test Labs team in achieving a prestigious UKAS accreditation in under 12 months.

Tautvydas is an expert in product development, validation, and problem-solving, making him a valuable member of any team he works with. He shares his knowledge and passion for the industry through his posts, where he discusses a range of topics from the latest medical device regulations to the impact of emerging technologies on the healthcare industry.

As a Clinical Microbiologist, Enrico has been working in the regulatory world of pre-clinical safety assessment for over a decade. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Immunology with medical Microbiology followed by a master’s degree in clinical microbiology Queen Mary University of London in 2013.

As part of his MSc’s project, he collaborated with the Barts Health NHS Trust to develop a diagnostic PCR cycle to detect Pneumocystis jirovecii in samples from immunocompromised patients. This helped reduce the turnaround time from several days to less than 12 hours.
During the height of the pandemic, he worked on the development of antiviral assays against Coronavirus as well as being part of clinical trial of bacteriophage technology to help fighting secondary infection of cystic fibrosis patients. Over the last few years, he has been actively involved the scientific community publishing various peer-reviewed papers for the introduction of novelty assays of safety assessments. He positively contributed pioneering new alternative to in vivo testing for cytotoxicity using insect models alongside cell culture testing. He is a certified biosafety officer acting as the Technical Lead at Test Labs for any UKAS ISO 17025 testing.

During his career he has worked as a Study Director conducting pre-clinical testing under GLP requirements working for a large CRO company. In this role he was able to gain expert knowledge for product testing to meet the requirements for regulatory submission to various authorising bodies, such as FDA, EPA, MHRA. He was heavily involved in method transfer and development, with a keen interest in bringing innovative testing procedures to meet client needs. As a result, Enrico used all his previous knowledge and expertise to help setting up the new Medical Device testing facility for Test Labs.

As part of his new role Enrico has helped the company achieving various new accreditations for Medical Device testing including the reprocessing validation for Class Ir Medical Devices under the scope of ISO 17025. Guiding the analytical team for reprocessing testing he has gained invaluable knowledge in customising testing regimes to accommodate reprocessing of reusable Medical Devices with emphasis on process optimisation and safety aspect.

Here at Test Labs, he acts as the Head of Laboratory overseeing the operation of Medical Device testing spanning from microbiology, chemistry and product testing. Guided by a deep understanding of product development and regulatory standards, he strives for excellence in both clinical evaluations and technical assessments.

Toni has 10 years of experience working in a UKAS accredited laboratory within a variety of roles. Prior to working at Test Labs, Toni worked in an ISO 15189 accredited clinical biochemistry department within the NHS; achieving her Bachelor of Science degree in Applied Biomedical Science at the University of Westminster and became a HCPC registered biomedical scientist, gaining knowledge and on-the-job experience in a variety of scientific disciplines.

Her role within the NHS was heavily focused on quality assurance, gaining a high level of knowledge on quality control, validation and verification, document control and implementation of new processes. The skills gained were then transferrable over to her roles within Test Labs where she is currently the Head of Quality and Compliance, responsible for implementing, managing, and maintaining Quality, Health and Safety, Environmental and Information Security Management systems to meet regulatory and statutory requirements and meet the needs of our interested parties.

As part of her role Toni has gained experience and knowledge with a number of different quality systems including ISO 17025, ISO 13485, Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) and ISO 9001 as well as global medical device regulations.

Anthea is a dedicated In-House General Counsel with a track record of providing invaluable legal guidance to a range of businesses. With real business background she brings over 20 years of experience. Anthea excels in simplifying complex legal issues, identifying and mitigating risks, and ensuring compliance. As a strategic thinker, she has adeptly protected company interests, negotiated complex contracts, and streamlined legal operations. Constantly balancing legal acumen with business acumen, Anthea is a key member of the team and a trusted adviser. Outside of work Anthea’s 3 teenagers keep her busy.

Rachel Slinger is an experienced finance professional with a over a decade of experience in shaping the finance teams and strategy in high growth businesses. Her experiences has included a wide range of sectors including Medtech, regulated fintech, multi-site leisure/hospitality, oil and gas, managed print services/ leasing, professional services, construction and media. She has spent her career in early stage businesses startups and SME’s mostly private equity backed businesses and has lead companies from growth through to completing business transactions.

She presently serves as the Finance Director at Test Labs, a Medical Device Testing Laboratory dedicated to accelerating access to market for medical devices. Rachel holds BSc degrees in Applied Accounting and is a Fellow member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants.

Lizzie is a dynamic HR and Recruitment Professional with a passion for driving organisational growth through talent acquisition and management. With 4 years’ experience in the diverse group, this has honed Lizzie’s skills, along with her level 5 CIPD qualification.

Lizzie has a natural talent for resolving conflicts and fostering a positive workplace culture that promotes employee engagement and retention. Lizzie also has a passion for understanding employee needs and how this can be aligned to the strategic growth of the business. As a strategic thinker and problem solver, Lizzie works closely with the teams identifying talent gaps, developing innovative recruitment strategies, and fostering strong relationships with both candidates and hiring managers. Her approach to recruitment goes beyond matching skills and qualifications; she strives to align candidates with company culture and long-term goals.

Sophie has 8 years of experience working with Medical Devices. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Biomedical Science from the University of Sheffield.

During her carer she has work with combination of Pharmaceutical and Medical Device quality control testing within GLP, GMP and FDA accredited setting. During this time, she trained in cytotoxicity testing, endotoxin testing, microbiological quality and other cell-based in-vitro toxicology assays. She was appointed as a GLP Study Director, conducting cytotoxicity studies and multi-site studies for medical device submission. She was involved in designing bespoke testing solutions for complex products, method verification,

Prior to joining Test Labs, Sophie was working as a Regulatory Affairs Consultant specialising in UK MDR 2002 (as amended), MDD 93/42/EEC, IVDD 98/72/EC, MDR 2017/745 and IVDR 2017/746. Biological evaluation, risk management, clinical evaluation, and device registrations in the UK and EU.

Here at Test Labs, she is a Senior Study Manager focussing on biological evaluation and biocompatibility testing as a GLP study director.

Chris is the Team Leader at Test Labs and a Study Manager. He has extensive experience in microbiology, having worked in GMP, UKAS accredited, and MHRA regulated environments.

In his previous role as a Senior Microbiologist, Chris specialised in method validation and the analysis of pharmaceutical samples and medical devices in accordance with Ph. Eur. standards.

At Test Labs, Chris leverages his microbiology expertise and knowledge of medical device regulations to ensure all R&D activities meet the highest standards of compliance and excellence. He is also responsible for medical device testing, facilitating transitions from MDD to MDR, and supporting 510(k) submissions with respect to medical device validations.

Syeda is a chemist, holding a bachelor’s degree in Chemistry with Medicinal Chemistry and a research master’s degree in Chemistry. Her thesis titled ‘An Investigation of the Anion-Binding & Catalytic Abilities of Supramolecular Complexes’ displays her competency in coordination compounds – an area of chemistry that is utilised in many industries including biological and medical – as well as her skill in scientific communication and writing. Doing a research master’s has given Syeda the confidence and passion for laboratory work, being very capable of working on and developing research projects (testing methods, formulations, analysis, etc). For example, she has done testing for a university research group, which led to her name being included in their paper published in Angewandte Chemie – a high impact factor journal and one of the prime chemistry journals in the world. She hopes to utilise this experience and get involved with writing papers for any novel testing done at Test Labs.

Syeda is a keen learner and always interested in trying out different areas of science, which is shown in her past work experience assisting an engineering PhD student in the testing of lithium-ion batteries. This makes her perfect as a laboratory assistant for Test Labs where she is involved in all 3 areas of microbiology, chemistry, and materials science.

Riwia has completed her bachelor’s degree in Medical Microbiology and went on to extend her knowledge by completing an Immunology masters from Imperial College London. Her MSc thesis titled ‘characterising the role of MALT1 paracaspase activity in psoriatic CARD14 signalling’ equipped her with experience in handling in-vitro assays, cell culturing techniques and exposure to an adverse number of analytical methodologies that are utilized under many industrial settings. Riwia’s educational background instills in her the qualities to precisely conduct experiments and confidently test novel methods, alongside comfortably communicating scientifically at a high degree. She hopes these skills will be further developed in her role as Microbiologist at Test Labs.

Riwia is an enthusiastic and hardworking Microbiologist and Immunology masters graduate, whose experience allows her to assist on multiple areas at Test labs, whether that be introducing novel in-vitro testing or generally expanding the microbial scope.

James is a laboratory scientist with a focus on product testing. He has a degree in English Literature & Creative Writing Editing and, as a freelance copy editor, he gained experience in editing and proofreading scientific papers and blog posts. He developed his product testing skills working as a Mastering Technician for over two years. During this time, James was part of a research and development team, testing new products and software and regularly reporting findings to key stakeholders. Alongside this, he maintained an archival database of nearly 3,000 customer projects and associated data, and was part of a small team of auditors responsible for ensuring that the company continued to meet the requirements of the ISO standards for which it was accredited.

At Test Labs, James designs and constructs bespoke rigs and devices built to meet customers’ specific product testing needs or the requirements of existing national and international standards. He also developed, from the ground up, a custom database for maintaining and monitoring Test Labs’ comprehensive selection of laboratory equipment and testing equipment. Finally, James uses his copy-editing experience to write and edit reports for customer’s studies as well as blog posts for the Test Labs website.