Ailsa Townley BMedSc
Senior Cell Scientist
Ailsa is a Medical Science graduate, with a wealth industrial cell culture experience working to Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) standards (including bacterial fermentation to produce DNA)
More about Ailsa
Ailsa graduated with a degree in Medical Sciences from the University of Birmingham. During a summer placement and as part of her degree, Ailsa carried out research projects at the Institute of Biomedical Research in Birmingham in studying histone modification heritability and crosstalk. After finishing her degree, Ailsa joined Eurofins as a chemist analysing food for nitrile/nitrate, fluoride levels, and elemental composition by mass spectrometry. While at Eurofins, Ailsa became a Representative of Employee Safety carrying out monthly health and safety checks.
Having decided she preferred biology to chemistry, Ailsa joined Cobra Biologics where she carried out industrial Good Manufacturing Practice cell culture and plasmid protein production for clients in the pharmaceutical industry. Ailsa used a variety of cell culture systems including E. Coli, HEK 293, Super vero, CHO and T-Rex 293, specialising in large-scale E. Coli fermentations. During her time at Cobra Biologics, she was also involved in the production of one of the first batches of the Oxford AstraZeneca COVID vaccine used in clinical trials.
With a desire to be involved more in the research side of drug discovery and development, the move to Peak Proteins seemed like an ideal opportunity.
Outside of work, Ailsa loves baking and to keep active she started boulder climbing last year. Ailsa is an accomplished flautist and also enjoys playing the piano.