Meet the speakers:

Alison Rawlinson, Head of Marketing, Qkine

Alison is a highly trained microbiologist, with an MPhil in Biochemistry from the University of Cambridge and more than 10 years of research experience in academic and pharmaceutical settings. She has worked for multiple global scientific manufacturers, including Eppendorf and Merck Life Science, and has achieved a CIM certificate in professional marketing. More recently, Alison joined Qkine, a Cambridge-based manufacturer of complex proteins for stem cell and organoid researchers. As the Head of Marketing, she has been instrumental in building a scalable marketing team and designing a marketing strategy for sustainable company growth. Alison is also passionate about scientific communication and outreach, and has contributed significantly to highlighting the variety of opportunities available after studying a STEM subject.

Joe Donlan, Senior Editor, PLOS ONE

Joe Donlan is a Senior Editor in the Physical Sciences and Engineering team at PLOS ONE, a multidisciplinary open-access journal. Before starting a career in science communication, he completed an undergraduate degree in Natural Sciences at the University of Cambridge and a PhD in Physical and Theoretical Chemistry at the University of Oxford, specialising in biological mass spectrometry. Since then he has worked as a journal editor and science writer (both in-house and as a freelancer) and taught scientific writing to undergraduate students.

Maaria Ginai, Founder, Mowbi Content Creator

Mowbi is a life science content creation agency which was founded by Maaria Ginai. Her unique life science career has spanned academia, marketing, technology transfer and the media. But throughout it all, her love of science and communicating through different mediums prevailed, inspiring the creation of Mowbi. Maaria has a PhD in Regenerative Medicine and Bioengineering from Loughborough University. She is the creator of the Have You Ever Wondered YouTube science channel, and currently hosts the Pros and Comms podcast.

Mariana Quiroga Londoño, Scientific Instagram Influencer

Mariana Quiroga Londoño (she/her) is a bioinformatician, a researcher at the Gottgens lab, Cambridge Stem Cell Institute. She’s in her final year of PhD in Haematology/ Stem Cell Biology at the University of Cambridge for which she’s been awarded La Caixa Foundation fellowship. Her research focuses on understanding more about how the stem cells in our blood work and what happens in disease. During the lockdowns, she founded Code For A Change, a free interactive platform for python beginners for which she was awarded the CSCI Public Engagement Prize 2021, and she started her instagram community @marianaql.science for which she creates educational, scientific and PhD lifestyle content, which now has approximately 32,000 students, researchers and academics.

Patrick Griffin, Director, Griffin Medical Communications

Patrick is a Medical Communications Consultant with 8 years’ experience in global medical communications. He has worked as a Medical Writer in-house at multiple large medical communications agencies developing both promotional and non-promotional materials, before transitioning to freelance and consultancy work in 2019. Throughout his career he has acquired a wide range of experience developing and overseeing the gamut of medical communications deliverables including publications, global medical education programs, scientific platforms, symposia, standalone events, interactive educational tools, strategic workshops, competitor intelligence and much, much more. He has a strong background working hand-in-hand with creative agencies to develop engaging digital, media and print content, as well as expertise across multiple therapeutic areas including immunology, dermatology, rheumatology, respirology, oncology, epilepsy, OTC products and opioids. Patrick holds an MSc in Drug Design and Bio.