Paul Downey, MBA Director of Operations, UK Biobank

Paul joined UK Biobank in 2004 as Director of Operations and has led the design, implementation and ongoing management of the clinical and laboratory operations since then. He is responsible for the planning and roll out of UK Biobank’s 30 assessment centres in towns and cities around the UK, and the shipping and storage of biological samples to purpose built archive facilities in Stockport. This involves the processing of samples from about 700 participants daily into 20,000 aliquots to be stored for the next 30 years in temperatures down to -196°C. The team led by Paul has had to overcome a number of technical problems, including developing a -80C automated storage and retrieval system for 10,000,000 biological sample aliquots. Paul introduced Total Quality Management to the organisation, leading to the successful ISO 9001:2000 accreditation in 2007. He has also fostered strategic partnerships with organisations to develop the technologies required to meet the unique challenges presented by the UK Biobank project. A number of these innovations have been successfully commercialised. The automated laboratory processing systems won the 2008 North West Innovation in Engineering Award, and the archive facility was also a finalist in the Royal Academy of Engineering’s 2008 MacRobert Award for innovation. Paul graduated in 1998 with an honours degree in Biological Sciences jointly awarded by the University of Lancaster and University of Florida. He attained a Master of Business Administration (MBA) by the University of Leicester in 2008, and is undertaking an MSc in Major Programme Management at the University of Oxford. Paul is Chief Executive of a biotechnology spin out company from the University of Manchester, and acts as an advisor to a number of commercial and academic institutions.