INDUSTRIAL Biotechnology Innovation Centre (IBioIC), has appointed Dr Lynsey Dunbar as Senior Business Engagement Manager.
The Glasgow headquartered firm said the newly created role plays a key role in driving Scotland’s green recovery and contributes to the delivery of the National Plan for Industrial Biotechnology.
Lynsey joins the team from Scottish Enterprise, bringing a wealth of experience from developing national strategic IB projects and initiatives in her most recent role in the Life & Chemical Sciences sector team, where she was the strategic lead for IB.
Prior to joining Scottish Enterprise, Lynsey worked as an R&D chemist at the distillers William Grant & Sons where she primarily focused on the optimisation of their anaerobic digestion process.
Speaking on her appointment, Lynsey said: “I’m excited to join the IBioIC team as it expands to drive growth in the IB sector.
“Scotland is a hot bed for IB innovators, but we need to do more to support their journey to commercialisation, to avoid the ‘valley of death’ for companies between the pilot and demonstration scale stage.
“We want to ensure they achieve commercial success which will ultimately make certain the manufacturing sector in Scotland achieves the ambitious net-zero targets set by Scottish Government.
“Understanding the funding landscape and the opportunities available is critical to the success of these companies.”
Mark Bustard, IBioIC chief executive officer, said: “We are delighted to have Lynsey on board.
“She will have a key role to play in supporting Scottish IB companies to identify and secure funding that will drive sector growth and innovation.
“Biotech solutions are increasingly sought to the global environmental challenges, and Lynsey will help companies to realise their ambitions by turning their science into commercial solutions that can help to tackle climate change.”
IBioIC’s team offers advice and assists with all aspects of IB projects from development of technical work programmes, identification and securing of funding, to practical delivery. IBioIC can also offer companies the opportunity to apply for seed funding support to help develop their bioprocesses in partnership with the technical team in their Scale-Up Centres.
Since inception in 2014, IBioIC has overseen the doubling of industrial biotech in Scotland to over £350m and supports over 130 companies, over 50 research projects and 18 Scottish universities and research institutes.
