To celebrate Oakland’s 20th birthday this year, we would like to warmly thank and acknowledge everyone that we’ve worked with over the years for your valuable contribution in helping Oakland to build a successful enterprise.
Oakland’s longevity is due in no small part to the outstanding support of the wider Oakland community. We place a great premium on building enduring relationships based on the principles of trust, collaboration and partnership. With some good fortune along the way, we have established a highly productive international network of valued relationships with customers, suppliers, advisors, associates, advocates and colleagues.
We greatly appreciate the opportunity to work with so many people upon whom we can depend for such reliable and unstinting support. As a much-appreciated part of our wider team, you’ve helped Oakland to create a legacy to be proud of and a future that is rich with potential.
And, with exciting possibilities ahead, we look forward to many more years together as we continue our journey at the forefront of innovation.
Cambridge-based research consultancy Oakland has expanded its team with four key appointments, strengthening its international expertise in chemical engineering, biotechnology and food technology.
The recruits – Véronique Scordia, Caroline Potter, Tatiana Sergeenko, and Pantea Lotfian – have impressive credentials. They are all qualified to PhD level and have strong backgrounds in academic research, industry, and the commercial application of chemistry-based technologies. They bring to Oakland an in-depth knowledge of international markets and between them speak many languages.
After a degree in biology, Véronique Scordia chose to move into chemistry and obtained her DEA in Organic Chemistry with honours at the University of Rennes (France) in 2000. She then obtained her PhD in Organometallic Chemistry from the University of Exeter in 2004, where she worked on a thesis entitled “Towards recyclable high-activity catalysts for carbon-carbon bond formation”, and also published three scientific papers.
Prior to joining Oakland in September 2008, Véronique worked in a Medical Communications Company where she was a research and reference coordinator. Her work included checking all references used in the marketing-led solutions produced for clients and researching background information relating to the NHS, pharmaceutical industry, medical professionals, and other relevant parties.
After graduating in Chemistry from Oxford University in 1993, Caroline Potter completed a PhD in organic chemistry at Imperial College, London in 1996. Caroline then worked in scientific publishing in several different roles. At Elsevier Science, as a Publishing Editor, she managed lists of books and journals firstly in polymer science and then in structural materials. This included working closely with the academic community commissioning new work. She then took on the role of Editor for organic chemistry at the Royal Society of Chemistry where she was responsible for the overall development and the peer review process of organic chemistry journals, working closely with leading researchers from both academia and industry across the world. The highlight of this work was the successful launch of a new flagship organic chemistry journal Organic & Biomolecular Chemistry.
Tatiana Sergeenko graduated from Mendeleyev chemical technology University of Russia with first class honours MSc in industrial biotechnology and started her career as a consultant microbiologist at the Moscow Office of SY-LAB, Austria. Her role involved liaising with key opinion leaders, customers, and government authorities during the monitoring of clinical trials and certification of new microbiological systems.
In 2003, Tatiana obtained her PhD in biochemistry from the Institute of Plant Physiology, Russian Academy of Science and joined the University of Cambridge as a Research Associate. Prior to joining Oakland she took a course in “Emerging Technologies Entrepreneurship” for MBA and PhD students at the Judge Business School, University of Cambridge.
Pantea Lotfian has ten years of experience in scientific research, both in basic and applied biosciences, followed by hands-on entrepreneurial business development. She has worked with various organisations on the technology transfer process, especially on audit, due diligence, and technology sourcing and negotiation. She has a PhD in Biochemical Engineering from University College London and an MPhil in Technology Policy from the Judge Business School, University of Cambridge.
