Envigo has announced the launch of a dedicated Science and Technology Advisory Group (STAG) to drive forward emerging areas of research and to develop new technologies. The STAG will have a core membership of six to eight representatives from a range of technical disciplines across the company.

The STAG group will run across all business domains of the company – including Pharmaceutical Development, Research Models and Services as well as Crop Protection and Chemicals Testing.

Its assignment will be to sponsor internal programs designed to develop new or improve existing capabilities. Selected external partnerships will also be explored – including collaborations with academic institutions – along with offering science and technology development services to customers, e.g. new screening assays.

Brian Burlinson, deputy chair of the STAG, commented: “We are encouraging our scientists to put forward new projects for funding, acting as an internal innovation incubator, but also, we are going out to market and asking our customers if they have research problems they would like us to develop into commercial solutions. However, it’s not just about today’s problems, as we are also partnering with universities, both on developing new science and offering work placements to graduates… our ethos is to instil a culture of new science that permeates all areas of the business.”

STAG will also take on a longer term role in the process of attracting talented scientists who possess specific, specialized skill sets that mirror scientific and technological projects planned or in development at Envigo.