Meet Michelle Campbell

Where are you from?

Burnley in Lancashire

What did you want to be when you grew up?

I really enjoyed English at school, so wanted to be a novelist or a journalist

So how did you find your way into Medical Device Regulatory?

I was working as the Project Support Co-ordinator, as well as admin support for New Product Development at Smith & Nephew. There was a recruitment drive and HR needed to test out the online testing they had set up, so asked me to try it out. When they saw the results, they asked me to apply for roles in RA & in the Risk Management team. I got offered a choice of the two and chose RA, because there was more variety in the work and more scope for development.

Why does QA/RA interest you?

I’m constantly being challenged to learn new things – new technologies, new regulations, new markets etc., and, both from professional and personal perspectives, I really want to know that the devices that are being used are safe. 

What about your career so far?

My RA career started at Smith & Nephew in Advanced Woundcare, which I really enjoyed. I moved to ConvaTec to continue on that path and also work with Class III products. After about 2 ½ years I was offered the opportunity to move to the Netherlands to work at Philips in their Image Guided Therapy RA team.  I worked on several small projects and one large project that spanned the full time of my career there. I learnt a lot on this project, including new planning skills.  From there I made a big change and moved to a small software start-up attempting to deliver their first medical device.

And your most recent work?

RA Manager at Holberg EEG, responsible for everything RA related to a new SaMD.

What appealed to you about this consulting role and IMed?

The variety of work and the different products that we could get to work with.  I was also impressed with the team having spoken Leeanne, Tim and Jonathan.

What would you say are the key regulatory challenges for Med Dev companies currently?

Still MDR & IVDR – so many companies are still trying to become compliant, and Notified Bodies are still finding their feet with this as well.

And when you’re not delving into regulatory detail, where can we find you?
I love to travel, so either on holiday or planning my next trip. I’ve just returned from my second visit to Svalbad, a Norwegian Archipelago on the Arctic circle. I was also there in January and it never got light. I love Canada and Alaska and the US in general. As you can sense though; I am no sun-worshipper.

So, is there anything else interesting about Michelle Campbell that we really should know?
I’m really interested in wildlife, so I enjoy all those “animal experiences”. The best ones (so far) were ‘grizzly watching’ and ‘walking with wolves’. I have rescued 2 cats – Jess and Alfie – I have had cats, dogs and horses in the past! Oh, and I also collect Native American art mostly from the Southwest US and Pacific Northwest.

Well your experience with wildlife will probably have prepared you as well for life at IMed as all your regulatory experience so far! I’m obviously not referring to the Team – just that we’ve all got so many pets here! 😊 We are really pleased to have you onboard Michelle and looking forward to introducing you to more of our medical device and SaMD clients.