Dr Mark Powell is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) with over thirty years’ experience as an analytical chemist. Mark was Honorary Treasurer of the RSC’s Analytical Division and led a working group on continuing professional development until July 2016, when his term of office ended. Between 2003 and 2013, he was the Analytical Development Manager, and later Scientific Manager, of a UK-based contract research organization which specialized in early-stage oral drug development. During this time, he was responsible for method validation, verification and transfer activities, as well as the qualification of laboratory instruments and computerized data systems. In 2013, he set up Mark Powell Scientific Limited, which provides training and consultancy services to pharmaceutical companies. Mark has since enjoyed working with companies of all sizes around the world on a variety of training and consultancy assignments, and has recently co-authored a White Paper on Pharmaceutical Data Integrity for the laboratory supply company VWR.