John Paul Bignell Email & Phone Number

I am a senior aquatic animal health scientist with experience delivering histopathology services to government and commercial stakeholders. My leadership and management experience, team building ability, and communication skills have been developed during my career as a pathologist, team Leader, and principal investigator.I have over 20 years experience providing histopathology health assessments of fish and bivalve molluscs for disease diagnostics and research and development programmes. My skills support the provision of advice pertaining to both aquatic animal diseases, and the study of the biological effects of contaminants. My research interests include investigating the relationship between anthropogenic environmental contaminants and hepatic neoplasms; new and emerging aquatic animal diseases; and the application of digital pathology in aquatic animal health networks.Relevant skills:• Bivalve Mollusc and Fish Histopathology• Team Leadership• People Management• Laboratory Management• Project Management• Technical Management• ISO17025 Accreditation • Histology• Necropsy• Offshore and Estuarine Fieldwork • Digital Pathology• Immunohistochemistry• Histochemistry• Image Analysis

Listed skills include Pathology, Marine Biology, Infectious Diseases, Fish, and 16 others.

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  Principal Pathologist

  Cefas

  Jul 2024 - Present - Weymouth, England, United Kingdom

  • Provide histopathology assessments of salmonid and cyprinid fish, and bivalve disease conditions for (a) The Aquatic Animal Health (England and Wales) Regulations 2009, (b) Defra/non-Defra research and development programmes, and (c) the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) Collaborating Centre for Emerging Aquatic Animal Disease.• Provide toxicological histopathology assessments of fish and bivalves in support of international and national monitoring obligations under the (a) Oslo and Paris Commission (OSPAR) Coordinated Environmental Monitoring Programme (CEMP), (b) UK Marine Strategy, and (c) H4 Chemical Exposure Indicator of Defra 25 Year Environmental Plan.• Principal Investigator of Marine Fish Diseases component of UK Government Clean Seas Environmental Monitoring Programme (CSEMP), and Biological Effects of contaminants in Estuarine and Marine Organisms (BECEMO) programme.• Maintain and develop histopathology expertise for diagnosis of pathogens and host responses to infectious aquatic animal diseases through development of the Registry of Aquatic Pathology using digital pathology.• Provide scientific advice to UK Biological Effects of Contaminants in Marine Environment (BECME) working group, and the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES) Expert Working Group on the Biological Effects of Contaminants (WGBEC) and Parasites and Diseases in Marine Organisms (WGPDMO).• Coordinate the Biological Effects Quality Assurance in Marine Monitoring (BEQUALM) Fish Disease Measurement quality assurance programme.• Lead implementation and strategic application of Digital Pathology business area.