The Scientists’ Scientist: Valeria Sgambati PhD.

Marathon Pacer is not just a lab operations support program – it is an industry game changer. 

By combining on-site support, strategic sourcing, cutting-edge software, and off-site storage, Marathon Pacer allows labs to do what they do best: innovate. 

But what truly challenges the status quo of inventory management is the scientific support team, led by Valeria Sgambati, PhD.

Who is Valeria Sgambati? 

Love of Learning leads to a Global Scientific Journey 

Born and raised in Italy, Valeria has built a career pushing the boundaries of scientific research. With expertise in biochemistry, molecular and cellular biology, and assay development, she plays a pivotal role at MarathonLS, supporting scientists on-site to advance their breakthroughs. 

Her curiosity extends beyond the lab. At 30, she committed to learning one skill every year, trying everything from coding and painting to plumbing and gardening. This year’s challenge? Woodworking.

Her continuous hunt for knowledge is reflected in her professional experience as well. She believes that staying ahead in the world of life science requires constant evolution. Whether it’s learning about emerging technologies, optimizing lab workflows, or developing assays, Valeria ensures that she and the teams she supports are always ahead of the curve. 

From Bench to Bigger Picture

Valeria’s scientific journey started at the bench, but her impact soon expanded beyond individual experiments and research. With a postgraduate degree in life science and biology, she worked in academic and industry labs, including a postdoctoral at Columbia University specializing in organoids and 3D models. Later, at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC), she collaborated on several studies with top cancer researchers, including a recently published study on Nature.com that explores the relationship between colorectal cancer cells and metastasis.

Recognizing her talent for problem solving on a broader scale, Valeria transitioned from research to scientific operations. As Lead Scientific Support at MarathonLS, she works directly with both lab operations and research teams, ensuring they have access to the products that bring them the most value while avoiding material shortages to streamline workflows. This approach helps bridge the gap between operational efficiency and scientific success.

Bridging Science and Operations

Every day, scientists face increasing demands that stretch well beyond their core responsibilities. Placing orders, building bioprocessing assemblies, and searching for supplies can divert valuable time away from groundbreaking discoveries. The Marathon Pacer program exists to remove these operational burdens, allowing researchers to stay focused on their science with confidence that their labs are running at peak efficiency.

What is Scientific Support?

The scientific support team at MarathonLS is a group of individuals experts in their disciplines who support scientists on-site with product questions, recommendations, and samples tailored for their specific workflows, help develop supply chain resilience strategies, stay ahead of the latest technologies and automations, and serve as an overall advocate and trusted advisor.

“We love having Valeria and the rest of the Marathon Pacer team on-site and truly appreciate the opportunity to connect with them.” 

Working closely with research and operations teams, the scientific support team gains deep insight into each lab’s specific workflows, instruments, and operational processes. This approach enables proactive problem-solving, ensuring researchers always have what they need before they even realize they need it.

Mitigating Supply Chain Disruptions 

Risk mitigation strategies are developed for business-critical products to proactively combat any supply chain disruptions that may arise. This provides a built-in contingency plan for products so that outside factors do not affect workflows or disrupt research. 

“First [manufacturer] told us the bioreactor vessels would arrive in six weeks… then six months… then they said they can’t commit to any lead time. Valeria helped us determine the most important features so we could validate a secondary option that was in stock to use in the meantime. This saved our experiment from completely stopping.”  

Driving Company Objectives Though Strategic Sourcing 

In addition to developing risk mitigation plans, the scientific support team helps source products that align with company objectives – whether focused on cost savings, sustainability initiatives, supply chain security, or researcher preferences. This ensures clients have the best products for their needs whether that be general lab consumables, custom assemblies, media, reagents, chemicals, or PPE. The goal is to provide guidance through a scientific lens on technical and product-related topics, while also accomplishing strategic objectives.

Strength in Supplier Partnerships

Through their industry experience, and the need to provide a brand agnostic program, the scientific support team has developed strong, long-lasting relationships with some of the industry’s top suppliers, such as: Corning, Millipore Sigma, Foxx Life Sciences, Triforest, CELLTREAT and more to build a robust supplier network. Maintaining these vendor relationships is crucial to the success of the Marathon Pacer program. This allows clients to use the products they prefer through a truly brand agnostic program with the ability to provide consumables from pipette tips, centrifuge tubes, and serological pipets, to specialized cell culture products, advanced filtration systems, and bioprocessing solutions, all with one convenient partner. 

How Labs Benefit from Marathon Pacer’s Scientific Support

By staying ahead of supply chain challenges, sourcing strategically, and developing strong supplier partnerships, the program ensures a seamless research environment where scientists can dedicate all of their time to innovation and also:

• Have peace of mind knowing there is a risk mitigation plan in place, so critical products never run out
• Troubleshoot with an expert to identify the best products that will optimize workflows
• Gain personalized product recommendations that align with research goals and corporate initiatives
• Stay up to date with support for the latest technological advancements in the industry, promoting automation and efficiency

When lab operations run smoothly, science moves forward faster. Marathon Pacer is committed to being the behind-the-scenes partner that keeps research in motion and helps transform the future of life sciences.

Off-site Support

When they are not working with a client on-site, the scientific support team is continuously exploring ways to support customers by investigating new technologies to expand capabilities. 

Revolutionizing Lab Efficiency with Single-Use Kitting and Assembly

A recent need was identified for a solution to help scientists and technicians save valuable time when designing and assembling single-use kits. Knowing that it can take up to two hours to assemble one kit, this needed to be simplified to save hours of downtime each week. 

The scientific support team collaborates directly with scientists to understand their requirements in detail, then designs, sources, and assembles each component, tailored to the specific workflow in which the kit will be used in. This approach ensures scientists are receiving the exact product they need, without spending hours creating the assembly themselves. 

MarathonLS’ single-use kits reduce contamination risks, improve experimental reproducibility, and enhance efficiency in high-volume research settings while relieving the time-consuming and tedious task of assembly. In addition, off-site warehousing is available, preventing bulky assemblies from occupying valuable lab space.

Through the scientific support team’s ongoing work with researchers through the Marathon Pacer program, the single-use kitting and assembly initiative, and beyond, they aim to cultivate research environments that are both operationally efficient and innovative.

Looking Ahead

Marathon Pacer’s scientific support, led by Valeria Sgambati, PhD., remains steadfast in their mission to elevate the standards of scientific research. Their vision is centered on further refining laboratory operations, ensuring that researchers can maximize their potential without the hindrance of operational bottlenecks. 

Their dedication not only accelerates individual scientific endeavors but also contributes to the broader advancement of the scientific community, fostering a future where groundbreaking discoveries are achieved with lighting speed and deadly accurate precision. 

To learn more about how the Marathon Pacer program continues to challenge the status quo of inventory management programs, click here: https://marathonls.com/the-pacer-process/

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