John Lafferty

John Lafferty is a Quality professional with over 25 years experience in the medical device and pharmaceutical industry. John joined SQT as a tutor in 2007. Prior to that, John spent many years working in the Medical Devices/ Pharmaceutical sectors – the final six years of which were as a Senior Manager of a multinational Medical Devices plant where he managed the Quality and Regulatory Systems. John completed his Lean Six Sigma Black Belt training through SQT in 2009 and derives great benefit from applying the techniques that he learned to Risk Management and Validation in a Life Sciences setting. “It is great to be able to bring this knowledge, and the experience gained from ongoing involvement with Life Sciences companies, into the classroom,” he says.

John passionately believes that the key to success in Life Sciences Manufacturing is the relentless application of Risk Management, Variation Reduction and Good Validation Practices. As the SQT tutor for Technical Writing Skills, John believes that good written communication skills are vital for any Life Sciences professional.

John holds the following qualifications: a Bachelor of Technology in Manufacturing Technology, a Six Sigma Black Belt, a Certificate in Training & Continuing Education and a Certificate in Quality Management. John is a member of the following committees relating to Risk Management of Medical Devices; ISO TC 210 – Medical Devices Technical Committee and CEN/ISO JWG1 – Joint Working Group on Risk Management.

One of John’s greatest achievements, in recent years, has been the development of the MDSAP and MDSAP Internal Auditor courses in response to demand from SQT’s loyal client base.

Tutor Quote

"It is important to realise that good writing is less about the rules of grammar and more about stepping into the shoes of the reader and looking at the subject from his/her perspective"

- John Lafferty

Student Testimonials

‘The course was delivered exceptionally well. The material was relevant and easy to follow’
Keith D.

“John was a brilliant tutor, everything flowed seamlessly and he was very engaging. I’ve had a few online courses now and so far he has definitely been the best”

Mairead, Becton Dickinson

I found the Quality Risk Management & ISO14971 Training Course “Succinct and informative; Excellent to have 14971 versus MDR. I now understand how to describe top down; bottom up approaches; and where reviewing GSPRs fit with Risk Management. John (Lafferty) is a great trainer, direct, humorous, and efficient.”

Michelle Byrne, CooperVision UK

Areas of expertise

This tutor delivers programmes in the following areas:

Fact

When not writing in a technical sense, John likes to do a little creative writing in the form of poetry. He is a regular contributor to the North West Words writers group and describes his style as closer to Paul Durcan than Seamus Heaney. In 2014 John achieved a lifelong ambition by running the Dublin marathon. “I had not run a step in the previous five years and went from couch to 42K in ten months” he says. “I trained three to four times every week starting in January and despite not training for four of the final seven weeks due to illness, I succeeded in completing the course”. It shows once again that anyone can achieve anything, provided they do the training!”