Richard Poser, PhD is President of First Quality Inc., a quality consulting firm focused on Quality Systems, Training and Validation. Their clients include biotechnology, pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers, as well as the vendors such as contract laboratories, instrument manufacturers, contract manufacturing sites and software developers that support these highly regulated industries. Following an academic career in drug metabolism and chemotherapy, Dr. Poser was Director of Analytical Sciences and later Director of Information Systems at the Fisons Pharmaceuticals site in Rochester, NY. He joined Dura Pharmaceuticals in San Diego as Analytical Laboratory Director and Director of R&D Quality Assurance. Following acquisition of Dura by Élan, Rich was appointed Director of Quality Laboratory Operations and led their 21CFR Part 11 training and audit team. Now in private practice as a quality consultant, he also lectures at UCSD Extension in validation and has presented or chaired public seminars on cGMP Requirements, Computer System Validation, Vendor Qualification Auditing, Analytical Methods Validation and Infrastructure Qualification.