Smithers Pharmaceutical Development Services at the 42nd SQA Annual Meeting and Quality College
Smithers Pharmaceutical Development Services will attend the 42nd Annual Meeting and Quality College hosted by the Society of Quality Assurance. The event takes place April 11–16, 2026, in National Harbor, Maryland. This annual meeting serves as a central forum for quality assurance professionals operating in FDA-regulated industries, including pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, and bioanalysis.
Smithers maintains a consistent presence at this event, reinforcing its commitment to regulatory excellence and continuous improvement in quality systems. Participation supports ongoing alignment with regulatory frameworks such as 21 CFR Part 58 and 21 CFR Part 11.
Smithers Representation and Industry Engagement
Smithers Pharmaceutical Development Services will be represented by its full Quality Assurance team, including leadership. This level of participation reflects the organization’s investment in staying current with regulatory expectations and contributing to industry dialogue.
The SQA Annual Meeting brings together QA auditors, directors, and regulatory leaders. Attendees include professionals responsible for GxP compliance, computer system validation, and quality management systems. FDA investigators and industry experts contribute to technical sessions, shaping how regulations are interpreted and applied across regulated industries.
Ashley Moore to Present on AI in Quality Assurance
Ashley Moore, Quality Assurance Auditor at Smithers Pharmaceutical Development Services, will be one of the instructors at a Quality College training course titled Generative AI for QA Professionals. Her session focuses on generative AI for QA auditors, with an emphasis on ethical implementation in FDA-regulated environments. The one-day course will take place on April 16th, 2026, from 8 am to 5 pm.
The presentation addresses how AI can be deployed in a manner that is explainable, auditable, and compliant. Key topics include data privacy, transparency, traceability, and human oversight in AI-driven workflows. The session also explores challenges such as algorithmic drift and the validation of AI-generated outputs.
The content is designed to deliver immediate value. Attendees will engage with applied use cases that demonstrate how AI tools can be evaluated, controlled, and integrated into existing quality frameworks.
Poster Presentation: “A Beautiful Mind, The Human Behind the Auditor”
The entire Smithers QA team co-authored a poster titled “A Beautiful Mind, The Human Behind the Auditor.” Lead author, Ashley Moore, will present how this research examines the psychological, behavioral, and sociological factors that influence how auditors think and perform.
The work introduces a tool designed to understand auditor profiles, drawing on established personality frameworks to explore decision-making patterns and professional tendencies. The goal is to support more effective team dynamics, improve auditor development, and recognize the human factors that impact audit quality.
QA professionals can interact with the tool by taking a test, which will feed their individual data into the preliminary framework that can be used to create auditor profiles within this preliminary assessment.
Driving Quality and Innovation Through SQA
Participation in the SQA Annual Meeting enables Smithers Pharmaceutical Development Services to engage directly with regulators, peers, and technology providers. These interactions support continuous improvement in quality systems and ensure alignment with current and emerging regulatory expectations.
Insights gained from this event are applied to enhance service delivery, strengthen compliance strategies, and support innovation across pharmaceutical development programs.
Connect with Smithers Pharmaceutical Development Services
Organizations seeking to advance quality assurance programs, implement AI in regulated environments, or improve audit readiness can benefit from collaboration with Smithers Pharmaceutical Development Services.
Schedule a meeting with Smithers to discuss specific challenges and explore solutions that support compliant, efficient, and future-ready pharmaceutical development.