Terry obtained his BSc (Hons) in Applied Biological Sciences in 1997 from the University of Ulster and his PhD in Multiplexing Biosensor development in 2012 from Queen's University Belfast. From 1997-2001 he was employed by Precision Analysis, a UKAS accredited laboratory, where he was involved in agri-food testing and development of the laboratory portfolio of accredited methods. From 2001 to 2009 he was employed by XenoSense Ltd (a part of Biacore AB who later became a part of GE Healthcare). His role included development of novel kits (for detection of veterinary drugs within numerous food matrices) for use on an SPR biosensor, kit validation, sample preparation, project management and marketing activities.

Terry joined IGFS (formerly IAFLU) on May 1st 2009 as a Research Assistant working on the EU 6th Framework Project - BioCop: New Technologies to Screen Multiple Chemical Contaminants in Foods under the direction of Prof. Chris Elliott, before taking up his PhD research later that year. His PhD was funded as part of the ASSET project (sub strand 1, biosensor technology) looking at applications of biosensor technologies to monitor food safety and quality while also looking at advancements in biosensor development to include multiplexing. With over 12 years’ experience in the field of biosensors, Terry has gained expertise in instrument development, sensor surface modification, assay validation, kit development and production, and technology transfer in the area of food quality and safety.

Terry became a Research Fellow in 2012 working on the HANDHOLD (HANDHeld OLfactory Detector) project. This project is funded under the Security Theme of the European Commission's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7). He is involved in WP6 developing the biosensors.