Careers in Discovery

Carrie Ambler, LightOx

"Anybody of any age can be entrepreneurial. If you've got an idea, and you have the drive to take that idea forward, whether you're 17 or 70 age shouldn't put anyone off."

Carrie Ambler is both the Chief Scientific Officer of LightOx, a company developing novel therapeutics and research tools for oral cancer, and an Associate Professor of Biosciences at Durham University.

Carrie joined us to discuss:

🎓 Balancing her academic and industry careers

🎓 What spinning a company out of research really involves

🎓 Why change is good

Enjoy!

Jane Osbourn, Alchemab

"Don't be afraid to just try something. The worst thing you can do in Biotech is not make a decision. There are lots of right decisions, there are some wrong ones, but there's a point at which just doing something and seeing what happens is how you learn and make progress."

Jane Osbourn is a genuine world leader in the discovery and development of antibody therapeutics. Currently Chief Scientific Officer of Alchemab Therapeutics and Chair at Mogrify, Jane has also served as Chair of the BioIndustry Association, is a Director of Cambridge Enterprise and in 2019, she was awarded an OBE for services to science and the drug research industry as well as the Scrip's Lifetime Achievement Award for contribution to biopharma.

Jane joined us on Careers in Discovery to share her journey, her advice and her views on careers, science, Biotech and more.

Enjoy!

Maria Chatzou Dunford, Lifebit

"One day it hit me that in every cell of your body you have a full universe, and it's a universe we can manipulate and run experiments in, yet there is so much of it still to explore."

Maria Chatzou Dunford is the CEO and Founder of Lifebit, a company whose software and analytics tools are democratising access to 'omics data.

Through her commitment to enabling cutting edge science and her dedication to personal improvement, Maria has seen great success in her first foray as an entrepreneur.

She joins us on Careers in Discovery to talk about:

💾 Why you should stay true to your passion

💾 Her learns as a founder and CEO

💾 Why her two favourite words are evolution & self-development

💾 The importance of focus

Enjoy!

Abel Ureta-Vidal

"This is the best time to start a company, because if you start in a difficult situation and build good discipline around raising money, winning customers and staying lean, it can only get better - so do the hard work now."

Abel Ureta-Vidal describes himself as a Spanish-born, French-educated, British-inspired scientist, bioinformatician and entrepreneur.

Currently Chief Data Officer at sofi and Investment Director at CMS Ventures, Abel has a background as a researcher, founder, C-level executive and investor. He has a unique career perspective, and talked to us about:

👨‍💻 His start-up story

👨‍💻 Business as a personal learning journey

👨‍💻 Why you should always meet people

Enjoy!

Ros Deegan, OMass Therapeutics

"Being a CEO is about surrounding yourself with great people, and then enabling them to perform their functions really well."

Ros Deegan is the CEO of OMass Therapeutics, a company moving drug discovery into high definition. Ros has developed a transatlantic career focused on the commercial and strategic side of the biotech industry, spanning management consulting, business development, finance and now as a CEO.

She talked to us about:

✈️ The importance of sponsors and mentors

✈️ The difference between the UK and US biotech ecosystems

✈️ Moving from big Pharma to startup Biotech

✈️ How the pandemic has changed the way that OMass operate

Enjoy!

Paul Kellam, Kymab & Imperial College London

"Science, regardless of whether it's academic or industrial, is a passionate and intense activity and you really need to enjoy the process behind it. If you do, then the interface between academia and industry can be quite blurred."

Paul Kellam is VP of Infectious Diseases & Vaccines at Kymab, as well as a Professor of Virus Genomics at Imperial College London. As a virologist, he has worked to tackle some of the biggest threats to human health, including HIV, ebola, cancer and of course covid-19.

Paul talked us through his career and we explored:

🦠 How he balances his academic and industrial work

🦠 The unique circumstances that an epidemic creates for scientists

🦠 The ever-changing boundary of what's possible in science

Enjoy!

Barbara Domayne-Hayman

"It's absolutely possible to quite significantly change direction [in your career], even after five or ten years if one's determined enough, so one shouldn't be afraid of doing that."

Barbara Domayne-Hayman has led a varied career in the agrochemical and biotech sectors, currently holding roles in organisations as diverse as Autifony Therapeutics, the Francis Crick Institute, Cambridge Enterprise and LifeArc.

Barbara joined us on the podcast to talk about her career and what she's learned, including:

🈺 The benefits and challenges of a portfolio career

🈺 The data-driven health accelerator she's involved in

🈺 Why she loves early-stage companies and entrepreneurship

Enjoy!

Markus Gershater, Synthace

"When you're first starting out, you look at companies that have raised tens of millions and think they've made it. It's not the case, it's just a new set of problems to deal with - and that's a good thing - so it's important not to be in the mindset of heading for a particular destination. Rather, you should be focusing on doing what you're doing to the best of your ability and trusting that opportunities will then arise."

Markus Gershater is a co-founder and the Chief Scientific Officer at Synthace, a computer-aided biology company that helps scientific organisations to make the most of laboratory automation.

Both he and the company have had a fascinating journey, and as we discussed it, Markus shared his insights on:

💻 The evolution of the CSO role as a startup grows

💻 The advantages of human scientists over AI (and vice versa)

💻 Why he hates the term "networking"

💻 The importance of being opportunistic in your career

Enjoy!