Careers in Discovery

Emma Sceats, Isogenica

"In the world we live in today, where everybody's lives & careers are very visible on social media and the internet, there is this impression that successful people and companies are only ever on an upward trajectory. I think the reality is that building a company or having an impactful career is just really hard sometimes, and when the going gets tough, it doesn't mean you're doing something wrong - it's just part of the learning process."

Emma Sceats is the CEO of Isogenica, a synthetic antibody company enabling drug discovery programs around the world. Emma sat down with us on the latest episode of Careers in Discovery to discuss:

💡 How a fascination with marine biology (and particularly sharks!) led to a career in life sciences

💡 The importance of developing non-technical skills

💡 Getting out there and talking to people to find out where your passions lie

💡 Why networking is so important for graduates and academics

Enjoy!

Daniel Ives, Shift Bioscience

"Age is the biggest risk factor for a wide range of diseases, so if we target age, can we also prevent and even reverse these conditions?"

This is the question which led Daniel Ives to found Shift Bioscience, an innovative biotech company using mitochondria to slow and potentially eliminate the effects of aging.

As a young, mission driven founder, Daniel shared what he's learned in the first two years of his entrepreneurial journey, including:

🕛 How Aubrey de Grey's book "Ending Aging" influenced his career

🕦 The epigenetic aging clock, and the impact of mitochondria on biological age

🕚 Reducing the pace of aging in mice by 40-60%

🕥 The importance of remaining flexible and open-minded

🕙 How to focus on the problem and keep making progress towards it

Enjoy!

Steve Gardner, RowAnalytics

"There's no-one talented enough to do the whole thing themselves. This is a team game, and you have to ask for help along the way."

Steve Gardner, CEO & founder of RowAnalytics, joined us on the latest episode of Careers in Discovery. After meeting his co-founder by answering a question posted on LinkedIn, Steve set about applying a powerful algorithm used to tackle a huge range of real-world problems to the challenges of healthcare.

In this insightful interview, Steve talked about:

💥 The state of AI in drug discovery

💥 Why diversity is so important to success when building a company

💥 The future of personalised medicine, and what it means for the Pharmaceutical industry

💥 His learns and insights from his NINE start up companies

Enjoy!

Jonny Wray, e-therapeutics

"If you want to become a specialist, be a specialist in a biological question rather than a technology. The biology becomes obsolete much more slowly than the technology does."

Jonny Wray is Head of Discovery Informatics at e-therapeutics, a company whose novel in silico platform is making great strides in treating complex biological conditions. After a career at the frontier of science and technology, Jonny joined us to discuss:

🌟 Complex systems biology and the new understanding of disease behaviour it enables

🌟 How computational approaches are transforming drug discovery

🌟 Why software development practices are so important in bioinformatics

🌟 Finding a question you care passionately about answering

Enjoy!

Bill Haynes, Novo Nordisk

"The companies that tend to be the most successful are the ones that leave their scientists alone and allow them to innovate.".

"Just because you've spent five or ten years in academia, it doesn't mean people will pay attention. You have to prove your value."

These are two of many fascinating insights from Bill Haynes, VP & Site Head at the Novo Nordisk Research Centre Oxford. Bill joined us on the latest episode of Careers in Discovery to discuss his distinguished academic career, leading to a full professorship at the University of Iowa, his move into industry with Novartis and then AstraZeneca, and the work he's doing at Novo Nordisk.

Among other things, we delved into:

🌱 How photosynthesis sparked a career in science and drug discovery

🌱 The lessons Bill learned from big Pharma

🌱 What he looks for when hiring scientists from academia

🌱 The role of genetics in decreasing waste in the Pharmaceutical industry

🌱 Thinking big and taking risks

Enjoy!

Satnam Surae, Aigenpulse

"Successful people like to talk about their mistakes more than their successes, because that's where you learn."

Satnam Surae is the Chief Product Officer at Aigenpulse, an innovative technology business whose platform enables Life Sciences companies to structure, connect and augment their data.

Satnam shares with us what he's learned from a career at the cutting edge of Life Sciences technology, including:

💎 His experiences as the first employee at a start-up technology company

💎 Why bioinformaticians should learn to be more like software engineers

💎 The importance of data literacy to modern scientists

Enjoy!

Adam Stoten, Oxford University Innovation

"You expect the technology to work - it'll cost more and take longer than you think, but it will usually work - but having good management in place is what makes the difference in the success of early stage companies."

Adam Stoten is the Chief Operating Officer of Oxford University Innovation, one of the world's leading technology transfer groups with over 160 successful spinouts under their belts.

Trained as a biologist and immunologist, Adam tells us about his career spanning academic research, the commercial end of Pharma & Biotech and his current position working with companies in industries as diverse as quantum computing and digital entertainment - whilst maintaining a healthy interest in drug discovery.

Adam shares what he's learned along the way, including:

💎 Why finding the right managers is critical to career success

💎 How an understanding of "life on the other side" is invaluable to those in tech transfer and VC

💎 The cultural differences between academia and industry

💎 Engineering serendipity in your career

Phil Jones, BioAscent

"For me, drug hunting is almost the perfect job. I like chemistry, using it to interact with biological systems is really challenging, and ultimately you're trying to make something that benefits patients, which is incredibly worthwhile." This is what drives Phil Jones, Chief Scientific Officer at drug discovery CRO BioAscent, to keep pushing for good science done by good people. We sat down with Phil recently to talk about his career and what he's learned along the way. We discussed: 🔬 The importance of becoming an expert in your field 🔬 Why having good people around you is vital 🔬 How the role of the chemist is changing, and what's remained the same 🔬 The crucial role of networking and interacting with different kinds of people to expand your knowledge