Careers in Discovery

"If you're good at your job, you should be anticipating all the time: where's this project going to end up in 3 months, 6 months, a year? What are the risks? What do we need to do to overcome them?"

In this episode, we welcome Niall Martin, CEO of Artios Pharma, a company harnessing the power of the body's natural DNA repair capability to fight cancer.

Niall talked to us about his career, including:

🧬 What qualities make a successful CEO

🧬 The importance of working your way up

🧬 Decision-making as a leader

🧬 Why knowing where your career is heading is critical

Enjoy!

"You musn't be dissuaded or knocked back by making mistakes. We all have to make choices, so be prepared to make them, understand the consequences and move on to the next one."

David Hughes is the CEO of CN Bio Innovations, a company pioneering the development of organ-on-chip technologies with the potential to revolutionise drug discovery and preclinical research.

David talked to us on this episode of Careers in Discovery about his career, as well as:

🧫 Bringing an engineering mindset to biological challenges

🧫 Taking risks

🧫 Making the leap from hands-on, technical roles into leadership

🧫 What a typical fundraising round looks like from the inside

Enjoy!

"To run a good drug development program or to do good academic research, you just need excellent science. However there are different pressures and expectations that come with the two different settings."

Mihri Tuna is the Chief Scientific Officer of Adaptate Biotherapeutics, a company she joined recently after a track record of success in early stage, high growth biotechs.

In this episode, you'll hear Mihri's views on:

🥼 Why good science is fundamental

🥼 How uncertainty and risk can be positive forces in your career

🥼 Why learning from experience is crucial

🥼 The importance of the team around you

Enjoy!

"True discovery really happens at the interfaces."

Dave Hallett is the Chief Operating Officer of Exscientia, a company at the forefront of applying AI to drug discovery. From starting out as a chemist in big Pharma through commercial and operational roles, Dave's varied career has given him unique insight, which he shares on this episode of Careers in Discovery.

We discussed:

💻 AI in drug discovery, and the impact it has on what's possible

💻 Thinking about the commercial endgame for your scientific research

💻 Finding talented people to surround yourself with

💻 The advantages of taking a year out in guiding your career decisions

Enjoy!

"Think about success as a journey, not a series of destinations, and think about it holistically. You need to get a sense of how you're doing that's not defined by others."

Darrin Disley is an ex-professional footballer, scientist, OBE, investor and advisor to more than 40 companies, serial entrepreneur, one of the founders of Horizon Discovery and now CEO of Mogrify, a company intent on changing the face of cell therapy.

In this week's episode, we talked about Darrin's unique journey, and he shared his fascinating insights into:

🧫 Creating enough freedom to become an entrepreneur

🧫 How to raise money on your own terms

🧫 His principles for entrepreneurship, self-development and career development

🧫 The "Four R's" he operates by

🧫 How multi-disciplinary science is coming together to build the future

Enjoy!

"If you're a scientist and you can look at data; if you can look at a problem and spot the pattern to figure out what the probable solution is, then it's exactly the same thought process, just applied to Operations."

Chris Kirton's career started out like many others in biotech - a PhD in Immunology followed by a couple of post-docs that built on his research. 

When he took his first steps into industry, Chris didn't expect to change direction, but after becoming Head of Operations for Envigo, the Wellcome Sanger Institute and Absolute Antibody, he stepped into the role of Chief Operating Officer at Axol Bioscience, a specialist stem cell company facilitating cutting edge research.

We spoke to Chris on Careers in Discovery about:

🚴‍♂️ Stem cells, and how far the technology has come

🚴‍♂️ The similarities between Immunology and Operations

🚴‍♂️ Knowing yourself and focusing on your strengths, then building a team to support you

🚴‍♂️ How cell and gene therapy are changing the pharmaceutical industry

Enjoy!

"If you've got an idea, speak up about it and don't be afraid to fail."

Welcome back to Careers in Discovery! In our first episode of 2020, we were joined by Ian Wilkinson, Chief Scientific Officer at Absolute Antibody.

Through an interview packed with insight, Ian shared with us:

📣 What it's like to be employee number one at a start-up

📣 How a science-driven company succeeds in industry

📣 Finding your voice

📣 Why you shouldn't take science personally

📣 What's next for antibodies

Enjoy!