"The most important thing is to enjoy what you're doing. If you're in the lab and enjoying your research, that's great. Keep enjoying it and you'll probably delivery well. If you want to keep focusing on research, you can, and if you want to experience different things, you'll have created the opportunity to do so."

Paul Thompson is the Chief Scientific Officer of Mission Therapeutics, a company at the cutting edge of DUB inhibitor research to treat a range of conditions.

Paul talked to us about his career so far, how his background in clinical development has informed his approach to preclinical research, and how to choose between large and small companies at the start of your career.

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"Look at oncology 50 years ago. With huge amounts of investment we now think that most form of cancer are treatable. With investment, understanding, time and research that's possible in neurodegeneration - that you can not just slow or even stop but reverse and repair it."

Andy Whiting is the CEO of Nevrargenics, a Biotech company spun out of his research at Durham University using dual-acting retinoic acid receptor modulators as a novel treatment for neurodegenerative diseases.

Andy talked to us about his decision to leave academia to run the company, how he knew when the research had the potential to become a real drug, and why uncertainty and risk shouldn't hold your career back.

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"[As a CEO] you have to force yourself to think about what's happening in your business - and that doesn't mean doing 8 hours of Zoom calls a day. Just as it's the gaps between the notes that make music, it's the gaps between the timetable acitvities that enable strategic thinking."

Ross Breckenridge is the CEO of Arjuna Therapeutics, a Biotech company working on a novel class of (very) small molecule treatments for cancer.

Ross joined us to talk about the founding of Arjuna, his career leading to that point, working with Patrick Vallance and how the experience of losing patients has shaped his approach to drug research.

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"Drug discovery is one of the biggest miracles we can accomplish. You're taking something that didn't exist before, then putting it into the most complex system we know of, hoping that it does one specific thing and not a bunch of other bad things. The fact that it ever works is a miracle."

Jonathan Steckbeck is the CEO of Peptilogics, a Biotech company combining peptide biology and machine learning to recreate the future of peptide biologics.

Jonathan talked us through his career so far, how business and science are fundamentally related, why every decision is made on a continuum, and the challenge of letting go of control as a CEO.

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"Get experience, talk to people who are doing it, go to networking sessions and interact with business owners - we've all got a story to tell and most are happy to share advice."

Steve Trim is the founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Venomtech, a truly unique company that helps Biotech researchers to work with venom-based assays.

Steve talked to us on Careers in Discovery about his journey building a remarkable company, how he learned to be an entrepreneur and business leader and his experience contributing to the Human Genome Project.

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"Embrace being uncomfortable. It's easy to say, I know, but go out there and don't be afraid. It will be challenging, it will make you anxious but if you don't try, [what you want] won't happen."

Tomas Dias is the Chief Technology Officer at Mursla, a Biotech company using extracellular vesicles to develop next-generation liquid biopsy tests in service of their mission to offer life-saving clinical insights to patients and their medical teams.

Tomas talked to us about his path through his career so far, why reliability is underrated and the importance of hard work, as well as how a tennis injury made a clear career choice for him.

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"As a PhD, you're very focused on the question and the process of how you get things done. Our focus [as a Biotech company] is on what impact we want to have, where we're going and the key questions that our partners are trying to answer."

Samantha Dale Strasser is the Chief Scientific Officer of Pepper Bio, the world's first transomic analysis company.

Samantha joined us in a fascinating discussion about her career to date and her experiences of building Pepper, developing cures with confidence and the differences between working in academic research and a startup Biotech.

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"It comes down to [the question], 'Why are you here?'. We looked at this project and thought, if we do this and it works, then we have a therapy that could prevent people from progressing down the inevitable slide into insulin dependence, with all the long term impacts that implies. And that would be a really worthwhile course to take."

Nara Daubeney is the COO of Phaim, a Biotech company using antigenic immune modulation to treat diabetes and other conditions.

Nara joined us to talk about her transition from a successful medical career into the world of start-up Biotech, taking the immune system back to school and why the "fire in your belly" should be your guide.

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"Don't think that just because you've done a Biology or Chemistry degree, this is your path forever....I didn't become an entrepreneur until the age of 42. Your [career] path isn't fixed."

Richard Weaver is a consultant to Biotech companies on their drug development programmes, specialising in DMPK. Before becoming a consultant, Rich was the founder of XenoGesis, a CRO he successfully sold to Sygnature Discovery in 2020.

Rich talked to us about his career as a scientist and an entrepreneur, his formula for building a CRO and the advantages of organic growth.

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"Anybody can be a pair of hands, follow a protocol and do what they're told. If you want more than that, if you want to be a pair of hands with a brain, then you have to think differently."

Nuno Madeira do Ó is the CEO of Reflection Therapeutics, a Biotech company harnessing the potential of Tregs to treat inflammatory diseases.

Nuno shared the story of his career so far, and among other things we discussed pivoting a Biotech into a new disease area, transitioning from research into commercial roles and how a children's cartoon inspired a career in Life Sciences.

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