Careers in Discovery

"Science and technology have always fascinated me, and I've always been one to challenge the status quo." This week on Careers in Discovery, we welcome Jose Munoz-Olaya, Chief Scientific Officer of Valink Therapeutics. Jose shares his journey from an eager intern to a leader in biotechnology, emphasizing the importance of mentorship and the power of teamwork. He discusses his role at Valink, where...

Mike Stubbington and CS Genetics are on a mission to democratise single cell genomics. We caught up with Mike recently and discussed what being kind really looks like as a scientist, why you should move on when the time is right, and a whole lot more.

We first interviewed Ben Cross five years ago, when he was the Head of Functional Genomics at Horizon Discovery, and we're delighted to welcome him back to the podcast as CTO of PhoreMost, an innovative target discovery company focused on drugging the undruggable. Ben caught us up on what he's learned over the last five years, including why failing fast isn't a viable strategy in drug discovery, a...

Shane Hegarty is the Chief Scientific Officer of Axonis Therapeutics, a Boston-based Biotech targeting KCC2 to revive neurons and treat people suffering from neurological disorders. Shane shared with us the story of his transition from academic to Biotech entrepreneur, why communication, persistence, collaboration and focus are critical skills for success, his amazing track record of securing gran...

Maude Tessier is the Chief Business Officer at Seismic Therapeutic, the machine learning immunology company building a discovery platform centred on parallel drug development. Maude joined us on Careers in Discovery to talk about the impact of machine learning on drug development, taking control of her career by literally knocking on doors, balancing humility and confidence, and much more.

Vern de Biasi is VP of Business Development at BenevolentAI, one of the world's leaders in the application of cutting edge technology to drug discovery. Vern's career has seen him travel the world, from the UK to Italy, China and the US, and he shared with us the key lessons he's learned along the way.

Jordan Lane is the Chief Scientific Officer of Ignota Labs, a company leveraging AI to rescue failed drug programmes.   Jordan joined us to talk about building conviction, seeking feedback & maintaining networks, the huge opportunity lying in failed research, and why risk is relative in your career.

Bill Eldridge is an experienced scientific and commercial leader, one of the founding team members of the VHH antibody company Isogenica, and now their CEO. Bill joined us to talk about his career, the huge potential that still exists within antibody discovery and the magic of seeing a 96 well ELISA plate turn blue after months of failure! Enjoy...

Namir Hassan is the CEO of Zelluna Immunotherapy, a cancer cell therapy company harnessing natural immunity to treat solid tumours. Namir joined us on Careers in Discovery to talk about when precision medicine gets too precise, the importance of servant leadership and trusting the journey in your career. Enjoy!

Now a Non-Executive at a range of leading Biotech companies including Spirea, PharmEnable, Macomics, NanoSyrinx and Elasmogen, Jane Dancer has built a highly successful career in Business Development in the sector. Jane joined us to discuss that career, how she created a portfolio of NED positions, the real value of an MBA and whether you really need a PhD. Enjoy!

"I see all the other element of my current role - the leadership, management and mentoring - as enabling the science." Samantha Bailey-Bucktrout is the Senior Vice President of Research at Akamis Bio, a company harnessing the power of tumour gene therapy in the fight against cancer. Samantha talked to us about her career in cancer immunotherapy, what Greek mythology has to do with modern-day Biote...

"You can learn corporate finance. You can do Excel modelling. You can read books on negotiation. But I strongly believe that Business Development is an art, and it's something that you can only really learn by doing." Beverley Carr is the Chief Business & Operating Officer of Amphista Therapeutics, a company re-engineering TPD therapies to tackle cancer and neurological disorders. Beverley joi...

"I realised that drug development was much more than just research. There's a huge amount of work beyond coming up with a molecule, but research scientists just don't get exposed to it." Janette Thomas has built a career from Researcher to Project Manager, Operations Director and now CEO of Five Alarm Bio, a company focused on novel approaches to anti-aging. Janette joined us to talk about the cur...

"If you've got into science because science itself motivates you, try and stay with it. Do other things too, learn what you need to, but be careful not to leave that science behind." Dan Williams is the CEO of SynaptixBio, a company dedicated to developing lifesaving therapies for severe leukodystrophies. Dan joined us to talk about the challenges of building a company around an ultra rare disease...

"Taking a vaccine from concept and early stage data through to a licensed product that you're putting into millions of people takes 10-15 years on average, but it was done in 10 months. So how did we manage to acheive that? Nobody wanted to be stuck in lockdown forever and so everyone really focused on coming together - a combination of industry, government and academia, all focused on how to [del...

"Whatever opportunity arises, it may not be on the path that you think you should be on, but it will bring value. You have to do your best to identify what that value is. So keep an open mind about opportunities - there's sometimes value in applying for something that you only have 30% of the requirements for." Orla Cunningham is the Chief Scientific Officer of Granular Therapeutics and Ultrahuman...

"LinkedIn is like the professional Instagram. It looks like people's careers were so easy, mapped out and planned. It doesn't tell of the difficult decisions, the failures, the challenges, the dead ends and having to start again." Rebecca Godfrey is the Chief Operating Officer of ExpressionEdits and the author of "The Leadership Vaccine". Rebecca talked to us on Careers in Discovery about her jour...

"Cancer drugs only started working once we realised that we actually had to measure what was going on in the tumour and match them appropriately [to patients]...we're just on the cusp of that approach being accepted in neuroscience." Jenny Barnett is the CEO of Monument Therapeutics, a Biotech company using precision medicine approaches to develop new treatments for psychiatric and neurological co...

"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 a...

"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 ret...

"[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 mole...

"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 learni...

"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 buil...

"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 clinica...

"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 discussi...