working at cancer research technology
TRANSCRIPT
WORKING AT CANCER RESEARCH
TECHNOLOGY
WHO ARE CANCER RESEARCH TECHNOLOGY?
Cancer Research Technology (CRT) is dedicated to advancing discoveries to beat cancer. We develop and commercialise exciting new discoveries in cancer research, working closely with leading clinical and academic institutions, pharmaceutical companies and biotechs worldwide. We’re also uniquely placed to capitalise on the research and connections of our parent organisation Cancer Research UK (CRUK), the world’s largest charitable funder of cancer research.
Our deep understanding of both academia and industry enables us to translate promising research into commercial propositions to deliver patient benefit and commercial value that will support further cancer research.
THE CRT TEAM
CRT employs around 140 staff made up of scientists, business development specialists and professional support groups recruited from both industry and academia.
We’re an experienced, dedicated and highly motivated team with employees across sites in London and Cambridge, Boston (US) and throughout CRUK research institutes and centres. We are driven to achieve maximum patient benefit and commercial value from new discoveries in cancer research.
Read on to hear from CRT employees and learn about some of the careers available at Cancer Research Technology.
What made you want to work at CRT?After finishing my PhD at CRUK’s London Research Institute, I obtained a 6 month internship at CRUK’s Centre for Drug Development (CDD). Exposure to CRT during my PhD and internship highlighted the diverse blend of science and business activities that are performed in the organisation and fuelled my desire to work for the company. I also have passion for cancer research and drug development.
What does your role entail?As Project Development Manager I am responsible for the identification and review of projects and technologies that have translatable and commercial potential in the field of oncology. I am also involved in the initiation and management of IP protection, scientific and business development of projects and aiding collaboration between academia and industry.
What’s the best thing about working at CRT?Being involved in the translation of CRUK funded world-class cancer research and working for a well-run prestigious organisation is a great feeling. Also seeing a project move from academia into the commercial setting before progressing towards the clinic is really exciting to see. What advice would you give to people considering a career similar to yours?You should gain a solid understanding of cancer biology and if you can, gain some pharmaceutical experience (I worked at GlaxoSmithKline for a year during my undergraduate degree). I’d also recommend learning as much about business and IP management as possible.
ANDY: PROJECT DEVELOPMENT MANAGER
After finishing my PhD at CRUK’s London Research Institute, I obtained a 6 month internship at CRUK’s
Centre for Drug Development (CDD) before moving across to CRT.
What made you want to work at CRT?Before I started at CRT I was doing a Postdoc in the Apoptosis Research Centre at National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG). My research there was focused on death receptor mediated apoptosis and mechanisms of TRAIL resistance. I was interested in working at CRT because I wanted to move into more translational research and drug discovery. My research has always been focused on cancer biology, but more basic biology so I wanted to work on projects with a more translational focus and clinical objective.
What qualifications or skills are required for your role?A PhD level qualification or equivalent biotech/pharmaceutical experience in oncology or cellular sciences - many people also have some post-doctoral experience. As it is a lab based position, you need to have strong technical skills, typically cell culture experience and broad range of cell and molecular biology techniques.
Describe your typical dayI typically plan a rough outline of my experiments for the following week or two in advance but I usually check my calendar first thing for the day to see what meetings are scheduled so I can arrange my lab work around them. Every day is different, depending on what experiments I’m running at the time; at the moment I am trying to develop a cell based biomarker assay using a high throughput imaging platform.
What’s the best thing about working at CRT?The thing that I like best about working at CRT is working in the multi-disciplinary project teams. Working in academia can be quite solitary, with an individual project, so I really enjoy getting to work and interact with so many people and having a shared goal. It has been especially interesting to learn how the different groups function together as a drug discovery team.
GRAINNE: SCIENTIST
I work in the Target Validation & Disease Positioning Group, as part of the DDR (DNA Damage Repair) team. It is a lab based position, involving target
validation and disease positioning of various targets/projects, along with some cell-based assay.
What made you want to work at CRT?Before joining CRT I was at GlaxoWellcome then GlaxoSmithKline. With pharma starting to move increasingly away from in-house drug discovery activities, I decided it was time to take on a new challenge. CRT was a great place to go to use the excellent development and training I’d received at Glaxo to do a similar role in a very different type of organisation.
How long have you been at CRT and which roles have you held here? I’ve been at CRT for 8 years - I joined as a Group Leader in chemistry, and have been leading the function for the past two and a half years.
What’s the best thing about working at CRT?I really believe in what we do at CRT – translating the research investment made by CRUK into patient benefit. We have such a diversity of approaches to this that it’s never dull.
What qualifications or skills are required for your role?Most medicinal chemists start with a bachelors or masters degree in chemistry, some also come into the field with a PhD. Progression into senior positions (whether line management, matrix responsibilities or both) comes through experience and training learned on the job - I have had some great mentors over the years. The odd opportunity and/or lucky break also helps, of course.
What advice would you give to people considering a career similar to yours? To succeed in drug discovery and development (whether personally or as an organisation) requires knowledge, dedication, commitment and above all teamwork. It is an incredibly rewarding field to work in. Also, never be afraid to seek the advice and input of those who’ve been there and done it before.
MARTIN: SENIOR GROUP LEADER, DISCOVERY CHEMISTRY
I lead the chemistry and DMPK team in the lab,
and am also the Discovery Lab lead on the Artios collaboration, a matrix responsibility for the
progression of a scientific portfolio.
What is Ximbio?Ximbio is CRT’s online reagents portal for the life science community. Its been created to enable the sharing of research tools (such as antibodies, mice and cell lines) within the global life science community.
Where were you before this? I was employed as a postdoc at UCL in the Centre for Cardiovascular and Metabolic Neuroscience, Department of Neuroscience, Physiology and Pharmacology.
What made you want to work at Ximbio? I was looking for a way to progress from my research career and still use my scientific experience and as Ximbio work with both commercial companies and academic scientists it seemed to be a perfect fit.
Describe your typical day Each day is different as I travel almost every month visiting the different Universities that I manage or attending conferences and training events. When in the office, I may talk to academics, university technology transfer offices, commercial companies ordering our antibodies or liaise with our own laboratories, all in the same day. When there is time I conduct due diligence on our research tools and generate the new datasheets to add new products to our website.
What’s the best thing about working at Ximbio? The variety of people I get to meet from all over the world in business and academia, as well as the diverse range of science I encounter.
What advice would you give to people considering a career similar to yours? If still at University, talk to your technology transfer offices to see if they have an internship scheme, otherwise keep an eye out for opportunities at CRT and Ximbio and talk to us when we are at conferences and events!
JAMES: SCIENTIFIC PORTFOLIO ASSOCIATE AT XIMBIO
I source and manage several Universities’ research tools, manage the business development of some
research-related software and manage sales of research tools at Ximbio.
What made you want to work at CRT?Before starting at CRT I was a postdoctoral fellow in Charles Swanton’s laboratory at CRUK’s London Research Institute (now part of the Francis Crick Institute). During this time I was involved in the identification of new therapeutic targets in prostate cancer and renal cell carcinoma. Our efforts to further investigate these targets led to interactions with CRT and sparked my interest in the process of translating discoveries made in academic labs into healthcare products.
Having decided that I wanted to pursue a career in technology transfer, CRT was a logical first option given my oncology background: I knew there would be a lot to learn, but at least I understood the science! Describe the roles you’ve held at CRTI had the opportunity to do an internship at CRT, which then led to a full time role in the CRT Business Development Team. My role there was extremely varied and involved working to identify and develop commercially valuable opportunities in CRUK-funded labs, supporting scientists with applications to drug discovery funding and working with scientists and patent attorneys to obtain intellectual property protection (patents) for new technologies.
In the last year, I have taken on one of the several training opportunities that CRT offers to its staff: I have joined the team that manages the CRT Pioneer Fund and I am receiving training in venture capital. My current role includes working with companies or project stakeholders to build investment propositions that we present to the CRT Pioneer Fund’s investment and scientific committees. This usually means putting together a comprehensive document describing the scientific rationale of the new technology/drug, the patient population it addresses, the size of the market opportunity, the existing and future competition, the intellectual property protection of the technology and the financial aspects of the investment.
CLAUDIO: ASSOCIATE OF THE CRT PIONEER FUND (CPF)
Currently on secondment from the CRT Business Development Team, I help the CPF team identify
and evaluate new investment opportunities from a scientific and commercial point of view.
That’s not all. We also offer careers in finance, administrative support,
events and marketing, and information technology.
All vacancies at CRT are advertised on our website www.cancertechnology.co.uk/vacancies
If you have any queries relating to recruitment at CRT or would like to forward a speculative CV, please send an email to the HR team at