As a teenager, my fascination with biology started with a second-hand microscope which helped me explore the bizarre world of microbes in my garden pond. The world of OUI is equally varied and charming: even after 17 years in the company, new challenges still grab my attention.
Those days staring down a microscope started a lifelong interest in microbes – I obtained a first-class honours degree in Microbiology from the University of Bristol then obtained a DPhil at the University of Oxford, studying gene expression in bacteria. I joined Unilever as a management trainee, based in the women’s health and diagnostics company Unipath working on Oxoid microbiology products (now part of Thermo Fisher Scientific). I gained experience working in marketing, research, and in managing university-industrial collaborations. This led me to a role in technology transfer at Cancer Research Technology, negotiating licences for clinical stage small molecules and immunotherapeutics, as well as being on the board of the spinout company Hybrid Biosystems (now PsiOxus). I then moved into the world of biotech, joining Oxxon Therapeutics as In-Licensing Manager before spending some time as a freelance consultant. Itching for more variety, I joined Oxford University Innovation in October 2007.
When I not at work, I still love the natural world and recently acquired a microscope and continue to explore life in the ponds and puddles of Oxfordshire.
