A day in the life of scientist in R&D

I studied my undergraduate and masters in Biochemistry at the University of Birmingham from 2016 to 2020. Graduating during COVID meant career opportunities were limited, but due to keeping my eyes peeled (and a good helping of good fortune) I managed to get a role as a technician in a brand new COVID-19 PCR laboratory. There I gained a lot of experience with state-of-the-art technologies and liquid handling/automation. When the lab closed as COVID-19 testing was gradually winding down, I organised a 3-month research placement in a Drosophila lab helping in research on mRNA splicing at the University of Birmingham.

From there I applied for a Specialist role (Scientist II) at The Binding Site, who specialise in manufacturing diagnostic kits and platforms for multiple myeloma testing. Multiple myeloma is a cancer of the bone marrow cells which produce antibodies for our immune system. In multiple myeloma, you end up with one clone of an antibody, the monoclonal, being massively overproduced by a cancerous cell. We can detect these monoclonals to determine if a patient has multiple myeloma. I got the job and began working on EXENT, a mass spectrometry-based solution for immunodiagnostics, specifically targeted towards multiple myeloma and have been here for just over 3 years. About one and a half years ago, The Binding Site was acquired by Thermo Fisher Scientific and that’s how I've ended up where I am today.

I've always been interested by the factual world around us, for instance I would always rather read an encyclopaedia than a fiction book. In school I initially wanted to do Medicine (to which I'm glad I didn't end up doing!) as I've always been interested in how the human body works on the smallest level and its intricacies. But during my A Levels and the start of my gap year I thought that biochemistry would combine my love of biology and chemistry (and as a shock to absolutely no one, it did!) and I've been in that avenue ever since.

I studied MSci Biochemistry at the University of Birmingham. It was a 3-year BSc course with an extra MSci year in your 4th year. I really enjoyed it as it allowed me to gain a masters in biochemistry without having to specialise in your master’s year for example, at Birmingham you could only pick more specialist MSc masters such as MSc Genetics or immunology etc., and I didn't want to limit myself to one specific area. So MSci Biochemistry was the best choice for me I think!

Currently, I’m in the position of Scientist II at Thermo Fisher Scientific’s Protein Diagnostics Division (PDX). Scientist II doesn’t tell you much, but it’s roughly equivalent to a senior scientist. In our company we have lots of roles, but the ladder for a scientist roughly goes Technician, Senior Technician, Scientist I, Scientist II, Scientist III and from there it’s into management! (There are some Scientist IV but they are very rare and usually awarded after decades of service). Some Scientist IIs have PhDs, and some do not, so there is a range of expertise, but we all have high levels of technical knowledge and relevant experience. We have a banding system at Thermo Fisher which I’m sure is the same as other companies in the industry to allow progression up through and within the bands.

I’m in the Research and Development (formerly the biochemistry) department and we are working on EXENT, which is an automated mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF)-based diagnostic platform, and also it's assays such as EXENT GAM for the detection of Multiple Myeloma. Mass spectrometry is a well-established field in scientific research used to measure the mass and charge of a sample which can be used to deduce what the compound/sample is. There are lots of types of mass spectrometry, but specifically i work with MALDI-TOF, matrix-assisted laser deionising–time of flight mass spectroscopy. This is where a sample is suspended in a matrix and “shot” with a laser which splits (ionises) the sample which is then attracted to a magnet. Then, you guessed it, the ion’s time of flight is measured and plotted on a spectrum as a mass/charge ratio (ions with greater charge travel faster).

My responsibilities include all manner of work involved in its development which includes new product design/improvement, regulatory submissions, proof of concept work, overall platform/reagent improvements, the list goes on! I'm responsible for lab work as well as desk work with planning and executing my own projects, analysing the data and presenting it to our team to then make decisions on how to progress with EXENT.

It really depends on where we are on a certain project and what’s required. For instance, sometimes I'm in the lab 90% of the time, and sometimes in the office 90% of the time so it’s very varied. But generally, our projects are structured with plan > check > perform > analyse > present. A typical day usually involves some meetings for planning or analysis, and then lab work like sample prep or analysis of preexisting data. There’s a lot of inter-department working and liaising so there’s usually always multiple things on the go! It’s a very collaborative process!

Critical thinking skills and an ability to look at things from multiple angles I’d say are really important. Also being able to pick things up quickly, that doesn't necessarily mean being extremely well versed in lots of areas, but being able to identify key variables etc. so you can interpret data and plans quickly and offer your insight quickly.

Another one is not being afraid to ask for help or admitting you don't know something. I think there’s a tendency people think they need to know everything, but by asking questions when you don't know you'll learn a lot more! Also, good data presentation is super important as that can really help you get your hypotheses/conclusions across.

The aspect I enjoy the most is being given a big dataset/result and then having to unpick it, build your own tools e.g., Excel sheets and then representing all the numbers in a way which is easily digestible whether that be to experts or people who aren't familiar with your work. It really is like crafting a story and finding little avenues to go off on which open an entirely new way to look at your data is always super rewarding and fun!

My least favourite…? I really enjoy my job on the whole but I'd definitely say the unpredictable nature of cutting-edge science/scientific equipment. Sometimes you'll think a result will go one way and it'll go the complete opposite or not give you what you want and that delays your work as you have to root cause the issue, which sometimes is a VERY slow process.

Also, when you're working in industry and a lot of your work is confidential and you’re the first ones to do it so there’s not a lot of people who have experienced the same failures that you will see, so you're quite on your own sometimes to figure out solutions!

My current work on EXENT, it being a ground-breaking technology with a robotic liquid handler coupled to a MALDI-TOF mass spectrometer with very high sensitivity and analytical power, is really exciting. It’s cutting edge so it’s not without its trials and tribulations but it’s very rewarding. Within that there are lots of projects, but one I've really enjoyed recently was working with very low concentration samples, so we really had to push the system (and our sample manufacturing abilities) to the limits!

The greatest challenge... I'd say thankfully I've been able to develop within my role to the point where I am a far better scientist than I was last year and the year before that and this leaves me well prepared for most challenges. But I would probably say the constant need to adapt your analytical methods be that statistics, presentation, graphs you name it. Challenges outside of my role like graduating during COVID, meant it was really hard to get a foot in the door but I'm very glad and feel very privileged to be where I am today.

I'd say that in industry you have hundreds of people working in different capacities on one big project or product. So even though we're R&D it’s not as free or "mad scientist" as people think it is, and each person/team will work on one element of the overall goal so it’s very specific e.g., one person may look at changing a buffer etc. Science is a collaboration of lots of highly detailed work and analysis/assessment of that work. It’s not as many Eureka moments that you see in the movies or history (although they definitely do happen!) that lead to most scientific progress. That, and there are a lot more spreadsheets involved than people think! (Not that I mind I love a good spreadsheet, how sad!)

While sometimes it can be hard to feel the impact of your work when you're quite far removed from the end product, it is nice to know that working in cancer research, your work will go to help many people going through an indescribably difficult time and hopefully help people recover/prevent future disease. In terms of the scientific community, there’s a lot of excitement around our work which is always great and it’s a nice reminder that although you can feel somewhat head down and stuck into projects at times there are plenty of people who are super excited for seeing our products hit the market.

I'm currently working hard towards/on the path to my goal of a promotion to Scientist III at some point in the future. As far as my role is concerned, this would be a step up in seniority with greater expectations for independent working, co-operation with other teams, working on multiple high-level projects and reporting to senior key decision makers. Additionally, I’d be expected to have more personal responsibility over large projects and be the main driver for their completion.

Longer term, as i build up experience as a scientist, I find myself wanting to interact with external and internal customers more and its something i've really enjoyed in my current role, especially if I can use my Japanese language skills! I think as i've gained a better understanding for the business of biotechnology, i could see myself transitioning away from the lab and pushing scientific development in a more business/commercial role. I really like the idea of mixing my scientific understanding with different field within business.

Similar to this, I've always been interested in new products/inventions and cutting-edge science which is one reason among many I'm so grateful to be in the role I am in. Patent/intellectual property law has interested me since I graduated from university, and I really like the idea of having to build a robust defence/case around scientific principles and leveraging legal skills in that. So, in 5 years I hopefully see myself working my way up in Thermo Fisher/Industry or as a trainee in Biochemistry Patent/Intellectual Property Law.

I'd say that I wouldn't stress too early on about finding your path, try and build your experience early and go after chances to keep building it up.

But most importantly is to remember to sell yourself. That could be with an up-to-date and detailed LinkedIn, a CV or by really thinking about what you’ve done and how it all links together into your overall experience, so when people ask you about yourself, you can give a really good answer! So many people have great experience but don't know how to sell it and can't put that across to prospective employers/others in the field. A good salesman can sell anything, a bad salesman will sell nothing, whether he’s selling gold or dirt!■