PhD in Chemistry and Medicine 2018 Your Time at the University Ever since I was a wee bairn I wanted to study at Edinburgh Uni since my Grandfather studied there. My dream came true when I got into a Universitas 21 joint Ph.D programme with the University of Melbourne (Faculty of Medicine) and the University of Edinburgh (School of Chemistry). My research was focused on malaria vaccine development from a structural perspective (NMR and crystallography) and I was particularly proud of winning a ‘Best Supervisor Award’ for my supervision of an outstanding undergraduate student. I chose my project because I fell in love with the aesthetic beauty of structural biochemistry and how form could instruct function of biomolecules. It was a particular pleasure to help get another one of my students their first research publication for our work on validating a malaria vaccine target (that is now progressing in development). This fondness for teaching continued with not only helping as a lab demonstrator for the undergraduates, but putting together lectures and labs for Master degree students. I also got to enjoy a variety of experiences outside of the lab whilst in Edinburgh (which quickly become my favourite city) such as being involved in the Philosophy Society (and getting published), serving as the Royal Society of Chemistry liaison for the Chemistry Society, working with Edinburgh Innovations on commercializing medical and biochemical research, and getting my first experience in venture capital. Additionally, thanks to the support from the Head of School (Prof. Colin Pulham), I was able to develop a research commercialization training programme for the department. This helped students and postdocs develop some solid business acumen that I believe is important for modern grads to have, and I was happy to find out this contributed positively for the REF rankings for the uni. Your Experiences Since Leaving the University It was the commercial experience I garnered that helped move me into a so-called ‘altac’ career. After my Ph.D I started my MBA in finance and management whilst working as the industrial liaison officer for the International Veterinary Vaccine Network (based at the Roslin Institute) which helped me network with pharmaceutical and investment executives. I’d decided I wanted to work more in the financial side of science as I carrying out company and deal analysis on biopharma businesses, which is why I decided to study my MBA. However, during my studies I ended up setting up my own company, Haggarty-Weir Consulting, which focused on helping life science and tech startups, as well as biotech investors. It was thanks to the training I got from Edinburgh Innovations and a Business and Enterprise Skills programme I got into during my Ph.D that contributed to the skills I would be using in this role. With Haggarty-Weir Consulting I had also developed a bespoke mini-MBA programme designed specifically for scientists, which won a High Commendation from the Scottish Institute for Enterprise. I even managed to license out a fully online version of this to the Royal Society of Biology, which was very exciting! I ended up building my team to a maximum of 6 people, including myself, over the course of 18 months, and made use of the alumni business mentoring services from the university. It was during this time that I approached a Dutch life science firm, ttopstart (a subsidiary of the PNO Consulting Group), for them to be a prospective client, when the conversation turned into them acquiring me. I jumped at the opportunity since it would allow me to work with larger companies and get more into corporate finance and M&A consulting, which is what I am currently involved in. Alumni Wisdom It is highly imperative to look after your mental health, so ensure you don’t neglect this. Additionally, it’s vital to push yourself during your studies and get experience outside of your degree discipline. Balancing this with looking after yourself can be a challenge and will involve a lot of tenacity, but you will be setting yourself up to be in a strong position if you can manage this. Also, don’t work all hours in the lab; work smart not overly hard! This article was published on 2023-10-16
