Sophie

Account Manager

Before joining Oxford PharmaGenesis, I had just graduated from university with a BSc in Psychology. I was unsure what career options were really out there for me. Before, during and after my university studies, I mainly worked in customer service roles, and I had never heard of project management. That was until I was approached by Oxford PharmaGenesis – who were looking for someone with a life sciences degree and customer service experience. That was me!

After joining as a Project Assistant, I was given so many opportunities to hone my skills in financial, project and client management. I have been here just over 2 years and I have already been promoted from my Assistant role to Project Coordinator, and then to Project Manager.

Here in the PharmaGenesis Cardiff office, we work on a wide variety of projects, ranging from classic publications, meetings and events, communications planning and strategy, videos and other digital materials … you name it – we do it! I help to manage several accounts in many different therapy areas, so no two days are the same for me. I make sure projects are delivered on time, to budget, and that our clients feel well informed on progress. Project management is more than this though. You might be pitching for new business one day, helping your clients facilitate a meeting the next – you don’t just work behind the scenes in project management. You are an integral part of the team, and someone who your clients rely on to be their envoy to other external stakeholders.

There is constant encouragement from my colleagues to develop my skills and push myself. This really makes me feel valued in this role. Everyone is appreciated and heard, no matter their level of seniority. It’s the collaborative environment at Oxford PharmaGenesis that stops you feeling pigeon-holed into a certain role or remit – we all work together on everything to make our day run smoothly. I can’t wait to see where the next few years take me and the rest of the team!

Steve

Communications Team Leader

I received my BSc in Biochemistry from the University of Wales, followed by an MSc in Molecular and Experimental Pathology from the University of Dundee and finally a PhD in motor neurone disease (MND) from Newcastle University. I then moved to the Institute of Psychiatry, London to working as a post-doctoral researcher on MND, before moving to the Institute for Animal Health, Compton to work on prion disorders. I finished my post-doctoral research career at the Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford studying MHC crystallography. My group at the Institute for Animal Health was relocating to Edinburgh about the time my grants were coming to an end. There was insufficient stability to relocate, so I decided to explore other avenues outside of research. One aspect I enjoyed from my research was communicating and discussing science, running journal clubs and presenting my research. Medical communications seemed to tick this box, as well as allowing me to use my scientific knowledge.

I attended several medical communications related events and began to understand the industry better. I applied to several medical communication agencies. After completing writing tests and interviews, I was offered roles at two agencies, ultimately accepting a position as an Associate Medical Writer at Watermeadow Medical in 2010.

My previous three agencies have been a mix of independent, investor-owned and part of a multi-national conglomerate. Oxford PharmaGenesis is independent, and this has real advantages as we have control over the work that we take on and the rate at which we grow. We can be agile, adapting to increasing workload and recruiting as needs arise. There is a real desire throughout the company to produce quality work for our clients, and be a leader in the medical communication industry. There is also a ‘family feel’, and senior management are always visible. There is, consequently, a very supportive structure through the company, and the well-being of the staff is a priority, which has been exemplified through the pandemic.

The opportunity to work alongside experts in a particular field who are directly involved in making a difference to patients’ lives is very rewarding. As a researcher, one is part of this process, but very much removed from point at which research translates into meaningful differences for patients. Medical communications provides you with the opportunity to be at the forefront of disease management, whether this is writing up clinical study reports and developing publications, or working alongside experts, and sometimes even patients, at meetings and congresses.

Fran

Associate Medical Editor

I entered the world of scholarly publishing as a BSc graduate, wandering blindly into Wiley with the confidence of a small rodent walking into a lion’s den. When I realised the lions were actually sand cats and I was, if a rodent, a capybara, I grew in confidence and quickly took on the role of welcoming other graduate rodents into the company and mentoring them into the capybaras they had the potential to be.

Anyway … While running the editorial offices for journals and overseeing peer review had its charm, I realised my real passion was in building rapport with the editors and working with them to improve journal processes. I had the opportunity to work on a publication examining submission rates over time, where I rediscovered my enthusiasm for handling data and utilizing MS Excel. It became clear from here that my path lay in project management, so I began to look outside of publishing, ideally for a smaller company where I could have more say in the direction of the projects that I worked on.

Oxford PharmaGenesis was first introduced to me by a recruiter 2 years ago as ‘based in a lovely converted barn’. Intrigued, I immediately sent over all of my information, and successfully completed two interviews. I began my Oxford PharmaGenesis journey as an Account Executive.

I’ll admit to being charmed by the location, moving from a corporate cube made of glass, but the main appeal was the change of pace and responsibility. Rather than looking after journals, I was to look after the projects of a team, including the finances, which was a welcome new challenge. Trained by colleagues for the first 3 months, then allowed to run the account on my own, I felt both supported and trusted. Almost immediately I learned about Open Pharma and, having just moved from one of the largest open access publishers, volunteering some of my hours was a no-brainer.

Open Pharma allows me the freedom to stretch my content-creating muscles. In addition, I get to scratch the network-building itch. Within my first weeks on the project, I was in a meeting with Chris Winchester (our CEO) and two representatives from the World Health Organization, which at the time felt huge, now this is par for the course. Recently, I moved teams and increased my Open Pharma time. I’ve greatly enjoyed the change of projects, and the flexibility to dedicate more time to the projects where I can best utilize my skills.

Moving to medical communications seemed natural, and I often find my previous experience useful in my current role. I continue to find new things that I enjoy about my role, and I look forward to continuing to develop my skills as time goes on.

Colleen

Senior Editor

Growing up, I always had my nose in a book or was furiously typing stories on our clunky 90s Macintosh computer. The written word has captivated me since childhood, and I knew very early on that some day, when I grew up, I would work with language in some capacity.

I attended Villanova University (located in the Philadelphia suburbs), a private, Catholic university that prides itself on educating the whole person and cultivating an understanding of culture and the beauty of humanity, whether one majored in engineering or business or political science. I majored in English at Villanova, but I also profoundly enjoyed my other classes in theology, communications, Italian and biology. I left school with a sharper eye and ear for language, but also with a well-rounded background that I was proud to bring to my very first full-time job in an industry that was only slightly familiar to me: medical communications.

My career in medical communications began on the client services side. I was an Account Coordinator on several major accounts and was thrown into the world of complicated project timelines, client relationship building and financials. This experience taught me so much about the inner workings of this industry, but I knew I wanted to do more with words and language, and medical publishing seemed like a logical next step!

In 2014, I took a job as a Developmental Editor for the Clinics of North America department at Elsevier, and during my nearly 6 years there, I moved through the ranks and ended up in Acquisitions Editing. This is the more business-y side of editing and required a strong understanding of current trends, markets, publishing business models, and the complicated manuscript and publication processes. In 2020, I moved from an Acquisitions Editor role with the hybrid book/journal model of the Clinics to an Acquisitions role at Wolters Kluwer in their clinical reference books department. My time in medical communications and medical publishing created a mosaic of experience on my résumé, and it also allowed me to understand where I truly wanted to go.

In March 2021, I found an opening for an Editor at Oxford PharmaGenesis, a medical communications company I knew had a very strong reputation and a thriving team. After just two interviews, I knew this was a special place that cared not only about their clients and work, but also about helping their people grow. So, I find myself back in medical communications, using my diverse editorial background to ultimately contribute to the healthcare and wellbeing of my fellow humans. I’m so glad I ended up here.

Alex

Communications Consultant

I received an MPharm degree from the University of Bath, went on to complete pre registration training and became a fully qualified pharmacist with the General Pharmaceutical Council of Great Britain. Following this, I worked in the NHS as a

hospital pharmacist.

As part of my degree, we covered large amounts of pharmacology, pharmacokinetics and biopharmaceutics, in addition to a wide range of more general clinical science. In my day-to-day role in the NHS, there was limited opportunity to use this information, which felt like a waste as I enjoy the more specialist aspects. Medical communications offered a way to use more of my degree while still providing patient benefit.

After looking into a few roles, it appeared that a PhD was a given (if not strongly preferred) for a writer’s role. For this reason, I initially applied for a Project Assistant position, to allow me to break into the industry as part of the project management stream. However, during my interview, the team felt that I would be better suited to writing, and I went on to complete the associated assessments and was offered a writing role.

Oxford PharmaGenesis is the first medical communication agency that I have worked at, though I have heard from several colleagues who have spent time elsewhere that this is a great agency to work for.

My current role allows me to utilize a much wider range of learning from my degree versus my previous position, while still being able to provide patient benefit. My current role is similar to my prior NHS position in terms of being fast-paced and requiring working as part of a large team to deliver on complex tasks, which is my preference.

I particularly enjoy knowing that every publication we work on is building evidence and improving clinical care for patients, especially those with very rare diseases.

Sometimes timelines can be challenging, due to congress deadlines or client delays, though our team pulls together to manage workloads and ensure projects are delivered on time.

Zulihat

Project Coordinator

From a young age I wanted to work in the field of psychology and become a forensic psychologist, partly because of my love of the TV series CSI. After learning that the reality of forensic psychology was not quite the same as it looked on TV, I decided to study Psychology and Counselling for my undergraduate degree. During my time at university, I learned the principles of research and I thoroughly enjoyed my research dissertation on young people’s attitudes to mental health.

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