REECh Focus: Alex Simpson
written by Joe Chouhan, PhD student rep of Reech
Alex Simpson, a MBiochem Biochemistry graduate, did a year-long placement based at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) in the UK as part of his degree. So wcaught up with him to get his thoughts on his year out and what it’s like to work in an industrial company.
What was the job you applied for and why did you apply to GSK?
“I chose to apply to GSK because of its reputation as one of the global leaders in the pharmaceutical industry. I was based at Stockley Park near Uxbridge, an R&D site dedicated to clinical development. My job as a medical writer involved writing integral clinical support documentation (such as reporting the outcome of a clinical trial) to support the approval of oncology and respiratory drugs globally.”
What impression did you get of the company whilst working there?
“It was refreshing to see that GSK was actively trying to change this perception through its social responsibility programmes and continued investment in R&D. Throughout my time with GSK I was exposed to doctors, scientists and statisticians who were very supportive and helped shape my career goals. It was great to see how the company was driven by science and devoted a lot of resources to the development of staff.”
Did you move out to Uxbridge on your own/ did you have a chance to meet anyone before moving out there?
“Once our placement had been confirmed, a Facebook page was created for all industrial placement students based at the Uxbridge site. From here we could start to talk about our living arrangements and see who we would be working with. From the group, we started to talk to others and decided who we would live with. We then had a Welcome Day where we visited site, met our managers & other students as well as going through the ins and outs of working at GSK. We also had current placement students explain their experience of living in Uxbridge, working at GSK and gave us some helpful pointers. By this point we had settled on who we would live with and had arranged house viewings for after the Welcome Day. So, it was well organised and we had plenty of time to make an informed decision.”
How easy was it integrate in to the company and interact with other students?
We were all fortunate enough to be working in teams with other placement students, so we always had someone who we could fall back on for support and you did not feel alone. Every lunch time we would sit together eat and converse. We tended to organise events at weekends and we were lucky to have a UK industrial placement social group where every now and then events would be put on for all placement students. For example, in the summer we had a boat party on the Thames. In terms of colleagues, we would engage with them every day – either with those sat around us, e.g. our managers/team and those we were working on projects with. Everyone was very friendly and spoke to us as colleagues rather than placement students. We also got invited to work events such as the Christmas party and an on-site summer festival which were paid for by the company. Every student had a real chance to become immersed in the company and feel like they were contributing towards the clinical development of treatments in their therapeutic area.
What are you doing now?
“I have starting a PhD, funded by the BBSRC and GSK, here at Southampton studying the role of the Fc Gamma IIB Receptor, an inhibitory antibody receptor that is key in regulating the immune response. I will be investigating how the receptor regulates antibody half-life & efficacy as well as using novel antibody formats to see if we can improve the half-life and efficacy.”