Siobhan Dennis
Eli Lilly UK

https://doi.org/10.36866/pn.92.48

I have spent the last two and a half years working in a Post Doctoral position at Eli Lilly, UK. I was fortunate to obtain this opportunity and want to share my experience with others to increase awareness of this alternative career possibility. The idea of doing a Post Doctorate within an industry was not something I had thought of; in fact, I only came across the idea when the job was suggested to me by word of mouth through friends of friends in the scientific community. However, I was considering where my career would take me and after some traditional ‘Google-based research’, I felt I could be well suited to research in industry and deemed it would be a great chance to learn some new skills.

The main topic of my project has been to investigate the role of muscarinic receptors in hippocampal network activity. During my PhD I was trained in electrophysiological techniques and I have continued to use these skills within the newly renovated electrophysiology lab. The position is a traditional three years and you still aim to publish in high quality journals. Encouragement to publish extends to the permanent research staff, not just Post Doctorates and students. One of the great aspects of working in industry is that your publications have the opportunity to take on a completely different composition. There is a vast array of techniques performed onsite and this enables a target of interest to be monitored from drug characterisation, to in vivo and in vitro characterisation and behavioural analysis, making for comprehensive publications. However, it is important to consider the tools you utilise throughout your research, as you do not want to be testing your hypothesis using a drug that could not be mentioned in a publication. What has surprised me the most has been the level of similarity in Post Doctoral projects in industry compared to those offered at a university. The overall aim and scope of my project is exactly what I would have expected to undertake at a university. An obvious, but important difference between university and industry is their research goals; industry employees are driven by drug discovery and it can be difficult to undertake off-topic exploratory experiments experiments that are outside of this remit.

The Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience is a consortium of scientists at Eli Lilly who undertake research in collaboration with six universities in the UK and Ireland. This includes a partnership with the University of Bristol, where I receive advice and project help from my academic supervisor, Jack Mellor. Industries are keen and highly motivated to collaborate with universities and the government, as they value additional input and understand the necessity to delegate to a lab of particular expertise. The more that is understood about a disease and physiological mechanisms, the better the drugs can be targeted and designed, and so basic research is of great importance. The level of supervision is similar to my past experiences in academia, I have regular monthly meetings, but it never feels like you can’t pop in and see your boss at any time. However, as most know, the level of supervision received depends mostly on the individual supervisor, rather than the working environment.

A significant benefit of working within a multinational pharmaceutical industry is the access to molecules, including those that you can’t get anywhere else and those that can be made on site and to order. This really opens up the projects that you can work on. Although the use of knockout mice is controversial, it can be extremely useful to confirm a targeted drug-mediated effect. Genetically modified mice that have been characterised are often available and can be a useful confirmation tool. In general, companies have a large resource pool, which inevitably speeds up research and data acquisition. From speaking with colleagues within the scientific community, I have observed a slight tension within universities, which has been created by competition and the need to publish first. Within industry everyone works as a team, there is no competition within a single company, only help to achieve your goals. This is a refreshing and friendly environment where everyone helps, and another upside to industry employment.

One major difference I have found between working in industry and academia is all the meetings; there really are endless meetings to go to and successful allocation of your time is imperative. On the upside, everyone is extremely organised and projects are prioritised and experiments are performed in a logical and timely manner. Although every university does have a lot to offer in terms of academic presentations, guest speakers are invited regularly to present onsite and a journal club has recently emerged. There are many more business type meetings to discuss targets of interest and portfolio drugs and, although time consuming, it does give you an experience that you won’t get at a university. On the other hand, doing a Post Doctorate at a university you may get more experience in grant writing and application – as a Post Doctorate this is absent in industry. However, if you have a supportive university supervisor you can look to them for advice in these areas.

Here at Eli’s Erl Wood facility we have numerous employees with a combined vast knowledge of many techniques. The majority of assays and techniques can be performed onsite or at the HQ in Indianapolis. This is great for producing papers and for developing a better understanding of specific mechanisms of interest and there is always someone who can do something to help your project. However, the only down side is that you aren’t required to dabble in any new techniques, as someone more experienced and more capable is always available to do the experiment you may require. Although, if you can find the time, you can always go and watch.

As self-evident as it might sound, being a postdoc in industry is not like being a postdoc in academia. While in academia you might have bucket-loads of ideas but little means to make them real, industry offers you a great deal of resources that you need to transform into data, loads of data. What I have learnt from dipping my feet in both industrial and academic seas is that, wherever you are and whatever you choose to investigate, you cannot do anything without a good team.

Although the Post Doctoral project has been similar to my project experience at university, the projects undertaken by non-students, or non-Post Doctorates, are somewhat different. Projects can come and go quickly and a project can be abandoned at any point if another team finds a significant problem that would prevent continuation into clinical trials. Most work involves drug testing, which could be considered mundane. However, time is found to work on interesting and publishable projects. Day-to-day experimental procedures are different from what I have experienced at university. For example, health and safety is much stricter and it can become time consuming to ensure that you are within guidelines and regulations. You are required to keep good records of your experiments (all of them, regardless of the results) and to write up electronic records for other employees to view. After some resistance, you become accustomed to the procedures and as they are for the greater good they are seen as a great benefit rather than a burden.

Lilly invests heavily in their postdocs, allowing them to do good quality research with some freedom in their projects whilst introducing them to the pharmaceutical world. Last year (2012) around 50 postdocs employed by Lilly gathered from around the world for a one-week trip to a scenic location in Indianapolis, USA. The week before the trip I was apprehensive and concerned about the very full and intensive timetable they had given out. However, after a day of jet lag recovery I understood the value of such an event. The week was tough, challenging and tiring. We learned about different departments and processes involved in drug development and skills that would see us into the future managerial positions. I actually acquired immense knowledge about myself and found that you can push yourself a lot more than you thought! Inevitably, the last night ended in a campfire with marshmallows and much fun.

Although there were the initial jibes of ‘turning to the dark side’, I still maintain academic connections and I would love to remain in industry as it combines my love for research with my hope to obtain a better understanding of the human biology to aid drug discovery and disease treatment. The past few years I have spent here as a Post Doctorate I have immensely enjoyed. It is a lovely, clean, organised and extremely friendly environment and I feel honoured to have been given the opportunity to work here. I have been surprised by the extensive knowledge and the collaborative nature in pharmaceutical industry and in no way do I feel I have missed out by doing a Post Doctorate away from a university. I speak to my academic supervisor every month and have a yearly retreat with their lab and have benefited by drawing on knowledge of other lab leaders at Bristol. My eyes have been opened to a whole new world of business, health and safety, regulations, legalities, marketing and drug research and this has been a unique and valuable difference to doing my postdoc at university.

Marie Cotel, also working for Eli Lilly as a post doctorate, shares her experience over the last 3 years.

“As self-evident as it might sound, being a postdoc in industry is not like being a postdoc in academia. While in academia you might have bucket-loads of ideas but little means to make them real, industry offers you a great deal of resources that you need to transform into data, loads of data. What I have learnt from dipping my feet in both industrial and academic seas is that wherever you are and whatever you choose to investigate you cannot do anything without a good team.”