Patricia's early education and career
Born and educated in London, Patricia developed a strong interest in medical science at a young age. The daughter of Lebanese parents, Patricia’s fascination for the subject was strengthened by working as a volunteer across several medical laboratories in Beirut in Lebanon. Often taken by her parents in the summer holidays to visit her relatives in Lebanon, Patricia says she was far more interested in volunteering in hospitals than playing at the beach. One of her strongest memories comes from when she was 12 years old when she had the opportunity to help a woman give birth in the back of a Red Cross ambulance. From that moment on she knew she wanted to work in the medical field, so every summer looked for opportunities to volunteer in laboratories.
Growing up with a cousin who was a doctor as were many other relatives of her father, Patricia initially applied and got accepted to do a medical degree at the University of Edinburgh. But before she took up the place, she realised that she was far more interested in pursuing a career in medical research than clinical work. As a result of conversations with one of her father’s cousins, who is both an academic and well known in the medical industry, she decided instead to study for a bachelor’s degree in biomedical science at the University of East London School of Education and Communities. Importantly, her father’s cousin highlighted how scientists are the backbone of the medical field and without their findings the progress in medicine would be much slower because those treating patients do not have the time to conduct laboratory work.
After finishing her undergraduate degree, Patricia was awarded a scholarship to do a master’s degree in biomedical science-physiology at the American University of Beirut. As part of this degree, she got to work on diabetes. This turned out to be a massive project which took her four years to complete. But, she says, it ‘made me love science even more’ because ‘I got to work with human cells’ and also ‘to work with children and hospitals.’ During the project she got the chance to help develop a non-invasive device for children to wear like a watch. This made it possible for them to monitor their blood glucose levels without the need to regularly prick their fingers. Patricia also launched a charity awareness campaign for diabetes. Alongside working on diabetes, Patricia also got to work at a French hospital in Beirut where she became involved in research around colorectal cancer.
Because the master’s course proved very intense, Patricia decided to take a break before going on to do a doctorate. To this end she decided to spend some time working as a teacher at a British school in Beirut, where she became the science coordinator. This landed up with her revamping the whole of the science curriculum for the school which she really enjoyed doing.
COVID-19 pandemic work
Still working at the school when the COVID-19 pandemic started, in October 2020 Patricia got involved in setting up a molecular laboratory at Bellevue Medical Centre, a local Beirut hospital. The laboratory became a key centre for testing for COVID-19. Patricia was responsible for training the laboratory’s team. This was a challenge because not only did she need to teach them new techniques, but she also needed to keep them motivated in the face of the difficult circumstances. Lebanon was hit particularly hard by the pandemic, which spread quickly between different generations within families because they tend to live very closely together in the same house or building. Patricia is very proud of the fact none of the teams she worked with got COVID-19. She and her colleagues were awarded a Platinum Award for the high standards they implemented in the laboratory.
A new chapter begins
Stranded in Lebanon because of the pandemic, Patricia finally returned to London in May 2022 and began looking for a job through various avenues including on LinkedIn. In September 2022 she joined Life Science Group Limited, a small biotechnology company that specialises in providing products and services to help researchers conduct laboratory work in universities and companies. It manufactures and distributes cell culture reagents like serum which is used to help grow cells in the laboratory.
Not only is LSG the only UK manufacturer of certain cell culture media, but it is also a leading supplier of antibodies, which, because they are highly specific in their target, are used in multiple applications. Within the laboratory antibodies are used to study many basic research questions. They enable researchers to identify molecules that cannot be seen by the naked eye and can be used as tools to investigate disease pathways. Antibodies are also critical components in many diagnostic assays and used as therapeutics.
As the lead for product and technical sales specialist at LSG, a lot of Patricia’s work involves building relationships with clients to get a sense of what products they require for their projects. Patricia helps them source the right products and where needed optimising them so that they match their requirements. A lot of the process involves collecting data about what each scientist wants so that the company can improve the products it can offer.
Satisfaction of working in a small life science company
What Patricia likes about working for a small life science company is that every day she gets to use her brain and knowledge in different ways. She also appreciates the fact that alongside working in sales she has scope to keep her hand in working in the laboratory. Having this opportunity is especially important because laboratory skills can take years of practice and if not used on a routine basis can be easily forgotten. In the laboratory she really enjoys the challenge of finding a mistake that prevents a process from working and tweaking it so that it works. She also loves discovering news things and passing that knowledge on to someone who is scratching their heads with a particular issue. What makes her day is seeing that person smile when she has managed to help them find a solution.
Patricia also gets a lot of satisfaction from her sales work. She points out that one of the advantages that salespeople have is they have a lot of knowledge about different products which researchers often lack. For researchers this can save them a lot of time when working out how to proceed. In this context salespeople act as educators. One area she has a lot of experience in is helping researchers find replacements for animal products, which is becoming increasingly important for laboratory research and a core part of LSG’s business model.
For Patricia, working with a life science company gives her an invaluable opportunity to contribute to advances in medical research and treatment. She is particularly excited about the possibilities now opening up for conducting research without the need to use animals and looks forward to the day when clinical trials will no longer be so dependent on animals.
Work experience is key
One of the key tips Patricia gives to students looking for a job in the biomedical scientific field is to get as much work experience as possible before settling on a particular career path. Over time she has had a chance to work in many different settings, including in university and hospital laboratories and now in industry. As she points out, all of these places have very different ways of working and challenges. For example, her work in her current biotechnology company manufacturing products is very different from what she encountered previously. She emphasises getting a variety of work experiences is invaluable to students in terms of getting a sense of the range of opportunities available and knowing what they like doing.
Patricia also emphasises the key issue to consider is the size of an organisation. In her experience she has found working in a small company much more flexible. This is because the team there is more close-knit than when she was working in a larger setting like a hospital or university where there is a much more complex command chain. When she worked for larger organisations she felt she needed to have a much higher degree of organisation because it necessitated her relaying information to a much wider number of people, often working in other departments and buildings, than just those working around her. Overall getting information to the right person in that situation was much harder to navigate.
Another important factor Patricia highlights for students to appreciate is how the career they choose will affect their work-life balance. In her case, she loves spending her spare time reading up on the latest developments and learning about new discoveries, which she needs to do to keep on top of her job. She also enjoys working for hours in the laboratory and not leaving until the mission has been accomplished. But this lifestyle is not for everyone, in which case they need to look for opportunities that will allow them to have a more 9 to 5 routine.
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This article was written by Dr Lara Marks based on an interview conducted with Patricia Bou Assi on 31st May 2023.