Today is International Day of Women and Girls in Science. AJ de Montjoie reflects on the talented women we have at S-cubed and why it’s so important to focus on women in science.
I am privileged to work with some incredible women at S-cubed. They work alongside our pharmaceutical clients to ensure safe and effective drugs reach the patients that need them. They have PhDs in chemistry, biochemistry, biomedical science, statistics, and many other science related fields. To have such extraordinarily talented women in our company is something S-cubed can and is proud to celebrate.
Gertrude B Elion
Have you heard of Gertrude? Well, when I read the article (you can read it here) about her, it made me reflect on my colleagues and the important role they play in advancing therapies out into the world. Gertude B Elion won the Noble Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1988. What struck me about her story was that had it not been for World War 2, she might never have had the opportunity to pursue her desire to work in medical research. In fact, as recruiting men during the war was difficult, she was given her break. But even more relevant to our industry was her scientific and methodical approach to clinical trials. The article states:
“Hitchings [who she worked with] and Elion discarded the traditional trial-and-error approach to drug development in favour of rational, scientific approach.”
The key qualities of our women scientists at S-cubed is their pursuit of excellence, attention to detail and desire for accuracy. All qualities, I hope you would agree are vital in our work. And Gertrude laid the foundations that brought women into the pharmaceutical industry. I wonder where we would be without those groundbreaking women in science?
Women in Science and Research
S-cubed has a good balance of staff both in terms of gender and ethnicity (our staff come from all over the world). So it is disappointing to read in the UN report that less than 30% of scientific researchers are women. This year the UN’s theme focuses on the women working at the forefront of the fight against COVID 19. S-cubed is extremely proud of the work that we are doing across the clinical research lifecycle to find treatments and vaccines against this disease. People come into clinical research to ensure that human health can be improved. For S-cubed there is also a desire to ensure the data quality is excellent and that all that research produces safe and effective drugs. Maybe take a listen to the online events the UN is running today, if you want to think about the role you could play.
Our people focused company
One of S-cubed’s strengths is flexible working and long before the pandemic arrived, we supported our staff working at home or in the office. Our work life balance is important to the company, as it shows that we trust and value our staff to be able to deliver their work regardless of where they are actually sitting. This also means that we are able to ensure that family life is central to all our employees, whatever their gender. In fact, it goes without saying, that we are a company that is founded on gender equality. And it should not be forgotten that I and my female colleagues work alongside talented men. S-cubed is a fantastic place to work and at our core are our values: integrity, openness, flexibility and fun.