Anji Miller:

But the thing is, academia was, intellectual

Anji Miller:

challenge, academic freedom.

Anji Miller:

You do what you want, you publish, and then you've got someone

Anji Miller:

else talking to you about, okay, intellectual property, patents, you

Anji Miller:

don't disclose, and these terms that they're thinking like, what the hell?

Anji Miller:

But I never had a mentor for myself until early this year.

Anji Miller:

And it is fantastic.

Anji Miller:

I've always advocated for it, but you help others and you just end

Anji Miller:

up not having one for yourself.

Anji Miller:

So regardless of socioeconomic background, your ethnic background,

Anji Miller:

anything, gender, anything, it is where you have the opportunity to

Anji Miller:

be the best version of yourself, and you are encouraged to do that.

Sarah McLusky:

Hello there.

Sarah McLusky:

I'm Sarah McLusky and this is Research Adjacent.

Sarah McLusky:

Each episode I talk to amazing research adjacent professionals about what

Sarah McLusky:

they do and why it makes a difference.

Sarah McLusky:

Keep listening to find out why we think the research adjacent space

Sarah McLusky:

is where the real magic happens.

Sarah McLusky:

Hello there.

Sarah McLusky:

I'm your host, Sarah McLusky, and I'm delighted to introduce you

Sarah McLusky:

to my guest today, Anji Miller.

Sarah McLusky:

Anji is senior partner for Academic Engagement at Tech

Sarah McLusky:

Transfer Charity LifeArc.

Sarah McLusky:

with the wonderfully concise tagline from bench to bedside LifeArc focus

Sarah McLusky:

on helping turn great research into real world healthcare products.

Sarah McLusky:

With a PhD in gene therapy and a master's in intellectual property

Sarah McLusky:

law, Anji is perfectly placed for her role, which includes advising and

Sarah McLusky:

training researchers on things like intellectual property and patents.

Sarah McLusky:

Anji didn't have the smoothest start.

Sarah McLusky:

Careers advisors and family members were bemused by her aspirations to

Sarah McLusky:

become a scientist, but she persevered and found her stride at university.

Sarah McLusky:

This experience has made her a passionate advocate for mentoring, EDI and STEM

Sarah McLusky:

initiatives, meaning that the next generation will benefit from the role

Sarah McLusky:

models and support that she lacked.

Sarah McLusky:

We talk about self-belief even in the face of disappointments, making the

Sarah McLusky:

most of opportunities and seeing the real world impact of her work, whether

Sarah McLusky:

that's on patients or the researchers that she has trained and mentored.

Sarah McLusky:

Listen on to hear Anji's story.

Sarah McLusky:

Welcome along to the podcast, Anji, it is fantastic to meet you.

Sarah McLusky:

I wonder if we could start by telling me and our guests a little bit

Sarah McLusky:

about who you are and what you do.

Anji Miller:

Okay.

Anji Miller:

So I'm Anji Miller.

Anji Miller:

My role, my current role, the title is Senior Partner for

Anji Miller:

Academic Engagement at LifeArc.

Anji Miller:

LifeArc is an independent UK-based healthcare charity that's just

Anji Miller:

focused on getting great academic research from bench to bedside.

Anji Miller:

So my role has transformed over the time.

Anji Miller:

So my background is I'm trained as a scientist, so it is, and I,

Anji Miller:

for a long time I was a scientist.

Anji Miller:

And what I decided to do was use my scientific knowledge out of the lab.

Anji Miller:

So I helped get innovation from bench to bedside.

Anji Miller:

I'm that person that combines the IP aspect, the business aspect,

Anji Miller:

that goes beyond the publications.

Anji Miller:

So it is where I work at the intersection of industry, academia, but also over

Anji Miller:

time, because I like working with others and I like sharing knowledge with others

Anji Miller:

I also train others to do this as well.

Anji Miller:

So it's quite a nice, it's a nice role.

Anji Miller:

It's niche, but it, it's a nice role and it's impactful.

Sarah McLusky:

Yeah, I bet it is impactful that, I love that story of from bench to

Sarah McLusky:

bedside, that's just such a lovely kind of catchphrase encapsulates what you do.

Sarah McLusky:

So you say your role is academic engagement.

Sarah McLusky:

On a kind of day-to-day basis, what does that mean?

Sarah McLusky:

What sorts of things are you doing?

Sarah McLusky:

Who are you working with?

Anji Miller:

Yeah, it varies a lot.

Anji Miller:

A lot is working with, because I do a lot of the training and now really setting up

Anji Miller:

programmmes and that's globally to ensure that basically innovations, technology,

Anji Miller:

gets outta the lab and impacts society.

Anji Miller:

It could vary from, for example, yesterday I was on a panel talking about

Anji Miller:

STEM, talking about careers and the wide option that individuals who study

Anji Miller:

science have and this was to encourage individuals of underrepresented groups.

Anji Miller:

And, that was lovely.

Anji Miller:

But also what I do is I'll be engaging with groups and really

Anji Miller:

researchers from Sub-Sahara Africa through another fellowship.

Anji Miller:

And it will be adding that translational piece so that they understand the

Anji Miller:

business side of running their own group and their own project

Anji Miller:

to ensure it gets beyond the lab.

Anji Miller:

The currency of academia is publication.

Anji Miller:

But you need, there's another side to really ensure that it truly is impactful.

Anji Miller:

And that's that side really looking.

Anji Miller:

Can I protect anything?

Anji Miller:

Who can take it to market?

Anji Miller:

And how can they do it?

Anji Miller:

And how can I feed in?

Sarah McLusky:

Yeah.

Sarah McLusky:

Yeah.

Sarah McLusky:

And how do you go about finding these projects that you work on?

Sarah McLusky:

Do you go out and find them or do they come to you?

Anji Miller:

Most of the time it's where they come to me.

Anji Miller:

And it, it is where they may be, it may be a programmme that LifeArc is

Anji Miller:

a key player for, and it is where a key supporter of the programmme

Anji Miller:

and there's that translational piece that needs to be brought in.

Anji Miller:

So that's where they will come to our team and say, we want to ensure that

Anji Miller:

these researchers understand how they can translate their science, but also

Anji Miller:

having a look what infrastructure is required within wherever

Anji Miller:

they are that, that supports it.

Anji Miller:

So it is very much a collaborative aspect, but also a lot of the time it

Anji Miller:

could be researchers who are looking and thinking, what do I do next?

Anji Miller:

I'm here, I enjoy what I'm doing, but I want to have a look.

Anji Miller:

How can my career move along or how can I feed into doing something to

Anji Miller:

really ensure that those, those who need it, get the science that I have.

Anji Miller:

Yeah.

Sarah McLusky:

Yeah.

Anji Miller:

And it could be talking about career paths.

Anji Miller:

It could be talking about just skills.

Anji Miller:

It could be just providing that additional voice that support, that

Anji Miller:

mentorship that's required for someone to really explore their passions.

Sarah McLusky:

Yeah.

Sarah McLusky:

Yeah.

Sarah McLusky:

And actually figure out, as you say, I think there's some people

Sarah McLusky:

get into research because they just love the research and they

Sarah McLusky:

love the kind of discovery of it.

Sarah McLusky:

But some people very definitely go into research 'cause they think I want to help,

Anji Miller:

Yes.

Sarah McLusky:

With this medical condition, or, actually do something

Sarah McLusky:

that makes a difference in the world.

Sarah McLusky:

But that journey can be a real mental shift, can't it?

Sarah McLusky:

To go from being in a university and maybe you're trying to get grants for funding

Sarah McLusky:

and for research and things like that, to then suddenly producing something that you

Sarah McLusky:

can get accredited and sell to customers.

Sarah McLusky:

It's a real shift, isn't it?

Anji Miller:

And I think life throws so many curve balls at you that you

Anji Miller:

do change, you transform over time.

Anji Miller:

And we live in a day and age where.

Anji Miller:

A career is not just one thing and you do that one thing until you retire.

Sarah McLusky:

Yeah.

Anji Miller:

You will mature and your skills will develop.

Anji Miller:

We are living in day and age where, gene therapy, which is my

Anji Miller:

background it was science fiction.

Anji Miller:

Not that long ago.

Anji Miller:

Now it's a reality, but we have to ensure that everyone can have access to it.

Anji Miller:

So I think as individuals develop their career and they mature, they

Anji Miller:

have different responsibilities.

Anji Miller:

Their drivers and their passions shift slightly, they, things that

Anji Miller:

happen and individuals impacted in different ways will really

Anji Miller:

shape what their ambitions are.

Anji Miller:

So sometimes they'll think okay, I'm really interested in this

Anji Miller:

and I'd like to combine it with.

Anji Miller:

Is that a thing?

Anji Miller:

Half are quite scared to ask the question.

Anji Miller:

Others are fearful on how everyone will perceive it.

Anji Miller:

And what I do a lot of the time is help those individuals to

Anji Miller:

realize it's not just a pipe dream.

Anji Miller:

It's something that can become a reality.

Anji Miller:

And just because you don't see it doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

Anji Miller:

Or you shouldn't pave the way for it.

Sarah McLusky:

Yeah.

Sarah McLusky:

Yeah, definitely helping people to just see the possibilities, I think

Sarah McLusky:

so often as well, that, and just part of what this whole podcast is about is

Sarah McLusky:

helping people to see the possibilities.

Sarah McLusky:

Because particularly, you, when you're at school, it's really hard to

Sarah McLusky:

know what's out there in the world.

Sarah McLusky:

And then even when you go to university and you start to get a bit more of

Sarah McLusky:

a sense, but it's still you're very much shaped by the people that you

Sarah McLusky:

see, the role models that you see, the situations that you find yourself in.

Sarah McLusky:

And so it can sometimes be really hard to conceive of something

Sarah McLusky:

different and that's why that mentorship and advice is so valuable.

Anji Miller:

Absolutely.

Anji Miller:

And school visits are one of my favorites because children, there's no filter.

Anji Miller:

You get you get everything raw, and they are clever.

Anji Miller:

They feed in, they see every aspect.

Anji Miller:

They tap into your passions.

Anji Miller:

They can see that you are fired up when you're talking about whatever subject.

Anji Miller:

But also they will come in and they will ask you the questions that

Anji Miller:

even their colleagues didn't know that they were into this thing.

Anji Miller:

They just wanna know because they, they're learning.

Anji Miller:

This is when they absorb everything that you say.

Anji Miller:

So when I go in, I usually have a rough idea of what I'm gonna talk about, but

Anji Miller:

the minute I go in there and I start talking, I know that I'm gonna have

Anji Miller:

questions coming from every direction.

Anji Miller:

And it's fantastic because I know even from my experience, one good teacher

Anji Miller:

can really set you on a path for life.

Anji Miller:

Yeah.

Anji Miller:

And it really, or it can break you down.

Anji Miller:

And you will have so many challenges that, it's in your head that they were

Anji Miller:

told, you were told, you can never do this, or you are, that's not for you.

Anji Miller:

Yeah.

Anji Miller:

Rather than go for it.

Sarah McLusky:

Yeah.

Anji Miller:

And I think with young minds it's more of what you do and

Anji Miller:

what they see than what you say.

Sarah McLusky:

Yeah.

Sarah McLusky:

Yeah.

Sarah McLusky:

And so is that your story then?

Sarah McLusky:

Was there a particular teacher that either encouraged you or perhaps

Anji Miller:

Oh gosh,

Sarah McLusky:

formed you in some other way?

Anji Miller:

I, coming from first generation British Jamaican um,

Anji Miller:

family, so I'm one, the first generation that was born in the uk.

Anji Miller:

My parents, they were very big on education and it was

Anji Miller:

where they just told me.

Anji Miller:

Do not, never set a limit on your ambitions.

Anji Miller:

So I, that was instilled in me and it was really where education is key.

Anji Miller:

That was, and I still carry that.

Anji Miller:

Education is key.

Anji Miller:

But even when they, they would ask, and you get these aunts and uncles

Anji Miller:

always asking, what do you want to do?

Anji Miller:

What do you wanna be?

Anji Miller:

And you say, scientists, you can see it clouds over where they're

Anji Miller:

thinking scientists, that's not quite doctor, it's not quite lawyer and

Anji Miller:

it, as it is with these backgrounds.

Anji Miller:

But my parents always, don't set the, don't limit yourself.

Anji Miller:

But I do remember, I, and this is why it's so important that we are very careful by

Anji Miller:

what we say to our young minds around us.

Anji Miller:

I do remember that when I mentioned that I wanted to be a scientist.

Anji Miller:

I do remember like having.

Anji Miller:

Like a careers teacher who was very dismissive about that ambition.

Anji Miller:

And it was almost as though one, now when I look back, it was that this individual

Anji Miller:

obviously didn't know anything about the career path, but also it, there was

Anji Miller:

nothing supported, nothing encouraging.

Anji Miller:

But I've spoken to so many.

Anji Miller:

Since then, and they've had the same experience and decades

Anji Miller:

younger than me, and they're still having those sort of experiences.

Anji Miller:

For me it was really where I think I'm the type of person because I've had so

Anji Miller:

many disappointments and knock backs.

Anji Miller:

It really, it does hurt.

Anji Miller:

And you do stay there nursing your wounds, but.

Anji Miller:

It does also cause something in me to rise even stronger and even more determined

Anji Miller:

to just, okay, this is what I'm going to do and I'm gonna find a way to do it.

Anji Miller:

I don't care what this person said or what they think.

Anji Miller:

I know what I want to do and I think it's best that I go down trying.

Anji Miller:

Rather than sitting there thinking, okay.

Anji Miller:

No don't go for it.

Anji Miller:

And it's always in hindsight, people say that, oh, why did you choose this path?

Anji Miller:

Why did you do these things?

Anji Miller:

Sometimes it's really where you took the opportunities that were there at the time.

Anji Miller:

It looks as though it's a carefully curated halfway, but it really was.

Anji Miller:

You were in the position that those were the best options.

Anji Miller:

Yeah.

Anji Miller:

So you made the most of them.

Anji Miller:

They turned out to be the best options, but at the time you

Anji Miller:

were really trying to navigate to whatever goal or whatever target.

Anji Miller:

Yeah.

Anji Miller:

So I would encourage anyone, when you have your dreams and

Anji Miller:

ambitions, don't hide them.

Anji Miller:

But also when someone is not supportive.

Anji Miller:

Do not take it personally, use that as the fuel to, to really carry on because

Anji Miller:

you know yourself better than anyone else.

Anji Miller:

And school, yes, you do spend most of your time there and you would hope the

Anji Miller:

individuals in charge of you see that.

Anji Miller:

But someone that you meet in a snapshot who's supposed to advise you on

Anji Miller:

something that they're ill-informed on is not gonna give you the best advice.

Anji Miller:

Yeah.

Anji Miller:

So it's really remembering that, and I think it's really.

Anji Miller:

We should always encourage each other to, to really just try.

Anji Miller:

Yeah, just go for it.

Anji Miller:

Yeah.

Anji Miller:

And I think that's the message that I try to give to others.

Anji Miller:

And I think one of the nicest things is when you see that you've spoken

Anji Miller:

to someone and they really do take it on board and you see them soaring,

Anji Miller:

you see them going from, one height to another, and they pay it forward

Anji Miller:

because they remember the generosity that, the advice that you gave them.

Sarah McLusky:

Yeah.

Sarah McLusky:

Absolutely.

Sarah McLusky:

And I think that leads us really nicely onto the path that you took then.

Sarah McLusky:

So you had this vision that maybe confused your family and the careers

Sarah McLusky:

advisor was a bit like, okay.

Sarah McLusky:

And you went and did it.

Sarah McLusky:

Tell us a bit about how you did it, what the steps were.

Anji Miller:

Yeah, the thing is, I loved school.

Anji Miller:

I come from a big family, so I'm used to being around individuals and I, I.

Anji Miller:

When I tell people this, they're quite surprised that I was painfully shy.

Anji Miller:

And it is sometimes I do, I talk a lot, but the thing is

Anji Miller:

sometimes I do go very quiet.

Anji Miller:

I love studying other people . But I loved being at school.

Anji Miller:

I loved learning from that early age, but also I enjoyed science.

Anji Miller:

At school, I, I enjoyed the lessons and everything, but I think

Anji Miller:

academically, when I look back the exams and how they, the exams were

Anji Miller:

set were not the easiest things.

Anji Miller:

I, when I really started to flourish was when I was at university.

Anji Miller:

And I, my first degree is in applied biology and it was a modular degree and I

Anji Miller:

remember thinking, wow, my parents were so happy 'cause I was going to university and

Anji Miller:

this is something I'd been talking about all the time on track to be a scientist.

Anji Miller:

And for them I think it was just really pleased that out of the kids, there's

Anji Miller:

only two girls and there's six boys, and it is where the, I'm going to

Anji Miller:

university and I'm gonna have a career.

Anji Miller:

I, for me, it was really where I started to come alive.

Anji Miller:

And I think it is where also I, that's when I started to have my own

Anji Miller:

voice, because you have to speak out.

Anji Miller:

There's no one else there talking for you, but I'm, I did an industrial

Anji Miller:

year, so a year in industry.

Anji Miller:

Six months in France and six months in Italy, and then working in the labs.

Anji Miller:

And I found that I had a natural ability of working in the labs.

Anji Miller:

I loved it.

Anji Miller:

Designing my experiments, having a main hypothesis that you're going

Anji Miller:

to prove and working towards that.

Anji Miller:

I did amazingly and I came back with renewed energy for my final year,

Anji Miller:

which I did very well in as well.

Anji Miller:

But I also realized that I liked the molecular side of things.

Anji Miller:

And I always, as a scientist, I wanted to, it was for me, the natural thing.

Anji Miller:

I'm gonna complete a PhD, but I was very ambitious in knowing

Anji Miller:

what I wanted it to be in.

Anji Miller:

And that was in gene therapy.

Anji Miller:

And at the time, gene therapy was very hot and you wouldn't

Anji Miller:

have PhD placements or anything.

Anji Miller:

So when I spoke to a lecturer, they did advise me and they said, this

Anji Miller:

is great that you know that you have a strength for it, but apply for a

Anji Miller:

master's as well as a backup, right?

Anji Miller:

Just in case you need more time.

Anji Miller:

And it worked out really well.

Anji Miller:

Cut a long story short, it is where I did find a lab.

Anji Miller:

We, and we applied for funding.

Anji Miller:

And I managed to do my PhD in cancer gene therapy at Imperial, but I had to take

Anji Miller:

a master's in human molecular genetics.

Anji Miller:

During the time when I was looking and sending out and turning down.

Anji Miller:

Also, at some point I did think, what was I doing?

Anji Miller:

Turning down PhD offers.

Sarah McLusky:

Wow.

Anji Miller:

Because I was going for the subject that I wanted to, by the

Anji Miller:

time I completed my PhD. I'd been in the lab for something like seven years.

Anji Miller:

And I knew that I did not want to stay in the lab.

Anji Miller:

I wanted to go further.

Anji Miller:

Yeah.

Anji Miller:

And it was an exposure to some of the technology that was protected in the lab

Anji Miller:

that I had, oh, what's this technology transfer innovation, what is that?

Anji Miller:

Because I knew I wanted to use what I had.

Anji Miller:

And continue building on it.

Anji Miller:

And essentially that's what I did after three Degrees, I went back and did a

Anji Miller:

Master's in intellectual property law.

Sarah McLusky:

Oh goodness.

Anji Miller:

And it was really one of the best things that I'd done that

Anji Miller:

everyone thought I was crazy for.

Anji Miller:

There was a laughter, there was a joke at home, the perpetual student.

Anji Miller:

But the thing is, it was really where it was amazing to, to

Anji Miller:

apply the way I approach things.

Anji Miller:

Bring in that legal aspect and ever since then it's, I haven't looked back really.

Anji Miller:

It's been working towards and roles involving, curating great translational

Anji Miller:

research to really ensure that they move further along that development

Anji Miller:

pathway to interventions that will be the next diagnostics and

Anji Miller:

therapeutics that we have today.

Sarah McLusky:

I can see why that combination of both the PhD in

Sarah McLusky:

the biological side of things.

Sarah McLusky:

Yes.

Sarah McLusky:

And then the masters in the intellectual property would make you a very

Sarah McLusky:

employable person in the knowledge transfer environment because certainly,

Sarah McLusky:

although there's another podcast series that I do called Academic

Sarah McLusky:

Adventures, and that's all about spin outs and startups and things like that.

Sarah McLusky:

And this intellectual property thing Yes.

Sarah McLusky:

Just comes up again and again.

Sarah McLusky:

Yes.

Sarah McLusky:

And again as one of the most challenging things about

Sarah McLusky:

getting things up and running.

Sarah McLusky:

Yeah, having that knowledge.

Anji Miller:

It's almost as though it's seen as the arch enemy to publication.

Anji Miller:

But you can have both.

Anji Miller:

If the strategy and timing is right.

Anji Miller:

Yeah.

Anji Miller:

So it, it does mean working very closely with the teams

Anji Miller:

and really gaining that trust.

Anji Miller:

Yeah.

Anji Miller:

So that they trust you, that yet they are gonna have that

Anji Miller:

publication, which they need to have.

Sarah McLusky:

Yeah.

Anji Miller:

But at the same time, for it to go further, you need to

Anji Miller:

really protect whatever's there, the intellectual assets within that research.

Sarah McLusky:

And you said, you mentioned back in the conversation when we were

Sarah McLusky:

initially talking about helping to inspire people on their career journey.

Sarah McLusky:

You spoke about the importance of mentoring.

Sarah McLusky:

Is that something that has personally been important to you?

Anji Miller:

This is the strange thing.

Anji Miller:

Sometimes I'll do a, I'm on a panel and we're talking about different

Anji Miller:

aspects, particularly women empowerment and things like that.

Anji Miller:

And someone said is it okay if I have coffee and you end up really informally

Anji Miller:

being a mentor for that person.

Anji Miller:

And I have formally joined like some mentoring programmmes and

Anji Miller:

one of the things I also run two fellowships, different types,

Anji Miller:

but they have the same mission of individuals with STEM backgrounds

Anji Miller:

to become innovation professionals.

Anji Miller:

And one of the big USPs is that mentoring aspect to get the mind

Anji Miller:

in the right shape and frame.

Anji Miller:

But I never had a mentor for myself until early this year.

Anji Miller:

And it is fantastic.

Anji Miller:

I've always advocated for it, but you help others and you just end

Anji Miller:

up not having one for yourself.

Anji Miller:

Yeah.

Anji Miller:

And it was just something that I said, okay, this is one of the things that

Anji Miller:

I'm gonna do for myself because I believe in lifelong learning, and I

Anji Miller:

work in the innovation space where you have to keep abreast of everything.

Anji Miller:

So one of the things I thought, okay, definitely.

Anji Miller:

I want to have this for myself.

Anji Miller:

And for me it was for a particular aspect to really feed in, in

Anji Miller:

is the strategy and plan that I have the optimal one for myself.

Anji Miller:

Yeah.

Anji Miller:

For others it will be where I'll bring in like a peer level

Anji Miller:

mentor, someone who has a lived experience and has tread that path.

Anji Miller:

And then I'll bring in someone who is an expert.

Anji Miller:

To really get that knowledge about whatever ecosystem

Anji Miller:

that person is working in.

Anji Miller:

But I do believe in doing and doing that, and I think it's something

Anji Miller:

that you can easily do within one conversation or an ongoing relationship.

Sarah McLusky:

Yes.

Sarah McLusky:

Yeah.

Sarah McLusky:

I think sometimes mentoring doesn't need to be a as structured or formal as

Sarah McLusky:

perhaps we think it might be, but yeah.

Sarah McLusky:

That's interesting that you've not had one yourself until this year, is it?

Sarah McLusky:

I know.

Sarah McLusky:

Was it just,

Anji Miller:

it's strange

Sarah McLusky:

it not finding quite the right person or,

Anji Miller:

I think it was, at first, it was something that I just didn't

Anji Miller:

even think about because I knew that to fulfill my role, this is what this

Anji Miller:

person needs, and my focus was on that.

Anji Miller:

It was only after a while thinking.

Anji Miller:

I could do with one.

Anji Miller:

And then it was the difficulty, how do you select the mentor and it, I believe

Anji Miller:

that it's not gonna be a mentor for life, although some relationships are like that.

Anji Miller:

A lot of the time it's that stage that you're in, that phase.

Anji Miller:

Or that particular need.

Anji Miller:

And I think it's different for each person.

Anji Miller:

The plan is gonna be very different for each person, but also the personalities.

Anji Miller:

For me I'm very outspoken and it is where, someone who is not going to accept

Anji Miller:

being questioned or why do you say that?

Anji Miller:

Or wanting to know more.

Anji Miller:

It's really, they're gonna feel as though I'm trying to pull things that they

Anji Miller:

probably feel uncomfortable telling me, but as a mentor, I hope that they would.

Sarah McLusky:

Yes.

Sarah McLusky:

That's what you want.

Sarah McLusky:

You want a little bit of, maybe not brutal honesty, but

Sarah McLusky:

definitely honesty from a mentor,

Anji Miller:

because when I do and also it's not that they're gonna

Anji Miller:

tell you what to do, but they're gonna open your mind so you think

Sarah McLusky:

Yeah.

Anji Miller:

And make your own choice.

Anji Miller:

And I think that's the important thing.

Anji Miller:

So even when I'm preparing someone for.

Anji Miller:

They're gonna have a mentor and they've never had one.

Anji Miller:

It is where I will outline and give them an idea and let them

Anji Miller:

know that this is a guide.

Anji Miller:

What you need is gonna be individual to you.

Sarah McLusky:

Yeah.

Sarah McLusky:

Yeah.

Anji Miller:

So you work on that relationship and you hopefully

Anji Miller:

it will work out, but if not.

Anji Miller:

Let me know and maybe that needs to be a change.

Sarah McLusky:

Yeah.

Sarah McLusky:

Yeah, definitely.

Sarah McLusky:

It sounds from the way you've been speaking, it sounds like the point

Sarah McLusky:

you're at now that relationships are almost more important in the work that

Sarah McLusky:

you do now than the actual science.

Sarah McLusky:

Would that be a fair thing to say?

Anji Miller:

It's not more important than, but they do go hand in hand.

Anji Miller:

And I think even to be an really, a good innovation professional, you will have

Anji Miller:

to have good relationships because you have to gain the trust of the researcher.

Anji Miller:

And in academia, there's a passion to that work that someone could be working

Anji Miller:

on that, that, that area for decades.

Anji Miller:

Why would they trust you with this, talking about this aspect

Anji Miller:

that, the structure is not quite fluid with regards to innovation.

Anji Miller:

It's changing now, but the thing is, academia was, intellectual

Anji Miller:

challenge, academic freedom.

Anji Miller:

You do what you want, you publish, and then you've got someone

Anji Miller:

else talking to you about, okay, intellectual property, patents, you

Anji Miller:

don't disclose, and these terms that they're thinking like, what the hell?

Anji Miller:

Yeah.

Anji Miller:

So you do have to have the relationship so that can happen, but

Anji Miller:

also when you're training someone to, to really be able to do this.

Anji Miller:

You have to be able to tap into who they are, so you have to be able

Anji Miller:

to communicate and also the needs.

Anji Miller:

I, I advocate a lot, whether it's for EDI or the profession, you

Anji Miller:

have to be able to communicate.

Anji Miller:

So it does change it slightly where you are not as hands-on as you were before

Anji Miller:

with being there and dealing with all the science, but you still have to

Anji Miller:

understand the science and you still have to under understand the needs.

Anji Miller:

So it, it really does start rolling in and as more things come in that

Anji Miller:

you're rolling into your role it does dilute each aspect because

Anji Miller:

it's a combination of those things.

Sarah McLusky:

Yeah.

Sarah McLusky:

Yeah.

Sarah McLusky:

I wonder, it'd be lovely to hear about maybe one or two examples of projects

Sarah McLusky:

that you've worked on, in, in so much as, like you say, in intellectual

Sarah McLusky:

property, confidentiality in so much as you're able to say publicly.

Sarah McLusky:

But yeah, some things that really stand out.

Anji Miller:

There are, I've worked with amazing scientists.

Anji Miller:

Some were really well known.

Anji Miller:

Others in their sector, they are a amazing, they're the top dog,

Anji Miller:

but also amazing individuals.

Anji Miller:

And.

Anji Miller:

Those are the ones that really stand out the most because there's your job

Anji Miller:

and then that there's that extra piece.

Anji Miller:

And I, that's that relationship piece where they will say to you, Anji,

Anji Miller:

I'm thinking about blah, blah, blah.

Anji Miller:

And it's yeah, let's do it.

Anji Miller:

Let's make it happen.

Anji Miller:

I remember one of my first roles and that was at St. George's.

Anji Miller:

And it's a hospital medical school, and because it's a hospital medical school,

Anji Miller:

you get great translational research.

Anji Miller:

You've got the clinical aspect, and it is really where it's

Anji Miller:

moving away from the bench.

Anji Miller:

It's really getting to the patients, whether that's through

Anji Miller:

clinical trials or whatever.

Anji Miller:

And one of them was a really big consortium, and it was funded by some

Anji Miller:

of the top funders, but also one of the leading researchers in that area.

Anji Miller:

And I remember when I got this role, it was where they said, personally when

Anji Miller:

the director who interviewed me, she was like, it's gonna be really challenging,

Anji Miller:

are you sure you want a challenge?

Anji Miller:

And I said, yes.

Anji Miller:

Tell me about it.

Anji Miller:

Because she was really afraid that I was gonna run away from it.

Anji Miller:

It ended up being one of the most enjoyable things that I've done because

Anji Miller:

it was, I think, enjoyable because the researcher who I was working with was

Anji Miller:

such a humble person, but an amazing mind.

Anji Miller:

But what he was doing was gonna impact really, not just the global north, but

Anji Miller:

definitely the globe and everyone else in those areas that are underrepresented.

Anji Miller:

And there was a need that surpasses anything else.

Anji Miller:

And for me it meant also applying everything.

Anji Miller:

So I was negotiating agreements, working with external partners,

Anji Miller:

industry and academia, and then also really outlining, okay, this

Anji Miller:

is how we're gonna work together.

Anji Miller:

It was a massive project.

Sarah McLusky:

Yeah.

Anji Miller:

But it was amazing because it was the first time.

Anji Miller:

That I really could flex the combination of skills that I put together at

Anji Miller:

that time and know that it was gonna lead to something really impactful.

Sarah McLusky:

Yeah.

Anji Miller:

Other projects that come to mind, it's like even at LifeArc, dealing

Anji Miller:

with some of the tech because we work with and we support conditions to really

Anji Miller:

treating and addressing unmet healthcare needs in the rare disease space.

Anji Miller:

So these are populations that are not attractive because it's

Anji Miller:

a smaller market, small number.

Anji Miller:

Yeah.

Anji Miller:

A lot of the time to industry.

Anji Miller:

Where you can see and you understand the real needs, and you work with clinicians

Anji Miller:

who have clinics, so they see the patients on a daily basis, and you're moving that

Anji Miller:

technology closer to being something that's gonna be available as a treatment

Anji Miller:

That is hugely impactful because you can see the difference that you make

Anji Miller:

because for me, it's also talking about it and advocating for that disease area.

Anji Miller:

So it means if it may lead to more funding, it may highlight it so it's

Anji Miller:

more attractive for others to, to work in, but also the amazing work

Anji Miller:

that's being done by that group, that small community addressing it.

Anji Miller:

I think also it brings hope to the patient group.

Anji Miller:

Yeah, the patient voice is really important and it's something that

Anji Miller:

through my role, you get close to that.

Anji Miller:

And understanding really what it's like for a family it's, it's devastating,

Anji Miller:

but what they have to go through.

Anji Miller:

But you want them to know there's hope.

Anji Miller:

There are Yes.

Anji Miller:

Individuals working to really make sure that hopefully in, in time there will be

Anji Miller:

a treatment or may possibly a cure for whatever they're they are going through.

Anji Miller:

I think the last one in the most recent.

Anji Miller:

I say most recent is 'cause I still do it and it is, I talked about my

Anji Miller:

career journey from going from bench to using my science outside of the

Anji Miller:

bench when I just started and I started advocating for it over a decade ago.

Anji Miller:

But it is where there's no clear path for someone who wants to do

Anji Miller:

this and also it's not well known.

Anji Miller:

Yeah.

Anji Miller:

That you can, as a STEM graduate, you have plethora of roles that you can go into.

Anji Miller:

So me with my big mouth is yeah, I think we need to have something.

Anji Miller:

And luckily I was working with someone who was like, okay, let's, what we

Anji Miller:

gonna do what we gonna, and I designed the fellowship and it was the first

Anji Miller:

one of the two that I run also.

Anji Miller:

And it was for individuals with a STEM background who enjoy science

Anji Miller:

and are passionate about it.

Anji Miller:

They wanted to be scientists for a reason and regardless of how much

Anji Miller:

experience they have it is that they want to pivot and help get that technology

Anji Miller:

really to be becoming something that's gonna have real world impact.

Anji Miller:

And it means bringing in that business and legal.

Anji Miller:

Yeah.

Anji Miller:

And all those professional transferable skills that are required in that space.

Anji Miller:

And you do this through a year.

Anji Miller:

But I work with partners in the sector to deliver this programmme, and now it's

Anji Miller:

over nine years and seeing the individuals and it's one, one of them, the very

Anji Miller:

first one is open to everyone in Europe, but seeing the individuals forge their

Anji Miller:

careers and, they have, particularly in some of the spaces, it's the first

Anji Miller:

innovation office that's gonna be set up.

Anji Miller:

That's gonna address anything like that.

Anji Miller:

It is something that, you know when you're thinking Yes.

Anji Miller:

Yeah.

Anji Miller:

I wasn't crazy.

Anji Miller:

Yeah.

Anji Miller:

And sometimes, there's,

Anji Miller:

there is something that can come out of someone just saying,

Anji Miller:

okay, how is it gonna be?

Anji Miller:

How are you gonna do it?

Anji Miller:

And it does mean that you put a lot of work into it because for a long time it

Anji Miller:

was something in addition to my main role.

Anji Miller:

Yeah.

Anji Miller:

Now, luckily it's part of my main role.

Anji Miller:

It's, yes.

Sarah McLusky:

Yeah.

Anji Miller:

But it is something that I am hugely proud of because it will go on.

Anji Miller:

Yeah.

Anji Miller:

And individuals, the it's over, it's a hundred and something fellows on last

Anji Miller:

count, and they tap in and they feed into that programmme as peer mentors alongside

Anji Miller:

the expert mentors that I mentioned.

Anji Miller:

And it, it is something that.

Anji Miller:

When you're thinking, okay, I if this was my last day, I know that it's

Anji Miller:

something that I would look on and say, I'm very glad that I did that.

Anji Miller:

They did that.

Sarah McLusky:

Yeah.

Sarah McLusky:

Yeah.

Sarah McLusky:

That's a lovely thing to be able to have in your portfolio

Sarah McLusky:

of things that you've done.

Sarah McLusky:

I do like to ask all of my guests on the podcast, if they had a

Sarah McLusky:

magic wand, what would change about the world that they work in.

Sarah McLusky:

If money and time was no object.

Anji Miller:

There's so many things.

Anji Miller:

I think because it's at the crux and from my lived experience, the

Anji Miller:

challenges that I faced in even trying to forge my own career as a black

Anji Miller:

female scientist, it's not been easy.

Anji Miller:

Particularly, you wanna step out and do something that when you're

Anji Miller:

describing the career, people looking at you, one half of them don't know

Anji Miller:

what it is and others are looking at you thinking really, they doubt it.

Anji Miller:

I think it would be that

Anji Miller:

we would live in a world where it's inclusive and rather than inclusivity

Anji Miller:

just being something that is, it's really an act that you do, it falls in

Anji Miller:

part in really as part of everyday life.

Anji Miller:

It's, yeah, really, truly it would be.

Anji Miller:

So regardless of socioeconomic background, your ethnic background,

Anji Miller:

anything, gender, anything, it is where you have the opportunity to

Anji Miller:

be the best version of yourself, and you are encouraged to do that.

Anji Miller:

And it would mean that.

Anji Miller:

You would have, you wouldn't have rare conditions.

Anji Miller:

No one is interested in it or, no one's even thinking, okay,

Anji Miller:

what about this population?

Anji Miller:

You would have individuals globally being able to become skilled and change

Anji Miller:

the world that they, they come from or they live in or they care about.

Anji Miller:

I think it would be ultimately a world where I wouldn't need the wand.

Anji Miller:

Yes.

Anji Miller:

Because it is where, or I'd use it on something else.

Anji Miller:

Yeah.

Anji Miller:

Because it would be fair.

Anji Miller:

It would be equitable.

Sarah McLusky:

Yeah.

Anji Miller:

And I think, in my world I see everyone.

Anji Miller:

I see the good in everyone, and I'll try and bring that out and I'll

Anji Miller:

try and really encourage them to take, to adopt that, that mentality.

Anji Miller:

And it's really where they adopt.

Anji Miller:

And when I talk to the young minds like my daughter, she knows

Anji Miller:

that I'm a staunch EDI advocate.

Anji Miller:

But the thing is also it's not just what I say, it's what I do.

Anji Miller:

Yeah.

Anji Miller:

And.

Anji Miller:

I'd like to a world where everyone just has that one thing.

Anji Miller:

And I think it would change so many things.

Sarah McLusky:

I think it really would, wouldn't it?

Sarah McLusky:

And that is an amazing vision.

Sarah McLusky:

I think perhaps to leave our conversation on that that world vision.

Sarah McLusky:

If anybody wants to find out more about the work that you do, get in touch with

Sarah McLusky:

you, where is the best place to find you?

Anji Miller:

Oh, they can find me on the LifeArc website.

Anji Miller:

But also LinkedIn.

Anji Miller:

Yeah.

Anji Miller:

It's, that's my Rolodex.

Anji Miller:

It's, it is where, and a lot of the time, messages and whatever,

Anji Miller:

and also to see what I do.

Anji Miller:

Yeah.

Anji Miller:

They can see for themselves.

Anji Miller:

But, yeah, hopefully I encourage someone somewhere.

Sarah McLusky:

Yes.

Sarah McLusky:

Yeah.

Sarah McLusky:

No, I hope so too.

Sarah McLusky:

I'm sure lots of people will be inspired by your story thank you

Sarah McLusky:

so much for taking the time to come along and tell us all about it.

Sarah McLusky:

It's been fantastic.

Anji Miller:

No, thank you for inviting me.

Sarah McLusky:

Thanks for listening to Research Adjacent.

Sarah McLusky:

If you're listening in a podcast app, please check your subscribed and then

Sarah McLusky:

use the links in the episode description to find full show notes and to follow

Sarah McLusky:

the podcast on LinkedIn or Instagram.

Sarah McLusky:

You can also find all the links and other episodes at www.researchadjacent.com.

Sarah McLusky:

Research Adjacent is presented and produced by Sarah McLusky,

Sarah McLusky:

and the theme music is by Lemon Music Studios on Pixabay.

Sarah McLusky:

And you, yes you, get a big gold star for listening right to the end.

Sarah McLusky:

See you next time.