remember one rainy Herfordshire evening during grad school when I was tinkering away in the lab and it struck me: there were far too many interesting ideas, quirky experimental protocols, and partially studied products that were never scaled and brought to market. This was the first time I began to consider what it would take to apply a cool concept from the lab to a glaring real-world problem, such as the early diagnosis of a deadly disease or the decontamination of drinking water.
Commercializing early-stage research needs extensive diligence. At every step of my career, I have tried to learn about how products are brought to market, how companies are formed around a simple and elegant idea, how processes are scaled, how value is generated from knowledge, and how it all comes together and is sustained in the global market place. That desire to learn is what ultimately led me to join Coleman.
I started off researching disease resistance mechanisms in crops during grad school. This led me down a path of discovery that eventually took me to Japan for a year of research, and then back to England to figure out how biological systems work and how they can be improved. I partnered with a colleague to develop a small molecule detection assay that we sought to patent. Learning about the intricacies of commercializing scientific research took me to the Bay Area, California next, where my interest in the business side of science and technology really piqued.
I joined an early-stage start-up company that connected scientific expertise and experimental methodologies with the wider scientific and research community. This was one of the first parallels that I saw with Coleman: being a knowledge broker and thought partner for researchers who need access to high quality, industry- and market-relevant information.
I wasn’t that familiar with primary research firms like Coleman before I applied for a position here, but when I started researching what Coleman did, and how uniquely they were positioned in the global market place, I couldn’t resist looking deeper. For someone like me who is interested in learning about how the market works and what direction major industries are headed in, Coleman has provided a fantastic environment to grow professionally, build an excellent network of smart colleagues, and learn about how key industry movers and shakers drive the business world forward.