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What is a Research Scientist?

Smaart Girls talk to Yemisi Solanke, a BSc Hons in Applied Biology and Pharmacology Graduate from North London, about her role as a Research Scientist.

I work within a 40 strong Biology department at GlaxoSmithKline, one of the worlds largest pharmaceutical companies.

Within the dept I belong to a smaller group of six people who work on respiratory/inflammatory diseases, looking at drug effects in diseases such as asthma, COPD and rheumatoid arthritis.

Where does your interest in science come from?

From a family who regarded Medicine, Pharmacy and Law as the only professions worth studying for. I decided to look at the Sciences rather than the Arts. I found out that I enjoyed them all and decided from then that I would like to work in that area, but at the time was not sure in what capacity.

Have you always worked at GSK?

GSK was my first permanent job but I did work for a year at the Paterson Laboratories, Christie Hospital in Manchester as part of a one-year industrial training post

Career progression?

I started here as a fresh graduate learning many new skills and techniques very quickly. I soon became fairly independent and only required a small amount of supervision. I was then able to train and supervise junior staff and also undergraduates who regularly come to GSK for work experience. Much of the work I am involved with now exists within project groups, of which I am the Biology point of contact. I am also responsible for the Secondary assays for a number of projects. I have one person reporting to me and my responsibility is to report to the project teams as a whole.

What’s your experience of being a woman scientist?

My experience at GSK has all been positive and not been affected at all by the fact that I am female, fortunately! In fact in my department it’s a 50-50 split between men and women. Success is based on performance at GSK not gender. Speaking to women in other careers I think I’m very lucky.

Would you recommend science as a career?

Definitely, however the success you achieve relies heavily on the company you work for. My company encourages staff to go onto different courses, which helps personal growth and career progression.

What's your greatest job satisfaction?

Working for weeks, months, years (in some cases) on a particular technique/drug which ultimately achieves / exceeds your expectations for effectiveness, and is eventually released onto the market. I work on the very early stages of the drug development pipeline, but some do make it and it is a good feeling when you have played your part in something successful.

How do you balance your work / home life?

I have a very busy timetable both at work and home. I am married with 2 children aged 5 and 10 yrs who take up a large part of my time. Balancing the two is a continual battle but I do believe I am one of the lucky ones who have huge rewards from both. I love both my job and family and this makes it much easier to cope when you are trying to fit 36 hours worth of work in a 24-hour day. I am not sure how I managed to fill my time as a student considering the amount I have to do these days, however when I was a student, I remember always feeling as though I had far too much to do!