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Taking research from bench to bedside with Anji Miller (Episode 74)
Episode 7429th July 2025 • Research Adjacent • Sarah McLusky
00:00:00 00:37:33

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Anji Miller is Senior Partner for Academic Engagement at healthcare charity LifeArc. LifeArc help turn great research into real-world healthcare products – from bench to bedside.

Sarah and Anji talk about

  1. Trusting her instincts, even when others didn't understand her career choice
  2. Embracing opportunities and making the next best move
  3. Why she is a passionate advocate for mentoring, EDI and STEM initiatives
  4. Seeing the impact of her work on patients and the people she has supported

Find out more

  1. Read the show notes and transcript on the podcast website
  2. Connect with Anji on LinkedIn
  3. Find out about LifeArc


About Research Adjacent

  1. Fill out the research-adjacent careers quiz
  2. Sign up to the Research Adjacent newsletter
  3. Follow Research Adjacent on LinkedIn Instagram and BlueSky
  4. Email a comment, question or suggestion
  5. Leave Sarah a voice message

Mentioned in this episode:

Member of the Month: Vicky Bowskill, Inklusive Nature

Vicky helps researchers and changemakers to connect nature, science & society by telling compelling visual stories. Find out more at www.inklusivenature.com

Interested in advertising on the podcast?

If you have a service, product, event, or opportunity that would be of interest to our audience get in touch via hello@researchadjacent.com to explore how we can work together.

Transcripts

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.

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