Bringing together four very different women, all successful, all focused on science and innovation, ‘Women in bioscience: celebrating success across the ecosystem’ gave us hard-won insights from their varied careers.
Alongside all the fascinating idiosyncratic details of how they have progressed, the talks from Drs Barbara Domayne-Hayman, Lian Ni Lee and Emilie Syed plus Professor Dame Molly Stevens FREng FRS* had themes which are great lessons for us all.
Get yourself some mentors.
Treat yourself like a company and build a ‘Board of you’, a group of advisers and mentors who can help you with specific challenges. You can change your Board around as needed, remembering that mentorships work best when you have a specific challenge that an individual can help you with, rather than acting as a general support.
A feeling of mutual respect between you and your mentor is vital – the relationship is unlikely to produce results if you don’t enjoy the interactions. Mentors don’t have to be from your industry or senior to you, but they do have to be able to teach you something.
Build your network, learn from people.
Modern careers are long, varied and interdisciplinary, meaning a strong network whose skills and contacts you can tap into is vital. Never miss the opportunity to add someone to your network!
Related to this is the need to ‘learn from people all the time’. Observing how people operate and engage can tell you a great deal about the leader you want to be… and how not to do it.
Define your priorities
What’s important to you? Clinical impact, scientific leadership, work-life balance, family, marathon running? These needn’t be mutually exclusive, but it’s important to know what means the most to you at any given time.
‘Shamelessly ask for help’ & make structures work for you
One of our speakers was published in a high-impact journal based on work she and a colleague did while job sharing. Embrace structures like this – also including flexible working, childcare facilities – when you need to, and make them work for you.
Help dispel the myth that unconventional careers can’t be successful – your achievements are the data that does that!
If you can’t see what you need, build your own
Women can be caught in a vicious circle when accessing senior roles such as non-executive directorships. If you don’t have the experience, who will engage you in that position?
One of our speakers discussed being in that situation – and deciding to build her own opportunities. Working as an adviser to start-ups at an incubator led to a Chairman role, a company sale and plenty of experience.
The talks, follow-up discussions, and networking were insightful and valuable, addressing many different aspects of bioscience work. There are many ways to build a rewarding and impactful career in this sector. Your life may not always go according to your original plan, but with opportunism and determination – and following our tips – you can build a fulfilling bioscience career.
Many thanks to our speakers, whose insights generated such thoughtful discussions at our International Women’s Day 2026 event:
- Professor Dame Molly Stevens, John Black Professor of Bionanoscience, University of Oxford, Deputy Director, Kavli Institute for Nanoscience Discovery, Chair in Emerging Technologies, Royal Academy of Engineering
- Dr Emilie Syed, Investment Principal, Zinc
- Dr Lian Li Nee, Co-Founder & VP Preclinical, Infinitopes
- Dr Lisa Mohamet, Global Head Translational In Vitro Models, Functional Genomics, GSK
- Dr Barbara Domayne-Hayman, Entrepreneur, Angel investor, Non-Executive Director
