This summer, the Academy of Medical Sciences celebrated the completion of the third round of our FLIER programme, which brings together future leaders in life sciences who are working on interdisciplinary projects to drive innovation.
We caught up with one of this year’s participants, Dr Gita Khalili Moghaddam, who shared how the FLIER programme has transformed her career.
Having discovered a passion for bioengineering and diagnostics at age 11, Gita is now a Principal Investigator in Clinical Neuroscience at the University of Cambridge and the founder and CEO of two wearable technology companies, GlycoVue and TumourVue. GlycoVue helps to manage diabetes through continuous monitoring of key biomarkers, and TumourVue supports surgeons performing precise cancer surgery.
Gita’s wearable technology spans a wide range of applications, with the potential to revolutionise the diagnosis, early intervention and treatment of cancer and diabetes. After struggling to ensure her technology was properly implemented in a way that made a real difference to the patients who needed it, Gita recognised a need for a cultural change across the medical sciences sector, which would allow researchers to ‘close the loop’ with patients, understand their behaviour, and improve the ways new healthcare technology was used.
This inspired Gita to join the Academy’s FLIER programme, with the aims of immersing herself in the culture of medical science; learning how to work effectively with people across the sector (from laboratory to hospital); and of finding allies who shared her goal to ensure medical innovation translates into real benefits for patients.
A programme of immersive, cross-sector learning, FLIER supports future leaders from a variety of sectors whose work and research impacts health. FLIER enables these future leaders to drive change in their fields even further, by honing their leadership skills, introducing them to other related sectors in the life sciences and helping develop a network of talented peers who can collaborate together to kickstart innovation. The Academy's extensive career development activities, including the FLIER programme, are funded in part by individual donors, and we are most grateful for the generosity of all our supporters.
Gita describes FLIER as one of the best things she has done in her life, saying "I learned a lot. Medical science was not a field I understood well before, but now I can much better appreciate the role the Academy is playing in the UK Life Sciences sector. The Academy is doing a fantastic job bridging the gap between policymakers and the real world, bringing evidence together to form the big picture. I doubt anyone else could do it."
For Gita, the biggest benefit was making connections with likeminded people and expanding her network beyond her own experiences in medical technology. She says: "The cross-sector immersion days, which are designed to help us to understand the cultures and missions of different institutions across life sciences, were absolute treasures to me and brought me together with people I would otherwise be unlikely to meet. We are all leaders in our sectors, and it is so valuable to have that trust among us and know that together we can make the changes we want to see."
Making connections with the Academy’s Fellowship was also invaluable for Gita. Able to access a wealth of shared knowledge, including a rare insight into failures, as well as successes, Gita notes: "Failures are not recorded anywhere, so getting to understand them is a great opportunity for me. It helps me to refine my big vision, learn from their experiences and do better."
Having now completed the FLIER programme, Gita believes it will continue to benefit her work for years to come: "The biggest impact for me will be in five to ten years’ time. By then, my cohort will have more freedom to operate and drive cultural changes in medical sciences, and together we can reinforce and accelerate that change. Investment in a programme like FLIER is an investment in the future."
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The Academy’s support of individuals like Gita is an integral part of achieving our vision of creating an open and progressive research sector to improve the health of people everywhere. Enabling the next generation to build up networks and expertise will allow them to drive change in medical science and make a difference for all patients. If Gita’s story has inspired you, we hope you will consider investing in the future of medical research.