{"id":133,"date":"2018-11-28T11:30:28","date_gmt":"2018-11-28T10:30:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.embl.org\/careers\/?p=133"},"modified":"2024-09-27T09:14:17","modified_gmt":"2024-09-27T09:14:17","slug":"career-profile-ilaria-ferlenghi-head-of-structural-microscopy-at-gsk-vaccines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/embl-fellows-career-service\/blog\/2018\/11\/career-profile-ilaria-ferlenghi-head-of-structural-microscopy-at-gsk-vaccines\/","title":{"rendered":"Career profile: Ilaria Ferlenghi, Head of Structural Microscopy at GSK Vaccines"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"vf-figure wp-block-image  | vf-figure--align vf-figure--align-inline-end \"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"155\" height=\"200\" class=\"vf-figure__image\" src=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/embl-fellows-career-service\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Untitled-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-135\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>We recently had the pleasure of interviewing EMBL alumna Ilaria Ferlenghi \u2013 Head of Structural Microscopy at GSK Vaccines &#8211; about her career in industry, and how research in industry compared to academia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to Ilaria, working in Industry offers the chance to carry out cutting-edge research in a fast-paced, supportive and collaborative environment. As a hiring manager in Industry, Ilaria looks for applicants with strong lab skills and solid training \u2013 but is also looking for soft skills, particularly team work. For her, the interview plays an important role in assessing soft-skills. Ilaria recommends discussing directly with those working in Industry to get further insights before applying (see our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/embl-fellows-career-service\/blog\/2018\/10\/informational-interviews\/\">article<\/a> on \u201cInformational Interviews\u201d for ideas of how to find people to talk to).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can find the full interview below. We thank Ilaria for sharing her time and insight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you are interested in this career area, you can find additional resources at:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>(within EMBL only) \u2013 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/internal-information\/eicat\/embl-fellows-career-service\/career-exploration\/\">previous career day talks<\/a> from scientists from a range of scientific areas in Industry<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>PLOS Computational Biology <a href=\"https:\/\/journals.plos.org\/ploscompbiol\/article?id=10.1371\/journal.pcbi.1000388\">article<\/a> \u2013 Ten Simple Rules for Choosing between Industry and Academia<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Science Magazine <a href=\"http:\/\/www.sciencemag.org\/careers\/2014\/07\/world-s-most-comprehensive-resource-scientists-transitioning-industry\">articles<\/a> on transitioning to an industry career<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Book \u2013 Career Opportunities in Biotechnology and Drug Development \u2013 Toby Freedman, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press \u2013 EMBL fellows can find this in the EMBL Library.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<hr class=\"vf-divider\">\n\n\n<p><strong><em>&nbsp;<\/em>What is your role at GSK and what does it involve? <\/strong>I have the role of Head of Structural Microscopy at GSK Vaccines, meaning that I am responsible for coordinating all the activities related to electron microscopy. We have different types of microscopy. Some are used for production purposes: for example &#8211; for products (vaccines) going to the market &#8211; we use electron microscopy to check the condition and do morphological analysis, which can help identify and understand any quality issues. However, we also use single-particle cryo-EM and cryo-tomography to understand the structure of novel antigens that are candidates for new vaccines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>What is the biggest challenge associated with the role? <\/strong>Currently, the biggest challenge is coordinating all the different activities in parallel. As structural microscopy gets more important, we\u2019re dealing with thousands of collaborations and different people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, at the very beginning, the biggest challenge was to get a vaccine company to understand that there is not only immunological or functional approaches that can be used to discover new vaccine candidates, but that structure is important. To make use of EM approaches, we had to set up new collaborations, and it was at first difficult to persuade the universities who had the instrumentation and were experts in the field, that collaboration was worthwhile. Now that we are established and people are more aware of how structural biology and cryo-EM can help drug discovery for vaccines, this is no longer a problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>And the best part about working in this role? <\/strong>That you\u2019re working with people with so many different expertise, and you are surrounded all the time by innovation. As well as the fact that you are working on something that will be useful in the end. For example, several years ago we started a collaboration with researchers in the NMR field from the University of Florence&nbsp; \u2013 only by collaborating with them were we able to create a new vaccine. This wouldn\u2019t have been possible alone. You have to continuously deal with researchers from the public and private sector \u2013 who have very different ways of thinking and acting, but you manage to collaborate with all of them and this really pushes to get the best results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>What are the main other differences \u2013 both positive &amp; negative &#8211; between industry and academia, in your experience? <\/strong>In the research centre, there are no differences in terms of research quality. What is different is the timing: in industry everything is very very fast. You are interfacing all the time with development \u2013 which means you are thinking not only how something works on your own bench, but how will this affect development and production. There is strong competition in the vaccine field, so we have pressure. What is important is the freshness of ideas \u2013 it\u2019s more innovative for sure. Also because of this we have internal PhD and postdoc programmes, with close links to universities &#8211; the PhDs and postdocs spending time with us and some time at the university, where they will receive their PhD. This provides fresh people and ideas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>How did you get into your first industry role? <\/strong>At the time I was based in Paris working at the CNRS in Gif-Sur-Yvette. Both myself and my husband were working there, and I had a good offer from the Pasteur Institute, but my husband was pining to come back to Italy after many years abroad so we decided to come back. To perform at my best, I need pressure so I go beyond my boundaries; but I also need to know that what I am doing is useful. I thought industry might provide this. Then I noticed an advertisement from Chiron* in Sienna\u2013 both my husband and I applied for positions there and we both got interviews. At the beginning they asked me to work as an immunologist, which I did for the first few months, but I then discussed with the head of Chiron that I know a lot more about cryo-microscopy and structural biology. She asked me what cryo-microscopy was, and found it interesting \u2013 I was then able to buy my own EM microscope and start establishing collaborations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 8pt;\">* Chiron was an international biotech, which was bought by Novartis in 2006. Novartis later sold the vaccine part of its business to GSK in 2014<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>What do you think was important for you to get your current role and succeed in your later positions? <\/strong>At the very beginning your lab, technology and methodology skills are important. Coming from a good institute like EMBL helps your CV stand out. However, being smart, passionate about science, hardworking, and able to work in a team is essential for longer-term success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>So as a hiring manager, when reading applications PhD and postdocs\u2019 applications , what you are looking for is the lab skills and hints of team-work, hard-work and intelligence? <\/strong>Exactly, I look at the whole CV, including which labs they have trained in and their lab skills. For soft skills and passion, this is always quite hard to get from the CV \u2013 here talking to the person is really important, so the interview plays more of a role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>What do you think are the common myths about working in industry research, which are actually incorrect?&nbsp; <\/strong>A common misconception is that scientists in industry can\u2019t or don\u2019t publish and don\u2019t participate in scientific congresses. In fact, you have to publish and will attend conferences in your field. Another misconception is that you will only work 9-4 in industry \u2013 but in reality, there\u2019s lots to do, you will be involved in multiple projects and have lots of meetings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>You mentioned that people in industry don\u2019t work 9-4. How does the work life balance compare to academia? <\/strong>At least at GSK in Italy, there is lots of help for work-life balance \u2013 we have our own schools, people who help with chores, the possibility to work from home. For me the work-life balance is good &#8211; when my children were younger I would sometimes stay late but myself or my husband would always be there: which allowed us to balance things well. Now that my daughters are grown up I stay longer more often &#8211; I have a real passion for the work I\u2019m doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>How are positions generally advertised\/filled at GSK? <\/strong>Firstly, we have our own internal PhD and postdoc programmes \u2013 all are advertised on the GSK website. For the PhD programme, the advertisement, and supervision is shared with a university \u2013 with the recruitment normally hosted by the university. For postdocs, in addition to our own programme, we can also take postdocs via some grants. For people already doing postdocs who want to come in as a staff member \u2013 as well as looking for advertisements, it\u2019s often helpful to look directly who at GSK is doing the kind of work you are interested in and contact them directly. The recruitment process normally involves several interviews.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Any other recommendations you have for PhDs and postdocs thinking of applying? <\/strong>It\u2019s always good to contact people at a similar level to you working in companies to exchange experiences, this can help you better understand what it would be like to work in Industry and what\u2019s important there.<\/p>\n\n\n<hr class=\"vf-divider\">\n\n\n<p>Ilaria can be contacted by email at ilaria.x.ferlenghi@gsk.com or via the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/alumni\/community\/directory\/\">EMBL Alumni Directory<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/intranet.embl.de\/alumni\/alumni-directory\/index.html\">.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>EMBL staff \/ fellows can also search and contact other alumni working in industry research to seek\u00a0 career advice \/ informal mentoring via the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/alumni\/community\/directory\/\">EMBL Alumni Directory.\u00a0<\/a>Please see our article on <u><a href=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/embl-fellows-career-service\/blog\/2018\/10\/informational-interviews\/\">informational interviews<\/a><\/u><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.embl.org\/careers\/informational-interviews\/\"> <\/a>for ideas on how to make the most of such opportunities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<article class=\"vf-card vf-card--brand vf-card--striped vf-u-margin__bottom--800\" default>\n  \n  <div class=\"vf-card__content | vf-stack vf-stack--400\">\n          <h3 class=\"vf-card__heading\">\n                  <a class=\"vf-card__link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/embl-fellows-career-service\/info-resources\/exploration\/industry-research\/\" target=\"\">\n        \n        Additional resources on our webpages\n                  <svg aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"vf-card__heading__icon | vf-icon vf-icon-arrow--inline-end\" width=\"1em\" height=\"1em\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\">\n            <path d=\"M0 12c0 6.627 5.373 12 12 12s12-5.373 12-12S18.627 0 12 0C5.376.008.008 5.376 0 12zm13.707-5.209l4.5 4.5a1 1 0 010 1.414l-4.5 4.5a1 1 0 01-1.414-1.414l2.366-2.367a.25.25 0 00-.177-.424H6a1 1 0 010-2h8.482a.25.25 0 00.177-.427l-2.366-2.368a1 1 0 011.414-1.414z\" fill=\"currentColor\" fill-rule=\"nonzero\"><\/path>\n          <\/svg>\n        <\/a>\n              <\/h3>\n    \n    \n          <p class=\"vf-card__text\">Our career information page &#8216;industry research&#8217; includes further links and resources related to this career area.<\/p>\n      <\/div>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ilaria Ferlenghi tells us about her career in industry, and her thoughts on how research in industry compares to academia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3332,3346],"tags":[3392,3420,3434],"embl_taxonomy":[],"class_list":["post-133","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-career-profiles","category-industry-biotech-rd-career-profiles","tag-career-change","tag-embl-alumni","tag-innovation"],"acf":[],"embl_taxonomy_terms":[],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/embl-fellows-career-service\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.svg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/embl-fellows-career-service\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/embl-fellows-career-service\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/embl-fellows-career-service\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/embl-fellows-career-service\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/embl-fellows-career-service\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=133"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/embl-fellows-career-service\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19677,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/embl-fellows-career-service\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133\/revisions\/19677"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/embl-fellows-career-service\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/embl-fellows-career-service\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=133"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/embl-fellows-career-service\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=133"},{"taxonomy":"embl_taxonomy","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/embl-fellows-career-service\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/embl_taxonomy?post=133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}