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October
2004
 Job title and General Description
I am the Senior Director of Clinical Biology and Target Discovery
at Xenon
Pharmaceuticals.
At Xenon, our mission is to discover, develop and commercialize
innovative medicines based on genetically derived targets.
I have been with the company since the early days when we
first began setting up the laboratory at UBC. One of our current
projects involves iron metabolism. The approach that we take
at Xenon is to study a disease all the way from investigating
the family, to gene discovery, to drug development. We select
to study families that have a severe form of a specific disease,
in an effort to identify important novel disease-related targets
for therapeutic development. Once we have found a genetic
change in these families and studied the function of that
specific genetic sequence, we use this information to develop
drugs that target the functions and pathways involved. We
develop and test many potential drugs in order to find the
most effective product.
My role at Xenon is very broad. I am trained both as a clinical
geneticist (MD) and a scientist (PhD) so I have an in depth
knowledge of the diseases we study and a solid understanding
of the research process. As a senior director, my involvement
in our research projects includes planning, overseeing, ensuring
implementation and analyzing results. I am also a member of
our intellectual property group and here I assist in the medical
and scientific aspects of the patent fillings. I also work
on the business side of Xenon. I am involved with presentations
and evaluations with various groups including potential and
active investors, and pharmaceutical companies.
What specific skills and qualities are
needed to do your job?
To be successful in my job I need to be action-oriented. I
need to be flexible to adapt to changes as well as focused
on the goals we are working toward. I need to be able to keep
the big picture in sight while multitasking on the many components
of my work. It is extremely important to be able to translate
knowledge into developing a goal and a plan to achieve that
goal. Collaborating with other people within the company and
around the world is critical to my job as well so good communication
skills are essential.
What do you like most about your work?
I enjoy many aspects of my job. I enjoy the fact that I’m
combining science, medicine and business in my role at Xenon.
I am also very pleased that we are able to translate basic
science into a useful product that will help people around
the world. Discovering novel information and using that to
develop completely new drug therapies is extremely exciting.
What don’t you like about your job?
In the early days when Xenon was just starting up things were
frustrating at times working in a small lab and working on
the future plan. At that stage, we were still defining our
path forwards. Now that the company is more established and
recognized for its achievements those frustrations are gone.
I enjoy my job very much just the way it is.
Where do you see your career going from
here?
I am very happy here at Xenon. I see my career developing
and growing as the company moves ahead.
What is the range in salary that comes
with your job?
The range of salary for this type of job is very wide. There
are many variables including type of employer (academic, research
or industry) as well as the types of skills and background
you have.
When did you know you wanted to work in
sciences?
I was interested in studying medicine since I was a teenager.
I became interested in science after I finished medical school.
What is your educational background? Degrees?
Specific courses?
I did my medical degree in the early 1980’s and finished
my PhD in Cancer Genetics in 1990 in South Africa. I came
to Canada to further my research career and also to work on
my medical specialty (FRCPC) in genetics at UBC, which I completed
in 2000.
What was your favorite course(s) and why?
Math, science and biology were my favorite courses in school.
What other hobbies and interests do you
have?
I used to play chess very seriously, but now just for fun.
I also enjoy spending time with my family and keeping fit
with swimming and going to the gym. I love to watch international
soccer and listening to all kinds of music. I will never say
no to seeing a good movie.
Do you have any advice for young people
thinking about getting into your line of work?
Be committed to what you do. Make an informed decision by
talking to people and thinking through what works for you.
Be truly committed to taking action around the decisions and
goals that you have set for yourself. Otherwise you just end
up with a long and meaningless wish list.
Read widely and broadly. Job markets and career paths can
change with time so keep your options open and remain flexible.
A broad range of skills, such as computer and technology skills,
will help to keep you marketable.
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