This is our interview with Lydia Ainsworth at Solutions OP Ltd which was recorded for the Solutions OP Clinical Trials podcast. You can listen to the original recording here. Please note that the interview below is adapted and not a transcript. This was done to improve readability.
Interviewer: Welcome to today’s episode of the podcast. Today we are going to discuss some very interesting career choices in clinical research with our Senior Clinical Data Manager, Lydia Ainsworth, who’s joined us for this episode of the podcast.
Lydia is one of these very talented young people who have worked in research for quite some time now. She started her career as a Research Assistant in Manchester University and then she moved to the Christie Hospital in Manchester where she was a Senior Clinical Trials Data Manager for a few years, and then luckily, we have her on board in our team, where she’s a Senior Clinical Data Manager. She has a degree in Psychology in Manchester and at the moment she’s finishing her Master’s degree in Animal Behaviour.
I’m very happy to welcome Lydia today in this episode and ask her the first question. So, why did you decide to apply for a job in clinical research? Did you have any some preliminary knowledge about the field? How did you come up with this job?
Lydia: Hi Olga, thanks for having me on the podcast. So, I decided to apply for a job in clinical research after I’d already worked at the university. When I was studying for my undergraduate degree in psychology, I’d really enjoyed the research aspect of my degree, and I knew at that point that I wanted to pursue a career in research after graduating. I ended up working in a few academic research roles where I supported Principal Investigators and research networks at the university, and I handled a lot of data for various projects. And then COVID hit, and I decided I wanted to change things up a little bit so I decided to look into clinical research as a career option. I had some prior knowledge of clinical research, so I was aware of clinical trials, the clinical trials phases, and the process of drug approval, obviously from working with clinical researchers as part of the research networks. But I was also kind of aware that it was probably quite complex, and that there was a lot that I didn’t know.
A career in clinical research really appealed to me because I could see how the research skills I had from my academic roles would be transferable and I also knew that it would be a challenge and a bit of a step up from what I was already doing, and that’s really what I was looking for at that time. So, I applied for various roles in clinical trial coordination and data management, and I ended up working as a Data Manager in the phase 1 clinical trials unit at the Christie Hospital in Manchester, and it was obviously a big change from academic research. It was a much more fast-paced environment with a lot more strict timeframes and more regulatory processes and also working with a lot more people – so obviously NHS colleagues, but also CROs and pharma companies, which I hadn’t done before. Most of the learning about clinical trials was actually done on the job.
Interviewer: That’s brilliant. Thank you so much for sharing your experience. When you first graduated, did you get enough information and awareness of the career opportunities in clinical research? Are there any programs at the universities just to make young people aware what kind of job options are out there for them, and what would you change in terms of this awareness of the universities?
Lydia: I don’t actually ever recall being told that a career in clinical research was an option for someone with a psychology degree, and from speaking to people who have more of a biology or a biomedical background, I think there’s more awareness in those subjects for clinical research careers, as I think they’re seen as more directly related to the field. At science careers days and careers fairs you’re probably more likely to see recruiters from pharmaceutical companies than you would for other degree types like psychology. But I think nowadays most degrees involve some sort of research, so it’d be good if people were made more aware of the value of those skills and how it could be transferable to a career maybe outside of that subject area, and I think that would help encourage people to think outside of just their degree and consider what specific skills they have and how that can be transferred. For example, I always really enjoyed working with the data side of things, so collecting and handling data, working with databases, organising and cleaning data. Even during my degree and before I knew that that could be applicable to clinical research and before I realised it was a valuable professional skill.
Perhaps one suggestion would be for pharmaceutical and biotech companies to branch out and aim to recruit people from a range of different backgrounds, because having those different focuses and perspectives can be really beneficial. My background in psychology has really helped me in clinical research, for example, considering how language is used in consent processes when we’re creating consent documents, also things like wellness concerns when we’re doing applications for ethical approval, and having some understanding of psychiatric drugs or assessments that are part of trials that we work on. Generally I think a greater awareness of the wider range of opportunities in clinical research in universities would be really beneficial for people looking to recruit into these roles.
Interviewer: Thank you so much for sharing that. I absolutely agree with you – I think the universities and generally the companies could do a lot more in trying to recruit young people. I remember when I first started, even if I had my biology degree and I applied for my first job in research, I had no idea what this is about, I just read the job description. I thought “Oh, that’s something nice and cool that I can do” but then, it was the same in terms of job awareness. If I didn’t have that experience with the CRO, I guess I would never have any awareness of it because it was the same even for us in biology degrees, we never really had that discussion in working in drug development at that stage. It was more towards manufacturing, let’s say, or working in a lab in development. Even for us the information was very limited. So, I agree it’s definitely something that needs to be done.
The other question which is: It’s quite complicated field. It’s very dynamic. There are lots of new things and lots of changes, so what motivates you to work in clinical research?
Lydia: As I said before, I’ve always found research interesting, and I knew that I wanted to pursue it as a career option since my undergraduate degree. But what really motivates me about clinical research in particular is getting to contribute to discovering something new, especially if it’s something that’s going to benefit people by improving their quality of life, like a new drug or a medical device. And working with data, you get insight into each patient’s journey on the trial, and that can be really rewarding, especially if they show a positive response and you know that’s going to help even more people further down the line.
I also really enjoy just learning about new advances in clinical research. Since working at Solutions OP, I’ve got to work on medical device studies, which I haven’t worked on previously. And that’s always really interesting and motivating because there’s obviously a lot of current advancements in the field, and we get to be directly involved in the processes of getting that device onto the market and ultimately helping people. I also really like working alongside lots of different people in research, so obviously you work with the site staff, the trial coordinators, the nurses and pharmacy staff, but then you also work with the CROs and the sponsors, and that’s nice to get to work with a wide range of people. You really feel like you’re at the forefront of something that’s important, and that’s what’s really motivating.
Interviewer: That’s brilliant. I think with medical devices, particularly, what I find very good is you get to hear the personal stories. Sometimes you get to hear patients’ personal stories because they’re part of an advertising campaign or patients decided to share their stories on the radio or TV. We don’t normally get that with drug trials, but with medical devices I think it’s a lot more widespread that patients share their views, which is really great. And the other thing is, people say “Well, how do you manage working from home?” because we do work from home a lot. But I think it’s quite international. You deal with so many people around the world and even in the country we deal with so many hospitals, and it’s quite a lot more interactive than people imagine it, like probably just sitting there in front of your computer doing something. So, I think it’s not necessarily boring. Well, not in any way boring. I should say about another benefit of working remotely, is that you’re not just tied to the people in your office environment, you can go out and interact with people from all over the world, which we get to do a lot.
Would that mean if you had to make that choice again, that you’d go into clinical research again? Have you thought about it?
Lydia: Yeah, I think I definitely would. I’ve obviously got to work on so many different projects since working in clinical research, and I’ve learned a lot about medical interventions and also the indications, which has been really interesting. I am not coming from a biological background, and it’s given me the opportunity to develop a lot of skills. Obviously, data management and quality control are the main ones but also, on a broader scale, project management skills, so managing ongoing projects and workloads and monitoring the progress. I’ve also got to do a lot of writing, that’s been really good as well. I write blog posts for our website, and there’s an article that we’ve been working on that’s currently in the process of being published. So, that’s also been a really good skill that I’ve developed.
Overall, I think it’s really strengthened my research and my professional skills, which I’m sure will help with my career going forward, regardless of the direction that it goes in. The field of clinical research is constantly changing and progressing, so there’s always something new to learn or be involved in. So, yeah, I’m really happy that I made this choice in career and I definitely would choose it again!
Interviewer: That that’s really great to hear, Lydia. Thank you so much.
The last thing I would like to ask you is about any advice that you would give to university graduates who are planning to start their career in clinical research. Any experience that you think would be relevant for them or any special approach? How can they get into the field? Because for many young people at the moment and it’s really hard when they have no experience to get into the clinical research field. There are limited jobs at the moment and many of them require at least one year experience. What would you recommend to any new graduates?
Lydia: Yeah, it’s definitely very difficult. It’s sort of like a catch 22 situation where you need experience to get into a role, but you can’t get the experience without having the experience! One thing I would say is, while you’re at university, make the most of the resources that you have. I think maybe when you’re there you don’t actually realise how many good resources you have available to you, like career services and also other professionals in the field that that work at the university. So, I’d suggest looking into finding opportunities that allow you to develop your research skills – things like internships. I did one between my 2nd and 3rd year where I shadowed PhD students for 6 weeks, and that gave me loads of work experience and further opportunities down the line because I went back to work there after I’d graduated, and it sort of gave me a bit of a leg up compared to other people graduating because I’d already had some research experience. I’d also say, speak to your supervisors or lecturers if there’s any particular work experience you want to have while you’re studying, or if there’s a particular role that you’re interested in when you graduate. For example, things like lab skills, a lot of universities have labs and are happy for you to shadow someone or get work experience while you’re there.
I’d also say lean into areas that you enjoy and excel at and don’t be put off if you don’t have a degree in something biology related because there’s a lot of other routes that you can use to get into clinical research. For example, admin roles in healthcare settings or NHS apprenticeships, and they have graduate schemes now that might be a good starting point for someone who eventually wants to work up to a role where you do need more research experience.
I would also suggest doing some training – there’s a lot of online training courses, I know that NIHR has some free ones that you can do. GCP training would be a really good one because a lot of job roles require you to have that going into it, or it’s sort of seen as an advantage when you’re applying to roles if you have that. If that’s not an option, then just something that shows that you have some understanding of the area that you want to go into because that also shows that you’re eager to learn and you’re motivated about wanting to get a role in that field.
Also, some of it is figuring out what you don’t like, so be open to exploring different aspects of research and the roles that are available and if you don’t like a particular area, that’s fine, because at least you know that and you can focus on something else that you do prefer going forward. I think when you are applying for roles as well, don’t be afraid to reach out to people in the field or the employers. So, contacting them beforehand to learn more about the position that you’re applying for and what specifically they’re looking for, that’ll really help you in the application and the interview process as well. And if you get rejected from roles, which is kind of inevitable when you’re applying for job roles – like you said, the job markets can be quite difficult – if you do get rejected, ask for feedback and take that on board and don’t be put off by that, just use that to improve your applications in the future.
Interviewer: These are really brilliant tips, Lydia. Thank you so much.
Maybe I could add, because particularly in the UK, I don’t know if that’s the same around the world, but in the UK we have a lot of opportunities to work with different charities, and many of them are involved in research. So that’s also an option for those who are graduates in the UK. I’m sure maybe in other countries they have something, some similar options, but at least in our country we are lucky to have that opportunity.
And the other thing I just wanted to add to this discussion. It is about the way people have written their CVs. Sometimes they have skills which could be transferable into their role but they haven’t necessarily highlighted them into their CVs and it could be a lot trickier and easier to overlook them. So, you might actually have some skills which might be useful for that role, but because you’ve written your CV in not really good way, these skills might not be visible. I think another thing that the recent graduates need to take into consideration is that more and more recruiters are using artificial intelligence in the preselection process which, although it’s probably helpful for the recruiters, I don’t think it’s that helpful for the applicants because the artificial intelligence is basically looking for specific keywords or something based on the role to preselect you. So, if you don’t have a really well designed and completed CV and the recruiters are using artificial intelligence, you can very easily be overlooked for a job, even though you have some experience and you could be suitable for the role. I think there are a lot of moving parts at the moment that people have to consider when applying for roles in this in this field.
I would like to thank Lydia for her time, and I really hope that we see a lot more talented people like her joining clinical research because it’s not a secret that we are missing talents. We have a lot of talents, but we need to develop that talent, train these people, and help them find their career and realisation in clinical research. So, thank you so much, Lydia, for joining me today and I hope to speak to you again soon on a different topic which will be more into your role about clinical data cleaning and things like that. I’m looking forward to speaking with you again very soon. Thank you for listening.
