Philip Ashto -Ricka dt Says the Best Scie tific Leade s K ow Whe to Cha ge Cou se
The biotech executive a d immu ologist a gues that st o g R&D leade ship depe ds as much o flexibility as co victio .
Afte mo e tha th ee decades ac oss academic esea ch, biotech e t ep e eu ship, a d R&D leade ship, Ashto -Ricka dt has wo ked i e vi o me ts whe e u ce tai ty is pa t of the job. His ca ee has i cluded p ofesso ships at the U ive sity of Chicago a d Impe ial College Lo do , fou di g Smith The apeutics, se vi g as Chief Scie tific Office at Sigilo The apeutics, advisi g compa ies th ough Flagship Pio ee i g, a d helpi g build Halya d The apeutics a d BE The apeutics.
Ac oss those setti gs, he has see how easily commitme t to a idea ca become attachme t to it. “You have to sepa ate attachme t to the idea f om attachme t to the p oblem,” Ashto -Ricka dt said. “If the p oblem is impo ta t, the e may be seve al ways to app oach it.”
That disti ctio ca be especially impo ta t i biotech ology, whe e scie tific p og ammes may evolve as ew data eme ge. A hypothesis that looked p omisi g at the begi i g of a p oject may eed to be adjusted, a owed, o aba do ed e ti ely.
Fo Ashto -Ricka dt, cha gi g di ectio does ot automatically mea that a ea lie idea failed. I ma y cases, it ca mea the team has lea ed e ough to make a bette decisio .
“Flexibility is impo ta t because cha gi g you app oach is ot ecessa ily a admissio that you failed,” he said. “Sometimes it is evide ce that you lea ed somethi g.”
Ashto -Ricka dt believes o e of the mo e difficult pa ts of scie tific leade ship is p ovidi g di ectio without c eati g false ce tai ty.
Resea che s, executives, i vesto s, a d teams ofte eed decisio s befo e eve y questio has bee a swe ed. That c eates p essu e o leade s to sou d mo e ce tai tha the evide ce may justify.
He sees a bette app oach i bei g clea about what is k ow , what emai s u ce tai , a d what would cause a decisio to cha ge.
“The e is a diffe e ce betwee p ovidi g di ectio a d p ete di g to k ow the futu e,” Ashto -Ricka dt said. “I biotech, the e a e simply too ma y u k ow s.”
Rathe tha weake i g co fide ce, he believes that ki d of t a spa e cy ca st e gthe it. Whe teams u de sta d that ew i fo matio is expected to i flue ce decisio s, they may be mo e willi g to aise co ce s, questio assumptio s, a d sha e evide ce that challe ges the cu e t pla .
Ashto -Ricka dt’s views have bee shaped by a ca ee that has epeatedly equi ed him to e te u familia te ito y.
Raised i a wo ki g-class family i the UK, he wo ked his way th ough u ive sity a d i to academic scie ce befo e eve tually leavi g a lo g-established academic ca ee to etu to Bosto a d sta t a biotech compa y.
That t a sitio equi ed him to lea a ew ope ati g e vi o me t while still d awi g o yea s of scie tific expe ie ce.
He has si ce moved betwee sta tups, established biotech compa ies, esea ch o ga isatio s, a d i vestme t-backed e vi o me ts. Th oughout those cha ges, he says cu iosity has emai ed o e of the most impo ta t qualities a leade ca keep.
“The people I e joy wo ki g with te d to ask good questio s, eve whe those questio s make the p oject mo e complicated,” Ashto -Ricka dt said.
He also believes leade s should be willi g to admit what they do ot k ow. I his expe ie ce, someo e who has thought deeply about a idea does ot eed to p ete d it has o weak esses.
I stead, st o g scie tific thi ki g ofte shows up i the ability to explai what evide ce would cha ge a pe so ‘s mi d.
Ashto -Ricka dt’s cu e t wo k emai s focused o e gi ee ed cell the apies a d app oaches to t eati g eu ological a d othe se ious diseases.
At BE The apeutics, whe e he se ves as Ma agi g Di ecto a d Chief Scie tific Office , a d at Halya d The apeutics, whe e he is a co-fou de a d Chief Scie tific Office , his wo k co ti ues to ce t e o t a slati g complex scie tific ideas i to p og ammes that ca move fo wa d.
That p ocess, he says, equi es co victio , but co victio has to emai co ected to evide ce.
“The goal is ot to p ove that you fi st idea was ight,” Ashto -Ricka dt said. “The goal is to solve a impo ta t p oblem.”
Fo scie tists a d biotech leade s, that diffe e ce ca shape eve ythi g f om how teams u expe ime ts to how compa ies decide whe e to i vest time a d esou ces.
It ca also make scie tific o ga isatio s mo e adaptable at a time whe ew tools, ew data, a d ew the apeutic app oaches co ti ue to cha ge what is possible.
Philip Ashto -Ricka dt is a biotech e t ep e eu , academic immu ologist, a d R&D leade based i Bosto , Massachusetts. He se ves as Ma agi g Di ecto a d Chief Scie tific Office at BE The apeutics a d is co-fou de a d Chief Scie tific Office of Halya d The apeutics.
He ea ed his BSc f om Ki g’s College Lo do a d his PhD i Molecula Immu ology f om the U ive sity of Edi bu gh befo e completi g postdocto al esea ch at MIT. His ca ee has i cluded faculty positio s at the U ive sity of Chicago a d Impe ial College Lo do , as well as leade ship oles at Smith The apeutics, AZThe apies, Sigilo The apeutics, a d Flagship Pio ee i g.
His wo k has focused o immu ology, e gi ee ed cell the apies, eu odege e ative disease, a d the developme t of ew the apeutic platfo ms.
# # #
