A time with the New generation of Pharmaceutical Scientists SIG chair
Received on 14/05/2022
Name: Rebecka Isaksson
Country: United Kingdom
Current Job Position: Postdoctoral Research Associate (PDRA) at University College London
Area of Expertise: Pharmaceutical sciences — Medicinal chemistry
Current Role in the SIG/Section: Chair of NGPS
Describe your experience in the SIG/Section:
This SIG was started officially in 2019 and I’ve been leading it from the start. I chaired the organizing committee for the first Young Scientists Conference in 2017, a conference that kicked off the discussion within FIP to have a Young Scientists-focused SIG. I have a great team to work with, and it’s been incredibly rewarding to work with such talented researchers to get the SIG started and established within FIP. We are still a small team, but we stay active and have many exciting ideas that we hope to make happen in 2022. We enjoy good collaborations with other SIGs and YPG and look forward to the Seville Congress where we will be hosting a social event with YPG and IPSF.
Please discuss a bit about your career path and how you have come to be in your current position:
I have a master’s degree in science and engineering from the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, and it was during the final years of that education that I became intrigued with using chemistry for biological applications. I decided to go into medicinal chemistry, and where is better, than the only Pharmaceutical Faculty in Sweden? I received my Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Sciences from Uppsala university in 2019, it was a challenge to move into a slightly new field but I learned a lot and I enjoy creating chemical tools that can help answer biological questions. After my Ph.D. dissertation was finished, I moved to Edinburgh to work as a PDRA on a purely chemistry-focused project, but I quickly started missing the biological application and multidisciplinary discussion you find in a medium project. In 2020, between lockdowns, I moved to London and began working on an antimicrobial project, a highly relevant topic given the alarming rise in antimicrobial resistance we see around the world. It’s a very exciting project and although AMR can feel like a daunting problem it is also highly motivating — we can find ways to move forward and ensure we still have access to antibiotics in the future. It will require both pharmacists and pharmaceutical scientists, and FIP plays an important role in this fight as an educator and facilitator for change.
How do you see the importance of FIP for the Pharmaceutical Profession?
FIP is a vast global network of pharmacists and pharmaceutical scientists of very high importance to the pharmaceutical community. The new ONE FIP strategy truly brings together pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences, and I believe it is very important for science to inform practice. As I mentioned already FIP has taken a leading role in AMR providing webinars, informing of best practices, and advocating on the global stage — bringing together both pharmacists and pharmaceutical scientists focused on AMR. During the COVID-19 webinar series, we saw that scientific content relating to the drugs and vaccines that are in development to tackle the pandemic was highly appreciated both by pharmacists and pharmaceutical scientists. It’s a webinar I’m very proud to have created with my NGPS team, and that now forms part of the extensive library of online content that FIP provides the pharmaceutical community. As we move forward and soon out of this pandemic, I hope we will see more content that will ensure that science and practice learn from each other. Young pharmacists and pharmaceutical scientists can also find great support within FIP, in form of webinars, handbooks, and an opportunity to network globally. The pharmaceutical profession and community would not be the same without FIP.
Please share any suggestions or advice for early career pharmacists and pharmaceutical scientists:
Embrace change! It’s the one thing we can all be certain of and fearing it will not make it disappear. Change is needed to learn, improve, and grow — don’t hide from it. As young pharmacists and pharmaceutical sciences we have to be leaders of change to ensure we improve healthcare, and access to it, both locally and globally.
Thank you so much for your time.
