My greatest inspiration

My Grandad worked for the drug company May & Baker based in Dagenham in the 70s. He did lots of fantastic things there. He left school without the qualifications to get to uni so started working as a technician before working his way up to a drug developer. His team developed Acebutolol (Sectral), a cardioselective beta-1 blocker which was used to treat hypertension and arrhythmias. The drug has been replaced by newer beta blockers which have fewer side effects, but I’m so proud of the foundations he laid for future scientists such as myself.

He also met my Granny there. She was a pharmacist who was sat on the floor trying to get a machine to work. My grandad swooped in and helped her turn it on… and the rest is history!

He has always been my greatest support. He worked alongside me when I was studying for my degree, learning the content to “keep his brain sharp”. He’s a legend, really. And I’m so lucky to have him.