Enlightening experience working with Fauna Bio

Jess Peers, an Earlham Institute PhD student, wanted to use her PIPS to learn about the different roles that exist in industry and to see how she could apply her research skills in an industrial environment. She spent 12-weeks with Fauna Bio both working remotely (with an 8-hour time zone difference) and visiting the team in Emeryville, California.

She worked with the computational team and was responsible for identifying and pre-processing datasets for input into machine learning tools as well as presenting these tools and results back to the wider Fauna Bio business. Jess learnt a great deal about machine learning, drug target discovery and working in a biotech startup. She was also surprised how much she enjoyed discussing project management and company development and she benefitted greatly from attending a range of company meetings.

Jess’ appraisal on what she gained most from her PIPS experience with Fauna Bio was a greater understanding of potential careers for scientists in industry, growth in self-confidence when presenting on new topics and an understanding of how companies in the biotech industry are funded and how success is measured.