Bringing business and science together in resource-constrained regions

Taryn Adams has long been interested in bridging the gap between science and business in order to ensure science has practical, useful applications. Coming from South Africa, she says the innovation that results from linking science and business, particularly in biotech, is still in its early stages, but she feels there is room to make a difference through applying existing technology to new fields.?

She hopes her MPhil in Bioscience Enterprise will help give her the skills she needs to apply lab-based science to real-world scenarios in her country.? She says: “Innovation tends to be about finding the next new thing, but in a resource-constrained region that might not be possible. We can, however, innovate by taking something that already exists and applying it to a problem it has not been applied to before.”

Her passion comes from her experience as an undergraduate, working on an HIV research. She found herself frustrated by the focus on publishing rather than on the practical application of science in the real world.

“There needs to be a greater focus on start-ups spinning out of academia in South Africa,” she says. She wanted to contribute to that. She had been involve in pitching competitions, but wanted to get some experience of working in a biotech company. So she took a job at a small company focused on genetic testing working as a design and development scientist across the stem cell banking facility, biologics wound care manufacturing unit and genetics laboratory. Her role morphed from one of only technical focus to evaluating current and new products and services from both a business and regulatory lens.?

The role also allowed her to get experience of thinking about the real-world applications of science, for instance, how South African biotechnology businesses could leverage their expertise and capabilities to expand products and services.? “It was a good exposure to the regulatory environment and offered a crash course in science and business,” she says, adding: “It was very different to the academic environment. My thinking as a scientist became more practical and holistic.”

Now, through her MPhil she hopes to improve the interface between academic research and business in South Africa. With access to a diverse Gates Cambridge community, she says she will use every occasion to probe opportunities to develop a biotech enterprise that provides value to everyday lives and to engage current Cambridge biotech accelerators and enterprise development organisations to look to the African continent.?

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