Meet Mariana Leal, Senior Translational Scientist at Owlstone Medical

At Owlstone Medical, our staff are passionate about the life-changing potential of the work they do, partnering with some of the world’s biggest companies to come up with solutions to some of the world’s most difficult medical problems.

Mariana Leal is part of our Translational Science Team, we asked her to tell us more about her role and how her career has developed since joining Owlstone Medical.

Could you tell us a bit about yourself and your career to this point??

I started my career in Brazil, more precisely in the Amazonian region. I used to dream about being an engineer and learning how to build commercial properties. However, when I was finishing high school, I volunteered in a house that supported children with cancer. I never pictured myself as a medical doctor, the disease that fascinated me was one of the most painful and I could not imagine myself giving bad news to a patient, especially without good alternatives of treatments (basically, I am the type that cries with Disney films!). After this volunteering experience, I changed my mind: I wanted to be a scientist and build “something” that could help a patient with cancer, a very specific disease target!?The publication of the first draft of the human genome also gave me a push in this direction.?

The only laboratory in my university that worked with (gastric) cancer research was led by one of the most amazing professors that I had, and at the beginning of my undergraduate study, I nervously knocked on his door asking for an internship. I moved to Sao Paulo, to do my master's degree and PhD looking at gastric cancer. With time, what used to be just one person became a big group focusing on this disease.

After my PhD, I was invited by the Orthopaedic Department to work with them. It was during the FIFA World Cup and the Olympic games in Brazil. We were not very successful as a country in these games, but I got good grants as a Principal Investigator, I led multiple projects, I was lecturer, I helped to implement a new post-grad program and I co-supervised some PhD students. At least for a few years, I believed that it was better to be a scientist in Brazil than a football player!?

I loved my work at the university, especially the students. However, I knew I would need to move after my grant finished. Amazing therapies and technologies were coming and I wanted to be part of it. Oncology could not be just a side project to me.?

And so I arrived in the UK! Working in the Royal Marden Hospital/The Institute of Cancer Research, where one month before I started, Prince Willian had visited! I did not meet a member of the royal family, but I had the opportunity to work with some of the most influential scientists of the last decade for cancer therapy. I just loved it. I could focus on science and (an added plus) I had a time for myself.

I love to travel, and scuba diving, and I love to be completely lost in another culture and explore a new environment. I enjoy travelling with family and friends, but I'm also a passionate solo traveler. I am a shy person, but travelling on my own forces me to speak with strangers and I love hearing their stories. Oh, and I really like food! When I am travelling alone, I can stop to eat anywhere; just by taking in a smell at times! In the pre-pandemic period, I would happily eat even things that I didn't really know what it was, making sure to always carry a good first aid kit.?

I saw great opportunities as a scientist living in the UK and I decided on a goal outside an academic environment. I enjoyed it! After being a Principal Scientist in a small start-up looking at drug discovery, I headed to Owlstone Medical and I am still motivated by “building something” that could help a patient with cancer.

You joined Owlstone Medical in March 2021, what was it that drew you to working with us?

As I mentioned previously, I was working in a biotech and I loved the inventive and collaborative environment. When the company closed, I returned to academia, but continued to look at biotechnology companies and Owlstone came to my attention. The idea of creating a non-invasive test is a key motivator for any translational scientist working with biomarker discovery. In addition, I could see that Owlstone was investing in technology with different approaches and in different diseases, including lung cancer. I was intrigued and felt that I would learn a lot. During the interview process, I could picture myself working here, I learned more about the concept of EVOC Probes and knew that I could bring something to the table, utilizing my knowledge with clinical and pre-clinical studies.

What is your role at Owlstone and how does your work support the company’s mission?

We want to discover new EVOC Probes for the diagnosis or screening of lung cancer and we want to have confidence in these probes before we go to clinical trials. So, my role involves mainly de-risking EVOC Probes using in vitro (cells) and in vivo (mice) models. I work with different teams internally to expand our capacity to run these pre-clinical studies. In addition, I support some Owlstone clinical trials such as LuCID (Lung Cancer Indicator Detection).

What do you enjoy most about being a Senior Translational Scientist?

As a translation scientist, you keep your eyes on what can have utility for a patient and this is what I enjoy most. You try to create bridges between basic science and clinical fields and you dynamically work with pre-clinical and clinical studies and interact with a great mix of teams.

What are you most excited about for the future?

What excites me most? It is always the final goal. For most of the diseases we work with, getting an early diagnosis can have a significant positive impact on the life of a patient. I want to be part of this. I want to help to create a roadmap for how we can take a concept for an EVOC probe, test it systematically and then one day bring it to a clinical trial.?

What advice would you give to someone considering a career in science?

There is space for all kinds of personalities in science! Talk with different scientists to try to understand the best path for you and keep exploring. Be passionate, determined, and flexible, these all help to navigate through a science career.?As a scientist, you will be walking through a lot of uncertainty and failure will be part of the process, you need to focus on your main goal; why are you there/here. Learn with every small step and don`t be afraid to change directions when needed.??

Owlstone Medical is expanding – we’re currently recruiting for both permanent and short-term roles. If you’d like to join Mariana and the rest of our talented team and help us save 100,000 lives and $1.5B in healthcare spending, then view our current vacancies.