International Women’s Day: A day in the life of…Amanda Turner

Amanda Turner
Product Manager Custom Antibody Products at Bio-Rad Laboratories

I am part of the antibody marketing team at Bio-Rad based in Oxford, UK, and have responsibility for our custom antibody services. I received an MA in Biochemistry from The University of Oxford, and have subsequently pursued a career in life science sales, marketing, and product development. I began in technical sales with R&D Systems (Abingdon, UK), progressed to European Business Development Manager at Sigma-Genosys (Haverhill, UK), and then Marketing Operations Manager at ProImmune (Oxford, UK), before joining AbD Serotec in 2012, which became part of Bio-Rad in 2013.

 1My alarm goes off…

In the morning I usually do a short run or workout, before breakfast with my family. I have a 1 hour drive to work, which I use to catch up on current affairs. When it all gets too serious I switch to music, audiobooks or comedy podcasts, just to make sure I get to work with a smile on my face!

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2I’m responsible for…

My job focuses on the new product development and marketing of our custom antibody generation and production services, and our anti-biotherapeutic antibody portfolio. These specialized antibodies are used by scientists for biologic and biosimilar drug development, primarily as critical reagents in pharmacokinetic and anti-drug antibody assays.

The work involves listening to and collaborating with bioanalytical scientists in pharma and CRO companies to find out what new products and services we can develop to help them progress their work. I develop and implement the marketing strategy and communication plans to support new and existing products and services. On a daily basis I interact with our antibody experts in the R&D and production teams in Germany, our antibody marketing team in Oxford and our technical sales specialists around the world.

3My typical day…

My day includes quite a variety of interesting projects and activities; reviewing experimental data in new product development meetings, liaising between customer-facing and production teams on specific projects, devising a marketing campaign to launch a new product, investigating new antibody-related technologies or preparing materials for a conference.

4The best part of my job…

I really enjoy the diversity and many responsibilities my job offers and the pleasure of working with my Bio-Rad colleagues. I especially value attending biologic and biosimilar development conferences and visiting customers to discuss ideas about how we can help them succeed with new antibody products and customized services.

5The worst part of my job…

Flights from the UK to west coast USA can seem interminable – I hate sitting still for so long, but the enjoyment of the conference or the company meeting, and especially the weather at the other end, makes up for it.

6After work…

To relax I enjoy keeping fit by running and mountain biking, and cultivating my allotment garden – home grown vegetables and fruit definitely taste better. I love spending time with my husband and two daughters, and am a listening volunteer for a charity that supports people when they need someone to talk to or they are going through a difficult time in their life.

 7I always wanted to be…

I don’t recall having a burning desire to follow a particular path when I was young. I remember my passion for science building at school, fuelled by some inspirational teachers. I fell into a summer holiday sales job after university, selling aerial photographs door-to-door, and then fortunately managed to combine my scientific and sales skills to start my career. I’ll always remember my first interview for this ‘proper’ job, which was in the days before mobile phones, and took place in a drafty public telephone box in the middle of the town where I was selling photos – as I was a poor student I had to start by asking them to call me back!

Who is your inspirational hero?

 One of the first female scientists I came across who inspired me, was Rosalind Franklin, the

X-ray crystallographer who contributed to the discovery of the double helix structure of DNA. Despite her superb work she faced enormous barriers as a woman in the field of science, and was only properly recognised for the part she played after her death.