Dr Thomas Lanyon-Hogg
Dr Tom Lanyon-Hogg completed his Masters in Medicinal Chemistry and PhD in Biochemistry at the University of Leeds, before joining the group of Professor Ed Tate at Imperial College London as a postdoctoral researcher in Chemical Biology. Whilst at Imperial, Tom’s research focused on various ‘classically undruggable’ protein targets and he worked in drug discovery labs at the Institute of Cancer Research, the Francis Crick Institute, the Dundee Drug Discovery Unit, and Diamond Light Source. In 2020 Tom joined the Department of Pharmacology as a Career Development Fellow to start his first research group.
What made you want to pursue a career in science?
It’s hard for me to put my finger on exactly one thing – my career path has actually been quite meandering and non-linear, particularly in the early stages, but ultimately I always wanted to use the abilities that I had to try to help people in the best way that I could.
What drives you and excites you about your job?
For me the most exciting part of my job is the people I get to work with. It’s a privilege to be able to tackle huge, challenging problems alongside incredibly talented scientists. Equally, it’s a real privilege to work with students who are far more capable than I ever was at their stage, and to see them flourish and achieve amazing things.
What are the high points of your career so far?
Starting the Career Development Fellowship in Pharmacology was a definite high point. As was seeing the first paper from our group published and picked up in various news articles.
What obstables have you had to overcome?
Starting the Career Development Fellowship/group in the midst of the pandemic was also very tough. There’s been many other challenges over the years, but that was definitely the hardest thing I’ve had to overcome.
What advice would you give to early career researchers and students looking to develop their careers – what lessons have you learned? What would you recommend and what would you counsel them against?
Try to develop a vision for your long-term career goals, then many of the steps in between will become self-evident. Talk to others and build your resilience, as there will inevitably be setbacks and challenges along the way. Avoid comparing yourself to other people as everyone’s path is different; the race is long and ultimately only with yourself.