Meet the LifeScience ORG CEO
Ola Wlodek - Constructive Bio
Who or what called you to lead?
I've always been interested in nature and the small things surrounding me, like plants and insects. My mom is a dentist and scientifically inclined. She is excited about reading and was intent on getting as many books as possible, surrounding me with good-quality reading material when I was growing up. She has been my biggest inspiration to pursue something related to the life sciences.
Although I couldn’t decide what to study for quite some time, I chose biotechnology at the University of Krakow after finishing the equivalent of my A-levels. I loved university. It was a place where I was surrounded by fantastic and very inspirational teachers.
I then did my Ph.D. at Cambridge where I studied mitochondrial enzymes, how mitochondria produce energy, and the associated defects of mitochondrial bioenergetics.
This was the time before CRISPR, so modifying mammalian enzymes was a difficult process. I was studying the bacterial equivalence of mammalian enzymes, which made me quite skilled in engineering complex organisms, and I became increasingly interested in engineering biology or synthetic biology.
At the end of my Ph.D., I realized that I really like biotechnology and biological engineering. So I found a job in biotech in the Cambridge cluster and have been there since.
I do believe that I am a better enabler than I am a bench scientist, which made me gravitate towards leadership positions and more operational work.
Two years ago, I was approached by a recruiter for the CEO position at Constructive Bio – I was thrilled. I had been a big fan of Jason Chin's research for many years and as the founder of Constructive Bio, he played a big role in my recruitment.
Being able to stand at the helm of a company that enables Jason's research is a huge motivation for me.
How is it working as a woman in a very male-dominated field? Have you ever faced challenges that may be unique to your position?
I’m from Poland. There are a few things that the post-communist countries do well, including egalitarianism. That's perhaps the silver lining of that part of Poland’s history.
To me, the gender disparity is more pronounced in the UK than in Poland. I never felt limited in my career until I moved to the UK. Maybe because my mother is a very strong woman, as was my grandmother. Growing up, I had amazing role models, and nobody ever even considered that there could be limitations because I’m a woman.
I think, in a male-dominated field, it helps to bring confidence to the table. My Executive MBA at the University of Warwick helped me gain the knowledge I needed to feel stronger and more confident about being a female leader in biotech.
Giving women more responsibilities and more possibilities in the biotech workplace is very close to my heart. There's lots of good work on both sides of the pond. There is a very active Biotech Sisterhood in the US and the network Women in Biotech in the UK.
While there is still plenty of work to be done, there are fantastic female role models and leaders in biotech, which is very exciting. I think the future is very bright for women in biotech.
Ola’s full profile is available for our members inside the community.