As part of our themed issue on Women on Drug Discovery, I am delighted to have the opportunity to interview Dr Tanya Parish of Seattle Children’s Research Institute (part of Seattle Children’s Hospital) where she works as a Senior Investigator and Scientist. Dr Parish graduated from University College, London with a BSc in Microbiology and Genetics before she completed a PhD in Mycobacterial Genetics from the National Institute of Medical Research. Dr Parish’s career has seen her work at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and at Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry. She was also, until recently, Senior Vice President of Drug Discovery at the Infectious Disease Research Institute, in Seattle, Washington, USA. Dr Parish’s extensive career made her an ideal candidate for this interview and for her to provide her perspectives on drug discovery today as well what it is like to be a woman in this exciting field.
We put the following questions to Dr Parish.
Q1: Firstly, what led you to the field of Drug Discovery?
For a long time, I worked in academia on the basic biology of mycobacteria, including the major human pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis. It became apparent that a deeper understanding of pathogen biology could be used in a more applied fashion, and such knowledge could help us to develop new antibiotics. Over time, my work became more focused on identifying novel drug targets and understanding how antibiotics kill mycobacteria, studies which could underpin drug discovery. From there it was an easy move into a full-blown drug discovery program aimed at developing new drugs for tuberculosis. My enthusiasm for the work is driven both by my love of science and the scientific endeavor, but also by the overwhelming need to develop new drugs for diseases such as tuberculosis.
Q2: Are there any particular people in the field that have influenced your career or research?
The earliest and most obvious influence was my PhD supervisor and mentor, Dr Philip Draper. Philip was an incredibly supportive mentor who introduced me to many of the senior scientists in the field when I was a graduate student. Philip had a broad knowledge of science, as well as an incredible depth of understanding of the mycobacterial cell wall. He was instrumental in firing my enthusiasm for cell wall biosynthesis, which I still pursue today as a drug target. He taught me both the rigor of science and that it was OK to make mistakes in the laboratory! The second person is Professor Valerie Mizrahi, an incredible (female) scientist working in South Africa. I have worked and collaborated with Val since my post-doctoral studies. She has been a role model for women in science; she has an incredible breadth of knowledge of mycobacterial biology; she is a passionate advocate for the role of biology in drug discovery; and she has unlimited energy and enthusiasm.
Q3: Given your long career in research and development, what would you class as the highlight of your career?
It is hard to pick out a single moment, and I hope the best is yet to come (from our current work), but one of my personal highlights was our first collaborative paper in the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry with Eli Lilly on a novel series targeting the electron transport chain. For us it was important because not only were we working on progressing compounds as novel TB drugs, but we were working collaboratively internally with biologists and chemists working closely together, and externally with our pharma partner Eli Lilly. Another highlight was when we renewed the funding for the Lilly TB Drug Discovery Initiative for the second time enabling our collaborative work to continue. As a microbiologist, the first knockout (deletion) strain of Mycobacterium tuberculosis I made in the lab was a personal achievement!
Q4: Are there any unique challenges in being a woman in drug discovery and development?
The major challenges are not that much different from other areas of scientific endeavor, although there are some differences between the disciplines. There are a large proportion of women entering science, but the number of women holding senior positions is low. This is more pronounced in the medicinal chemistry space and since many drug discovery programs are led by chemists, it is not unusual for me to be the single female PI in a group of men. While most of the time, this has no bearing on the science, it can be tiring to be the sole voice arguing for equity and against policies that inadvertently discriminate or perpetuate inequity.
Q5: Do you feel that opportunities in drug discovery and development have improved for women during your career?
While much has been done to improve things for entry level positions, there are still many challenges and I don’t see many changes at the higher levels. Overt discrimination and sexual harassment have been reduced, but not eliminated. Awareness of specific issues has increased, and most organizations have policies to address this. However, unconscious bias still plays a major role in holding women back and there are few initiatives that deal with this. It will not be enough to increase the number of female graduate students unless we address these systematic biases.
Q6: How do you feel the scientific community can come together to better tackle the challenges for women in drug discovery?
There needs to be a greater emphasis on equity, rather than equality. Women face different pressures than men and at different stages of their careers. A recognition that the current systems of promotion and reward are based on old assumptions about how science is best conducted must lead to new ways of identifying and rewarding excellence. Training on unconscious bias related to gender and race is a start, but in itself will not change anything, so systems and policies which take account of biases are necessary. For example, the Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA) which aims to remove the reliance on journal impact can help to evaluate science more broadly and more thoroughly. As a group we need to be prepared to call out casual misogyny and racism and not allow it to go unchallenged.
Q7: What advice would you give to another woman (or indeed person) interested in entering the field of drug discovery?
Drug discovery can be an incredibly rewarding field with more intellectual challenges that you might imagine. A solid background in one of the underlying disciplines (chemistry/biology/biochemistry-molecular biology) is a good starting point. For women entering the field, I recommend developing a support network of other women who can discuss difficulties and barriers and how to overcome them. Don’t be afraid of contributing from your own background or conversely to say what you don’t know; drug discovery encompasses many aspects and we can’t be experts in all of them; diversity of expertise is critical for success.
Q8: In terms of drug discovery generally, what do you think, in your opinion, is the most exciting future avenue and why?
I am most excited by the use of advanced screening methods which can be used to identify novel chemical matter as starting points. In particular, for bacterial pathogens, the use of recombinant strains (knock-downs, knock-outs, and over-expressors) can be used both for target or pathway-based screening, but also for rapid target identification and mechanism of action studies. Also, the use of more complex screens which mimic host infection are becoming more accessible and higher throughput.