60 Seconds With... Simon Lovestone

Professor Simon Lovestone is a Professor of Translational Neuroscience and is Senior Fellow in Innovation and Development in the Department of Psychiatry.

Tell us a little about yourself, and what attracted you to studying/working at the University of Oxford?  

As many of you know, I came to Oxford in 2014 and in many respects I have never left. But for the last six years or so I have been at J&J in a series of roles including strategic lead for Neurodegeneration to Global Lead for Neuroscience Discovery and Translation. Sometimes I’m asked about the difference between those roles; in the first I had no direct reports and no budget and in the second I had the biggest team in Neuroscience and a huge budget. You learn to grow and exercise different work-muscles in these two very different kinds of positions and I learnt from both. And that’s relevant to why I came to Oxford in the first place and why I am going to be coming back and spending more time in the Department.

In 2014 I came because my own research was becoming more focused on drug discovery and I thought I could do that better at Oxford. John Geddes and Chas Bountra persuaded me that that was the case and they were right! I had a tremendous time, including working with Chas to set up the ARUK Drug Discovery Institute in dementia. I learnt a huge amount from colleagues in psychiatry, in neuroscience and especially in the Target Discovery Institute. In fact I learnt so much, and enjoyed the ability to do drug discovery that Oxford gave me, that when J&J asked me to move again I was happy to do so. Especially because I was asked, and was delighted to agree, to keep a small role in the Department.

What is your vision for the team/ project/research you study/work with?

Now, after nearly seven years in Big Pharma, and also after six years of having co-founded a spin out start-up company from Oxford, I want to try and use some of the experience I have gained and try and be useful to others in the department. I’ve learnt a lot about drug discovery, about innovation, about what works and what doesn’t and how to translate great science to clinical and sometimes commercial value. I am going to take on something like an Entrepreneur in Residence role and maybe also to lend a hand with development and fundraising. So if you think you have an idea, a programme or a discovery that has translational potential, and especially if you think that this might be best developed through a spin-out or in partnership with a company then come and see me and lets have a chat. I can’t promise I can help but I’d love to listen to your ideas.

What is currently at the top of your To-Do List? 

I know a bit about the Department, the Division and the University of course but I want to refresh my links and network. I’m setting up meetings with OSE and OUI, the development office and the Neurosciences teams in the division. As soon as I can, I shall start to spend a bit of time in the department too. I’m looking forward to coming to some of the exciting seminars that I can see are organised, renewing old friendships and meeting those of you that have joined since I ‘left’.

How did you get to where you are today?

By accident and with help. Seriously, I have planned nothing in my career but have tried to take every opportunity I’ve been given. And am super grateful to all those amazing people that have helped me along the way. My motto has always been ‘just say yes’ which isn't what they teach you on leadership courses! Now my motto will be ‘just give back’ and I hope I can.

Who or what inspires you?

So many people at Oxford and at previous places I’ve been fortunate to work. But if I was to pick someone from history it would be Henry Thoreau. I have a print on my desk with a quote from Thoreau “Though I do not believe that a plant will spring up where no seed has been, I have great faith in a seed … convince me that you have a seed there, and I am prepared to expect wonders”. What a great sentiment!

If you were not in your job currently, what would you like to be doing?

Being an even more hands-on grandad to my wonderful grandson, Felix. What a gift it is to be able to see new life grow and develop.

What’s your favourite time of year?

Spring. Unquestionably. Or Autumn; lovely time of year. Like everyone though I love summer the best. And winter is incomparable.

Is there a quote or saying that you think everyone should know?

Another from Thoreau  “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.”