Tatiana Golovina

I believe there's still a lot to be done, but what drives me is trying to make the world better, or at least contribute something to have better options for kids with severe diseases. This is something that I would like to be content with when I finish my career, thinking that I tried to do what I can to actually make things a little bit better for those who need it. I want to make an important contribution to the industry for the benefit of all the patients. It's important that we help patients and that we have patients in mind first, because there are multiple technologies that can be cool, but we need to make sure that they're safe and efficient for the patient.

The best career advice I ever received was don't think that things are impossible. Just follow your sincere interests. If you feel that you can change something for people, for patients, just do it. Don't be afraid of just maybe failing or whatnot, just be persistent. For me, being educated as a biogenic chemist in Russia and getting into the cell therapy center in the U.S., I had to follow my interests and just go, not thinking about, well, maybe it's not my field. I just went. So yes, just don't be afraid to go if you want to achieve something.

Be open. Learn. Be persistent, don't be afraid of obstacles. Sometimes, it can be tough, but just don't give up.

I think the biggest challenge at this point is investment, to get investment for what you would like to accomplish. It's always been a big challenge just to convince people, because in industry, when people do investment, they want some return, but you're trying to make sure that you can provide them return while also doing something not only financial, but something good for the patients. Getting through this is something that the government is trying to approach now, the so-called Death Valley for small companies, to help them. You have to get investment to get from the good idea to actually make it happen. Another major challenge and opportunity is getting patients affordable treatment options. I'm working on different procedures that might be more cost-efficient, but it's too early to share details.

I think honesty is most important. I believe that in science, there's a lot of temptation when you want to get some interesting data, but you need to be honest with your data and be critical.