5 Questions With Angela Stoyanovitch, B.A., LATG, Founding Partner & Podcast Host, Legal Drugs Agency and Director of Business Development, USA, for Metrion Biosciences
| This article is part of our 5 Questions With series, one of our ongoing People & Places Features. We love it because despite the consistent questioning, the answers are all unique. Be sure to FOLLOW us on LinkedIn to tell us what you think. |
1. What did you want to be when you grow up? How’d you get from there to here?
I had an early aptitude for science and nature that was fostered by my parents who homeschooled me, thankfully. I think I knew as early as I could remember that I would work in the science field and this came as no surprise to those who knew me. By the time I chose a college, I knew my major, biology. What I didn’t anticipate was an interest in research which led to scholarships and international travel in the field. My curiosity only grew and the pivotal memory of my future career started with a question I asked my mentor and neuroscience professor which was as simple as “why?” Why were we conducting the research on peptide and fibers in the brain that may one day lead to a drug? What was the pathway in order for this to happen? I’ve never stopped asking that question and from there, a career in drug development and business development to support clients in biomedical research from academia, government, biotech, and pharma ensued into a thriving journey with lifesaving medicines and therapies brought to market that we didn’t have when I started down this road!
2. How are you helping to build a more connected community?
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I’ve always had an interest in communications, sales, and marketing but I didn’t know how that would interlace with my love for science. It turns out, all I had to do was attend a couple of small to massive-sized conferences and learn that there is a commercial side to research. From there, I attached myself to mentors who were technical sales representatives, etc. I printed my first business card at a conference and stood in line at a networking event where I met my next employer, one of the world’s largest contract research organizations, who hired me as their youngest Account Manager (sales) yet. I have not looked back… my questions only became bigger and broader, in nature. In fact, as a way to bridge the gaps between many areas of biomedical research, I launched a podcast show that aimed to highlight innovation, collaborations, and motivational storytelling around our collective and ambitious efforts toward life-changing and lifesaving drugs. You can find all episodes wherever you listen to podcasts under the name, Legal Drugs Podcast. My goal as a speaker, panelist, influencer, connector of resources, sponsor liaison for CROs, and any other role I play in this community is to connect the human impact on the pharmaceutical industry and amplify voices of hope. After all, science isn’t just explorations and curiosity, it’s our ticket to hope for a more fulfilling future.
3. What are currently buzzing about? Anything and everything…
I have recently accepted a new role as Director of Business Development, USA, for Metrion Biosciences, an ion channel specialty contract research organization providing drug discovery to pharmaceutical and bioscience clients, worldwide. While I’ve represented global companies with worldwide or regional services, this is my first true global role where I will travel to our headquarters in Cambridge, UK, quarterly. This is exciting to me because I am certain my worldview will continue to expand and so will my capacity for connection and mindful communication. Already in attending a networking event while abroad, I tapped into the same vein of enthusiasm for biotechs’ buzz, hot topics, and trends including gene therapies, AI and its many applications, the future of personalized medicine, and how this may shape our approach to new drugs and much more! While based on the East Coast, I will continue to engage the buzz of our biotechs from Metro DC to RTP and beyond with outsourcing solutions that serve our greatest scientific needs for all.
4. If you could travel back in time – what early career advice would you give yourself?
OR what career advice would you shout from the rooftops now?
Relax more. I think I would tell myself to relax more and allow for more reflection. As I look back, I see how remaining true to myself, my morals, values, ethics, and integrity have paid off again and again. This clinging of being true to myself has held me up in times where corporate dogma and sometimes profit over people (or profit-driving) company culture dominated the workplace. I have often credited my early education and liberal arts background as the cause of my fearless foundation in times of high stress. Slowing down and learning to love people and keeping in mind the reason we are aiming for a cure and the impact our work has on day-to-day lives, keeps me focused on the right things in life and in work.
Perhaps this isn’t the answer you were expecting or perhaps if you know me, you aren’t surprised… but being bold in integrity has never proven itself wrong. I recommend the book, Brave New Work, by Aaron Dignan, for a refreshing look back at the history of corporations’ hierarchical foundations and how it is no longer serving our modern-day needs for a more trustworthy and less bureaucratic approach to innovation. As Dignan points out, we are not machines to be predicted and controlled and there are human complex systems full of potential waiting to be released! If there was ever a time I was most proud to be in science, it was during the pandemic when the whole world was looking for a solution that only innovation of the mind could cure for.
5. FUN question. What’s your superpower?
My curiosity has taken me so far and I know it will take me further. I would have to say curiosity is my superpower. Curiosity drives me to ask questions and think for myself. This can be dangerous in some settings where the expectation is to fall in line but in the scientific field, I have found it to be a driver of success. Even though I may not work at the bench as a scientist anymore where I once exercised scientific method starting with hypotheses, I am still leveraging out-of-the-box thinking in my career, today. One of curiosity’s great side effects is creativity and that is a must in our world!
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