Life in Life Science — The Podcast

Medical affairs and Medical Science Liaison roles can be a high-leverage industry pivot for science PhDs, but they are not sales, and they are not an easy escape route from academia. This episode breaks down what MSLs actually do, the salary reality, the compliance boundary, and the most credible paths in.

Clinical research — specifically Clinical Research Associate and clinical data management roles — is one of the most underrated entry points in life science. This episode breaks down what the work actually involves, what the pay looks like at each level, how the FDA disruption of 2025 is reshaping the landscape, and the three most direct paths in for a biomedical science graduate.

Bioinformatics keeps topping every "fastest-growing careers" list — and the salary numbers look incredible. But the day-to-day reality, what actually gets you hired, and what the pay really looks like for someone starting out are very different from the headlines. This episode cuts through the hype with real data from 2026 job postings and industry hiring experts.

Regulatory affairs is one of the few roles in life science that held up during the 2025 hiring crunch — but most biomedical science graduates still don't fully understand what it involves, how much it pays, or how to actually get in. This episode breaks down what a regulatory affairs career looks like day-to-day, which specialisations are worth targeting, why your bench science background is more useful than you think, and the exact steps to break in from a science degree.

The cell and gene therapy sector is one of the fastest-growing parts of life science — $15.2 billion invested in 2025, a market projected to hit $117 billion by 2034. But breaking in is a different story. This episode unpacks exactly where the jobs are, what skills actually get you hired, and how to sidestep the "niche experience trap" that's keeping thousands of qualified scientists out of the sector.

A candid first episode mapping the real state of the life science job market — why it's brutal right now, what skills employers are paying a premium for, and how early-career biomedical scientists can position themselves before the next hiring wave.