At UCB, it’s about the patient and doing what the patient values, which we believe is having their best life possible. Our Senior Director, External Innovation Lead, Dr. Miguel Camargo came to UCB because he felt we were was serious about that mission and that he could make an impact through discovering medicine. Read more from Dr. Camargo about why he puts patients at the heart of everything he does.

 ‘Everyone has a personal reason for wanting a therapy. Of course, those who suffer yearn for a cure to a disease, but understand that a cure may be difficult. Of great value to patients are therapies that will allow them to live as close to a normal life as possible. For example, my son is severely allergic to peanuts and shellfish. He doesn’t suffer every day, like some people living with a chronic disease. But for those, like my son, who have severe food allergies, accidental ingestion of the allergen can be fatal as a result of anaphylaxis.

Because my son’s allergic response is to food, which may contain several allergens, we have to outsource his safety in the form of trust all of the time.  When we go to a restaurant, you have to trust that when you ask a waiter or the chef if the food is safe, they’ve been conscientious about checking whether the actual food contains the allergen or if it was prepared in the same area as the allergen, risking cross contamination (e.g. French fries are often fried in the same oil as shrimp). Something as simple as his first spontaneous kiss with a girl is not something he can entertain. He can kiss a girl, but first needs to make sure – and trust—she didn’t eat peanuts.

My job at UCB is to help identify novel therapies, but every role at the company is needed to make a difference. Someone is waiting for the work we do because we’re making medicines that someone desperately needs. Patients put their trust in us to continue to find new discoveries. And we do it because it’s all about helping people live the lives they want to live, or as close to it as possible. Fulfilling this commitment to patients is one of my core beliefs and helping discover medicines to give people a better life gives meaning to the work I do. It’s a mantra I use to refocus when I come into work and get sidetracked. I ask myself “What’s the right thing to do, the right culture of working as a team?”

At the end of the day, it’s about the patient and doing what the patient values, which I believe is having their best life possible. I came to UCB because I feel we’re serious about that mission and that I can make an impact through discovering medicine – medicine that patients put their trust in us to deliver.’

Read the article on LinkedIn.

About the Author
Luiz Miguel Camargo, Ph.D., is the Sr. Director of External Innovation at UCB, leading efforts to identify and develop novel technologies that enable UCB researchers to discover innovative medicines for patients living with neurological and immunological diseases. Dr. Camargo enables UCB to take advantage of new developments in the field, including gene editing, data sciences, and targeted protein degradation technologies.