Meet Preeti

Life before LifeArc

I joined LifeArc 16 years ago when it was called MRC Technology (MRCT), and I had never heard of them before. I did my PhD at the National Institute of Medical Research and MRCT was just a gate away from our building, “the gate that we never crossed’’ 

Prior to joining, I had a career in academia, having done postdocs in oncology at University College London and the University of Cambridge. I later joined the University of Oxford, where I changed tracks and went to work for a clinician to understand the genetic basis of eye abnormalities in young children. That was where I first began working closely with patients, helping families understand the genetic cause of their disease. 

I was diagnosed with glaucoma at the age of 26, and with no family history, it was almost an unbelievable diagnosis. I had so many questions and having suddenly lost my mum 6 months prior, I felt we needed to do more. This became a driver for me wanting to help people. I had received excellent care and treatment at Moorfields, when I nearly lost my eyesight and had to have numerous operations in both my eyes as I quickly became resistant to all the treatment options available at the time.

Having been a patient, I was drawn to LifeArc as they had a project looking for potential treatments for glaucoma. I had so much support in my own treatment which I am forever grateful for, and I wanted to give something back in return – to be closer to patients and make a difference in their lives. 

Coming aboard

My goal is to make a positive impact for patients. Over the years, I have faced multiple health conditions which had no effective treatments available at the time. Today, I have personally benefited from early diagnosis, therapeutics, devices and scientific innovations and value the impact they have had on my life.

Scientific advances have positively affected my personal life. Since many glaucoma drugs hadn’t been tested on pregnant women, I had to have surgery and stop my medication to have my first child. As my condition worsened over the years and no other treatment options were available, I had to have a stent put in my eye to allow me to have another child and build my family. Throughout this journey, I have seen patients that are blind and how it affects families and want to help make a difference.

 

Looking ahead

During my years at LifeArc, I have worked with and trained many students, helping them to become better scientists and grow internally or beyond. It really makes me feel like what I have done and what LifeArc offers makes a lasting impact. 

I want to motivate the next generation, including my daughter, and set an example that regardless of your gender or race, you can work hard to make a difference. Moving around in different areas within LifeArc and having people believe in me, offering great opportunities because they saw something in me, helped me believe in myself. It pushed me to do more, embrace challenges, and grow.

I want to be a leader who inspires people and encourages others to go outside of their comfort zones. I always believe that, even when things are challenging, they will work out and lessons will be learned that make you a stronger and better person. I want LifeArc to succeed and everyone at LifeArc has a role to play in that, no matter how big or small. The success of a company is down to the people, and you need to have personal drive and ambition for a company to succeed.  

I’m also looking forward to forming new strategic partnerships and seeing where we can take LifeArc and our mission to improve patient healthcare. That is the biggest adventure, the positivity we can bring to the people and families who need new treatments and making a difference to people’s lives.