When I moved to the US over 30 years ago I was chasing a woman, though I assume most of my British-educated colleagues working outside the UK in the life sciences left to take up new jobs. Regardless, none of us kicked up quite the public storm that’s coming from Harry and Meghan’s decision to step …
What do Harry & Meghan have in common with BELS? Read More »
For the UK to fulfill its international aspirations in the life sciences, tapping into the soft power of its influential diaspora, including the 3,000+ life science leaders within the British Expats in Life Sciences (BELS) global community, should be a high priority for UK organisations across our sector—government, quasi-government orgs, industry, academia, charities, healthcare orgs, service providers, …
Soft Power Can Deliver a Powerful Punch for UK Life Sciences Read More »
As we head into one of the biggest bun fights of the year at the BIO convention in Philadelphia, hopes are high for new learning and links, seeing and being seen, and warming up or booking business. Attendance at BIO, BIO Europe, Medica, ASCO and the like is important to annual marketing efforts. But there’s a …
Beyond BIO & Annual Assemblies—Targeting Decision Makers Read More »
BELS Brexit Perspective, March 22, 2019 As we lurch onward in this Brexit purgatory, there is no end in sight to chaos, delays and uncertainty. And our hard-earned international reputation for pragmatism and a functioning democracy is being mightily tested with our politicians seemingly paralyzed. The UK has been successful for a long time largely …
British Expats in Life Sciences (BELS) is engaging with British-trained health and life science leaders around the globe With major changes afoot impacting our laws, regulations, trade and talent, discussions at the Summit will centre on the UK in a post-Brexit world and the significant work underway to position our sector as a centre of scientific …
In competing for our attention, newspaper headlines and television sound bites assault our senses, beckoning us with sensational breaking stories. At times, the news can emanate from someone’s posturing (defined as ‘behaving in a way that is intended to impress or mislead’). An extreme case in point is the interminable cycle of this US presidential …
When we survey our lives retrospectively, we find instances of specific collisions with people that helped to shape us over time. Marriages, friendships and business opportunities are born, kindled and flow from such fortuitous interactions. These collisions hold the potential to “spark” great things. Years ago a friend encouraged me to read The Tipping Point …
I vividly remember waking up June 24th to the astounding news that the Leave vote had prevailed on the EU Referendum. There followed some wailing and gnashing (in the interests of disclosure I had voted Remain) before my customary shrug of the shoulders as I soon came to terms with a changed reality. To quote …
Volatility in global markets continues with selloffs, recoveries, gains, losses, sterling is weak… Successful investors see opportunities in the face of market volatility. Meanwhile, most of us in the health and life science sector around the world are focused on the work underpinning the fundamentals that build value. Brexit will be sorted eventually. Some things …
In the relative blink of an eye, certain events in the past few days have highlighted two clear home truths: the disaffection of the voting UK majority with their political leaders and the uncertainty of where our toils in the life sciences will lead us as we move through the lengthy drug approval process. First, …
As we enter the summer (at least in the Northern Hemisphere!) after the annual BIO meeting in San Francisco and ahead of the impending Brexit vote, we wanted to send out greetings to the BELS community. We are now actively commencing the BELS membership drive so please do visit our membership pages and join this formidable …
We have recently devoted significant time to completely updating The BELS List, comprised of some 2800 UK expats and overseas alumni of UK universities who are life science leaders working outside the UK. As we launch the BELS membership drive, we certainly welcome your suggestions of individuals to add to the mix. The chart above represents …
The BELS List: A treasure trove of talented life scientists Read More »
While we started the online presence of British Expats in Life Sciences as BELSgroup.com, it has become increasingly clear that forging stronger connectivity is core to what BELS is all about. We have therefore made a decision to reflect this in our communications, including: BELSconnector.org, our new URL which incorporates connector and .org to better reflect …
It’s been a welcome reassurance for this inveterate UK cheerleader that we continue to navigate assorted speed bumps and are productively staying the course with our life science strategy. In 2015, this UK sector continued its renaissance with £1.26 billion being raised on the UK stock market, the highest figure in more than a decade …
By all accounts, BELS inaugural event in the UK, The Alumni Summit, held July 9-10 2015 in Oxford, was a resounding success. Attendees from the UK and abroad offered extremely positive feedback. We checked in with the expats six months on and found that exciting progress is being delivered, discussions are happening, and projects are …
