12 Questions with Sam Dixey
Sam Dixey is the Head of Medical Affairs Innovation and Technology (MAIT) at LUCENT, where he works with innovative biopharma companies to create, demonstrate, and scale value through compliant innovation. Driven by a strong purpose to be working in an industry that changes people’s lives, Dixey thrives in finding new ways to maximise the value brought to patients, healthcare professionals, and society as a whole, and is currently spearheading the move from a culture of digital transformation to one of digital evolution in Medical Affairs.
What are the main responsibilities of your current role? I have the privilege of leading a great team – the Medical Affairs Innovation and Technology (MAIT) team at LUCENT – focused on providing clarity on innovation and technology projects to help Medical Affairs teams achieve their goals. It requires a lot of juggling: leadership, strategy, listening, designing solutions, business development, project oversight and, importantly, keeping on top of the latest technology trends.
What is your background prior to this role and how did it prepare you for the work you do now? I’ve been fortunate to have a varied background across big pharma and small pharma and a range of roles across digital, commercial, market access, and regulatory. These have all been blended together by a love of innovation (not just technology, but pushing the boundaries). It’s given me a unique skillset and experience to be able to blend medical’s objective with the know-how to work across different functions and business sizes.
What is your proudest professional accomplishment to date? The reason I’m in this industry is the impact you can have on people’s lives, and every small positive difference feels like an accomplishment in this regard. I’ve been very blessed with being asked to do some big things: build and lead a sales team, lead Brexit planning, re-design entire pricing strategies. However, my biggest accomplishment would be the work that went into stabilising the supply of critical Parkinson’s medication after a long period of disruption. From joining the team and leaving, there were zero stock outs (even whilst navigating Brexit and COVID). The feedback received from the patient associations and from friends of colleagues made it all worthwhile.
What are some of the biggest ongoing challenges in your work? The pace things are moving at, which is being amplified by the AI. Anyone can draft up a “prototype” in an afternoon. It’s great on the front that it democratises value creation; but less so on the front that there’s a lot of noise, and often limited value. It’s very much the mission that MAIT is dedicated to – providing clarity in the chaos.
What are your biggest short-term goals for this year and next year? To continue the momentum of the LUCENT MAIT team, grow it full of great people, and to set the foundations for making a huge difference in the world, make sense for our clients of a hugely complicated technology landscape.
What are the most important professional skills in your work and how do you hone them? Curiosity, the ability to try something new and to hone the scientific method, being able to juggle, being able to roll your sleeves up to get things done. And importantly, treating people with respect and as adults. It takes conscious work to make it a habit, but once you see the positive effects of learning and people thriving, it becomes contagious.
What do you see as the biggest challenges facing the industry right now? Noise, noise, noise, and noise. Similar to the dotcom bubble, there’s seems to be a technology (often with an AI feature) for everything. With all of the workload and pressures on Medical Affairs to become more strategic, it’s a huge challenge to differentiate the signal from the noise, and consequently there’s a lot of wasted energy going into tools that are not right for the teams in question.
What advice would you give to a young person starting out in your field? Learning is what happens when doing meets reflection. Having an always-on learning mindset, trying new things, surrounding yourself with forward-thinking people, and continually reflecting on the situation will pay massive dividends. You may not know where you’re going, but if you’re committed to learning each day, you will end up in some great places.
What’s the best film or TV show you’ve watched in the last year? This would have to be Love On The Spectrum (it’s on Netflix). I recommend it to anyone as essential watching. It’s a heartwarming series that follows a group of people on the spectrum as they look for and learn about love. It opens your eyes, forces you to challenge your assumptions, and often causes a happy tear to roll down my cheek.
What is your all-time favourite book? On a non-fictional front, I’d have to go with How to Win Friends and Influence People. Once you get over the cheese of the title, it’s packed full of simple tips for building highly productive relationships. On a fictional front, (the film is great too) it’d have to be A Man Called Ove – a heartwarming and touching story.
What sports do you follow and who do you root for? Too many..! Football (Liverpool and Notts County), Formula One (Lewis Hamilton), a bit of cricket (Nottinghamshire), rugby (Leicester Tigers), the list goes on… I even got into American Football recently and randomly picked a team (the Seattle Seahawks). It turned out to be an inspired choice, as they won the Super Bowl this year. Wherever there’s elite performance and a storyline, I’ll be there.
If you could have any job other than the one you have now, what would you choose? I’d be a science teacher – 100%. I love the idea of cultivating the love of learning, science, and intrigue in others; whilst also being able to blend this with insight into the real world through my career in the workplace. Too many people think science means you must be in the lab. But really, the skills it gives you live far beyond – experimenting, growing, evaluating sources, and ultimately advancing knowledge each day.
Connect with Sam Dixey here on LinkedIn.
