Celebrating five colleagues who have dedicated more than 20 years to Oxford PharmaGenesis

We are thrilled to celebrate five colleagues who have dedicated more than 20 years to Oxford PharmaGenesis! They have helped to deliver everything from traditional medical communications to innovative patient engagement materials, not only serving our clients but also advancing our company mission along the way.

Colleagues at our Oxford office recently gathered for a special gift presentation to Chairman Graham Shelton, COO Richard White, CEO Chris Winchester, Editorial Team Leader Jane Francis and Communications Director Harriet Crofts.

All five colleagues have reached a remarkable milestone in their career at Oxford PharmaGenesis, having spent more than 20 years working on client services from medical communications to patient engagement materials and beyond. Each person is advancing our mission to help our clients to bring evidence-based treatments to patients in areas of unmet medical need.  

We asked our colleagues to share their thoughts, wisdom and experiences from their 20-year journey. Here’s what they said.

Harriet Crofts – Communications Director

“The role advertised in the New Scientist promised a gateway to an exciting new career as a Medical Writer, working on stimulating and diverse communication projects from a
Grade II-listed barn in a country setting. Yet it gave so much more.

I have had the privilege to see first-hand the impact of what great communication can achieve for patients and their families during my time at Oxford PharmaGenesis. For me, making a difference to the lives of patients is one of the most motivational aspects of our business and has been at the core of our company vision since I joined in 2002.

My formative experience was seeing the gradual shift in scientific opinion regarding the impact of Fabry disease on women and children. In the early 2000s, many physicians believed women to be unaffected ‘carriers’ of what was considered an adult-onset genetically inherited disease. Therefore, women and children did not qualify for treatment within European healthcare systems.

Events that we ran, bringing together physicians, basic scientists, geneticists and patients, and scientific publications and patient literature that we generated helped to highlight the reality – that women could be just as affected as men by this life-limiting disease, and that the condition started in childhood. Over time these varied communications and publications took their place in a growing body of evidence that contributed to changes in clinical practice. Today, recommendations recognize that treatment should be initiated in boys and girls with signs and symptoms of Fabry disease and can be considered in asymptomatic children in some cases.

Knowing that what we do today at Oxford PharmaGenesis, however small or simple it may seem, is adding to a body of evidence that will help to shape future patient care is something really special.”

Richard White – Chief Operating Officer

“When I left academia I never thought I would work in any one place for 20 years. And yet here I am now in my 22^nd year at Oxford PharmaGenesis! Speaking personally, I would identify two reasons why I’m still here, and still enjoying it.

The first is our unstinting pursuit of excellence, which came across clearly on the day I came for interview. I want to do excellent work for clients, be praised and rewarded for it, and build trust and respect with those clients – and that is part of the culture of the company. A reputation for excellence is hard to earn and easy to lose, but it is key to our success. I’m less close to project work day-to-day now but I feel tremendously proud when clients tell me how much they love working with the people and teams at Oxford PharmaGenesis.

The second is our growth as a company. As with excellence, growth is hard; both require pushing the boundaries of effort and capability. But growth is essential because it brings opportunity – the opportunity to bring in new people, the opportunity for existing people to take on new roles and to manage, lead, train and mentor, and the opportunity to expand our capabilities and support our clients in new ways. I’ve stayed at Oxford PharmaGenesis for > 20 years because I never had to leave to find the next opportunity in my career. I hope we can continue to grow so that the same is true for the > 500 talented people who are here today.”

Chris Winchester – Chief Executive Officer

“My journey with Oxford PharmaGenesis started when I came to meet Graham Shelton at ‘The Barn’ in Tubney. I knew straight away that he’d be a really inspiring person to work with. There were fewer than 15 people in the company when I joined and, over the last 20 years, I’ve enjoyed being a part of the journey that’s seen Oxford PharmaGenesis grow to more than 500 people and diversify our clients, services and geographies – all while remaining truly independent.

This growth was enabled by our remarkably strong company culture and philosophy, which are rooted deeply in our long-term independence. Decisions about the business are made by people who care about our business – who know our clients and colleagues, and care about the quality of our work. This makes for a really attractive workplace where talented people can do their best work, playing to their strengths and shaping the future of our company.

I’m grateful to be part of such an inspiring company, and look forward to our continued success for many years to come.”

Jane Francis – Editorial Team Leader

“I joined Oxford PharmaGenesis over 20 years ago as its first full-time editor (please keep in mind while reading that I don’t usually create content unlike my eloquent 20-year celebrating colleagues). I’ve seen the company grow from a small group of people working out of temporary cabins while waiting for the beautiful barns to be re-purposed, into a global company, and it’s been amazing.

Supporting me in becoming a remote worker way before it was common, never mind standard practice, demonstrated a commitment to understanding the individual that remains an important part of how the company operates. And that desire to help feeds into the whole company philosophy.

As well as the key work of helping our clients meet the unmet needs of patients, the company works pro bono on healthcare issues, decides to invest in beehives and actively encourages colleagues to apply to our charity fund, so I know the hard work we do is making a positive difference in multiple arenas. We pride ourselves on supporting everyone our work touches whether that’s clients, colleagues, patients or their families and carers.

I never expected to stay for so long, but with such lovely colleagues and such fascinating and worthwhile work, why would I look elsewhere?”

Graham Shelton – Founder and Chairman

“Incredibly, Oxford PharmaGenesis is now in its 26^th year of happiness and success. While we never had a BIG PLAN all those years ago, we built on some solid principles: market-leading quality and service, huge efforts to build enduring and trusting client relationships, and adding client value at every opportunity by the quality of our thinking.

That’s why clients love us!

This is only possible, of course, when we recruit, train, manage, motivate and promote the very best people, and inculcate the very best values. I count my blessings every day that together we have created and grown such an exciting company: committed to the freedom that independence brings and delivering on our promise to bring new drugs to the world in areas of unmet need.”

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Congratulations to our colleagues who are celebrating > 20 years with us! Thank you for your invaluable work as we continue to deliver our mission to help our clients to bring evidence-based treatments to patients in areas of unmet medical need.

Our five colleagues received a gift made by Alan Wright, an experienced bespoke jeweller who has worked with Graham a number of times.

Alan handcrafted individual pairs of cufflinks or pendants in silver and rose gold, with each piece incorporating the phi symbol from the Oxford PharmaGenesis logo. Our colleagues were all involved from the very start of the design process and contributed to their own original designs, reflecting their unique and formative contributions to Oxford PharmaGenesis over the past 20 years.

If you’d like to chat with us about medical communications, patient engagement, publications, or any more of our services, get in touch!