On 3 November, the Healthcare Student Interest Group (SIG) conducted their first off-campus activity – visiting biotech company Congenica Ltd, which is a leading company in human genome analysis. The purpose of this visit was to understand the future of healthcare industry and to network with people in the industry.
In a modern office building situated on a big research complex, the Wellcome Genome Campus, Craig Taylor and Alan Martin welcomed us and shared the latest insights about their business and industry. Our conversation was quite extensive, from introduction and career profiles, to the company, their products and business model, as well as and the industry.
We had a debate about the current challenges and future trends in the industry, and up-coming technologies, which were very insightful and exciting. Conversation about the future trends included their thoughts on how machine learning, block chain, and IoT may or may not work in the genome industry. SIG members were very impressed with their passion and their range of knowledge and expertise.
Overall, it was exciting to find out what is happening on the front line in the industry and how dynamic it is.
About Congenica:
Congenica is currently a software company providing analysis and interpretation of genome data to its customers. The company started as a spin-out from the Sanger Institute. Craig Taylor is the Head of Finance and Business Development at Congenica and is a Cambridge MBA alumni (MBA 2011). Alan Martin is the Head of Innovation and Data Science at Congenica.
About the Healthcare SIG:
The Healthcare SIG is a group of like-minded individuals with a passion about the healthcare industry. The group functions to expand knowledge in three areas: industry suppliers (pharma and devices), healthcare systems (users and providers), and medical technology. The group strives to facilitate career development add value to local healthcare community and its patients.