Overview

Join us for an engaging career exploration interview with Dr Adam Russell-Hallinan, Senior Clinical Scientific Expert (CSE) in Solid Oncology at Novartis.  In this session, Adam will reflect on his professional journey, from academic research to the pharmaceutical industry, and share insights into the opportunities, decisions, and challenges that shaped his career.

During the event, Adam will discuss how his academic background prepared him for a career in pharmaceutical clinical development, what the CSE role entails day-to-day, and the skills required to transition from academia to industry successfully.

The session will conclude with a live Q&A, allowing attendees to engage directly with Dr Russell-Hallinan, ask questions, and gain practical insights on navigating career pathways across academia, clinical research, and the pharmaceutical industry.

This session is part of a series of new career exploration interviews and panel discussions organised as part of the Research Culture NI project, generously funded by Wellcome.

If you want to be notified of future events, please email pdc@qub.ac.uk. 

Format

ALL WELCOME!  This event is primarily aimed at postdocs and research staff, but it is open to anyone with an interest in attending.  Participants from all career stages and professional backgrounds are welcome, including those affiliated with any university as well as individuals outside of academia.

In this event Adam Russell-Hallinan will be interviewed by Jill Wright, Research Careers and Employability Officer in the Postdoctoral Development Centre at Queen's University Belfast.  Jill will ask some prepared questions but also relay questions shared by the audience in the event chat and address any pre-event questions received at registration.

This event will be suitable for people who want to attend and listen using audio only, so feel free to join while enjoying a walk or lunch!  Automatically generated captions will be enabled for accessibility to attendees. 

Our Guest

DR ADAM RUSSELL-HALLINAN

Dr Adam Russell-Hallinan is a Senior Clinical Scientific Expert (CSE) in Solid Oncology at Novartis.  As CSE, he is a key member of the Integrated Clinical Trial Team responsible for ensuring high-quality, scientifically plausible clinical data throughout the oncology trial phases, with a core focus on patient safety, data integrity, trend analysis, and assuring adherence to GCP and regulatory compliance.

Adam graduated from University College Dublin with a First Class BSc (Hons) in Biomedical Health and Life Sciences and went on to complete a PhD in Translational Medicine in the lab of Dr John Baugh, where his research focused on exploring epigenetic treatment for pressure overload-induced heart failure.  During his PhD, Adam volunteered as a Clinical Trials Assistant for the Heartbeat Trust, where he assisted with sample preparation and biobanking of patient samples for national and international cardiac clinical trials (STOP-HF, HOMAGE and PARABLE trials).

After his PhD, Adam joined Queen's University Belfast, in the lab of Dr Chris Watson as a British Heart Foundation-funded postdoc, where he further investigated the epigenetic regulation of cardiac fibroblasts in ischaemic cardiomyopathy.  As a postdoc, Adam received a 2019 ESC first contact initiative grant and spent a month in the lab of Dr Borja Ibanez, training in surgical induction of a myocardial infarction in mice.  He also became an associate fellow of the HEA through the Queens Merit Award. 

After completing his postdoc at QUB, Adam joined Novartis in 2021 as a CSE - a role that leveraged his academic and clinical expertise in an industry setting.  His role is crucial in bridging clinical development with data, ensuring high-quality delivery of new, ground breaking treatments - particularly in Radioligand Therapy for solid tumours.