Small Pharma’s Big Minds – Ellen James, PhD
Find out more about the big minds behind the team at Small Pharma through conversations with the people who work here.
Ellen James, Director of Research & Development, discusses her excitement about plans for Small Pharma over the coming months, and how the support of a strong network helped her to cope with the recent loss of her father.
Who you are and what you do
I’m Ellen, I’m the Director of Research & Development at Small Pharma and I’ve been responsible for the design, set up and management of our Phase I and IIa clinical trial. I’ve also been involved in overseeing the set up and management of our other early phase clinical trials including our latest drug interaction study with SPL026.
What excites you most about Small Pharma?
I’m most excited about the results coming out from our Phase IIa trial. I’ve been working on the design, set up and implementation of that trial since 2019 and so I’m very excited for us to be reaching the climax of that trial!
What does good mental health mean to you?
Good mental health to me is about having a strong network and a strong support structure around me, and that really means my friends, my family and colleagues. Personally for me this year I lost my father and I experienced first hand the importance of having that support structure around me, and I can see that without that I would have found it even more difficult to deal with than it was. So I’m really grateful to them.
Ellen James joined the team at Small Pharma in 2017 as a Clinical Research Manager and was later appointed as Director of R&D to oversee Phase I/IIa clinical trials. She holds a PhD from Imperial College London.