Employee Spotlight: Women in Tech

Q&A with encapsia’s Executive Director of Business Development Temitope Keyes

Superior innovation and performance are achieved with diverse teams that bring new perspectives and skill sets. In acknowledgment of International Women’s Day, we’re shining the spotlight on women in tech by interviewing Temitope Keyes, encapsia’s Executive Director of Business Development, about her journey, advice, and experience.

Temitope Keyes

Temitope (Tope) Keyes has over 24 years of clinical R&D experience, which began on the sponsor side, with the majority of that primarily in the eClinical solutions space.

She has a passion for technology and its ability to advance vital clinical research and successful trial execution. Her experience includes pre-clinical purchasing and clinical outsourcing roles, followed by almost 15 years in business development.

Did you always know that working in technology was what you wanted to do?

Actually, no, I didn’t. My first exposure to “tech” was an AP Computer Science class in high school, which I only took to boost my college prospects. When I was in clinical outsourcing in big pharma my interest was piqued working on the first ePRO/eCOA implementation with Invivodata (now Clario) and on a couple of the first projects to use Oracle RDC. When I moved onto ERT (now Clario) was when I knew technology was where I wanted to focus.

How do you feel about being a woman in the tech industry?

I find being a woman in tech has evolved over time. When I was one of few, I felt fairly isolated from deeper topics and worked hard to understand things like IT architecture, SDLC, and servers/hosting. As I became more confident, then I was able to integrate other skills and experience to create what I believe to be an advantage, what it means to implement clinical technology from the client perspective and its benefits and impact on trial workflows.

How has the tech industry changed for women since you started in tech?

Well, there are just many more of us, and in clinical research, we have roles in the vendor and sponsor world. Over the years I’ve built an expanding network of women in biopharma technology and what has been most meaningful is having peers with similar lived experiences who can provide input and advice.

What was your integration like?

It wasn’t so much an integration as a progression of experiences and my focus on making it central to my professional choices.

What challenges have you faced in this profession because of your gender – systemic, or not – and what advice do you have for overcoming them?

I think primarily being considered equal to my peers. I would say that central to my success has always been to continuously learn – asking questions, research and reading industry information, stretching my skill set.  Applying this has not only stretched my knowledge but has helped raise my profile.

What motivates you every day?

I love solving problems and I am passionate about what technology can do to help drive therapeutic innovation.

What is the impact of your role?

Business development has the benefit of offering variety in projects and clients, that allows me ample opportunity to see challenges and address multiple facets with a solution-oriented mindset.

What value speaks most about your time at encapsia?

Optimism- encapsia represents a genuine rethinking of the application of clinical data technology. From the moment I saw it, I knew it could offer clinical sponsors flexibility and functionality they previously desired or could only find across multiple products.

What is the best professional advice you’ve ever received?

Focus on experience over degrees, that’s what brings real value to a company.

What advice would you give to younger women just entering the workforce today?

Don’t be intimidated by what you don’t know, find champions/mentors, always know you deserve to be there when you’ve done the work.

To read more from Tope and her experience and knowledge within clinical trial studies, head to our blog page or article page.

To find out more about International Day of Women and Girls in Science 11th February, visit:  https://www.womeninscienceday.org/

And for International Women’s Day 8th March, visit: https://www.internationalwomensday.com/