Both online and in the DDW quarterly magazine, DDW editors interview industry researchers to shine a spotlight on their work in a feature called Meet the Researcher. A question often included is: If you could make everyone read one book, article or academic paper, what would it be and why?

Here, DDW’s Megan Thomas compiles a reading list featuring the books suggested by these researchers.

Henrietta Lacks: A cornerstone of drug discovery

Duncan McHale, Chief Medical Officer at Persica Pharmaceuticals, says he “always recommends The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot to anyone entering clinical research”. It tells the story of HeLa cells, a cornerstone of drug discovery, and Henrietta Lacks, whose biopsy provided those cells.

Elaine Duncan, a PhD student on the lifETIME (Engineered Tissues for Discovery, Industry and Medicine) CDT at the University of Glasgow, echoed this sentiment. She said: “Everybody who works with cells should absolutely read The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot”.

McHale said: “It reminds us of the altruism of patients and the respect they deserve. Henrietta was failed by the scientific community, and we must ensure it doesn’t happen again.”

Like McHale, Elaine Duncan thinks it’s “so important to understand the beginnings of arguably all of modern biology”, and the shocking injustices that occurred. She said: “Although our scientific understanding, regulations and ethical frameworks have moved on significantly from the 1950s, this book really made me reflect on my own scientific practices and think more deeply about the people involved.”

Genetics: History, inspiration

Gloria Gonzalez-Aseguinolaza, Chief Scientific Officer of Vivet Therapeutics, recommends The Gene: An Intimate History by Siddhartha Mukherjee. She said: “This book provides a thorough history of genetics, covering the discovery of genes, DNA, and the recent advances in gene therapy. Mukherjee’s storytelling makes complex scientific concepts accessible.”

Nicola McCarthy, Head of Research at the Milner Therapeutics Institute, notes that the things that inspire you are very individual to your journey, which is why she found this a tricky question to answer. She says to always remember the papers that you read, maybe when you were an undergraduate, where “that passion that was ignited”. For her, that was a lot of the work of Paul Nurse and the years of biology work that he did. Moreover, she said: “Reading Richard Dawkins’ Selfish Gene that was inspirational to me.”

Disease: The hallmarks, the emperor, the histology

Jenny Hogstrom-Stakem, Postdoctoral Research Fellow and winner of the 2023 AACR-AstraZeneca Breast Cancer Research Fellowship, said: “I love reading The Hallmarks of Cancer by Douglas Hanahan and Robert A Weinberg. It’s a great review article on different aspects of cancer biology. The field changes fast so the authors update the hallmarks every decade.”

Dennis Brown, Chief Scientific Officer at Kintara Therapeutics, also recommends a book by Siddhartha Mukherjee, specifically the biography on cancer, The Emperor of All Maladies. He says it gives the history of the disease and the stories, not just science. He said: “It shows how mistakes and observations are made, as well as the serendipity involved. It is quite helpful to not only scientists but patients as well. In this sector, everything sounds very regimented, but there is a lot of serendipity in how things develop.”

Vito Palombella, Chief Scientific Officer at Surface Oncology, also thinks everyone should read The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee. He said: “That book was very inspiring, even to someone like me, who’s in the field. I’d be very surprised if you’re not inspired after you read that book to really want to work on oncology clinic development.”

Joanne Taylor, Senior Vice President and Head of Discovery Research at Gain Therapeutics, recommends Histology of the Nervous System of Man and Vertebrates by Santiago Ramón y Cajal. She said: “It is a real insight into the work of the founder of modern neuroscience and is still heavily cited. I often marvel at how much Cajal deciphered about the way the nervous system works with the limited technology available to him at the time; and he was repeatedly proven right as more sophisticated imaging and other technologies became available decades later. I often joke that you could build several careers in neuroscience by repeating Cajal’s observations with modern technology. I think that we still have a lot to learn from him.” 

Philosophy, inspiration and insight

Liam Tremble, Principal Scientist at Poolbeg Pharma, recommends a book by David Eagleman, a neuroscientist and an adjunct professor at Stanford University, called Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives, which he describes as “a short read but a brilliantly witty perspective of how we are all thinking about things in the same way – sometimes you need to turn things upside down to see them properly”.

Ali Tavassoli, Chief Scientific Officer of Curve Therapeutics and Professor of Chemical Biology at the University of Southampton, UK, says he has always been very interested in history and philosophy, so has read lots of books on these topics. He said: “I would encourage everyone to read widely on these topics; history gives lessons and perspective on current events and the opinions of various philosophers help us understand ourselves and others. A good introduction to the latter is The Story of Philosophy by Will Durant. I am also a huge Beatles fan, so Revolution in the Head by Ian Macdonald is a book that I return to frequently.”

Henrik Jespersen, Head of Melanoma Oncology, at Oslo University Hospital, says he would “strongly encourage everyone to prioritise reading books that are not work-related”. He said: “Find time to read a novel, biography, poetry or whatever inspires you. Or why not a comic? I wish everyone would read the graphic novel Maus by Art Spiegelman, a true masterpiece in the genre with an ever-important theme, and one of the most moving books I have ever read. Life is about much more than science, and, like any good art, Maus provides perspective on life and the human condition. It demonstrates how group dynamics can be used for good or bad in a way that is both frightening and humbling, but at the same time also provides hope that perseverance and cooperation will eventually be rewarded.”

Jennifer Cann, Director of Pathology at Virscio, said: “I would make everyone read The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz. The book is filled with sensible, actionable, and accessible advice that can benefit anyone regardless of their age, stage in life, race, gender, or profession.”

Molly Stevens, John Black Professor at Oxford University and Research Director for Biomedical Materials at Imperial College London, said: “I would probably suggest that people read lots of very varied books, as I’m an avid reader. I recently read A Man for all Markets from Edward O Thorp. Here, he delves into his personal story (from Maths Professor to blackjack analyst, author and Hedge Fund manager) and his fascinating views of how logical and mathematical thinking can help us predict seemingly random activities from gambling to financial markets. It is a truly fascinating read.”

Richard Bouffard, Histology Director at Virscio, says that Se questo è un uomo — which translates in English to If This Is a Man or Survival in Auschwitz — by Primo Levi is a very close second place to Dante Alighieri’s famed La divina commedia, or The Divine Comedy, specifically The Inferno, which he says offers something for every reader. He said: “On the surface, the poem is about a journey through hell, which alone is sufficiently interesting. While on another layer, it is a commentary about religion, government, and the society of the period. And yet, on another level, the poem serves as an allegory where the journey through hell is really about a journey through oneself.

“We are challenged to see in ourselves the same faults ascribed to the captives in hell as Dante so narrates. Have we strayed from the “direct way?” How so? Are we too lost in the middle of our lives’ journey?”

Giusy Di Conza, Head of Research at iOnctura, says Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg is a great read for women across all industries. She said: “As a woman in research, it can be hard to believe in yourself, but this book is a great lesson in rising to grab the opportunities in front of you. I would also recommend reading biographies of scientists that lived and worked at the beginning of the 20th century and made amazing breakthrough discoveries at that time, when you still had to blow in your pipette! It is inspiring and fundamental to understand the building blocks of biology and medicine.”