Laura Parton

Laura Parton has a diverse background in project management and scientific research. Laura currently holds a senior role as the Senior Director of Project Management at Mission Therapeutics, where they have been since 2018. Prior to this, Laura worked as the Director of Project Management at Mission Therapeutics from 2021 to 2023. Before joining Mission Therapeutics, they served as the R&D Project / Portfolio Manager at Mission Therapeutics from 2018 to 2020.

Before their time at Mission Therapeutics, Laura gained experience at Abcam, where they worked from 2015 to 2018. At Abcam, they held the position of Senior Project Manager in the Neuroscience department from 2017 to 2018. Prior to this, Laura served as the Head of Scientific Project Management at Abcam from 2015 to 2017. In this role, they led a team of 12 scientists and project managers, overseeing the delivery of various projects and implementing cross-departmental governance strategies.

Laura also has experience in the pharmaceutical industry, having worked at Takeda Pharmaceuticals from 2008 to 2014. During their time at Takeda Pharmaceuticals, they held the position of Senior Scientist and led a cross-functional project team in the cardiovascular disease area. Laura also worked on identifying novel drug targets within the metabolic disease area.

Earlier in their career, Laura served as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Harvard Medical School from 2005 to 2008. In this role, they generated mouse models and managed collaborations with external partners, resulting in first-author publications in prestigious journals. Prior to their role at Harvard Medical School, Laura worked as a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Bristol from 2004 to 2005, where they conducted research on pancreatic beta-cell failure in Type 2 Diabetes in collaboration with GlaxoSmithKline.

Laura began their career at AstraZeneca, where they worked as an Industrial Placement Student from 1999 to 2000. In this role, they generated antibodies to support pre-clinical research and development.

Laura Parton completed their BSc (Hons) in Biochemistry from The University of Manchester between 1997 and 2001. Laura pursued further education and obtained a PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Bristol from 2001 to 2004. In terms of additional certifications, Laura obtained PRINCE2 Practitioner certification from AXELOS Global Best Practice in October 2015 and later obtained MSP (Managing Successful Programmes) Practitioner certification from the same institution in October 2021.