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into the field of life sciences was organic chemi
stry. His plan was to study geology for his Master’s degree, but the courses in organic chemistry really inspired him and changed his path. “Soon after, applications in life science were so much more interesting to me than the actual synthesis and that is how it started. In my graduate studies I was working closely with biologists to understand the effects of the molecules that I was synthesizing and that has continued ever since,” he says. Richard graduated with a Master of Science degree in chemistry from Lund University and then went on to earn a PhD in organic chemistry from the same university, at the Faculty of Engineering. He did postdoctoral studies at McGill University in Montreal for three years before returning to Sweden, then worked two years at Lund University as a researcher before he joined Red Glead Discovery (RGD) in 2014. Most recently he has also been appointed Associate Professor at Lund University. Richard joined RGD as a medical chemist to work in a client project. “It was a project that I felt was very close to my education and background and I thought that I could make an impact there,” he says. After a while he got the opportunity to move over to peptide chemistry, an area that interested him a lot as all his PhD and Postdoc research was on biomolecules. “After a couple of years, I assumed the overall responsibility for the peptide team and last year I became the Head of R&D Operations. I feel I have gotten a lot of opportunities to develop and to grow at RGD.” As Head of R&D Operations, Richard oversees the CRO part of the company, he ensures that they have the right resources to execute their projects, he meets and discusses projects internally and with clients, and he makes sure that they are ready for the future. “Our main business is as a CRO, delivering drug discovery services in the pre-clinical phase. Our clients include everything from pharma and biotech companies to academic groups and start-ups in Europe, Asia, and North America,” says Richard. NORDICLIFESCIENCE.ORG 75