Meet the team – spotlight Saima Kivimäki

You were the first new hire to strengthen the founding team. How much of a shake-up was it for you?

Of course, I was slightly nervous being the first one in a company that hadn’t had any external hires before, but I mostly felt honoured by the trust of the founders to open up their company for a new person. Working at a startup was also new for me since my background had been in academic research and routine hospital lab work, but the new role turned out to be a blend of these two so it wasn’t too overwhelming.

Can you share a little about your background and what you do at Arivin Tx?

I hold a BSc in Biomedicine (Karolinska Institutet) and two MSc degrees: one in Molecular Life Sciences (Stockholm University) and the other in Translational Physiology and Pharmacology (Karolinska Institutet). Over the past year I worked in the hospital in the diagnostics of mycobacterial infections, which made me more aware of antibiotic resistance and made me realize how hard these infections are to treat. Here I work as a microbiology researcher, performing routine and experimental studies to further characterize Arivin’s therapies and identify new drug candidates.

Which skills or qualities do you think set you apart in this environment?

I have gained valuable hands-on laboratory skills in both academic research and regulated hospital laboratories. I have also worked with highly pathogenic and resistant pathogens in the biosafety level 3 laboratory. Apart from laboratory skills, from my studies I have acquired a quite wide understanding of microbiology and pharmacology and I’m always excited to learn more.

Tackling antimicrobial resistance, a problem of such global proportions. How do you do that on a daily basis?

Working with such a big issue with multiple layers can be overwhelming and cause anxiety, but realizing that I as a single researcher am not alone in charge of solving the whole problem can help reduce the stress. Additionally, it is important to not get stuck in the problem and get your thoughts somewhere else by taking breaks with colleagues and having fun hobbies in your free time.

Read the original release on arivintx.com