Recently we sat down with Platelet Services CEO Natalia Dovlatova to discuss her career journey and plans for the future of the company.
Before Platelet Services
Natalia has always been drawn to platelet research, and it was the focus of her dissertation when completing her medical degree in Moscow. During her degree she was introduced to Stan Heptinstall at a conference and later joined his group for her PhD at the University of Nottingham in Cardiovascular Medicine.
She spent several years working on translational post-doc projects, including an MRC-funded project to develop an in vitro diagnostic test based on platelet function assessment. In 2009, Platelet Solutions, led by Stan Heptinstall, was founded as a spin-out of this project, with Natalia joining the team in a Business Development role in 2013.
The experience from this venture led Natalia to found Platelet Services in 2019, with a focus on providing platelet testing services to drug discovery projects.
Company expansion
In its five and a half years, Platelet Services has increased its understanding of the shifting demand and requirements for platelet testing, its lab space, the number of staff it employs, and the available assays.
Natalia has learnt a lot about the journey from academia to industry and the ways in which these two areas differ. As a platelet CRO the Team had to focus on the areas where platelet testing can be applied in a drug discovery context and over time has tailored the offerings of Platelet Services to align with the needs of the industry.
As a CEO, Natalia has learnt that having the right people is crucial to the success of a company and credits Platelet Services’ success to the entire team. She is constantly striving to improve herself through attending courses and enlisting the help of mentors to ensure that she is the best CEO she can be. She often finds herself wanting to be involved in every project and so needs, at times, to remind herself to work on rather than in the business.
Plans for the future
Natalia is constantly looking at ways to improve the knowledge and services the company provides, while retaining the benefits of a small close-knit business. She wishes to continue to grow to meet the demands and needs of clients, while remaining true to the company’s core values. She has an unrelenting focus on ongoing learning and improvement of assays so the company can continue to provide world-class, industry-leading, services.
The future of platelet testing
Natalia understands that, faced with a need to conduct platelet testing, companies value being able to access Platelet Services’ expertise and test systems – The Platelet Services team has mastered the complexities involved so that clients don’t have to.
Platelet Services’ expansion and optimisation of test systems makes it viable, where needed, to introduce platelet testing at earlier stages of drug discovery to contribute to de-risking and progression of projects. Natalia and the team will continue to apply best practice to solve platelet challenges, striving to achieve the Vision of providing support to every drug discovery project that requires platelet testing
