An organization’s purpose and vision are crucial in helping its people feel valued, motivated, and committed to their roles.

We were excited to speak with Caroline Wickramasinghe from our product team to learn about what Abcam’s purpose means to her and how it impacts the culture around her. Caroline is our Senior Product Manager based in our Cambridge, UK office. Here, she shares what makes Abcam unique and special to her.

“I was initially attracted to join Abcam after doing a PhD and post-doc at Cambridge University. I was already very familiar with Abcam as a company as I used many of their antibodies at the bench, and I knew their reagents were of good quality – they were one of my go-to suppliers of antibodies. I developed a particular interest in antibody discovery because I did my post-doc in the LMB where Cesar Milstein, who won the 1984 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for developing the hybridoma method of producing antibodies, worked – in fact, we still had Cesar Milstein’s (very) old PCR machine in my lab (that still worked!). 

During my post-doc, I lost nearly a year of work due to what I later discovered was a non-specific antibody. I became keenly aware of how scientific progress in the lab is dependent on the quality of reagents available to the scientific community.

When starting off as a PhD student, I was very ideological and thought science was all about ideas and vision – as I matured, I realized that the practicalities of being able to perform your experiments are as important as having good ideas. And in order to make progress, your ideas are at the mercy of your reagents! Because of this, I was interested in Abcam.

Cambridge is a small place, so one of my colleagues knew someone working at Abcam and connected me for a brief chat with her. She was so positive about working there that it made me even more sure that this was the place for me!”

What makes Abcam stand out?

“Abcam genuinely wants to help move science and medicine forward; at its heart, Abcam is always focused on supporting scientists and really looking to drive progress. I love that there is always an openness to exploring different ways of working… to help our customers, to help things move faster, to help continuous improvement. We always aim to do better than we did before.

Abcam is unlike any other company I know because of its focus on quality and commitment to doing the right thing. Our quality teams leave no stone unturned in the pursuit of making our antibodies the best they can be.  We share this knowledge with our customers to help them make the right decisions regarding their data – from a business perspective, this is a challenging thing to do, but we are committed to this very honest way of working. Standing by these “old-fashioned” values sets us apart.

Abcam’s purpose resonates very strongly with my own personal values – honesty, respect, and integrity. Essentially, it’s a desire to do the right thing, to help and support people, and to build community. These are some of the guiding principles I was raised with, and what I teach my own children. Sometimes, the right thing isn’t the easiest thing – it’s difficult to make these decisions as a business, but Abcam is committed to transparency and faces that challenge head-on. That is something I respect, and that inspires me.”

How does Abcam’s purpose impact the culture?

“Abcam has an open culture, is not afraid of change, and is committed to people. This has enabled so much personal growth and career development opportunities for me. I’ve moved from a bench scientist to a people manager, to SME, to technical sales support, to front-line sales, to product marketing. The skills I developed working at Abcam directly stem from the opportunities I have been offered and the support I was given. I’m grateful to have had so many supportive colleagues and mentors who encouraged me and believed in me. I’ve been pushed to excel and to strive for the next goal, which has helped me develop in ways I never thought possible and changed the trajectory of my career. It’s easier to motivate yourself and push yourself when you really believe in what you are doing – it brings out the best in people.

It is such a friendly place to work! Even though there are challenging goals and busy schedules, it still feels very much like a community. What I really appreciate is Abcam’s dedication to supporting people. They’re flexible in terms of adjusting hours and offering hybrid working, and I’ve seen Abcam show great compassion when supporting colleagues with long-term illnesses, which is commendable.

It's also so wonderful that our new building was designed very much with people and community in mind – with breakout areas, a great canteen, a prayer room, a mothers’ room, a recharge room, a games room… and more! As well as that, we have all the Employee Resource Groups which speak to a company that really values you as a person and as an individual. This respect and caring attitude creates a ripple effect and helps us all to be better people.”

-              Caroline Wickramasinghe