Professor Bruce Whitelaw on a career at Roslin

I studied medical microbiology as an undergraduate at the University of Edinburgh, and there I read about proto-oncogenes - viruses could acquire genes which cause uncontrolled growth in a tumour. I was blown away by the idea that a virus could steal a gene.  

Afterwards I took a PhD at the University of Glasgow, to do with chopping up bits of genes and putting them into plasmids. I had no understanding of this, but I knew it was where I needed to be.  

At the end of my PhD, a position came up in Edinburgh, at what is now Roslin, to make biomedical proteins in milk. I knew nothing about milk protein gene activity. I had to learn fast, and I rolled up my sleeves. And so began my Roslin career. 

Those were timely opportunities. When luck comes your way, you have to be alert enough to see the opportunity, to be brave enough to jump in, and work hard. And to be successful you need to have good ideas. All of those have been part of my career. 

I'm a blend between a biologist and an engineer, I like problem solving. 

I'm much more excited about developing something – like the pig developed at Roslin to be resistant to the PRRS virus, which has a clear route to impact – than actually knowing the detailed nuances of the gene we altered to enable the viral resistance. I'm very pleased that others do that, that's just not what makes me tick.  

There are obvious milestones – my first major grant award, my first studentship, my first student graduating - those are special. Getting my PhD was an incredible moment. 

Being made director of the Roslin Institute has been the pinnacle of my career, without question. Just after hearing the news, it dawned on me that I was now responsible to lead the Institute - something I'd wanted, and was very confident I could do, but you never know how you feel until it happens. It was like I'd been slapped around the head with a wet fish. 

The immediate thing for me is to work out what is next. I dissect what's happened. I ask, what do I need to do now? That's all I think about. You don't want to waste the moment. 

And then sometime down the line you have a wee celebration. 

The brand is strong because we keep doing great science and we're relentless in having good stories coming out, keeping Roslin in high regard internationally.  

You need to have the right scientists, and give them the right tools and freedoms. We're not the biggest institute, but about one-quarter of our team are fellows, or emerging scientists, and that brings an energy. Roslin is a family, and that's part of what makes it special. 

We're always leading, and there's no reason why we can't continue to do so. 

The most important part of the Institute is the people - as a leader, you have to understand what's important to them, at every level. You need to engage, and to empower them.  

None of us are the full package – we've all got weaknesses and strengths. I'm good at identifying strengths, and allowing individuals to excel and grow. I like putting people together, seeing where synergies could happen. 

The other part of leadership is to try to nudge the direction of the Institute.  

And a leader needs a fantastic, trusted team around them. 

Prompt action is important. I learned that from a former colleague, Harry Griffin. He said ‘the most important thing about a letter is that you send it’, and that's resonated.  

The other lesson is from one of my hobbies, which is climbing – you have to absolutely trust your partner. In leadership, you have to delegate to the right person.  

But you must never delegate something and then take the credit for it. If it goes well, others get the credit. But if it goes badly, it's my fault. 

I gauge what the bigger picture is, without jumping to conclusions. I then have to make timely decisions. Tough decisions can be very harsh on an individual. Thankfully, the good decisions vastly outweigh the bad.  

And I act as a shield from some outside influences. As long as you get that nearly right, most of the time, it's OK. 

It is hard to leave the game, as there are so many lovely things going on.  

Applying engineering at a biological scale in the Easter Bush Engineering Biology hub is really exciting, and the ongoing genome editing work is brilliant. 

As the global population is predicted to rise to above 10 billion, we should have a stable food supply. That will involve a whole lot of science and a whole lot of change in politics.  

And there are always going to be new diseases, but we can get better about how we combat those. The science is going to lead, that must be the goal. 

I will have a number of advisory activities at least for a period, and there are projects ongoing that I would like to stay involved with. You'll see me occasionally in the building, but I don't think it's right for a demitting director to hang around the corridors. 

Beyond that it's my family, travel and garden.  

I love walking, and seeing things as I go - it might be a mountain, an animal, a river, a city, a building, or people. I love people-watching. 

Early on in my PhD, I was trying to clone a simple fragment, and it just wouldn't go. And I said, this is not for me.  

I went to the local ski club and started to learn. I had it all planned out, I'd get sponsorship to become an instructor, then after a couple of years, be a guide in the Alps.  

However, shortly after, my experiment started to work, and I came back to the fold. I’ve no regrets about that - and I still ski.