ELRIG, the not-for-profit organisation serving the life science & drug discovery communities (https://elrig.org/) announced earlier this year that they would rename the Early Career Professional Award for the Kirsty Smitten Award in recognition of Kirsty’s phenomenal success in transitioning from a laboratory-based researcher to being one of the most dynamic and successful young female CEOs in the biopharmaceutical sector. Kirsty conducted the background market research that informed the establishment of MetalloBio whilst completing her PhD and incorporated the company with fellow co-founder, Professor Jim Thomas, in March 2021 before defending it (successfully, of course!). From then until her untimely death in October 2023, Kirsty secured $2 million of non-dilutive funding, built a strong management team, and appointed the first employee from outside the founding group, Dr Matt Culbert, in December 2022. She was recognised with numerous awards including Forbes’ 30 under 30, the Federation of Small Businesses’ UK Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2023 and, on MetalloBio’s behalf, FSB Small Business of the Year 2023. Kirsty exemplified the perfect combination of extreme intelligence and staggering work rate. It is no accident that MetalloBio has been able to push on with so much momentum; continuing to work to the Kirsty Smitten ethic and being supported even now with funding awards that Kirsty brought into the company.