Lab Leadership Without Ego: How Sokhom Pin Built the Happiest Team at Alkermes

Watch Episode 169

Leadership in science isn't just about results, it's about people. At Alkermes, Sokhom Pin wasn’t just leading GPCR programs; he was building culture from the ground up. And that culture worked.

The Challenge: Build a Team. Build a Lab. Build the R in R&D.

When Sokhom joined Alkermes, the company had a strong development arm, but a relatively underdeveloped research function. He was tasked with building an in vitro pharmacology group from scratch, including infrastructure, hiring, assay development, and team dynamics.

“I couldn’t sleep. I was up every night thinking about how to hire, how to lead, how to avoid the mistakes my bad bosses made,” Sokhom said.

What Made It Work

• He focused on empowerment, not micromanagement

• He hired based on attitude and team fit, not just credentials

• He designed lab workflows that encouraged curiosity without burnout

• He supported work-life balance while maintaining scientific excellence

  
  

The result? His team was known internally as the “happiest group at Alkermes.”

Why Culture Matters in Drug Discovery

You can’t innovate under pressure. In a field like GPCR research (where data complexity and failure rates are high), scientific rigor thrives when trust and collaboration lead the way. Sokhom knew this instinctively and built a system to support it.

From Lab Bench to Boardroom

His work at Alkermes didn’t just improve drug screening outcomes, it redefined what great leadership in biotech looks like. It was the foundation for his next opportunity: helping launch Cerevel from the ground up.

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