Spotlight On: Dr Radi Haloub, Programme Lead for MSc Biotech and Pharmaceutical Management

Dr Radi Haloub joins UCL from his role as a Leader of the Consultancy Route and Senior Lecturer in Strategy and Business Ethics at the University of Huddersfield. Prior to his academic career, Radi worked in global companies in the Pharmaceuticals and fast-moving consumer goods sectors.

Radi’s work ethos has been largely inspired by Prof Ed Freeman, the father of Stakeholder Theory, whose work influenced Radi’s views and perceptions about stakeholders and ethics in business.  This stimulated Radi’s PhD focus on stakeholders’ forces that influence managers’ judgements on produced forecasts in international pharmaceutical firms. His PhD won a full-tuition fee-waiver scholarship from the University of Huddersfield and was completed in 2013.

Radi’s work is published in reputable journals including Journal of Business Ethics, Journal of Management Inquiry, European Business Review, Personnel Review, International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, and the International Journal of Intercultural Relations. One of his recent publications focuses on the case study of a small pharmaceutical company in the Palestinian Territory, which explores the relationship between entrepreneurial storytelling and resilience in an extreme environment. Radi is currently looking at the impact of culture and religion on social integration of minorities in low middle-income countries and the contribution of the pharmaceutical sector to supporting migrants’ and refugees’ health and wellbeing. 

Radi’s contribution to community is evident through leading consultancy projects with Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust (CHFT), Kirklees Council, Calderdale Council, alongside projects for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Yorkshire. His contribution to community is acknowledged through leading projects such as: 

• Better Future Post Covid: Empowering Communities in Wakefield Council, funded by: UK Community Renewable Fund (UKCRF) in partnership with Wakefield Council and Spectrum People (£750k). 
• A Better Future – Understanding Refugee Entrepreneurship, funded by: BA/Leverhulme (£6k).
• Sounding out refugees’ successful stories in Jordan, funded by: University Sandpit project (£14k).
• Seminar collaboration with the American University of Madaba, funded by: Santander Student Mobility Funds (£5k). 

Tell me more about your background – It would be great to find out more about your education and career so far.

I got my BSc Pharmacy degree in 2000, after which I started my career in Sales and Marketing in an International Pharmaceutical company operating in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Meanwhile, I started doing my MSc Marketing studies on a part-time basis and completed those in 2007.

I have extensive management, marketing and leadership experience, which I continuously implement to drive change and enhance performance.  Having had certificates in both natural and social sciences added to my insights and ability to see various relationalities and complementarities between both worlds. As such, I progressed in my career and held various leadership and managerial positions in different countries, involving sales, marketing and logistics within the pharmaceutical sector. After that, I moved to working in the Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) sector as Head of Pharmacy Unit at Procter and Gamble's (P&G) distributor in Saudi Arabia, where I managed a team to satisfy the demands of pharmacy chains in the region

Following that, I relocated to the UK in 2008 to complete my PhD studies, then started my academic career as Lecturer in Strategy and Business Ethics, where I was involved in launching various post-graduate multidisciplinary courses for business and applied sciences. I am particularly proud of the Consultancy Route I launched in the Business School, which has enabled impact through engagement and knowledge transfer between students, universities, communities and small businesses. 

Why are you excited to be joining the UCL Global Business School for Health?

UCL East (where the UCL Global Business School for Health will be located) has an inspiring mission, which aligns with my personal ethos on “creating solutions that change the world by breaking down barriers and creating new practices in sustainable spaces and best-in-class facilities – giving our staff and students the tools to take their learning and discoveries further”. UCL has identified gaps in management and the need to fully equip healthcare professionals who are working, or aiming to work, in the biotech and pharmaceutical industry with business skills. Teaching business to non-business background students is an inspiring and exciting process, and I’m always proud to see how my students often consider my modules as “eye-opener to reality”. 

Being part of the UCL GBSH team is an opportunity to reimagine global healthcare management and unravel health challenges from a business perspective. It is a chance to teach in the world’s first business school dedicated to health. It is an opportunity to give access to the world’s leading industry experts and healthcare management innovators to share their experiences in a collaborative, innovative and international environment. Moreover, joining UCL GBSH will give access to the latest and most relevant data in the field, alongside exposure to various resources that will enrich the lives and experiences of both students and academics. It will offer the opportunity to be part of a creative and adaptive culture that will generate ongoing opportunities for collaboration and development at a global level.  I am very excited and pleased to be part of the team!

What are you most excited to teach the first cohort of UCL GBSH students?

UCL is one of the top universities in the field of health globally and teaching the first cohort at UCL GBSH is a very meaningful experience to me. Teaching the first cohort will provide graduates with fresh insights to gain a competitive advantage over other graduates by being engaged with top players in the global pharmaceutical industry. It will certainly be very exciting to meet with the first cohort of UCL GBSH students, listen to their dreams and learn from their experiences. 

Teaching the first cohort will define our distinctive capability and ability to teach students how to adapt during uncertain changes in the healthcare environment by using real cases and inviting speakers from practice. This is particularly interesting as this first cohort of UCL GBSH students will be ‘post’ covid, and it will be great to see how fresh graduates will be able to shape the future of healthcare. 

I am already looking forward to hearing the feedback from the first cohort after they graduate, and the feedback from the employers, which will further enrich the course, and offer space for future opportunities and collaborations. I consider our students to be “partners” on the course, and the first cohort will definitely be active contributors to future development. It will be a pleasure to hear their voice and engage with them during and after their studies. 
Is healthcare management an area more business schools should be exploring? If so, why?
I have been teaching multidisciplinary modules such as Pharmaceutical Business Project for Applied Sciences students and Strategic Management for non-business students for more than six years. I can see the impact of the multidisciplinary course on students. I believe that pharmaceutical companies are the engines that drive the healthcare industry, and it is critical to provide future graduates with the contemporary demands of this industry, especially post covid. 

It is important to say that the nature of biotech and pharmaceutical companies is related to the knowledge that is stored in marketing and research projects. These courses, such as our UCL GBSH course, apply a business mindset to this area of health, teach students leadership skills and encourage creativity. Also, these courses teach how information and materials can be handled, used as key resources, and managed as key activities. The need for these courses satisfies the demand for new development of medicines in response to global emerging issues and our healthcare management courses will confront graduates to the complex global health issues. 

Creative drug design needs an advanced level of the interactions between business and science that students will gain after they enrol in our courses. These interactions improve health equity and reduce health disparities because it provides the opportunity to bring UCL’s other cross-disciplinary centres. To summarise, these courses explore the healthcare field from different perspectives through distinct but related subjects, offer transferable and relevant business skills and encourage innovation. 

What contribution do you want to bring to the school and future students? 

I want to contribute to the intellectually and ethically stimulating environment and support colleagues and students to achieve the University’s aims and objectives. I am very passionate about communicating ideas with colleagues working in the same school or from different disciplines, keeping everyone involved in any future development and  contributing to a positive culture and inspiring others. I will communicate ideas about future development plans and keep colleagues and students involved in these decisions. I am also keen to contribute to the development of UCL East’s academic vision, to address the contemporary challenges and build a positive work and study environment. 
I also want to contribute to the research agenda of the UCL GBSH in relation to social responsibility of pharmaceutical companies and pharmacies in Low Middle-Income Countries (LMIC), and how disadvantaged communities can reach healthcare services.

My contribution to future students will include applying policies and procedures, sustaining students’ satisfaction, supporting BAME, refugees and disadvantaged communities and promoting diversity and inclusion. I am an advocate for research-led teaching as means to unleash skills and inspire students to realise their own potential. I encourage student-centred learning to keep learners engaged, motivated and responsible for their learning and development.

In summary, I am very conscious about institutional development goals and students’ academic and personal needs and always contribute by offering advice and support as needed to students and colleagues alike. I will continue to contribute to the field through impactful work that provides meaningful outcomes to various stakeholders.

Learn more about the MSc Biotech and Pharmaceutical Management