Ruth McKernan is Vice President of External Research in Europe at Pfizer. Ruth graduated from the University of London with joint honours in biochemistry and pharmacology and gained her PhD studying the mechanism of action of antidepressant drugs. She spent two years at the University of California in San Diego before returning to the UK to join the pharmaceutical company, Merck. Her 17 years at Merck included three years as Vice President and Head of the Neuroscience Research Centre. Ruth is a renowned scientist, author of over 120 publications on neuroscience and is a visiting Professor at London’s Institute of Psychiatry. Her first book for non-scientists, Billy’s Halo, was short-listed for the 2007 MIND awards.