Mollie Barrett

I’m a curious person at heart—about how people think and behave, how the body works, and how medicines work, especially the mind body connection. Growing up in a military family meant moving around a bit, both in the US and overseas, constantly adapting, reinventing myself, and learning from new communities. That experience taught me to stay curious, ask questions, and keep learning even when things feel unfamiliar. With my mother working in nursing, my interest in medicine came naturally. It became a way to connect my curiosity to something meaningful: helping patients and communities through clinical development.

I’ve spent my entire career in clinical research, starting right out of college. Working across many aspects of clinical research has given me a deep appreciation for how important teamwork is for success. It takes many people and perspectives to bring medicines to patients, and it keeps the journey to developing medicines both fulfilling and exciting.

At CSL, I oversee the clinical operations for the Haematology Therapeutic Area, which is dedicated to advancing potential therapies for patients with bleeding disorders and rare non-malignant blood diseases like sickle cell disease, haemophilia, hereditary hemochromatosis, acquired fibrinogen deficiency, and surgical bleeding.

My role is to work closely with our research & development teams to take promising science and turn it into well-designed, well-run clinical trials so we can deliver new, safe and effective medicines to patients as quickly as we can.

Leading clinical operations for our hematology therapeutic area means guiding multiple clinical programs from operational strategy through execution. Throughout the clinical trials, I help drive progress toward key clinical milestones, support the team to solve complex challenges, and remove barriers along the way – delivering trials to plan.

The Hematology area is complex and ever evolving, and it often feels like working through a puzzle. This certainly keeps the work challenging and engaging in the best way. After years of research, bringing a project to life as a clinical trial is incredibly energizing. Each trial represents progress, and each milestone is one step closer to getting potential new medicines to patients.

That connection to the bigger picture is what really lights me up, what drives me, keeping myself and my team grounded in why our work matters, especially when the challenges are complex or the path forward isn’t easy.

When I began working in sickle cell disease research around nine years ago, patients had not seen a new treatment option in more than two decades. Hearing patients share their experiences over the years, whether at advocacy meetings or scientific conferences, brings that reality into focus. Patients speak about the challenges of navigating healthcare systems, finding clinicians who truly understand their disease, managing pain, and holding onto hope for what a clinical trial might offer.

That’s the crux of what we do, it’s about the patients behind the science. Whether it’s someone waiting with hope or someone whose life has already been changed by a new medicine.

It’s motivating and an important reminder that the hard work is still the good work.

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