ABOUT DR ALEXA SMITH
Scientist. Coach. Neurodivergent thinker.
I bring together three things that don't often sit in the same room: a scientific understanding of how neurodivergent brains work, professional coaching rigour at the highest level, and the lived experience of being neurodivergent myself. That combination shapes everything about how I work.
MY STORY
The Impactful Coach
2022 - present
How I got here
I started my career as a scientist. My PhD in Developmental Neurobiology — completed at the National Institute of Medical Research in London — gave me a deep grounding in how brains develop and function. I went on to a Wellcome Research Fellowship at King's College London, publishing peer-reviewed research in developmental neurobiology.
From science, I moved into senior leadership — commercialising research at UCL Business, leading translational research funding at Cancer Research UK, and working at Senior Director level at AstraZeneca, where I led External R&D and Strategic Alliances in Oncology. I know from the inside what it feels like to navigate complex, high-pressure organisations. I also know what it feels like to do that as a neurodivergent person.
Coaching found me at a point of transition. I trained to ICF Professional Certified Coach (PCC) level and built a practice focused on the people I understand most: neurodivergent adults navigating work, leadership, and life in environments that weren't designed for their brain. I also work as a Senior Associate with neurobox, delivering workplace coaching, co-coaching, and neurodiversity awareness training.
Senior Director, External R&D and Strategic Alliances
Senior leadership in Oncology External R&D. Defined strategy for external research collaborations globally. Member of the External R&D Leadership team.
AstraZeneca
2016 - 2022
Where I've worked
RECENT ROLES
Executive and Neurodiversity Coach
1:1 coaching for neurodivergent professionals and senior leaders. Access to Work provider. Neurodiversity workshops and facilitation.
Senior Associate
Workplace strategy coaching, co-coaching, neurodiversity and disability awareness training, HR advisory, and team facilitation.
neurobox
2023 - present
Member of Discovery Research Leadership Team. Managed ~£20M annual funding budget. Led expert review panels with internationally renowned scientists.
Cancer Research UK
2014 - 2016
This isn't a footnote — it's central to how I work
MY NEURODIVERGENT IDENTITY
"Being neurodivergent myself isn't something I mention briefly and move past. It's the reason I understand what my clients are describing when they say they feel capable on the outside and exhausted underneath. It's why I know the difference between good advice and advice that actually works for a brain like ours. And it's why the space I offer feels different — because it is."
I bring this experience into every session — not as a shared diagnosis, but as genuine understanding of what it takes to navigate a world that wasn't designed for your brain. That includes the masking, the inconsistency, the moments of brilliance alongside the moments of complete shutdown, and the exhaustion of having to translate yourself for other people.
CREDENTIALS AND TRAINING
Professional standards I work to
I hold the ICF Professional Certified Coach (PCC) accreditation and maintain ongoing supervision and continuing professional development in line with ICF ethical guidelines.
PhD and undergraduate scientific training
My scientific background spans a BSc Hons in Anatomy and Cell Biology at the University of Sheffield, a PhD in Developmental Neurobiology at the National Institute of Medical Research in London, and a Wellcome Research Fellowship at King's College London. That training gives me genuine scientific literacy — the ability to read and evaluate neuroscience research critically — and a deep appreciation of biological variation in how brains and nervous systems develop. It is a different field from neurodiversity research, but it shapes how rigorously I engage with the evidence base that underpins my coaching practice.
ICF Professional Certified Coach (PCC)
One of the highest internationally recognised coaching accreditations, requiring demonstrated competence, ethics, and a minimum of 500 coaching hours.
LGBTQ+ affirming practice
An explicitly LGBTQ+ friendly coaching space — because identity intersects with neurodivergence in ways that matter and deserve to be acknowledged.
Postdoctoral Wellcome Research Fellow — King's College London
Peer-reviewed publications in developmental neurobiology including work in Current Biology, Development Dynamics, and Bioessays.
Neurodiversity specialist training
Specialist training in neurodiversity coaching alongside my scientific background and lived experience as a neurodivergent person.
Ongoing supervision and CPD
Regular coaching supervision and continuing professional development — a commitment I take seriously as a way of maintaining the quality and integrity of my work.
Trained in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
ACT is an evidence-based psychological approach that helps people notice and work with difficult thoughts and emotions rather than fighting them. I draw on ACT techniques specifically because they are well-suited to neurodivergent adults — particularly around self-compassion, values clarification, and building psychological flexibility.
TMSDI Team Management Profile Accredited Practitioner
The Team Management Profile is an internationally recognised tool for understanding how people prefer to work, communicate, and contribute within teams. I use it in executive and leadership coaching to help clients understand their own working style — and navigate environments where others work differently.
Want to find out if we are a good fit?
Free - 45 minutes - No obligation
The discovery call is free, informal, and genuinely no pressure. If it doesn't feel right, I'll tell you honestly — and I may be able to suggest something that is.
Dr Alexa Smith PCC - alexasmith.co.uk - Based in the UK, working online in the UK and internationally