Travel to Slovakia to meet Andrey Tyapkin, a project manager for a Lionbridge Life Sciences client within the Patient Experience division. Andrey enjoys working with colleagues all around the world, and has assisted in helping Ukrainian refugees resettle in Slovakia. In his free time, he enjoys being active, traveling, and going to live concerts.

Tell us about your role at Lionbridge.

I have worked at Lionbridge for five years as a project manager for a Life Sciences client. I first worked within their European division, and I now work for their Patient Experience division. I used to focus more on translations for clinical trials and regulatory content, but now most of the content we translate is related to marketing and recruitment. I’m responsible for requests that come in from our client and managing the project through delivery, including ensuring that we stick to the budget and timeline and that we provide the best quality. I handle a lot of communication with the client and with my colleagues all over the globe: Our team has colleagues from Mumbai, China, Europe, and the United States.

What is Patient Experience?

The Patient Experience Division focuses on patient recruiting materials. When a company has recruit patients for a clinical trial, they create materials like brochures and websites to inform patients about the trial, and these materials need to be translated into different languages. We also work with physician-facing documents, like fact sheets.

What do you enjoy most about your role?

I most enjoy communicating with my coworkers and learning from them. It is fantastic to have such an opportunity to work with professionals dedicated to extraordinary results, and I am always learning something new. The account I work with gives me the opportunity to bring creativity and new ideas to my work, and I am glad I can apply these skills to my work and achieve results with my team.

Andrey Tyapkin, a Lionbridge project manager in Slovakia

What does a typical workday look like for you?

I start by checking my email. Then I usually prepare a plan for my day and prioritize the short- and long-term tasks I am working on. Sometimes I work on production tasks that need to be completed by the end of the day or by the next day, and sometimes I work to meet certain milestones. I also communicate with the client and my colleagues to follow up on projects and inform them about where we are. Towards the end of the day, I double check any deadlines that were set for the day. Patient Experience projects are pretty complex: They require thorough analysis and thinking about the client’s instructions and information from previous projects, creating a workflow, and many other steps.

Where do you live, and what do you enjoy most about it?

I recently moved to Bratislava, Slovakia, but before that I lived in Zilina. The best thing about Zilina is the people that live there and the surrounding nature. Everyone I have met there are helpful and friendly. As for the nature, it is simply wonderful. There are quite a lot of hills and mountains nearby, including a beautiful mountain range called Malá Fatra, which has breathtaking views and fresh air.

When the war in Ukraine broke out, you helped Ukrainian refugees. How did you get involved?

When everything started, it was a pure shock, and it still is. A few days after the war started, my friend who lives near Kyiv called me and said his relatives and their friends would like to leave Ukraine. Of course, I told him that they can come to Slovakia. They decided to come to Zilina, and my friends and I helped them find accommodation in the city. They are still living there and have partially gotten used to it, which is comforting. Now they are working, and living in one apartment that some very good people provided for free. They are still hoping to go back soon, but it’s great that they had the courage to come here and trust that Slovakia would help them.

People here are doing a great job on all levels — starting from state-level decisions down to ordinary people like my friends and me. Everyone is trying to help people, and I am really impressed by this unity among Slovaks. It’s great to know that the people we helped are safe and trying to lead a normal life.

What do you like to do outside of work?

I am trying to be more active. I like doing sports — in the winter I love to go snowboarding. Luckily, Slovakia has a lot of mountains and many snowboarding opportunities. In the summer, I go swimming and jogging. I also love to watch and play soccer, and I enjoy traveling, going to live concerts, reading, and watching different series.

How many languages do you speak?

I speak English and Slovak, and Russian is my native language. I have an interest in foreign languages and I started to learn French during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, but I’ve paused that for now.