Biography

Jerry Silverman, BS Pharm, is a former industry marketing executive and President and CEO of Bimark Medical Communications (1992–2008) where he utilized his extensive experience in pharmaceutical marketing and sales and training to build a successful agency.

Mr. Silverman is most proud of his contributions to the professional growth and advancement of industry pharmacists. From 1998-2008, Bimark participated as the first pharmaceutical agency to have a fellowship within the Rutgers Post-Doctoral Program. During that period Jerry interviewed over 500 candidates during Midyear conferences.

Jerry has more than twenty-five years of experience serving as an industry employer preceptor, mentor, and coach to students, fellows, and experienced traditional pharmacists pursuing industry practice.

In 2008, Jerry was honored by the Alliance for Continuing Medical Education (ACME) for his commitment to the professional development of industry pharmacists.

His professional career includes positions in sales, training, and marketing at Eli Lilly, Searle, and Bimark. Jerry created the IPhO Coaching Service a decade ago and has personally coached over 500 clients since then. He currently holds the position of SVP, Professional Development and Coaching, IPhO.

Biography

Brittany Griggs, PharmD, RPh, is a Scientific Associate in Market Access and Payer Marketing at PRECISIONvalue. In this role, she develops value-based messaging and promotional tactics for pharmaceutical companies such as Takeda and Seagen to take and market to payers across the country. In this role, she has been able to work across multiple therapeutic areas and work on developing sound, payer strategy. In addition to working in the industry, Brittany works as a pharmacist at Ascension to maintain her clinical knowledge and skills.

She graduated from Purdue University College of Pharmacy in 2021 where she was able to explore:

• Clinical trial operations at AbbVie
• HCP marketing at Mallinckrodt
• Medical Digital Strategy at Lilly 
• Market access at MMIT
• Managed care at OptumRx
• Entrepreneurship through NIH/NSF funded courses

Brittany is excited to share an honest take of her direct path to industry with students and recent graduates, sharing all of the highs and lows in her job search last year. Serving as a mentor and tutor for the past 5 years, she is excited to continue to guide and assist others in their direct-to-industry career exploration.

Biography

Margaret Alabi currently serves as an Associate Director of Patient Advocacy with Corporate Affairs for the Immunology at UCB Inc. She completed her Pharm D at Xavier University of Louisiana in the spring of 2011 and chose a “non-traditional” career path to explore her desire for working with advocates to effect change for patients impacted by treatable diseases.

While gaining valuable experience through her two-year post-doctoral fellowship in Health Policy and Strategic Advocacy at Sanofi, Margaret chaired the Community Development Program of Rutgers Pharmaceutical Industry Fellowship and was responsible for fostering the professional and social development of over 70 fellows and 300 plus alumni. This provided her with a foundation from which she helps her clients pivot in the right direction.

As a certified CliftonStrengths Coach and Energy Leadership Index Master Practitioner coupled with 9 years of Pharma experience ranging from Corporate Affairs, Commercial and Medical, Margaret is eager to lend her services to help you achieve your goal.

• Commercial Experience- Pharmacy Account Manager
• Medical Experience- MSL and Associate Director of Medical Affairs
• Corporate Affairs Experience- Patient Advocacy

Biography

Tanya Chaudhri, PharmD,RPh is a Manager in Global Regulatory Strategy with Horizon Therapeutics USA Inc. She is an alumna of the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Pharmacy (UIC), where she had the opportunity to discover her passion for the pharmaceutical industry. Dr. Chaudhri was the founding Vice President of her UIC IPhO chapter during her second year of pharmacy school, President during her third year, and IPhO National Student Officer of Chapter Network Management during her fourth year. She served as Co-Chief Fellow of the IPhO National Fellows Council during her Regulatory Affair fellowship at UCB Inc.

Tanya has had various experiences within the industry including completing an internship at Takeda Pharmaceuticals in Regulatory Affairs Advertising and Promotion, as well as diverse APPE experiences at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Quarles & Brady. During her fellowship Tanya had a robust experience in all facets of Regulatory Affairs and gained insights on drug development on a global scale. Her past industry experiences and involvement through IPhO have laid the foundation for her career as an industry pharmacist, and she is a strong supporter of students by helping them create their own individual industry career path.

Biography

Nicole Fuchs, PharmD, is a Hematology/Oncology Medical Strategy Post-Doctoral Fellow within Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) in conjunction with the Rutgers Institute for Pharmaceutical Industry Fellowship (RPIF) program. In this role, she works on key medical strategy tactics and initiatives for recently launched products across the hematology portfolio, utilizing both a business and clinical acumen.

Dr. Fuchs is a recent PharmD graduate from the University of Illinois College of Pharmacy. She always had a passion for mentoring younger students and has been involved with IPhO, both at her local chapter and through the national organization. Nicole served on her local chapter as Director of Marketing and subsequently Vice President. Additionally, she sought opportunities on the national level and served as the National Student Officer (NSO) for Social Media & Marketing in 2019, and Chapter Network Management in 2020. Currently, she is part of the National Fellows Council (NFC) and serves as the co-lead for Professional Programming – National Student Meeting Programming. In addition to her leadership experiences, she completed internships and rotations at Astellas Pharma, Novartis Pharmaceuticals, BMS, and Xcenda.

Her past industry experiences and involvement through IPhO have laid the foundation for her career within the pharmaceutical industry. She is a strong supporter of students and is passionate about helping them create their own individual industry career path.

Biography

Zack McCormack, PharmD, is a Product Manager for US marketing within the Sanofi Genzyme Oncology franchise. In this role, he works on key HCP marketing initiatives for recently launched products, utilizing both a business and clinical acumen. Dr. McCormack recently completed an Oncology Commercial Strategy Fellowship with Sanofi Genzyme and the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. In this role, he supported products in multiple stages of their lifecycle by working in global marketing, US market access, and sales. During his Fellowship, he also served as Co-Chief of the IPhO National Fellows Council.

Zack completed his Doctor of Pharmacy at Purdue University College of Pharmacy, where he served as the Vice President of the Purdue IPhO chapter as well as the IPhO National Student Officer of Chapter Development. Additionally, he completed internships and rotations with the United States Pharmacopeia (USP), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Vitae Pharmaceuticals, and SmartPharma LLC.

Biography

Mahesh Tawney is currently Senior Director, Medical Outcomes Science Liaisons at Alnylam Pharmaceuticals. Mahesh has over 15 years of experience as a Health Outcomes and Medical Science Liaison supporting multiple launches across various therapeutic areas.

Immediately prior to joining Alnylam, Mahesh spent three years at Eli Lilly and Company as a Health Outcomes Liaison, responsible for conveying the clinical, economic, and humanistic outcome measures for Lilly’s marketed and investigational oncology agents to Payers and nationally recognized Integrated Delivery Networks (IDNs). Prior to Lilly, Mahesh spent seven years at Daiichi-Sankyo as an MSL and HOL and three years in-house at The Medicines Company.

Mahesh received his Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy and subsequently completed a post-doctoral fellowship in Medical and Scientific Affairs at Sankyo. In addition, he has a Master’s in Applied Pharmacoeconomics from the University of Florida and Masters of Business Administration from Stetson University.

Biography

Alec Thompson, PharmD, is an Oncology Commercial Strategy & Operations Fellow for Novartis Pharmaceuticals in conjunction with Rutgers Institute for Pharmaceutical Industry Fellowships (RPIF). In this role, he works on high level commercial strategy initiatives across sales, marketing, and brand strategy/planning. Dr. Thompson also supports marketing/sales training with stretch responsibilities in market access and currently serves as the Professional Programming Co-Lead of the IPhO National Fellows Council.

Alec completed his Doctor of Pharmacy at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Pharmacy. As a student, he completed internships and rotations at:

• Novo Nordisk – Market Access Intern
• Janssen Pharmaceuticals – Real World Value & Evidence Intern
• PrecisionValue – Editorial Assistant
• Santhera Pharmaceuticals – Social Media/Medical Affairs Intern
• Bristol Myers Squibb – Field Medical Capabilities/MSL Extern
• Xcenda – Strategic Market Access Extern

He also was a Junior Digital Strategist for Fingerpaint before beginning his fellowship and continues to contract as a Social Media & Medical Affairs Specialist for Santhera Pharmaceuticals. His diverse past experiences and involvement throughout school have laid the foundation for a career within the pharmaceutical industry. He has a passion for mentoring students and enjoys helping them create a path into industry.