Your Path
To Industry
Starts Here

Fellowship Sponsor Company: Pfizer

Function/Discipline: Oncology HEOR and Market Access

Fellowship Years: 2020—2022

Alma Mater: MCPHS

The theme of my story is: don't give up!

My fellowship journey started similar to yours. Over a year ago, I applied to different fellowships and had interviews, receptions, on-sites—the works. However, shortly after the ASHP Midyear Clinical Meeting, when candidates were notified of their decisions, I was not on the favorable end. I did not receive an offer at that time. I was extremely happy for those that did receive an offer and congratulated them on their well-deserved accomplishments.

Neveen Abou-Gharbia, PharmD, MBA
Executive Director, Global Marketing
Otsuka America Pharmaceuticals Inc.

When did you decide that you wanted to work in industry versus retail/hospital?
Going into pharmacy school, I always knew that I wanted to pursue pharmaceutical industry but I didn’t want to pursue the R&D side of the business. So it wasn’t until I completed my first summer internship at DuPont Merck in cardiovascular medical affairs that it became clear to me what I wanted to pursue upon graduation.

Was there an experience that inspired that decision?
Yes, my mother and father went to pharmacy school abroad then came to the States to pursue their PhDs in chemistry. They went on to have long-standing and successful careers at DuPont Chemicals and Wyeth Ayerst respectively. So growing up, I would see how they leveraged their pharmacy and chemistry education to discover new drug entities, patents & technologies in the lab leading to multiple promotions and increasing responsibility along the way. They both have inspired me to pursue pharmaceutical industry to bring new medicines in therapeutic areas of high unmet need.

Fellowship Sponsor Company: Bayer Pharmaceuticals

Function/Discipline: Regulatory Affairs

Fellowship Years: 2020—2022

Alma Mater: University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) School of Pharmacy

My interest in industry came toward my third year of pharmacy school. A conversation with a UMB alumnus influenced me to start attending IPhO meetings. Our IPhO chapter even had the opportunity to tour AstraZeneca and learn about the drug development process, clinical development roles, and fellowship and rotational opportunities. I enjoyed the exposure I gained from that field trip and started to align my steps toward obtaining a fellowship. Regulatory affairs stood out to me the most because it allows you to utilize your knowledge to strategize with other functional areas to meet the requirements for drug approval. I was also impressed by the opportunities to serve as the liaison between health authorities and the company, as well as the impact regulatory scientists make in drug development.