Career Advice in Pharmacoepidemiology

Dan Strauss – Klein Hersh International

Dr. Kourtney Davis - GlaxoSmithKline

Content• Who hires epidemiologists?

• Desired skills/traits in entry-level candidates

• “What do we really do?” – Dr. Kourtney Davis• Daily life, responsibilities, stakeholders, collaborators

• Marketing/Branding Yourself• Resume building, social networking

• Interview Tips

Background• Klein Hersh International• Life Sciences Executive search since ‘98• #1 firm in network of 1100 worldwide• 400 placements annually• 60-70 per year specific to epidemiology backgrounds• Epidemiology, Biostatistics, HEOR,

Pharmacovigilance, Risk Management, etc.

Contributors• John Acquavella (Executive Director, Epidemiology – Amgen)• Terri Madison (VP, Epidemiology & Risk Management – Excenda)• Syed Islam (Senior Director, Pharmacoepidemiology – Abbott)• Dan Mines (VP, Safety Surveillance & Epidemiology – HealthCore)• Gregory Daniel (VP, Gov’t & Academic Research – HealthCore)• Crystal N Holick (Director, Safety & Epidemiology – HealthCore)• William Blumentals (Head, Epidemiology for Virology – Roche)• Andres Gomez (Executive Director, Epidemiology – BMS)• Nancy Santanello (VP, Epidemiology – Merck)• Robert Reynolds (VP, Epidemiology – Pfizer)• Jamie Geier (Director, Epidemiology – Pfizer)• Jesse Berlin (VP, Pharmacoepidemiology – J&J)• Andre Araujo (VP, Epidemiology – NERI)

Companies with Epidemiologists• Pharmaceuticals, Medical Device, Biotech (Industry)• GSK, Pfizer, Amgen, J&J, Abbott, Roche, BMS

• Contract Research Organizations (CRO)• Covance, Quintiles, PAREXEL

• Consulting and Vendor Companies• Xcenda, Healthcore, SciMetrika

• Pharmaceutical Benefits Management (PBM)• MedCo, Express Scripts

• Government, Regulatory, and Academia• -State Government, CDC, FDA, NIH, NERI, Universities

Location of Industry Positions• Major Pharma/Biotech Hubs

• NYC Metro, Philly, Boston, San Fran, Outside USA• 12 of the top-20 earning pharma companies

worldwide have offices within 100 miles of NYC. • Boston/Cambridge increasing• Philadelphia remains steady• Chicago/Mid-West• NC has Pharma and large CRO headquarters• West Coast (San Fran, San Diego)

Industry Salary Information• Will depend on location• Geographic location AND location within company

• THERE IS MORE THAN JUST SALARY!!!!!• Target Bonus %, Long-Term Incentives, Sign-on, etc• Culture, Growth Opportunities

• Starting Salaries from $60k-85k for an MPH• Starting Salaries from $70k-110k for a PhD

• Contract/Permanent• If it is contract, what are the terms?

• Study design / methodological skills• Logical approach to refining research questions – LOGICAL THINKERS• Matching designs and data sources to questions-- fit for purpose

• Statistical Analysis• Familiarity with SAS and other languages (STATA, SPSS, R)• Can you show how you used it?

• USE OF LARGE DATASETS• Healthcare claims databases (private and public), disease cohorts,

population-based surveys• Ability to manage the data• Have you done one of these studies?

• Independent, observational study• Are you able to briefly describe the study aims, outcome, and impact?

What Hiring Managers Want to See

What Hiring Managers Want to See• Expertise/Knowledge of at least one Therapeutic Area• Have you published independent or collaborative research?• What studies have you led? Grant proposals written and/or

funded?• Any type of clinical knowledge• Clinical Education (MD, RPh, RN, PharmD)• Intro to Pharmacology for non-medical professionals

• Publications and scientific presentations• Were you the first author of published paper?• Did you publish your thesis/dissertation?• Have you made oral or poster presentations at international

conferences?

• What EPIDEMIOLOGY activities did you do during your program?• A study with your professor

• An R.A. focused on epidemiology research or course• Volunteering – research, clinical, etc• Teaching introductory classes

• Are you following the current trends?• Comparative Effectiveness, Health Outcomes• Safety Studies (Risk Management, REMS)• Company info

• Mergers/Acquisitions, Success, TA, etc.

What Hiring Managers Want to See

• Communication Skills• Written and Oral• Diverse audiences (e.g. to non-epidemiologists)• Influencing and negotiation

• Leadership Qualities• Managing programmers and contract research support staff• External issues – CRO, Consulting, Regulations, etc.

• Personality• Demonstrated teamwork and success in matrix environment• Keeping the “client” happy

• Internal or external• Resilience

What Hiring Managers Want to See

“What do we really do?”

• Dr. Kourtney Davis, PhD• Senior Director, Worldwide Epidemiology - GSK

13

Who is WWEpi @GSK? • Part of Quantitative Sciences (QSci) in Medicines Discovery and

Development (MDD), GSK Research & Development

• Offices in US (RTP and Philadelphia) and UK (Stockley Park)

• Combined staff of ~60 epidemiologists, programmers/analysts, administrative staff

WWEPI Mission

Provide population-based evidence on disease and treatment to influence decision making—from discovery through drug development to medical practice.

Epidemiology at GSK - direct input to assets and strategy

Commit to target

Tractable hit (CEDD entry)

Candidate Selection

Approval for FTIH

Proof of Concept

Commit to Phase 2b

Commit to Phase 3

Commit to launch

LabelingChanges

Disease/Target Selection Clinical Development Planning Risk-Benefit Assessment

Disease Epidemiology– Incidence, prevalence, mortality– Co-morbidity patterns– Disease risk factors– Natural history of disease – Recurrence or progression patterns– Genotype-phenotype distributions – Disease marker validation

Opportunity Assessment– Trends, forecasts in patient

populations– Medical need at population or sub-

population level

Understanding Treatments– Diagnostic and treatment

patterns– Treatment effectiveness

Planning Clinical Programs– Size and location of patient

population– Identification of high-risk sub-

populations– Assessment of

inclusion/exclusion criteria– Placebo response– Outcome measures

Safety Issues– Background rates of safety

outcomes and lab abnormalities

– Post-marketing safety studies

– Pregnancy registries– Electronic health records

Securing Regulatory Approval & Post-Licensure Commitments– Dossiers– REMS– Risk management plans– Formal studies of drug

safety and registries

Observational Data Sources @GSK• In-house• Insurance claims databases (e.g. IHCIS, Marketscan

Medicare/Medicaid)• Electronic Health Record databases (e.g. GPRD, US GE Medical, EU IMS)• Disease specific databases (e.g. ADNI, SEER, ECLIPSE)• Public-use surveys (e.g NHANES)• Clinical trial re-use

• External Collaborations• Epidemiological Cohorts (e.g. Framingham study, Cardiovascular Health

Study, ARIC, Rotterdam Study)• Insurance claims databases (e.g. WellPoint, UHC)• Electronic Health Record Systems (e.g. Geisinger, Kaiser, Henry Ford)• Clinical trial re-use (e.g. NIH sponsored AD, ALS, or oncology studies)

Range of studies: Example asset• Join team Ph III (ideally this is earlier)– • Model inclusion/exclusion criteria and background event rates for RCT

using several healthcare databases in US, UK• Develop BRMP with Safety, Clinical and Regulatory

• Pregnancy registry design• Anticipated REMS

• Prepare for FDA and EU submission of IND• Prepare slides for FDA Ad Com• Develop surveys with HO colleagues for endpoint relevant to payer in

appropriate populations by region• Post approval• Design post-marketing safety studies via collaborations with

healthcare organizations (Steering Committees, etc)• Contribute to sNDA for additional indication • Consult on design of effectiveness study using EMR

Any given week: Wearing lots of hats• Meetings with…• Epidemiology Dept on resourcing strategy, priority, training, PRF• Asset project matrix team

• Clinical, safety, health outcomes, regulatory, statistics, commercial, legal, communications

• Epidemiology study project team• External expert investigators (e.g. methods or clinical advice)• External healthcare organization partner representative• Internal or external analysts depending upon data source

• Regulatory agency with project team (consultative support role) or about the epi study results (research leader role)

• Public-private partnership like EU’s IMI

Teamwork essential

The whole is greater than the sum of its parts

Branding Yourself• Networking – online, in-person, etc.• LinkedIn and other Social Media• Why is this even important?

• Studies show < 3% of jobs get to the job boards• An average of 300 applicants within first week

• Similar studies show 75% of jobs are filled through networking• Create a buzz• Easily “found” online – recruiters, etc.• Networking partners already know more about you

• Build your profile – BE SPECIFIC!• Complete Education• Contact Information (don’t use a private profile)• Full description of functions/responsibilities in any roles• REAL DESCRIPTIONS – NO FLUFF!!

Branding Yourself cont’d• Blogging

• Twitter

• E-Newsletters

• Website

• Visual CV (video)

• YouTube

Your Brand

Blog

Twitter

YouTube

LinkedInFacebook

Visual CV

eNewsletter

Finding a Job• Websites• Monster, CareerBuilder, ISPE Careers, Indeed

• Creating “Agents”

• Recruiters• Align with one that fits your personal and professional needs• Ask questions

• Trends, New Companies, etc.

Applying for a JobDO

• CUSTOMIZE YOUR RESUME FOR THE ROLE

• Research the company/position beforehand

• Outline in a cover letter why you are a good fit

DON’T

• Blitz your resume

• Apply if you’re unqualified

• Badger the hiring manager or recruiter

Building a Resume• Basics• No typographical errors• Proper grammar• Nicely formatted• Readability (spacing, bullets, etc)• Standard paper – no watermarks, no designs, no colors• Chronological• Contact Info at the top (include any URLs – Linkedin, Blog, etc)

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the average person has had almost 11 job changes by age 44.

Building a Resume cont’dDO

• Tell the reader what you can DELIVER

• Include measurable results• Specify Accomplishments• STAR method

• situation/task, action, result

• REMOVE NON-APPLICABLE JOBS

• Specify if you were a contractor or full-time

DON’T• Tell the reader what you

WANT – “Objective”• Include a picture• Use a non-professional email• Put your education on the top • List GPA if you didn’t make

dean’s list• List personal hobbies, race or

gender• Basic Computer Software• List any salary info

First Interview (HR)• Research the Company• What do they do?• Recent Press Releases• Who is their marketplace

• Answer Questions Directly• Don’t “twist” anything to change the topic• Don’t “dumb down” any answers

• MONEY – just don’t ask• If it’s a relocation situation, you can check to ensure its worth your

time• Ask Questions• Who is involved in process?• What are next steps?• Can you provide any additional information?

First Interview (Hiring Manager)

•Klein Hersh’s “5-Step Prep”•Chemistry•Qualifying•Questions•Pre-Close• Energy & Enthusiasm

Face to Face Interviews• LOOK THE PART!!!

• Bring several copies of your resume

• Arrive no more than 15-minutes early

• Do your homework• Who are you speaking to?

• Visual Cues - Chemistry

• CLOSE FOR THE JOB & Thank You Note

SPECIAL THANKS GOES TO

Matthew Levy|PresidentMobile| 267.337.1622mlevy@cornerofficecoach.comwww.CornerOfficeCoach.comwww.blog.cornerofficecoach.com

Questions/Comments

• Please feel free to contact me at:• dstrauss@kleinhersh.com• 215-830-9211 x 120

• www.kleinhersh.com/epidemiology