Medical affairs serves as a bridge between the pharmaceutical, biotech and medical device industries and the broader medical community. Those who work within medical affairs are uniquely tasked with maintaining external relationships with physicians, payors, medical societies, and patient groups and bringing these rich insights back to their respective companies. In this customer-facing role, they respond to medical inquiries, support clinical trials, build strong relationships with therapeutic experts, and engage in broad scientific discussions around patient outcomes.
Medical affairs is a fast-growing industry that draws individuals from across life sciences, healthcare and business professions. Join three Drexel alumni working in medical affairs as they offer insights into the field, share their individualized career paths and explain how COVID-19 has affected their daily roles. Medical affairs is calling and it might be the perfect career path for you!
This event is sponsored by the Alumni in Health Sciences Professional Affinity Group.
Moderator:
Elena Irollo, PharmD, PhD- Research Associate - Dr. Meucci's lab, Drexel University College of Medicine, Department of Pharmacology and Physiology
Elena Irollo, PharmD, PhD is a research associate in the laboratory of Dr. Olimpia Meucci in the Department of Pharmacology & Physiology. The major focus of Dr. Irollo's research is to understand how opioid drug use contributes to the progression of HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND). To this end, Dr. Irollo studies opioid-induced synaptic damage and opioid regulation of the neuroprotective CXCL12/CXCR4 chemokine signaling axis. She is also interested in the effect of chemokines and other immune mediators in brain tumor development and progression.
Before joining the Meucci Lab in 2018, Dr. Irollo worked as postdoctoral research fellow at Thomas Jefferson University in the Department of Cancer Biology, where she investigated the role of stress granules in the pancreatic tumor microenvironment.
Dr. Irollo obtained her PharmD degree from the University of Naples, Italy, and her PhD in cancer biology from the University of Erlangen, Germany.
Dr. Irollo is currently the chair of the Career & Professional Development Committee for the Drexel Postdoctoral Association, and is actively involved in developing, implementing, disseminating and evaluating professional development programs for postdoctoral fellows. She aims to help research fellows expand their research development knowledge and add valuable skills to both their professional and personal toolboxes.
About the Panelists:
Harris Ahmad, MD, DUCOM ’04, Global Medical Affairs, Immunology and Fibrosis, Bristol-Myers Squibb
Harris has enjoyed the intersection of business, clinical medicine, and drug development for nearly 15 years spanning roles that have leveraged his expertise in imaging, marketing and clinical trials. Such roles have been largely focused on investigational and marketed therapies in autoimmune diseases such as Rheumatoid Arthritis and Inflammatory Bowel Disease at BMS. Harris received his MD degree at Drexel University College of Medicine in 2004 where he graduated with Honors in the Humanities followed by clinical residency training in Internal Medicine and Diagnostic Radiology. In his free time, Harris enjoys surfing and investing, the latter which has been particularly exciting post-COVID. He lives in Center City Philadelphia with his wife Megan and daughter Amilah.
Mitchell D’Rozario, PhD ’15, Medical Science Liaison, Malignant Hematology at Genentech, Inc
In his MSL career, Mitch has supported ocular surgical devices, microdosing implants, biologics, antibody-drug conjugates, oral inhibitors and bispecific antibodies from Phase I-IV. Mitch enjoys advocating for customers and patients, collaborating with internal colleagues, and building strategic tools to make informed business decisions and deliver urgent medical solutions. He is a trained developmental biologist and geneticist. During his postdoctoral fellowship at WashU School of Medicine he studied myelination and secured the NIH F32 fellowship. Mitch is a proud Drexel alumnus, earning his PhD studying synapse biology with Daniel Marenda and was nominated as the graduate commencement speaker. In a pre-COVID world, Mitch can be seen keeping pace with his two boys, Francis (2 years) and Miles (6 months). In a post-COVID world, he has been busy being a Montessori dad, learning how to bake, and going to OrangeTheory (while maintaining safe distance) to burn off the said baked goods.
Laurie Farrell DNP, ARNP, FNPc, BSN ’04, Hematology Medical Science Liaison at Genentech, Inc
Laurie Farrell is a nurse practitioner (NP) with over 15 years of experience in the medical field as a bone marrow transplant nurse, a hematology/oncology NP, and a Genentech clinical coordinator where she educated healthcare providers in the southeast United States on a multitude of hematology molecules. Farrell holds a doctorate in nursing practice (focus on leadership), master of science in nursing, and a bachelor of science in biology. She also has a bachelor of science in nursing from Drexel via the Accelerated Career Entry (ACE) Program in 2004. Her career goal is to bridge the gap between clinic and industry to improve healthcare experiences and outcomes for all patients. Farrell is an active member of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and First Descents. She lives in central Florida with her husband and their dog Jake. She enjoys running, traveling, and watching the Philadelphia Eagles. Go Birds!
Hetal Patel, PharmD, MBA ’17, Medical Science Liaison at Coherus Biosciences
Hetal Patel has a diversified pharmaceutical portfolio with over 12 years of clinical experience spanning retail, hospital, investigational drug research, clinical trials, medication compliance, regulatory compliance, scientific and medical training and field coach in the field of psychiatry, mental health, neurology, hematology and oncology. She received her doctor of pharmacy in 2008 from Midwestern University and masters in business administration with a focus on healthcare in 2017 from Drexel. Hetal also serves as Board of Directors at United Against Slavery – a non-profit charity organization for human trafficking and slavery. She also is an active member of Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association (HBA), American Pharmacists Association, Illinois Council of Health System Pharmacists and Indian Women in Healthcare and Chicago Women’s Empowerment.
Hetal lives in Chicago with her husband and 2 children – Aaryan (16) and Kiara (9). She is an avid reader and loves to dance.