I learned of ISPE in 2006 in my role at Pharmatech Associates and got involved in both ISPE and Women in Pharma when I became responsible for our tradeshow presence some years later. In 2017 I attended my first Women in Pharma breakfast at the ISPE Quality Manufacturing Conference in Bethesda Maryland. The small group discussions were insightful, and I was impressed by the diverse group in attendance and encouraged to find there was something for everyone at every level. I immediately saw the value of expanding the program to the West Coast and across the country.
As a volunteer on the steering committee it is exciting to see the program expand. Reaching out to people has helped us grow the program to three chapters in California and one in Singapore. While organizing the WIP breakfast for the ISPE Biopharmaceutical Conference in Huntington Beach, California last year, I worked closely with co-workers to research topics that appeal to a wide audience and enlisted wonderful leaders who agreed to be panelists. Hearing them share their stories and recommendations changed my perspective on career success. ISPE’s Women in Pharma program brings together many impressive people who inspire us every day. It’s helped me move forward and set new goals in my own career.
Involvement in Women in Pharma can have an impact on every employee and every company. We discuss topics such as diversity, the attributes of effective leadership, and how to communicate in a multi-generational, multi-cultural workforce to foster learning, and understanding. Women in Pharma provides a safe space for that discussion and brings a positive impact on our industry.
The discussions are relevant and fascinating -- it’s the most fun I’ve had in this business in a dozen years! It’s so valuable to listen and learn from others who have successfully navigated their work lives through challenges we have in common and be inspired by their accomplishments and points of view.
The development of Women in Pharma has helped modernize our industry in a time when diversity, parity, and inclusion are essential in our workplace. I’m proud to associate with ISPE as an organization that embraces these values.
As with all aspects of our life sciences industry, understanding how we can best meet the needs of patients with the timely delivery of life saving and sustaining products is of paramount concern. During the years since the global pandemic, the expectations and pressures on the pharmaceutical industry with respect to development, speed to market, quality and sustainability have increased...
At the 2024 ISPE Europe Annual Conference, held in Lisbon, Portugal, 16-18 April, Richard L. Friedman, MS, Deputy Director of the US Food and Drug Administration’s (US FDA) Office of Manufacturing Quality, in...
Insight from Austria’s Regulatory Authority Representative
At the 2024 ISPE Aseptic Conference, held March 12-13 in Vienna, Austria, Christina Meissner, a European Union Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) inspector at the Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety since 2013, and Chair of the PIC/S Drafting Group on Annex 2A and 2B, published in May 2021, offered a presentation titled...