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...How about Designing Medicines!
Presented by: Karen L. Wolf, R.N., Senior Director, Clinical Operations, Inflammation Research, Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Workshop Description
During this workshop we will discover what Heart Disease, Diabetes, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Psoriasis, Cancer, Crohn’s Disease, Multiple Sclerosis, Gum Disease, Sunburns, Traumatic Injuries, HIV and other Infections all have in common. We will see how the body’s immune system collects intelligence, responds to threats, makes customized weapons and wages war every minute of every day while we go about our business of work, play and rest….and how most of the time, we are blissfully unaware of it all. We will learn that sometimes however, in some people, the effort on the part of the body to prevent disasters actually results in doing more harm than good. Find out how scientists, doctors, nurses and pharmacists, mathematicians and bioengineers are working together to find ways to manipulate the immune system into retreating just far enough to restore order and prevent more casualties but still leaving enough intact to respond to the daily threats we face. Find out if you were meant to be a part of this “Fantastic Voyage” to discover and develop new and better ways to relieve suffering, treat, cure or prevent disease and improve life for people around the world.
Leader’s Job Description
I oversee the team of people who help design, plan and manage the clinical research studies needed to determine if a new drug is effective and safe. We work with physicians, scientists, pharmacists, statisticians and other professionals in our own company and in medical centers and laboratories around the world to gather the evidence necessary to find new treatments for serious and debilitating diseases. The work must be done carefully and creatively with extreme attention to details. New drugs in research may take as many as 10 years to be able to satisfy the rigorous testing required to get approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and international government health authorities. The work must be done step by step. Each step is a building block in the foundation of proof and exciting new things are discovered along the way. Any new medicine that becomes available for prescription is the result of many years of work by hundreds of people at the cost of hundreds of millions of dollars.
The work is interesting, exciting, very gratifying and provides fantastic opportunities for a career in which what you do really makes a difference and may help millions of people be healthier and live longer.
Advice for Career Path
If you think you may be interested in a career in clinical research for drug or medical device development you will need to focus in high school on courses in Biology, Chemistry, Algebra and Trigonometry. Good study habits, a love for reading and a curiosity to find new ways of doing things are important too. In college you may wish to pursue a course of study in science or math, or focus on a clinical field such as pharmacy, nursing, or pre-med or study biotechnology or bioengineering. Many institutions now offer courses, degrees and graduate programs in the specialty of Clinical Research and Development.
“It all begins now as choices are made in high school.”