I joined Pfizer’s Global Medical Research and Development team in 2001 with over 20 years experience in the field of Biostatistics. In the past I have served as the Director of Biostatistics in several institutions, most recently at The Child Study Center at NYU School of Medicine, and The Zucker Hillside Hospital (North Shore/Long Island Jewish Medical Center). I have also held various academic appointments including an Associate Professorship in Psychiatry at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

As a Senior Director within the Statistics group, I primarily partner with Outcomes Research colleagues in the CNS therapeutic area on study design and statistical analysis of their studies. I also provide oversight of research performed by external vendors for Global Outcomes Research. Additionally, I liaise with Rutgers University faculty on organizing the Pfizer-Rutgers Statistics Colloquium and have served as the Industry Representative in the Medicare Evidence Development and Coverage Advisory Committee (MedCAC). I am also an editor of the Biopharmaceutical Report.

Career highlights include first authorship in a New England Journal of Medicine publication (Alvir et al. 1993) and earning a Senior Scientist Award for my work in Schizophrenia (9th Biennial Workshop on Schizophrenia Research, 1998). The NEJM paper was instrumental in shaping the current FDA policy on the frequency of blood draws for individuals treated with clozapine, a second-generation antipsychotic that carries risk for agranulocytosis.

I keep the face of the patient front and center by ensuring that any research for which I am responsible is scientifically and technically sound, as well as adherent to standards of good clinical practice, ethics and transparency. I partner with my OR, Medical and Pharmacometric colleagues to determine what research questions deserve answers, from a Pfizer as well as from a consumer perspective. Having determined such, I work on ensuring that the design and methods used would yield valid answers to the questions being asked. I also partner with my statistical colleagues to ensure that the results we produce are verified for quality and accuracy.

My musical credits include playing Kurt von Trapp in the Sound of Music, Jesus Christ in Jesus Christ Superstar, and the Caliph in Kismet; singing with the Philippine Madrigal Singers; performing with the Philippine Folk Arts Theater Group at the Spokane World Fair, the Philippine Center in New York, and internationally. As part of this group, I performed for the group’s patron, Imelda Marcos, as well as for personalities such as Richard Nixon, George Bush Sr., Fidel Castro, Muammar al-Gaddafi, King Hassan of Morocco, Rudolf Nureyev, Dame Margot Fonteyn, Placido Domingo, Van Cliburn, George Hamilton, Gloria Swanson, etc.

I have been a runner since high school and was varsity letterman for track while at U.P. I have run both the New York and Boston marathons, finishing 199th at the first five-borough NYC marathon. My modal marathon time is in the low 2:50’s although this capability is long past.