Many of our PhD graduates move on to distinguished careers in various fields. The most common employment sectors are Academic and Biostatistician in pharmaceutical research followed closely by Analyst/Data scientist in insurance and finance. According to The World of Statistics, “between 140,000 and 190,000 will expertise in statistical methods by 2018.”
The Eli Lilly Company visits the Department of Statistics every two years recruiting graduate students for statistical and quantitative internships and jobs. This year, two PhD-Statistics Alumni, Margaret Gamalo (2006) and Josephine Asafu-Adjei (2011) lead the event.
We interviewed Margaret and Josephine who were both extremely excited to share their stories to the department.
Margaret Gamalo: PhD Statistics, 2006
Q: What are you doing now?
M: I am a statistics group leader for the development of baricitinib in atopic dermatitis and alopecia areata. I am overseeing all advanced analytic applications and statistical work for the planning, execution of trials, and commercial and regulatory strategy for a compound in dermatologic indications. In addition, I serve as Subject Metter Expert for Extrapolation in Pediatric Drug Development where I consult for the application of novel designs and analytical strategies for efficient pediatric clinical trials overall all therapeutic indications within Lilly.
Q: How did your experience at Pitt help prepare you for your career?
M: I was trained as a researcher earlier on in my stay at Pitt, working at the Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic. That is where I learned about clinical trials. Later on, my research branched into the analytics of functional magnetic resonance imaging. So I was comfortable with being curious and finding solutions to problems within the area I was working. Currently, I have been using a lot of Bayesian methodology and applications of propensity scoring methods to augment clinical trials particularly in pediatrics, orphan diseases and unmet medical need indications. In many of these applications, I just try to pick up and learn as I go. But I realized that the statistics training I had at Pitt gave me a launching pad for my career – I am always comfortable with theoretical and computational work. My professors, Satish Iyengar, Leon Glesser, David Stoffer, Allan Sampson, Thomas Savitz and Henry Block all had positive impact on this.
Q: In your experience, what are some attributes of individuals who are most successful in Statistics?
M: Individuals who are curious are generally successful in my perspective. However, I think it is also important to work persistently and to have a career goal. I was lucky to have been mentored by Ram Tiwari when I was at the FDA but I had to work hard as well. On top of my usual work at the FDA, I still had to do research. Looking back, I think I am grateful for that. In the industry, I think it is important to network and be involved in professional organizations. I have gained so many acquaintances through that. It also gave me the opportunity to work with both statisticians and non-statisticians in influencing statistical policy and lead groups in many projects. Currently, I am he Biopharmaceutical Section Program Chair for JSM 2019 and ENAR 2019. I also co-chair the Innovation Taskforce Workshop in the Biotechnology Innovation Organization.
Q: What would you look for if you were in the position to hire new PhD and Master graduates from the Department of Statistics at Pitt?
M: I generally look for something that is unique in a candidate. I am curious what a candidate can bring to the organization. So I am always interested in projects that they have worked on, what statistical strategies they have proposed and did it work. I am interested in the problem solving capacity of a candidate. Publications generally provide me with a good opportunity to gauge technical capacity, communication and discipline of a candidate. Another is computational skills – a statistician who has good computational skills have always been very valuable to me achieve timely completion of projects.
Q: What advice would you give to a current undergraduate student majoring in Statistics?
M: I thought having a mentor was effective for me. Coming out of graduate school, I felt a little lost and did not really know where or what I want to pursue. Having a mentor who pushed me to work hard I think helped me a lot. Another is to make sure you retain your technical skills even if you have been far removed from school.
Josephine Asafu-Adjei: PhD Statistics, 2011
Q: What are you doing now?
J: I’m currently the lead statistician on three studies that are examining the safety and efficacy of a drug to treat acute migraine in pediatric patients. In this role, I collaborate with medical personnel as well as data and project management to help design these studies; write the protocols, statistical analysis plans, and any other documents relating to study analyses prior to the start of the trial; collaborate with statistical analysts to prepare the results once we receive the data; and interpret the findings to my team members and in study reports.
Q: How did your experience at Pitt help prepare you for your career?
J: While taking the Statistical Consulting course, I had the chance to provide statistical support to researchers from different fields, ranging from Anthropology to Neurology. As a GSR for Allan Sampson, I had several opportunities to collaborate with medical professionals in Neuroscience and Psychiatry. Those experiences taught me the importance of clearly communicating statistical concepts and results to non-statisticians (especially to medical professionals, which has come especially handy in my current position at Lilly). They also taught me the importance of being able to work with both statisticians and non-statisticians in any given project. While working towards my doctorate under Allan Sampson, I developed my ability to research and put that towards solving different questions/problems that arose in the course of my collaborative work from Pitt onwards.
Q: In your experience, what are some attributes of individuals who are most successful in Statistics?
J: Attributes of individuals who are most successful in Statistics are:
- Technical ability - Knowledge of most appropriate designs/models to use when assessing objectives for a particular study; programming proficiency (SAS, R, etc.)
- Communication skills - Ability to clearly communicate (written, verbal) statistical concepts and results to non-statisticians
- Ability to work efficiently
- Being a team player (able to work with both statisticians and non-statisticians)
- Willingness to research and, thus, become familiar with the focus area/disease state that your study is in
Q: What would you look for if you were in the position to hire new PhD and Master graduates from the Department of Statistics at Pitt?
J: We would look for:
- Masters graduates: proficiency in SAS programming (data modeling, tabulating, and plotting results), as well as cleaning large data sets (familiarity with R is a plus); ability to multi-task and manage time efficiently; a team player (need to be able to work with other statisticians, as well as other people in your group); ability to pay attention to the details
- PhD candidates: knowledge of most appropriate designs/models to use when assessing objectives for a particular study; proficiency in SAS programming, especially with data modeling (familiarity with R is a plus); ability to multi-task and manage time efficiently; ability to clearly communicate (written, verbal) statistical concepts and results to non-statisticians; a team player (need to be able to work with people on your team, as well as outside your team – they may be able to provide helpful info); ability to creatively problem solve; ability to pay attention to the details; ability to research the studies that have been done for the disease state you’re working in
Q: What advice would you give to a current undergraduate student majoring in Statistics?
J: Look into student opportunities at Lilly on https://careers.lilly.com/STEM (under Data Sciences and Solutions)
The advice I would give to a Statistics undergraduate student that’s interested in a future career at Lilly is the following:
Give some serious thought in what you would like in your future career.If your main interest lies in programming (e.g., Stats, R), then a Master’s degree would be sufficient to get a position at Lilly that is geared towards that interest.If you’re interested in learning beyond Statistics, participating in all study aspects relating to stats (study design, coming up with analysis plan, interpreting study findings from data analyses), collaborating with both statisticians and non-statisticians, then my advice would be to pursue a PhD degree.