The “Close‑Up” series allows Pfizer colleagues team to share more about their career, day‑to‑day, hobbies, and wellness practices.

This month, we spoke with Sarah Tweedy, Vice President and Head of Portfolio and Project Management for Pfizer's Research and Development team.

1. Can you tell us about your background and your journey to your current role?

I came to clinical research via a somewhat serendipitous route, having focused on cell biology during my post grad studies. It was only during a gap year in the UK that I came to work at a Phase 1 clinical research unit and developed a passion for the work that we do, and I feel lucky to have been able to build a career doing what we do. Over the years, particularly the last 18 at Pfizer, I’ve been able to explore so many aspects of clinical development, working across all of the phases of development and many therapeutic areas which has given depth and richness to the experience.

 2. What do you consider to be your greatest achievement in your career so far?

I think that’s one of the things that I love most about what we do. We’re able to achieve something meaningful every day. There are incredible, monumental experiences that I’ll be forever grateful for – most notably, working on development of the COVID vaccine and Paxlovid. There are also the smaller moments – every step toward progressing a new medicine, exciting new data read outs, developing an innovative plan for a particular development program, that I love too. Knowing that you’re impacting the life of a small group of patients or driving changes in public health on a global level – both are incredibly inspiring.

3. How do you approach decision‑making and prioritization in your role?

I tend to want to be involved in everything, so prioritization is something that I must address with myself daily and it is definitely a work in progress. I try to be strict about a couple of things at a minimum – (1) specific time point check ins on my areas of focus (starting my day with clear intentions and priorities and taking the same look at a week and a month); and (2) asking myself, often, if I’m the right person to contribute to a particular discussion or decision making process OR whether there are others in my team, our group or elsewhere who are better positioned to be involved because of the perspective they bring, their expertise or the opportunity it creates. There are so many remarkably talented colleagues in our organization, and I honestly think that one of the keys to prioritization is understanding where we all bring value and to leverage that.

4. How do you incorporate wellness into your routine?

Small and large (although some might argue that the large is not so large!). The small is micro moments – I’m a big believer in them. I’ll take 1‑5 minutes at points in my day to clear my head, get some air or just take a few deep breaths between back‑to‑back calls. I never cease to be amazed by how effective that reset is, and I think it helps me to bring more to the next conversation. The big one is exercise! I like to believe that I prioritize it, but the honest answer is that it comes after kids, husband, community, work and so my exercise routine can suffer. But I try to never lose sight of its necessity in my life…even if I’m not always getting enough exercise into my week!

7. What is the best piece of advice you have ever received, and how has it impacted your life?

I can be cautious and, at times risk averse, so a piece of advice that I come back to often is to push against that – to ultimately be able to say that I regret the things that I’ve done (because there will always be a few of those) rather than the things I didn’t have the courage to do.

8. Is there a woman in your life (family member, mentor, historical figure, etc.) that inspires you to do the work you do every day?

The list is incredibly long! There are so many incredible women in my professional and personal life who have and continue to teach me something different across the spectrum of strength, conviction, compassion, generosity. I will add that one person who I identify with deeply is Jacinda Ardern, the previous Prime Minister of New Zealand. Her leadership style is entirely her own and she rebels against some of what we’re told we must be. I really like and identify with that.