Purpose & Ideals
Recently, Ellen Gerstein, Pfizer's Senior Director of Digital Communications, visited Africa as part of our Global Fellows Program. She shares her experience in this article.At Pfizer, we’re driven by our Purpose—to deliver breakthroughs that change patients’ lives. That Purpose has never been more clear to me than during my experience partnering with North Star Alliance through Global Health Fellows—Pfizer’s signature skills-based volunteering program.Since 2003, Global Health Fellows has...
Programs & Initiatives
Young scientists face some tough decisions when they graduate from college. Will they use their degree to enter a science-related field? Go to grad school? Forge a new path entirely?At Pfizer, a two-year program allows a handful of recent graduates to “try out” different jobs across the drug development process and learn more about career choices — and themselves. Associates accepted to the R&D Rotational Program immerse themselves in four rotations of their choosing for six months each. “I see...
Science & Innovation
Image caption: Site of the Pfizer World Headquarters Building as it Appeared in 1861It started with a breakthrough.The year was 1849, and people everywhere were getting sick to their stomachs. In the days before widespread refrigeration, a simple meal of meat and potatoes could cause intestinal worms. A drug called santonin could kill the parasites, but it tasted so bitter many people avoided it.Charles Pfizer and his cousin, Charles Erhart, had just immigrated to the U.S. from Germany and...
Purpose & Ideals
For many cancer survivors, life splits into two stages: before cancer and after cancer. That’s been the case for Lynette Bojko, Pfizer’s Head of Strategic Sourcing & Business Management. She was diagnosed with breast cancer just before her 40th birthday. “Unfortunately or fortunately, cancer is a lot of my identity,” she says. When treatment began, she didn’t want to hide what she was going through at the office, so she talked about it. That openness allowed her to connect with colleagues who...
Real People
When Nikki Shaffer was diagnosed with breast cancer at 35, she had so many questions. How should she tell her three young children about it? Should she keep working? Would she see her kids grow up?That was in 2009. As Shaffer went through treatment, a non-profit connected her with other cancer survivors, but she didn’t click with anyone. “They connected me to people who were in their 50s when they were diagnosed, and their questions and their concerns were not the same as mine,” says Shaffer...
Purpose & Ideals
One billion people worldwide live with migraine; that’s about one in seven. At those odds, there’s a high probability that each of us works with someone who experiences migraine. And if you’re an employer, this could mean that migraine in the workplace could have a significant impact on your workforce.Migraine is a debilitating neurological disease that causes intense pain in the head, as well as other sensory and/or motor dysfunction. Migraine attacks usually include symptoms like nausea...
Real People
In Cambridge, Mass., Kendall Square is where some of the country’s top minds solve global problems. The area is a super-magnet for renowned biomedical and technology businesses. In 2009, a consulting group dubbed it “the most innovative square mile on earth.”1 It’s also a place where music unites, entertains, and maybe even heals. Since 2018, scientists and technology professionals have come together as musicians in Kendall Square Orchestra (K2O). Each season, they perform at community events...
Purpose & Ideals
When Rady Johnson contemplates the importance of diversity and inclusion in the workplace, he thinks of his son, Michael. Michael, who is 31, has worked as an office assistant at a travel agency for about 10 years. In the summer, he also works on a maintenance crew at a beach. “He's just the hardest worker that you'll ever see,” says Rady, who is Pfizer's Chief Compliance, Quality & Risk Officer. Michael also lives with an intellectual disability. Rady and his wife, Diane, adopted Michael from...
Real People
As the new Global Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Officer at Pfizer, Ramcess Jean-Louis is betting that the global biopharmaceutical company that delivered a COVID-19 vaccine in nine months will support the mission of his office with a similar urgency and can-do spirit. “I feel as if I’ve joined an organization that has the mentality and philosophy that nothing is impossible. When we apply that same urgency and attention to the area of diversity, equity and inclusion, the...
Real People
Meet Adriana. She leads a team that manages the samples collected from Pfizer’s ongoing clinical trials. For her, Pfizer is more than just the company she works for, it’s family. Adriana first got her start in high school as a summer student worker – and since then, has had the opportunity to work on a number of “major vaccines that really have had an impact on public health.” A DAY IN THE LIFE OF ADRIANA AND HER TEAM Today, Adriana and her team of about 30 colleagues receive 150...
Real People
Meet Sandy. She is responsible for managing diversity in Pfizer’s clinical trials, striving for statistically diverse participant pools. For those who are unfamiliar with what clinical trials are, Sandy explains that a clinical trial is a “research study where we are recruiting participants to evaluate the safety or efficacy of a medicine or vaccine before it’s readily available.” As part of these research studies, it’s incredibly important to include people who are affected by the...
Real People
Meet James. He is responsible for developing the packaging and distributions strategies needed to move our medicines and vaccines directly from manufacturing sites down to various points of use globally (i.e. hospitals, long term care facilities, pharmacies, etc.). Unbeknownst to most people, all medicines and vaccines require some type of temperature control. Some need to be kept at room temperature, others refrigerated, and some must be frozen. The packaging that James specifically works on...
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