E159: The Career Pivot of a Pharmacist into Pharma: Pfizer, AstraZeneca and GSK - Gina Bariah (Global Medical Director - GSK)

In this week’s episode, Dr Namrata shares her journey from clinician (GP) to operator, investor and board member spanning both the UK and US. We discussed: 🩺 Motivations to study medicine 🏥 Building a career in primary care 🧠 The power of having a growth and curious mindset 🤝 How do you become a good GP Partner 🚀 How to find the right startup to work for in healthtech ⚡ Scaling a startup from a Hackathon 💰 Building experience as an investor in NEA and studying at Stanford 📈 The impact VCs have on healthcare in the long term 🇬🇧🇺🇸 The difference for building companies in the UK vs US 💵 What should founders do to get VC funding 🔄 Advice for clinicians pivoting into investing 🏡 Coming back to the UK from US and going back to GP 💸 The mismatch between digital solutions, costs and stakeholders 📊 The importance of generating evidence for digital health 🤖 What are AI agents 🧬 What is 101 GenAI and why is it the future 🍏 Where are the low-hanging fruits of building AI in healthcare Dr Namrata is the CMO of 101 GenAI, and the Director of Enigma Ventures. She is a healthcare executive with 15 years of experience driving transformative change as a clinician, operator, investor and board member. Her experience encompasses 10 years as a practicing Family Medicine Physician, operating a Primary Care clinic serving 8,500 people, and leading Digital Transformation for a health system serving 1.4M patients.   ------------------------------------- Powered by  Peerr   The Health & Life Sciences Professional Network   We are reshaping the future of networking in the health and life sciences industry to enable a more progressive ecosystem thriving from knowledge sharing, connections and collaboration.   www.peerr.io -------------------------------------   YouTube:Amz & Abdul Twitter -@ScrubbedIn_ Instagram - @Scrubbedin_ Follow us on Instagram & Twitter [email protected]

Powered by Peerr   In this week’s episode Neil shares his journey from consulting into building Skin Analytics, the only UKCA approved Class IIa AI as a Medical Device for dermatology with an 99.8% accuracy of ruling out of skin cancer!     We discussed: 📈 A career pivot from consulting into healthtech
 🌪️ First exposure into the ‘chaotic world’ of healthcare
 🧩 Solving the complexities of healthcare from the outside
 🚀 0-1 of building Skin Analytics
 💡Difficulty commercialising digital health solutions
 🤖 How did the recent rise of LLMs change perceptions around skin cancer detection
 📜 Leaning into regulations and compliance  🏆 The only UKCA approved Class IIa AI as a Medical Device for dermatology  🖼️ Building the initial dataset to train skin cancer detection models  🤝 Securing the first NHS contract
 📈 The adoption curve for Skin Analytics
 📘 Building a repeatable playbook as a VC-backed business
 🏥 Building relationships with the NHS as customers
 🎯 How to engage the right stakeholders in the NHS
 ⚠️ The pitfalls of having the NHS as the sole customers for VCs
 💸 Fundraising journey and advice for founders Neil Daly is the Founder and Director of Skin Analytics. He is a Committee Member of Real World Evidence Programme - NIHR i4i & OLS and an NHS Innovation Accelerator Fellow. Prior to transitioning into healthtech he was in the consulting sector.   ------------------------------------- Powered by  Peerr   The Health & Life Sciences Professional Network   We are reshaping the future of networking in the health and life sciences industry to enable a more progressive ecosystem thriving from knowledge sharing, connections and collaboration.   www.peerr.io -------------------------------------   YouTube:Amz & Abdul Twitter -@ScrubbedIn_ Instagram - @Scrubbedin_ Follow us on Instagram & Twitter [email protected]

Episode Sponsored by Naq   In this week’s episode, Ben shares his journey to reducing health inequality by cutting waiting lists and helping more patients access care through the power of AI.    We discussed:    🌐 Exploring the digital revolution for healthcare
 🤖 The emerging role of AI in healthcare
 📊 The challenges in ‘digitising’ and adoption of technology in radiology 
🧠 Building a deep-problem solving mentality 
🇺🇸 Exploring a medical career in the US
 💸 Why do some companies become worth multi-billion dollars in healthcare
 🚀 The 0-1 of Deep Medical
 🩺 Solving the problems of missed appointments in the NHS using AI
 ⚖️ Reducing health inequality by cutting waiting lists 
🤝 The human interaction with digital health and innovation 
📄 Securing the first pilot and contracts in the NHS 
📈 The traction required for securing NHS Trusts as customers
 👥 Building the initial team and culture at Deep medical
 🙅‍♂️ Why would an NHS Trust say ‘No’ to adopting a new digital solution
 🦄 How does Deep medical become a unicorn Dr Benyamin Deldar is the Co-founder and Co-CEO of Deep Medical, an NHS Clinical Entrepreneur Fellow with an academic background from both the UK and US (Johns Hopkins Hospital)    Episode Sponsor:   Today’s episode is brought to you by Naq. Selling to the NHS is already challenging—adding compliance to the mix can make it even more daunting. With NHS DSPT, DTAC, DCB 0129 and AI standards like ISO 42001 to tackle, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. That’s where Naq comes in. Naq streamlines the entire compliance journey so you can focus on building your health solution, not drowning in paperwork.    With Naq’s compliance platform, you can save over 200 hours of manual work annually at a fraction of the cost of traditional consultants. Trusted by both the NHS and the UK’s leading digital health companies, Naq helps you meet compliance while giving you more time to develop the revolutionary solutions the market truly needs.    Ready to take the complexity out of compliance?   Visit naqcyber.com to learn more.   ------------------------------------- Powered by  Peerr   The Health & Life Sciences Professional Network   We are reshaping the future of networking in the health and life sciences industry to enable a more progressive ecosystem thriving from knowledge sharing, connections and collaboration.   www.peerr.io -------------------------------------   YouTube:Amz & Abdul Twitter -@ScrubbedIn_ Instagram - @Scrubbedin_ Follow us on Instagram & Twitter [email protected]

Episode Sponsored by Naq   In this week’s episode Peter shares his journey from consultancy with an engineering background into the world of healthcare by helping providers support patients throughout their care journey with Isla Health. We discussed: 💼 The career pivot from consultancy into healthtech
 🌟 Starting businesses since childhood and having that entrepreneurial trait
 🧩 Dealing with the complexities of building a healthtech company
 🛠️ The framework to building a company in healthcare
 📈 0 to 1 of building Isla Health
 💡 The importance of exploring commercial models before pilots and contracts
 🤝 How to secure the first meeting with the right stakeholder 
🎓 The value of joining programmes like the NHS Innovation Accelerator 
🏥 How does Isla Health help move patients through the clinical pathway
 🎯 How to overcome shiny object syndrome
 💰 The fundraising journey and advice for founders
 🌱 Building a company sustainably for 18 months using revenue 
🤖 The future of AI in healthcare and Isla Health Peter Hansell is the Co-founder and CEO at Isla Health, prior to this he was a senior consultant at Newton and has an academic background in mechanical engineering.    Episode Sponsor:   Today’s episode is brought to you by Naq. Selling to the NHS is already challenging—adding compliance to the mix can make it even more daunting. With NHS DSPT, DTAC, DCB 0129 and AI standards like ISO 42001 to tackle, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. That’s where Naq comes in. Naq streamlines the entire compliance journey so you can focus on building your health solution, not drowning in paperwork.    With Naq’s compliance platform, you can save over 200 hours of manual work annually at a fraction of the cost of traditional consultants. Trusted by both the NHS and the UK’s leading digital health companies, Naq helps you meet compliance while giving you more time to develop the revolutionary solutions the market truly needs.    Ready to take the complexity out of compliance?   Visit naqcyber.com to learn more.   ------------------------------------- Powered by  Peerr   The Health & Life Sciences Professional Network   We are reshaping the future of networking in the health and life sciences industry to enable a more progressive ecosystem thriving from knowledge sharing, connections and collaboration.   www.peerr.io -------------------------------------   YouTube:Amz & Abdul Twitter -@ScrubbedIn_ Instagram - @Scrubbedin_ Follow us on Instagram & Twitter [email protected]

Powered by Peerr   In this week’s episode Azmain shares his journey to building a following of over 400k+ across his social media where he shares health education content for the public and has collaborated with the likes of WHO, AstraZeneca, Cancer Research UK and more! 🩺 Motivations to study medicine 🌟 The decision to become a clinician ‘creator’ 🌍 Does creating content online lead to real impact? 📱 How to get to 100k+ followers on social media 🧠 How creating content can make you a better doctor 📏 The importance of professionalism and code of conduct when creating healthcare content 🤝 How to collaborate with the ‘industry’ as a clinician creator ⚠️ The danger of misinformation and how to overcome it 🔋 Dealing with creator burnout and staying motivated 🕒 Balancing content creation and being a medical doctor ❓ Should every healthcare professional become a content creator? Dr Azmain Chowdhury is a clinical creator, with over 400k+ followers across social media and the Co-Founder of Health Media Consultancy. He has collaborated with global companies from NHS, YouTube, WHO and Big Pharma.    ------------------------------------- Powered by  Peerr   The Health & Life Sciences Professional Network   We are reshaping the future of networking in the health and life sciences industry to enable a more progressive ecosystem thriving from knowledge sharing, connections and collaboration.   www.peerr.io -------------------------------------   YouTube:Amz & Abdul Twitter -@ScrubbedIn_ Instagram - @Scrubbedin_ Follow us on Instagram & Twitter [email protected]

Powered by Peerr   In this week’s episode Dr Adaugo shares her journey from being a surgeon to successfully transitioning into the pharmaceutical industry.   We discussed: 🩺 Motivations to study medicine 🔬 Does growing up in a science household drive curiosity? 📚 Importance of having extracurricular activities while studying medicine 🏥 Life as a F1/2 Doctor 🔪 Inspiration to build a career in surgery 👩🏽‍⚕️ Role as a clinical research fellow 🧑🏽‍🔬 Discovering the role of Medical Affairs 💼 Leveraging LinkedIn to build a network and learn more about the Pharma industry 🌟 Securing the first role as a Medical Science Liaison at Galderma 🎙️ Launching an educational podcast for GPs as a Pharma initiative 🇬🇧 How do Pharma engage HCPs in the UK ⚖️ MSL vs Medical Affairs roles at Pharma 📈 How to CCT as a pharmaceutical physician ✅ How to continue with annual appraisals and revalidation 🌱 Is the grass greener on the other side? 🗂️ Building a portfolio career within Pharma Dr Adaugo (Diggi) Onyeador is a Senior Regional Medical Advisor (UK & Ireland) for Amicus Therapeutics. Prior to this she worked at Novartis and Galderma. She is medical doctor with seven years of clinical experience with a degree in pharmacology, a clinical research fellow at The Royal Free Hospital and was actively involved in TEDxEuston.  ------------------------------------- Powered by  Peerr   The Health & Life Sciences Professional Network   We are reshaping the future of networking in the health and life sciences industry to enable a more progressive ecosystem thriving from knowledge sharing, connections and collaboration.   www.peerr.io -------------------------------------   YouTube:Amz & Abdul Twitter -@ScrubbedIn_ Instagram - @Scrubbedin_ Follow us on Instagram & Twitter [email protected]

Episode Sponsored by Naq   In this week’s episode Haris shares his journey from physicist to building an enterprise-wide AI Platform for hospitals to buy, deploy and monitor AI applications all while helping the NHS workforce get up to speed with digital innovation + transformation.    We discussed: 🔬 The career of a physicist   🧠 Developing an algorithm for hypoxic ischaemic injuries in newborns   🌳 The origin story of Newton’s Tree   🤖 Integrating and automating AI tools into clinical workflows   🔗 The challenges of interoperability and systems ‘talking’ + ‘understanding’   📊 The importance of measuring impact and evidence generation for AI tools   🏗️ Building the infrastructure layer between hospitals and AI   🎮 The cheat code for setting up Newton’s Tree   📐 The three dimensions of medical AI (How difficult is it to Build, Deploy and Prove Value?)   📈 Which part of the curve is the workforce on the adoption of AI?   🏥 The problems of procurement in the NHS and difficulty switching vendors   ⚖️ The importance of remaining a vendor-neutral AI platform   🚀 How to differentiate yourself as a founder building medical AI Haris Shuaib is Founder and CEO of Newton’s Tree. He is also a Consultant Clinical Scientist and Head of the Clinical Scientific Computing section at Guy’s & St Thomas’ NHS FT. He is Director of the Fellowships in Clinical Artificial Intelligence, the world’s-first clinical training programme for healthcare professionals to develop practical AI skills.    Episode Sponsor:   Today’s episode is brought to you by Naq. Selling to the NHS is already challenging—adding compliance to the mix can make it even more daunting. With NHS DSPT, DTAC, DCB 0129 and AI standards like ISO 42001 to tackle, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. That’s where Naq comes in. Naq streamlines the entire compliance journey so you can focus on building your health solution, not drowning in paperwork.    With Naq’s compliance platform, you can save over 200 hours of manual work annually at a fraction of the cost of traditional consultants. Trusted by both the NHS and the UK’s leading digital health companies, Naq helps you meet compliance while giving you more time to develop the revolutionary solutions the market truly needs.    Ready to take the complexity out of compliance?   Visit naqcyber.com to learn more.   ------------------------------------- Powered by  Peerr   The Health & Life Sciences Professional Network   We are reshaping the future of networking in the health and life sciences industry to enable a more progressive ecosystem thriving from knowledge sharing, connections and collaboration.   www.peerr.io -------------------------------------   YouTube:Amz & Abdul Twitter -@ScrubbedIn_ Instagram - @Scrubbedin_ Follow us on Instagram & Twitter [email protected]  

Sponsored by Peerr - The Health and Life Sciences Network   In this week’s episode Philip shares his journey from paediatrician to becoming the country medical director (UK) for Moderna, a leading Big Pharma.    We discussed:   👨‍⚕️ Motivations to study medicine and becoming a paediatrician   🔄 Desire to explore an alternative career   💼 The role and responsibilities of medical affairs in Pharma   💊 The perception of the Pharma industry   🛠️ Core competencies required to work in Pharma   🌱 Building a growth mindset   🧠 The importance of emotional intelligence   🚀 How to build a brand around you to help accelerate your career   🎯 Securing the role of country medical director for Moderna UK   🌍 The challenges of moving countries to build your career   ❓ The importance of WHY?   💡 Thinking outside the box vs Making your own box   📅 A week in the life of a Medical Director in Pharma   🎓 The benefits of an executive coach and mentorship   👥 How to be a good leader   🎙️ Becoming a content creator with the Pharma Medic Podcast   Dr Philip Cruz is the Country Medical Director (UK) for Moderna, having previously worked in senior leadership positions at AstraZeneca, Sanofi and GSK. He has a clinical background in paediatrics and more recently has launched his very own podcast - The Pharma Medic Podcast.    ------------------------------------- Powered by  Peerr   The Health & Life Sciences Professional Network   We are reshaping the future of networking in the health and life sciences industry to enable a more progressive ecosystem thriving from knowledge sharing, connections and collaboration.   www.peerr.io -------------------------------------   YouTube:Amz & Abdul Twitter -@ScrubbedIn_ Instagram - @Scrubbedin_ Follow us on Instagram & Twitter [email protected]

Powered by Peerr - The Network for Health and Life Sciences   In this week’s episode, Catriona shares her journey from dermatology to becoming a medical director at a leading healthtech company. Interestingly, this episode uncovers why pivoting or building a diverse portfolio career doesn’t have to happen overnight but can be a slow and fluid process, even as a consultant!   We discussed: 🩺 Motivations to study medicine and becoming a dermatologist 📚 Building an academic career in medicine 🏅 How to secure a training post/number in any competitive speciality 🎨 Exploring creative outputs + writing career 🌊 Why building a portfolio career is a fluid process? 🔗 Securing the first role at Dermatica through LinkedIn ⚖️ How to balance commercial goals alongside clinical safety/efficacy 🌟 What makes a great leader? 🔬 The importance of evidence based practice across medicine and business 📱 Dealing with social media pressures around skin health and beauty 🤖 The potential for AI in medicine and dermatology 👩‍👧‍👦 How to manage work-life balance and motherhood Dr Catriona Maybury is the Medical Director at Helios X and a Consultant Dermatologist.    ------------------------------------- Powered by  Peerr   The Health & Life Sciences Professional Network   We are reshaping the future of networking in the health and life sciences industry to enable a more progressive ecosystem thriving from knowledge sharing, connections and collaboration.   www.peerr.io -------------------------------------   YouTube:Amz & Abdul Twitter -@ScrubbedIn_ Instagram - @Scrubbedin_ Follow us on Instagram & Twitter [email protected]

Powered by Peerr In this week’s episode Gina shares her journey from pharmacy to becoming an industry leader in pharma. Sharing her experiences from Pfizer, MSD, AstraZeneca to GSK as Global Medical Director.   We discussed:  💊 Motivations to becoming a pharmacist 🎢 Exploring a more ‘exciting’ career outside of healthcare 💔 Dealing with failure and rejection 🤝 The power of networks and mentorship 🚀 Transitioning into the first role in Pharma as a medical advisor 🏢 Life as a medical advisor at Pfizer 💡 Advice for people starting a new career in Pharma 🏔️ Moving to MSD for a bigger challenge + steeper learning curve 🌟 Becoming a leader in pharma  🏥 Medical affairs lead at AstraZeneca  👩‍👧‍👦 Balancing motherhood and career 🔄 Building a new identity after becoming a mother 💉 What happens when Pharma launches a new drug 🌍 Building a career in Pharma as a BAME 🌐 The role of a global medical director at GSK  🎯 The purpose for PharmAffinity  🔍 The lack of information online around pharma careers 🏆 Career achievements and future outlooks Gina Bariah is the Global Medical Director for GSK, prior to serving as a Medical Affairs Lead at AstraZeneca. She was an Associate Director Medical Affairs at MSD and starter her career in big Pharma as a medical advisor at Pfizer. She has a background in hospital pharmacy.    ------------------------------------- Powered by  Peerr   The Health & Life Sciences Professional Network   We are reshaping the future of networking in the health and life sciences industry to enable a more progressive ecosystem thriving from knowledge sharing, connections and collaboration.   www.peerr.io -------------------------------------   YouTube:Amz & Abdul Twitter -@ScrubbedIn_ Instagram - @Scrubbedin_ Follow us on Instagram & Twitter [email protected]