Tell us about your career path and experience
I started my regulatory career with Astra, working though their merger with Zeneca. Following my first year in regulatory affairs I became a TOPRA Working Party member for the Introductory Course and have been working on that since, for the past 19 years! After six years at AstraZeneca in the UK, I moved back to my homeland of Ireland and set up the pharmaceutical regulatory consultancy arm of an indigenous company. I have now set up my own regulatory consultancy called PharmaFind Limited, focussing on helping US companies license their medicines in Europe and offering assistance to UK businesses around Brexit. I was also a board member of TOPRA for 4 years.
Did you apply for Fellowship or were you nominated by a peer?
I was nominated by a peer.
If you were nominated, how did that happen, who nominated you and why?
I was nominated without being told and was initially notified by TOPRA that I had been put forward for the nomination. I was nominated by some of my peers on the TOPRA Introductory course, following a discussion that they had.
What advice would you give to a member who was considering applying or nominating someone for Fellowship?
For me being a Fellow of TOPRA is recognition of my voluntary contribution to the profession both as a Board member and as a Working Party member, this included many hours away from the office/consulting and from my family. If you feel that somebody deserves this achievement, I would strongly recommend nominating your colleague. Nominations are carefully peer-assessed to determine whether somebody has earned and deserves this accomplishment.
What does being a TOPRA Fellow mean to you?
I feel that it is a great addition to my reputation as a regulatory professional and shows that my peers accept that I have achieved a certain level of knowledge /showed a certain level of commitment to the profession.