LIZ THOMPSON ’97
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Trials and INNOVATION
Written by STEPHANIE L. GRAHAM
While cases of some serious illnesses appear to be declining — new cases of rheumatoid arthritis have decreased as have can- cer death rates—researchers are no less committed to finding improved methods of preventing, detecting and treating these illnesses. Among those dedicated to finding solutions is Liz Thompson ’97, who works at biotechnology pioneer Amgen Pharmaceuticals in Thousand Oaks, Calif. Thompson helps design “large scale clinical research experi-
ments” studying molecules that are on the market as well as those that are still in the pipeline. She leads a cross-functional team that determines what the design of Amgen’s later-stage clinical trials should look like. “My team and I get to consider aspects of study design, like picking the right measurements of efficacy, determining the nec- essary powering to demonstrate statistical significance of the end result, and crafting inclusion or exclusion criteria to ensure that
“The biotech and pharmaceutical industry is rapidly evolving in so many ways.”
LIZ THOMPSON
“It’s a fun way to use the critical scientific thinking skills that I learned at Harvey Mudd and within the chemistry department,” she said. “Though these are experiments of a different type and on a different scale, many of the principles are the same, obvi- ously: you need to ensure your experiment is the right size, you need to do your best to isolate the variables you are trying to explore, and you need to identify and minimize or avoid sources of bias.”
Thompson arrived at Amgen by way of the Scripps Research
we’re studying the right patient population. We take molecules from our laboratories that have undergone early-stage testing in people and seek to determine whether they have the makings of useful drugs. “The trials, involving hundreds to thousands of patients with
important, life-altering diseases like psoriasis, rheumatoid ar- thritis and Crohn’s disease, investigate different aspects of the molecule we’re working on,” she says. “For molecules that are still in the pipeline, it would be to demonstrate whether they are efficacious and whether they are safe to be used by patients. For agents that are already marketed, it would be to help address unanswered medical questions.” While she’s not able to give specifics about the programs that she works on, Thompson says the experiments are fascinating.
22 Har vey Mudd College FALL/WINTER 2011
Institute (SRI), where she earned her doctorate from the Mac- romolecular and Cellular Structure and Chemistry (MCSC) department, and a public relations firm, where she served bio- technology clients. She decided that “doing biotech” without necessarily being in a lab was something that appealed to her. Eight years ago, she became a senior writer at Amgen before moving into her current position as a development clinical director. Her scientific background, gleaned from Mudd and SRI, has enabled her to approach her work from a logical and scien- tific perspective, allowing her to think through an experiment and answer questions definitively “without having so many confounding variables that you don’t actually know if you’ve answered the question.” She adds, “The technical skills that I learned at Mudd and
elsewhere are obviously important in my work, but I think some of the ‘soft skills’ have been just as critical. At Mudd, I learned to work with smart, talented people with a variety of skills, whether that was my PChem lab partner or my frosh engineering team. In industry, working in teams is hugely important. I’ve been able to harness those skills and come up with the best possible final result that was better than what I could have done all by myself.” Thompson and her team are constantly moving into new therapeutic areas, learning new things and “figuring out that the way you did something yesterday is not going to work anymore.” Thompson says, “The biotech and pharmaceutical industry
is rapidly evolving in so many ways, it’s a constantly changing environment. And that’s what makes it fun.”
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