DIA 2025 Global Annual Meeting

Component Type: Session
Level: Intermediate

In the ever-evolving pharma/biotech landscape, leaders face challenges that test their professional and personal resilience. The past year has seen a significant strain on the industry, marked by the disruption of new technologies (and expectations associated with it), the failure of promising compounds, economic pressures, and layoffs. As leaders, we are often left to shoulder the weight of these challenges, managing not only our own emotional burden but also the morale of our teams and the broader organizational impacts. This presentation, delivered by a panel of seasoned professionals in the regulatory writing space, will explore the often-unspoken loneliness of leadership in times of upheaval. We will share personal insights from our career journeys, addressing the ways in which leadership can feel isolating, especially when navigating industry setbacks. In addition, we will provide practical strategies for coping with these burdens, drawing from experiences in career pivots, reskilling/retooling, and personal resilience. We will discuss ways to maintain emotional well-being, foster collaboration, and lead with transparency, even in the face of industry-wide adversity. Attendees will leave with actionable strategies to support their teams and themselves, and insights into how to continue leading effectively in times of uncertainty.

Learning Objectives

Discuss the unique emotional and professional challenges faced by regulatory writing leaders during periods of significant change; Describe developing strategies for maintaining personal resilience and emotional well-being while leading teams through industry-wide setbacks and economic pressures; Recognize ways to implement actionable techniques for fostering skill development, reskilling, and collaboration to effectively support both individual and team growth during challenging times.

Chair

Robin Whitsell

Speaker

Panelist
Cathy Tyrrell

Panelist
Matthew Robillard

Component Type: Workshop
Level: Basic

Turnover in the clinical research industry hovers at 27%. Given the high stress, high turnover nature of the industry, the need for stress reduction tools is critical. In this session you will learn techniques to implement for yourself and teams.

Learning Objectives

Identify a simple way to immediately reduce stress in less than 2 minutes; Practice a technique to increase energy, clarity and decision making; Complete a guided non-sleep deep rest practice to calm, soothe and restore.

Chair

Leanne Woehlke, MA

Speaker

Practical Response to Industry Stressors- A Personal Journey
Jessica Marie Thompson, MBA, MS, PMP

The Effects of Mindful Breathing on Stress and Well-Being
Eddie Stern

Mindfulness Tools
Allison McDougall, MBA

Component Type: Session
Level: Intermediate

This session outlines an approach to developing technical experts into global leaders by breaking the "expert trap" and aligning talent development with organizational growth strategy.

Learning Objectives

Identify strategies for breaking the "expert trap" and enhancing career growth for technical talent; Recognize how to align talent development with organizational growth through strategic initiatives; Identify methods to cultivate a diverse leadership pipeline in life sciences.

Chair

Amber Meriwether, JD, MA

Speaker

Industry Perspective
Elizabeth Iorns

Industry Perspective
Michael Torok, PhD

Industry Perspective
Cecilia Zvosec

Component Type: Forum
Level: Basic

Inclusion in clinical trials is a widely discussed topic, but have you considered how inclusion in career journeys influences decision making within regulatory bodies? Join us to hear from our panel about the impact of their varied career paths.

Learning Objectives

Recognize how inclusion within regulators supports medicines development for patients and society; Identify how skills developed in one sector (e.g., industry, academia, healthcare) can contribute to the skills needed in another (e.g., regulators); Examine how inclusion in recruitment and career pathways supports inclusion in decision making in medicines development.

Chair

Paula Walker, MA

Speaker

Health Canada Career Pathway: Impact to Medicines Development
Reza Salehzadeh-Asl

Component Type: Session
Level: Intermediate

This session will present two contrasting approaches to workforce development which address the challenges in attracting and retaining the ideal talent. First, what can pharma learn from other industries who have developed a remote, agile and on-demand talent base responsive to changing needs. Second a case study in meeting the challenge of extraordinary growth in product pipeline and expansion by implementing an integrated, multi-faceted, workforce development ecosystem in collaboration with academic institutions and other manufacturing companies that also builds and sustains the local economy.

Learning Objectives

Discuss how to maximize agility and attract the best talent to get the critical work of drug development and manufacturing done; Identify novel approaches to developing and retaining a skilled workforce capable of meeting the needs of a highly regulated industry; Recognize how the organization can achieve unprecedented agility by embracing the Future of Work tools and methodologies.

Chair

Denyse Baker, RAC

Speaker

Far Beyond Remote Work: NASA, The Ford Motor Company, and The New World of Work - Opportunities for Pharma
Sheila Mahoney Jewels, MBA

Looking Internally and Externally to Optimize Workforce Development
Dedric Day