Case Studies: Mark Weinberg, MD, MBA

Name

Mark Weinberg, MD, MBA

Job Title

Vice President, Clinical Research

Company

Lundbeck Inc.

City, State

Deerfield, IL

1. Please briefly describe what you do.    

I work in the research and development area of the pharmaceutical industry, specifically as the Vice President of Clinical Research at Lundbeck Inc..  I am responsible for designing, implementing, and interpreting clinical studies for new drugs.  The goal of my work is to determine if new drugs are safe and effective for treatment of diseases.  Ultimately, I am responsible for compiling information so that the FDA and other worldwide regulatory agencies can assess the benefit/risk ratio of these drugs and determine if they should be approved for widespread use.

2. How many years have you been working in a science related field?

3 years as an intern and resident in Internal Medicine.

10 years in various positions in research and development in the pharmaceutical industry at Abbott Laboratories, Takeda Global Research and Development, and Lundbeck Inc.

3. What degrees do you hold and from what Universities?

BA in Economics from Yale University
MD from Duke University School of Medicine
MBA from Kellogg School of Management

4. What subject in school was the most challenging for you? Why?

French.  I never had a talent for languages and when I got to college I decided to fulfill my language requirement by taking a new language.  I had studied some Spanish in high school, but I decided on French.  It was extremely difficult and took long hours in the language lab.

5. What subject in school did you enjoy the most? Why?

Math – specifically calculus.  I enjoyed the fact that there was a single right answer to a complex problem, but there were multiple ways of getting to that answer.

6. What/who inspired your interest in science?

At its essence, science is about solving problems.  I have always enjoyed the idea of trying to integrate multiple theories and ideas to come up with a hypothesis and then figure out how to test it.  My favorite point is where we have to accept what we don’t know and make our best guesses as to how to test a hypothesis.

In drug development we need to consider all the potential confounders to any experiment.  We need to not only determine how to test our hypothesis but also determine how to do it in a rational manner from both a timeline and financial standpoint.

7. What impact does your work have on society? Why is it important that other people learn about and consider your profession?

New drug treatments have been a key factor in improving life expectancy.  At the turn of the 20th century infectious diseases such as tuberculosis and pneumonia were the major causes of death in the U.S.  The advent of antibiotics significantly reduced the mortality associated with infectious diseases.  The scientific focus then shifted to cardiovascular disease, and the death rate from heart attacks has been drastically reduced over the past 50 years.  Today, we focus on cancer and many chronic metabolic and neurological diseases. 

I take great pride in the role the pharmaceutical industry has played in developing treatments and cures for many diseases.  It is crucial that bright scientific minds understand the societal benefits and intellectual and emotional rewards that come from careers in the pharmaceutical industry.

8. What do you like most about your job?

The best part of my job is working with the best and brightest academics from around the world.  As we develop clinical study plans we frequently have interactions with these top clinicians to learn the most up to date information on disease processes, pathophysiology and treatment paradigms.  The opportunity to learn from these world experts is phenomenal.  Being a scientist means constantly learning and challenging assumptions; I feel fortunate to be learning new things each and every day. 

9. What challenges have you faced in your career? 

I think one of the biggest challenges is communicating with non-scientists when the data doesn’t match what we expect.  Many people want the data to match their pre-conceived conclusions rather than reaching conclusions based on the results from the data.  Successful scientists are able to translate complex information so the lay person not only understands it, but recognizes how data points A, B, and C lead to conclusion D.

10. What other thoughts/comments would you like to share with people considering a career in science?

I cannot think of anything more rewarding than working on scientific problems that directly or indirectly translate into improving the health and well being of society.