Agnes Klimek-Abercrombie, PhD
Medical Advisor
Agnes completed her PhD at the University of British Columbia where she studied the relationship between impaired prohormone processing in human islet transplantation and type 2 diabetes.
She is a pharmaceutical medical affairs professional with over 10 years of experience in the life sciences and pharmaceutical industries sectors.
*The views and opinions expressed in this profile are those of the professional and do not necessarily reflect the official policies of their employer.
Tell us about your career path
Before starting my PhD, I worked in a university research lab for 2 years after completing my undergrad. There I began to contemplate my next steps - medical school, business school or continue in research. I loved research but felt I was missing the translational aspect which ended up being a big driver in my career path.
I always had a keen interest in business, which led me to pursue a postdoctoral position at the PROOF Centre of Excellence in Vancouver, an organization that develops high-value blood-based biomarker solutions to improve assessment of risk, presence, progression, and response to therapy in a number of diseases.
After this post-doctoral position, I completed my MBA. I was successfully funded by CIHR, through a program that supported PhDs in a health-related area who were interested in pursuing careers in fields that blend science and business into one, to enhance commercialization and innovation in Canada. This was the beginning of my transition into the business of science.
Lastly, I was recruited by Novo Nordisk and my ability to communicate my skills to describe how I can provide value to the organization was instrumental in this transition.
Tell us about your role
Medical Advisors are responsible for developing strategies including key opinion leader (KOL) engagement, development, and medical education support for marketing products. Their role encompasses a variety of other functions including running advisory board meetings and collaborative cross-functional work with marketing and sales colleagues.
Don’t be scared or discouraged by rejection. Rejection builds resilience. It also should be perceived as a learning opportunity allowing you to discover how to show up even more for future opportunities when the right thing eventually comes up.
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What advice would you give grad students looking to pursue careers in this industry?
First and foremost, when looking to get into this industry, the transferable skills that you gained through your PhD need to be highlighted. These can include key skills such as project management, critical thinking, communication, and teamwork.
Of these, your ability to communicate well and be a demonstrated self-starter certainly help. These also include things like project management, communication skills, teamwork, and leadership are some of the most important qualities to highlight on your resume.
Furthermore, it’s crucial to have a good grasp on managing projects and competing priorities to be able to plan engagements with KOL’s and healthcare professionals (HCP’s). These days, more and more companies are hiring for culture fit, not just intelligence and functional capacity.
For example, while applying for my role, I was competing against candidates that were more experienced but my ability to communicate my fit for the role really helped me get hired.
What are the biggest challenges and rewards that come with your role?
For me, the biggest reward is to see the tangible deliverables of a project being well done at the end of the day. A successful project makes me really happy and my role has been a big learning curve that has allowed me to develop my skills, my network, and my confidence. I’m able to jump between projects and therapeutic areas and be successful.
On the other hand, there are certainly stressful times when key deliverables need to be completed in close proximity to one another. However, if you can develop a planning capacity to anticipate when these challenges might occur, this mitigates a lot of the stress that would exist otherwise.
The COVID-19 pandemic has actually uncovered some positives because it has opened our eyes to the possibility of certain head office roles being compatible with a virtual setting.
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