Alumni Profile: Kerryann Shemeley Hershberger Enjoying Regulatory Challenges
Before she attended Keck Graduate Institute, Kerryann Shemeley Hershberger had never heard of the functional area known as regulatory affairs.
"I knew drugs got approved, but I had no idea what the process was, or how it was accomplished in other countries-not to mention the vast differences in regulations between the United States and other markets," said Shemeley Hershberger, a graduate of the Master of Bioscience (MBS) program in 2007.
Today, she finds herself responsible for the emerging market regulatory activities of Enbrel, a widely used biologic drug in the field of rheumatology, communicating with colleagues in more than a dozen countries around the globe.
Shemeley Hershberger is a regulatory specialist in the Worldwide Regulatory Strategy-Emerging Markets group at Pfizer. The emerging markets group comprises Latin American, Asia Pacific, Africa and the Middle East. She works primarily on developing registration strategies for Pfizer products, specifically those that fall within the Specialty Care Business Unit.
"I enjoy the challenges of board of health negotiations associated with product registration, especially responding to their questions on the product dossiers we submit," said Shemeley Hershberger. "I also like the diversity of working with colleagues across different cultures, time zones, and languages, although trying to schedule meetings and communication can be challenging at times."
She credits networking and fellow alumna Janelle Grimes (MBS '07) with helping her to get where she is today.
"Janelle was one of the busiest and kindest people I knew at KGI but she still served as my mentor. She always made time to talk to me and her openness and willingness to share her experiences and advice in multiple areas, such as classes, internships, including where to live, and the regulatory field were instrumental in guiding me during my time at KGI," she said.
Shemeley Hershberger encourages today's KGI students to network and engage the guest speakers who come to campus.
"I never fully appreciated the education I received at KGI until I was out in the real world relying on it," she said. "Not a day goes by that I don't interact with a colleague in a complementary functional area such as commercial, supply chain, quality, clinical, or legal, for example. The breadth of material covered at KGI has prepared me to understand my colleagues' functional vantage point and has enabled me to effectively communicate with them to successfully achieve a common objective."
By Debbie Carini