How 25 BCMAS Professionals Built Their Careers as Leaders in the Pharmaceutical Industry

When professionals in the pharmaceutical industry ask whether a certification is worth pursuing, they're really asking one question: will this move my career forward? For the 25 leaders profiled here, the answer is a resounding yes. These are medical affairs specialists, pharmacovigilance experts, commercial strategists, and global executives who have built remarkable careers at some of the world's most influential pharmaceutical and biotech companies. What all of them have in common is the Board Certified Medical Affairs Specialist (BCMAS) credential, a board certification that equips professionals with the cross-functional knowledge, strategic thinking, and ethical framework that modern medical affairs demands. These stories and journeys are common roadmaps to becoming a leader in the industry.

1. Islam Sadek, MD, BCMAS — VP & Head of US Medical Affairs, Oncology | Takeda Oncology

Islam Sadek is a global medical affairs executive whose career spans field medical and medical affairs leadership roles across Janssen, Novartis, Gilead, and now Takeda Oncology, where he serves as VP and Head of US Medical Affairs for the oncology business unit. With over 15 years leading medical affairs strategy across hematologic malignancies, he has overseen everything from FDA interactions and clinical development to evidence generation and KOL engagement, all core competencies that sit at the heart of the BCMAS curriculum. His career trajectory reflects what is possible when deep scientific expertise is paired with strategic commercial acumen.

2. Sandy Nguyen, PhD, BCMAS — Senior Director, Market Development | Gossamer Bio

Sandy Nguyen is a commercial strategist who has spent over 12 years bridging the gap between scientific rigor and market strategy across rare and specialty disease areas including pulmonology, immunology, and cardiology. At Gossamer Bio, she leads market development for rare pulmonary conditions while serving as the scientific voice within brand and campaign work. Her background highlights how medical affairs and commercial strategy are increasingly inseparable, and why professionals who can operate credibly in both worlds are invaluable.

3. Nithi Tangsirisap, MD, MSc, BCMAS — VP & Head of Medical and Regulatory Affairs | Zuellig Pharma

Dr. Nithi Tangsirisap is a dermatologist-turned-medical affairs executive whose career spans clinical practice, regulatory affairs, pharmacovigilance, and regional medical leadership across APAC, Southeast Asia, and Africa. Now leading a team of 25 medical, regulatory, and pharmacovigilance staff at Zuellig Pharma in Thailand, his work demonstrates how medical affairs at the senior level requires fluency across the entire product lifecycle from regulatory submissions to safety surveillance to scientific engagement. Pharmacovigilance, one of his core areas of expertise, is a critical component of medical affairs because it ensures patient safety is continuously monitored after a product reaches market.

4. Dustin Weiss, PharmD, BCMAS — Director, Medical Vigilance Solutions | Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center

Dustin Weiss is a PharmD professional leading Medical Vigilance Solutions at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, one of the nation's top pediatric institutions, where he oversees safety monitoring and risk management for a complex patient population. Medical vigilance is the systematic process of detecting, assessing, and responding to adverse events. His path from retail pharmacy and infusion services to directing a hospital-based vigilance program illustrates how a strong clinical and operational foundation can open doors into medical affairs-adjacent roles. Dustin's career is a strong example of how BCMAS-certified professionals are making an impact not just in pharma companies but across the broader healthcare ecosystem.

5. Josh Ruane, PharmD, RPh, BCMAS — Associate Director, Safety Scientist | Sarepta Therapeutics

Josh Ruane is a pharmacovigilance and clinical safety expert whose career has taken him from GSK Vaccines R&D to Haleon's consumer safety division and now to Sarepta Therapeutics, a leader in rare disease gene therapy. His work in signal detection, benefit-risk assessment, and regulatory safety submissions represents one of the most consequential functions in medical affairs because identifying a safety signal early can mean the difference between a therapy remaining on the market and a public health crisis. Pharmacovigilance expertise is a growing priority in medical affairs hiring, and Josh's trajectory shows how a PharmD with the right certifications and strategic mindset can ascend in this space.

6. Alixandra Scott, RN, BCMAS — Sr. Director, Medical Information | Neurelis, Inc.

Alixandra Scott began her career as a Registered Nurse before transitioning into the pharmaceutical industry, where she spent nearly a decade at EMD Serono building her expertise in medical information before advancing through leadership roles at Shire and Akebia Therapeutics. Medical information is a cornerstone of medical affairs. It ensures that healthcare professionals and patients receive accurate, compliant, evidence-based responses about a company's products, sitting at the intersection of scientific integrity and regulatory compliance. Now serving as Sr. Director of Medical Information at Neurelis, she also chairs Medical, Legal, and Regulatory (MLR) committees, one of the most critical gatekeeping functions in any pharma organization. Alixandra's journey from bedside nursing to senior medical affairs leadership, paired with her BCMAS certification and current studies in AI Business Strategy at Johns Hopkins, is a testament to how diverse clinical backgrounds can translate into a powerful pharmaceutical career.

7. Alicia O'Connor, PharmD, BCMAS — Senior Director, Head of Field Medical Rare Neurology | Lundbeck

Alicia O'Connor's career began in academia and clinical pharmacy, where she served as an assistant professor and specialty pharmacy practice resident before moving into the pharmaceutical industry through scientific affairs at Endo Pharmaceuticals. She built deep field medical expertise as a Medical Science Liaison at Sanofi and Novartis before ascending into executive field medical leadership roles at Iovance Biotherapeutics, Adaptimmune, and US WorldMeds. Field medical is one of the most visible and strategically important roles in medical affairs, serving as the scientific bridge between a company and the healthcare professionals who treat patients. Now heading a full team of field medical at Lundbeck, Alicia's trajectory is a masterclass in how deep therapeutic expertise combined with field medical experience creates a pathway to senior medical affairs leadership.

8. Pranit Zanke, MD, BCMAS — Sr. Medical Director, R&D & Global Safety Medical Director

Dr. Pranit Zanke is a physician and BCMAS-certified medical affairs leader whose expertise spans immuno-oncology, CNS, endocrinology, inflammation, and infectious disease with advanced certifications from Harvard, adding a strong strategic and leadership dimension to their clinical foundation. Dr. Zanke’s dual role spanning R&D and global safety reflects how closely pharmacovigilance and medical affairs are intertwined at the senior level, particularly in complex therapeutic areas where benefit-risk decisions require both scientific depth and regulatory fluency.

9. Natalia Vlasak, MD, MBA, BCMAS — Global Head of Medical and Scientific Affairs | Hoya Vision Care

Dr. Natalia Vlasak is a trained ophthalmologist who spent the early part of her career in clinical practice across Russia and Germany before transitioning into professional affairs and eventually building the medical and scientific affairs function at Hoya Vision Care entirely from the ground up. Establishing a medical affairs function from scratch is one of the most demanding and high-impact things a medical affairs professional can do, requiring mastery of every domain the BCMAS curriculum covers.

10. Heshaam Mir, MD, MBA, BCMAS — Senior Medical Director, Global Medical Affairs | Gilead Sciences

Dr. Heshaam Mir began his career as a practicing physician before joining Gilead Sciences, where he has spent over 13 years building his medical affairs career from Senior Medical Scientist to Global Senior Medical Director. His ascent through Gilead's ranks, moving from the US to Australia, leading the ANZ region, then expanding to Asia-Pacific and ultimately taking on a global role, illustrates how medical affairs expertise opens doors to truly international leadership. With a background in hepatology and a publication record covering liver disease, hepatitis C outcomes, and health disparities, Heshaam brings both scientific credibility and strategy to his global role.

11. Richard Santoso, MD, BCMAS — Country Medical Affairs Head | Zuellig Pharma, Indonesia

Dr. Richard Santoso began his pharmaceutical career as a Product Physician at Pfizer before steadily building his medical affairs expertise across medical information, MSL leadership, and medical excellence roles at AstraZeneca, Novartis, and Pfizer over more than 15 years. His trajectory through roles in medical excellence and capability development (a function focused on building the skills and standards of medical affairs teams) reflects one of the most strategically important but often overlooked pillars of a high-performing medical affairs organization. Now serving as Country Medical Affairs Head at Zuellig Pharma in Indonesia, Richard leads the full spectrum of medical affairs operations for one of Southeast Asia's largest pharmaceutical distribution networks. His career is a compelling example of how systematic investment in medical affairs competency, from the ground up, creates leaders who can run entire country-level functions.

12. Navid Nedjatian, MD, MBA, BCMAS — Global Medical Director, Rare Blood Disorders | Novo Nordisk

Dr. Navid Nedjatian started his career as a general practitioner and clinical researcher in hematology and oncology before joining Pfizer as a medical representative, a foundational role that gave him direct insight into how scientific information reaches healthcare providers. He spent 13 years at Pfizer progressing from sales management into medical affairs, building expertise across hemophilia, bleeding disorders, vaccines, and rare diseases before joining Novo Nordisk in 2016, where he has since risen to Global Medical Director supporting rare blood disorders including thalassemia. His path from frontline sales and clinical research to global medical affairs leadership is a powerful example of what deliberate, credential-supported career building in medical affairs can achieve.

13. Andrew L. Felicio, PharmD, RPh, BCMAS — Director, Global Oncology Medical Affairs Publications | Daiichi Sankyo

Andrew's roots in pharmacy run deep. He spent more than six years as an intern and pharmacist at Stop & Shop, counseling a diverse patient population in multiple languages before making the transition into medical communications. He joined BGB Group as a medical writer, where he quickly took on a medical lead role supporting immunotherapy strategy in genitourinary cancers, collaborating with clinical oncologists on congress materials and advisory boards. That agency experience became his launchpad into industry: he joined Daiichi Sankyo in 2021 and has steadily advanced through publications roles, now serving as Director of Global Oncology Medical Affairs Publications, where he leads publication strategy for trastuzumab deruxtecan across breast and gynecological cancers. He also mentors PharmD fellows within Daiichi Sankyo's fellowship program, a nod to the community pharmacy preceptorship roots he's carried throughout his career.

14. Mario Trucillo, PhD, MS, BCMAS — Medical Science Director, Endocrinology | Medscape Medical Affairs

Mario Trucillo holds a PhD in Pharmacology and spent several years as a postdoctoral researcher in cardiovascular biology before transitioning into medical communications and scientific affairs — a path that gave him an unusually deep scientific foundation for the content work he would go on to lead. For over 15 years, he has developed CME programs, led scientific grant writing, supported KOL engagement, and provided medical affairs consulting across therapeutic areas including cardiology, oncology, rare diseases, and endocrinology. Medical communications and CME development are core functions within medical affairs because they determine how scientific evidence is translated into education that shapes clinical practice, making accuracy, compliance, and strategic alignment with the data non-negotiable. Now, Mario serves as Medical Science Director at Medscape Medical Affairs, one of the most widely used medical education platforms in the world.

15. Mary Jansen, RPh, MS, BCMAS — Director, Medical Affairs Nutrition & Compounding | B. Braun Medical

Mary Jansen built the foundation of her career in pharmacy management and home infusion services, leading operations teams and navigating complex FDA regulatory compliance environments for over two decades before transitioning into medical affairs roles at Baxter International and then B. Braun Medical. Her background in pharmacy compounding, medical device reporting, and regulatory compliance represents a specialized and highly regulated dimension of medical affairs that is critically important in the medical device and combination product space. Medical affairs professionals in this space must bridge clinical science, product development, and regulatory strategy simultaneously, which requires a special cross-functional competency. Now directing medical affairs for nutrition and compounding at B. Braun, Mary's decades of operational and clinical expertise, formalized with her BCMAS certification, illustrate how pharmacy professionals can build authoritative medical affairs careers outside of the traditional pharma company path.

16. Cameron Bell, MS, CCNS, BCMAS — Vice President, Field Medical Affairs | AVITA Medical

Cameron Bell spent the first 13 years of her career as a clinical nurse specialist and educator at the University of Colorado Hospital's Burn-Trauma ICU, one of the most demanding clinical environments in medicine, before transitioning into the pharmaceutical industry as a Clinical Education Specialist. She methodically built her medical affairs career from the ground up within the same company, progressing from Clinical Education Specialist to Medical Science Liaison to Director of Medical Affairs and now Vice President of Field Medical Affairs. Field medical affairs in the medical device and wound care space requires the ability to translate complex clinical evidence into meaningful conversations with surgeons and specialists, a skill Cameron honed over more than a decade at the bedside. Her story is a powerful example of how nurses and advanced practice clinicians bring an irreplaceable clinical credibility to medical affairs that is increasingly valued across the industry.

17. Tomaz Vaupotic, PhD, BCMAS, RQAP-GCP — Senior Director, Head of Clinical & Medical Quality | Alvotech

Dr. Tomaz Vaupotic began his career as a biomedical research scientist before transitioning into pharmaceutical quality assurance, where he spent years at Krka and Sandoz building deep expertise in GCP compliance, auditing, and quality management systems across Europe and Central Asia. He has since risen through clinical quality leadership roles at Takeda and Alexion before joining Alvotech, a high-growth biosimilars company, where he leads clinical and medical quality across pharmacovigilance, bioanalytics, and medical affairs. Clinical quality assurance and pharmacovigilance compliance are foundational to medical affairs because they ensure that the evidence companies generate and the safety information they report actually meets the rigorous standards that regulatory authorities and patients depend on.

18. Stacey Fung, PharmD, BCMAS — Head, Global Medical Information | Gilead Sciences

Stacey Fung began her pharmaceutical career at Genentech in 2001 as an Associate Scientist in Medical Information, steadily advancing through scientific, managerial, and leadership roles over more than two decades before joining Gilead Sciences, where she now leads the Global Medical Information team. Medical information is the frontline of a company's scientific communication with healthcare professionals and patients, ensuring that every response to an unsolicited inquiry is accurate, balanced, compliant, and clinically meaningful, making it a direct expression of a company's commitment to scientific integrity. Beyond her role at Gilead, Stacey has served as President of the Board of Directors at phactMI, a nonprofit coalition of pharmaceutical companies advancing transparency in medical information, reflecting her influence on the field well beyond her own organization.

19. Eliesha Daniels, PharmD, BCMAS — Medical Director, Global Medical Affairs | Intellia Therapeutics

Eliesha Daniels built her clinical foundation through years of pharmacy practice including work as a Clinical Pharmacy Specialist at the Department of Veterans Affairs, a role she has maintained on a per diem basis for nearly 18 years alongside her industry career, reflecting an unusually sustained commitment to direct patient care. She entered the pharmaceutical industry through medical information and scientific communications at Janssen, then progressively expanded her scope across HEOR communications, medical advisory roles, and global medical information leadership at companies including Insmed, Ionis, Karuna Therapeutics, and Bristol Myers Squibb. Her career spans some of the most complex therapeutic areas in the industry from rare disease and neuroscience to psychiatry and gene therapy. Dr. Daniels now serves as Medical Director of Global Medical Affairs at Intellia Therapeutics, a pioneer in CRISPR-based gene editing. Eliesha's trajectory demonstrates how a BCMAS-credentialed professional with deep clinical roots and broad medical affairs experience can ultimately lead at the frontier of some of the most transformative medicine being developed today.

20. LB Wong, RN, MBA, BCMAS — Associate Vice President, Global Healthcare Improvement Hub & Implementation Science COE | Eli Lilly

LB Wong began her career as a Registered Nurse specializing in orthopedics before earning dual master's degrees in nursing and business administration and joining Eli Lilly, where she has built a 25-year career spanning clinical trial operations, emerging markets, global health, and medical education. She founded Lilly's first-ever Medical Affairs Global Healthcare Improvement Hub and Implementation Science Center of Excellence, a function dedicated to translating scientific evidence into routine clinical practice to improve patient outcomes at scale, which sits at the very heart of what medical affairs exists to do. Implementation science as a medical affairs discipline is increasingly important because getting an effective therapy to market is only half the mission. Ensuring it is actually adopted and used correctly by clinicians is the other half, and that requires the kind of cross-functional, evidence-based leadership LB has spent decades developing. Her journey from bedside nursing to building a global center of excellence at one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies is such an expansive career arc!

21. Milosz Blyszczek, PharmD, MBA, BCMAS — Senior Director, Clinical Operations | Aquestive Therapeutics

Milosz began his career in community and hospital pharmacy, gaining hands-on experience across compounding, oncology, and clinical settings. His PharmD and MBA degrees positioned him to move into industry, where he progressed through clinical operations roles of increasing scope from site qualification and startup activities at Sirnaomics and Innovent Biologics, to managing full-scale CRO governance and portfolio-level oversight. Now Senior Director of Clinical Operations at Aquestive Therapeutics, he leads Phase I–III programs end-to-end. He also serves as Adjunct Faculty at California Northstate University, mentoring the next generation of pharmacy professionals entering the industry.

22. Alexandra Christiansen, MD, MPH, BCMAS — Associate Director, Medical Affairs – Neurology | Supernus Pharmaceuticals

Alexandra's career spans two continents and more than 15 years, beginning in Bolivia where she served simultaneously as a surgical director, university professor, department chair, and public health consultant, building a foundation in medicine and health strategy. She transitioned into the U.S. pharmaceutical industry through roles in medical affairs learning and development, then steadily advanced through medical education leadership positions at 3M, Boston Scientific, Taysha Gene Therapies, and Lundbeck, where she led medical affairs excellence and training strategy. Today, as Associate Director of Medical Affairs at Supernus Pharmaceuticals, she applies that depth of cross-functional and cross-cultural experience to drive medical strategy in a complex therapeutic area.

23. Michael W. Pesa, MS, PharmD, BCMAS — VP, Medical Strategy: Theranostics, Oncology, Immunology & Rare Disease | Biolumina

Michael's path into medical affairs ran through academia and then agency work, starting as a biology professor before completing his PharmD at Rutgers and an MS in biological sciences at the University of Nevada. He entered medical communications as a scientific associate, then took on successive medical director roles at Ogilvy Health and The Lynx Group, building deep expertise across prostate cancer, hematologic malignancies, and rare disease. A formative early experience at Bayer where he reviewed promotional materials and answered medical information queries on a radiopharmaceutical product foreshadowed what would become a career-defining specialty. Today, as VP of Medical Strategy at Biolumina, he is a leading expert on radioligand therapies and theranostics.

24. Peter John Ramsey, Ph.D., BCMAS — Principal & Founder | Ramsey Advisory LLC

Peter's career in pharmaceutical R&D spans more than two decades, beginning in analgesic product development at Wyeth Consumer Healthcare and progressing through successive leadership roles as the organization became part of Pfizer. He rose to Senior Vice President and Global Head of R&D at Pfizer Consumer Healthcare, overseeing teams across brands including Advil, Robitussin, and Nexium, before becoming Chief Scientific Officer at Haleon. He now leads Ramsey Advisory LLC, an executive consultancy serving private equity, pharma, and consumer goods clients on R&D strategy, M&A due diligence, and organizational transformation.

25. Christelle Haziza, BCMAS — Global Head, Scientific and Medical Affairs | Philip Morris International

Christelle built her career entirely within scientific research and clinical development before joining Philip Morris International in 2007 as a clinical scientist. Over nearly two decades at PMI, she progressed through roles in clinical science, program management, and health science leadership before being named Global Head of Clinical Research and Execution and, most recently, Global Head of Scientific and Medical Affairs. Her work centers on generating and communicating the clinical evidence base for reduced-risk alternative products, placing her at a distinctive and scientifically demanding intersection of medical affairs, regulatory science, and public health.