Inspiring People, Inspiring Teams

After conducting interviews and editing the stories for this month’s Emerging Pharma Leaders section, I couldn’t help but be inspired. Our Emerging Eleven for 2017 shine a positive light for the future of pharma. As I mention in the introduction, many of this year’s alumni share commonalities, including a

Lisa Henderson

 willingness to grow, the ability to listen, learn from their mentors, and an enthusiasm to lead their staff and share the load. The Emerging Eleven inspired me this month to feature the staff of Pharmaceutica Executive and highlight their unique skills and qualities that make this publication and website the very best it can be. They have great ideas and deserve recognition and a big thank you!

Behind the scenes at Pharmaceutical Executive. Let’s start with those who have been with the publication the longest. Julian Upton is our European and Online Editor, who has been with our organization in its previous and current ownership for  12

years. He was in charge of Pharm Exec Europe for several years, and is the institutional knowledge resident for the brand. Before Pharm Exec, he worked on trade/b2b mags focused on the defense industry, public-private finance, and healthcare. 

Julian is a resident of Leicester, England, and is our go-to expert for anything related to the UK or all of Europe, for that matter. Julian tolerates and/or entertains all our questions about what people think overseas. He has also become the point person for reviewing contributed articles, and continues to interview and write on all aspects of commercial pharma for the magazine.

Mike Christel is our Senior Managing Editor, managing both Pharm Exec and Applied Clinical Trials. Mike has been on the brand for almost four years and is in charge of making sure everything in print goes out with

all the i’s dotted, t’s crossed, photos in the right places, writing headlines and transitions, and dealing with the staff dragging out deadlines. In between managing all of that, he finds time to interview people and write articles, and help the newer staff members learn our systems and processes. 

Mike started in journalism at local newspapers, first as a sports writer and eventually heading a newsroom. He then moved on to b2b, working for R&D Directions. With his experience, we all count on him for his clinical and commercial knowledge and sense of journalistic ideals.

Christen Harm is our Associate Editor, joining in March. Christen is becoming the go-to person for...everything. She writes, she interviews, she’s learned our back-end systems quickly and is 

helping our migration to an updated web platform coming soon. Christen is our resident “millennial” (though she hates that term and swears she’s not a typical millennial) and this is her second company in b2b publishing. She is very creative, funny, energetic, and willing to do whatever you ask and get it done with a smile and can-do attitude. 

Michelle Maskaly is our Senior Editor who joined in April. The one word to describe Michelle is passionate. She truly believes in the pharmaceutical industry, and the innovation it brings to patients. I should also say, dogs. Michelle is an avid lover of dogs, and is interested in the intersection of veterinary and pediatric research in oncology (see here).

Michelle held numerous positions in journalism, and like Mike, also worked in the

newsroom of a local newspaper, in addition to national cable news networks. She has experience with managing social media, as well as chief editor for b2b’s in the pet industry and healthcare packaging. Michelle brings ideas, all day, every day, and along with Julian, works hard at crafting the articles that comprise our core features. Michelle’s journalistic sense, combined with her passion is an inspiration to her colleagues.

Lisa Higgins joined in August as our Social Media Specialist. Having graduated college in May, making her a GenZ, she is quickly fitting into our company, and her dual role handling

social media for both Pharm Exec and Applied Clinical Trials. Lisa is ramping up her knowledge in these industry areas, learning our back-end processes for editing and posting articles, as well as bringing new ideas for social media. Lisa, with Christen and Michelle’s support, is the driver for our new Instagram and YouTube accounts and, thankfully, understands and manages that with finesse, bringing our content to a broader range of audiences.

While we focus on the content and excellent editorial, and I love leading this team, it takes a village to make a company or brand a success. We also have our sales team, marketing, audience development, digital team, special projects team, and executive management all excelling at their roles to make Pharmaceutical Executive the excellent resource it is. 

Lisa Henderson is Editor-in-Chief of Pharm Exec. She can be reached at lisa.henderson@ubm.com. Follow Lisa on Twitter: @trialsonline