Working in a Male-Dominated Field

It is no easy feat to break into a male-dominated field as a woman, no less the bio/pharmaceutical industry. Piper Trelstad, PhD, head of chemistry, manufacturing, and control (CMC), Bill & Melinda Gates Medical Research Institute, shares with Meg Rivers, editor-in-chief of Pharmaceutical Executive, her experiences working in the industry, specifically in the vaccines space, as well as what it was like for her moving up the ranks as a woman. Other topics discussed include Trelstad’s predictions for more women working at the C-suite level, the inner workings of the Bill & Melinda Gates Medical Research Institute (including work on an infant probiotic), insight into her personal journey, and more.

About the speaker

As head of CMC at the Bill & Melinda Gates Medical Research Institute, Piper Trelstad, PhD, and her team develop robust, innovative, andcost-effective manufacturing processes and ensure clinical supply availability for Gates MRI’s drug and vaccine candidates. Trelstad brings more than 20 years of experience in vaccine development, manufacturing, and supply chain, during which time she provided strategic and technical support for a variety of vaccine products at differing stages of development. Prior to her current role, Trelstad served as vice president of technical development for Takeda’s Vaccine Business Unit, where she provided essential shared services and overall leadership for the cross-functional teams responsible for process, formulation, and analytical development of Takeda’s vaccine products. Earlier at Takeda, Piper held several roles focused on vaccine manufacturing strategy development and implementation, including life cycle management. Before joining Takeda in 2014, she worked at Merck, where she served asavaccine product leader. Previously, she held a number of leadership roles within the Merck manufacturing division, including capital project team leader, startup
leader, and potency investigation leader, as well as positions within vaccine technical operations.

About the PharmExec Podcast

The editors of Pharmaceutical Executive bring you the latest commercial insights tomaster the science of success. Podcast episodes examine current trends, key conferences, and critical topics in the bio/pharmaceutical industry.

Listen to this podcast on SoundCloud, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or Apple Podcasts.