I am not particularly spiritual. But as the shadow of the moon began to approach on August 21, 2017, I started to think about the limits of my knowledge of the solar system, galaxies, and beyond, compared to my focus for decades on smaller objects, such as molecules, cells, and tissues. A week later, Hurricane Harvey developed rapidly and lingered over southeast Texas, dumping over 50 inches of rain in some locations, causing widespread flooding, releasing sewage and toxic chemicals into the water, and triggering outbreaks of mold. Hurricane Irma, on its path through the Caribbean and up the western coast of Florida, devastated vegetation, buildings, and power lines, with intense winds that once peaked at 185 mph…
Category: <span>Opinion</span>
Unless the trend of ever-rising product development costs is reversed, as demonstrated by Eroom’s law (look it up), the development of new biopharmaceutical products is doomed. In my opinion, the primary culprit is the industry’s inability to competently deal with complexity…
One of the objectives of the upcoming ICH 12: Pharmaceutical Lifecycle Management guidance is to manage product development and manufacturing process information in order to establish and maintain appropriate change control over the entire product lifecycle. The 2014 ICH Q12 Concept Paper also stresses ICH Q12’s role in connecting ICH Q8 through ICH Q11 into a complete lifecycle approach to assure product quality and continuous improvement of manufacturing operations. However, neither the Concept Paper or subsequent public discussion and presentations appear to identify the ICH Q8 design space as a central mechanism for collecting and maintaining product and process information…
You have worked tirelessly on your project and an opportunity arises to present your results. It might be a group meeting, departmental seminar, job interview, or scientific conference. Alternatively, you may need to raise money to fund your research, start a biotechnology company, or market a new product. In each of these instances, delivering your message effectively is essential to achieving your goal and earning the respect and admiration of colleagues…
I have to begin with a disclosure. I am a card-carrying, old-school, hypercritical academic who has always been among the first to complain about going to a conference and having to sit through an infomercial disguised as a science talk. But, perhaps I have a disguise of my own. I actually enjoy hearing talks focused on applied research and product development at least as much as more “academic” talks. I admire and respect the practical application of brilliant science. I believe that’s what scientists are supposed to do…