Nicholas Heath is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow at Takeda Pharmaceuticals in the Global Pharmacovigilance department. As a member of the MCPHS University Biopharmaceutical Industry Fellowship program, he has taken the initiative to be involved in numerous committees, scholarly publications, and in May 2016 was appointed executive board President. Inspired by the work he has been involved with at Takeda, Nick will be climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro to support the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation (MMRF). Other participants include multiple myeloma patients, caregivers, and health care professionals.

Mt. Kilimanjaro reaches 19,341 feet and has various climates, wildlife, and hiking conditions for participants to overcome. The hike up the mountain will take just over 6 days and over 60 guides, porters, and local staff. Nick will be one of two Takeda representatives hiking the mountain, following in the footsteps of Ryan Cohlhepp, Takeda’s Vice President of U.S. Marketing, who completed the hike in January 2016 with the MMRF.

Nick has been involved with fundraising for the MMRF since the beginning of his fellowship and constantly finds ways to support a cause that is close to home. Whether it has been a road race, obstacle race, or even hiking Mt. Kilimanjaro, Nick seems to push through the challenge to support those that each event will benefit. As an industry pharmacist, he is able to see how R&D can impact entire patient populations in need. Events like these, either nationally recognized or individually organized, provide support to patients battling disease. As a member of the MMRF Team for Cures, Nick hopes to fundraise over $20,000 to support research being done in multiple myeloma as well as support his teammates, some of which are myeloma patients, up Mt. Kilimanjaro next February.

Please contact Nick at nicholas.heath@takeda.com if you are interested in learning more about his hike and would like to support him.