Company: Halozyme Therapeutics
Current Role: CMC Specialist, Regulatory Affairs
Alma Mater: Touro University, California, Class of 2016

In 2011, my 12-year career as a microbiologist for the largest brewing company in the Pacific Northwest unknowingly came to an abrupt end. Changes in the small company I joined in 1999 that had a top 10 national ranking in 2016, manifested in layoffs. As the layoffs gathered momentum, it was my signal to leave and begin a year long process looking at alternative career options where I could leverage my 12-years of service in aseptic manufacturing. I had spent my career focused in the life sciences after graduating from the University of California Santa Cruz. I was 42 years old and married for 8 years to a PhD scientist who had been employed as a MSL in the pharmaceutical industry since 2003. My sister-in-law, a PhD clinician, was also employed as a MSL. After numerous discussions with family members, I began to explore the application process to pharmacy school in the fall of 2011 and fully consider the prospect of earning a PharmD degree. Ultimately, I considered a doctoral degree in pharmacy as the best opportunity to leverage my 20-years of experience in healthcare and aseptic manufacturing. I believed the best fit for my unconventional background was the School of Pharmacy at Touro University California.