Host: Professor Kyle Lauersen

Abstract: 
In this presentation, Jan Schwarzhans will describe how during his career so far the key stakeholders have evolved from C. vulgaris to CEO, what Pharma looks like outside R&D and what the pros and cons of such a career path are.

After completing his academic career with a PhD in Industrial Biotechnology, he started his professional career in the fast-paced world of Pharma Consulting at IQVIA. There he worked on 40+ projects, learnt a lot 'on the job' and advised Pharma clients on important business questions. Recently, he joined the Investor Relations team at Roche. In his new role, Jan has a 'bird's-eye perspective' on one of the largest Pharma's globally and supports senior management in the preparation of quarterly reports and investor meetings

For each career step, examples, key characteristics and learnings from the perspective of a PhD in Biotechnology will be detailed. We hope this presentation will provide students with insights into what a career outside academia or industry R&D might look like.

Bio: 
Jan-Philipp Schwarzhans (who goes by Jan) is an Investor Relations Officer at Roche in Basel, Switzerland since July 2022. In his role, Jan is focused on the Roche Pharma Group and is involved in preparing quarterly results presentations and materials, preparation of investor meetings, assembling IR presentations for scientific conferences, as well as engaging with Product/Franchise leads to ensure accuracy and quality of IR materials.
Jan joined Roche from IQVIA, a leading global provider of advanced analytics, technology solutions and clinical research services to the life sciences industry. For the period of four years, Jan was part of the Strategy & Life Sciences Consulting group, advising Pharma and Biotech clients on Brand & Commercial Strategy, Launch Excellence, Pricing & Market Access, Forecasting and Customer Engagements projects. His projects spanned US, Europe, APAC and MEA markets, with a focus on Oncology, Rare Diseases, Cardiovascular and Diabetes indications. Simultaneously, he completed a 1.5 year secondment in the IQVIA Thought Leadership team, working on analyzing and presenting the 'big picture' Pharma trends for senior client audiences.
He holds a PhD in Industrial Biotechnology from the Center for Biotechnology at Bielefeld University, Germany. While his PhD focused on optimizing protein expression in the yeast Pichia pastoris, his Bachelor and Master thesis dealt with different Algal biotechnology topics. Jan has published multiple research papers in the field of microbiotechnology and is highly interested in following recent scientific developments