Joe Collins, Vice President, Medical Intelligence and Patient Insights (MIPI) and Patient Insights and Solutions (PInS) teams
A little about me at work
I lead two of five teams within the Patient Centricity division, the Medical Intelligence and Patient Insights (MIPI) and Patient Insights and Solutions (PInS) teams. I have spent my career in pharma. I joined Astellas in March 2020. In addition to my time here, I have worked at Sanofi and Roche in a variety of different roles in patient centricity, commercial operations and in functions supporting research and development, and medical affairs.
A little about me at home
I grew up in the Philadelphia, in the Pennsylvania area, and now live in Scranton, Pennsylvania, with my wife Mauri and our five daughters. I enjoy spending time attending the different activities my kids are involved in, riding the peloton (maybe “enjoy” is too strong) and playing golf.
What I love about my job
I’m lucky to work with two great teams! We have a nice mix of people that have been with Astellas for many years and others that joined when I did. In addition to a variety with Astellas experience, the teams are made up of individuals with diverse educational and work experience backgrounds in pharmacy, medicine, science, business, consulting, market research and health economics. All of these areas link to the patient and these backgrounds and experiences provide a great foundation for the patient-centered work we do every day!
What gets me up every day
Gathering, analyzing and understanding the experience of patients during their disease journey is critically important, as I think most would agree. Equally as important is the ability to take these insights and operationalize them within Astellas, from the earliest stages of research to commercialization of products. This is exciting to me! Patients are helping shape the products Astellas is developing from beginning to end!
Kat Bernacki, PhD, Director, PInS
A little about me at work
I’ve been working for the life science and health industry for the past 15+ years, first in drug discovery as a computational chemist and bioinformatician, then in management consulting, before joining Astellas 10 years ago. At Astellas, I’ve worked in commercial strategy and innovation with regional teams. About six years ago, we identified a strategic gap around patient focus and centricity. That’s when the seed for patient centricity was planted. Today, I focus on conducting in-depth ethnographic research with cancer patients and their caregivers, specifically focusing on the emotional, psychosocial, and humanistic aspects of their journey. My team seeks to provide a deep understanding of patient dynamics in the real-world setting and identify solutions to support Astellas’ oncology and Rx+ portfolio.
A little about me at home
I was born in Poland and came to the US as a teenager. I’ve spent all my time as a young adult in NYC, first at NYU and then Columbia University, so that’s home for me. After NYC, my husband and I moved to the other coast and enjoyed San Francisco for a few years. Now, I live with my husband, Petri, and my three wonderful boys – Erik, Marc, and Aaron – and a golden doodle named Freddie, in Chicago. We spend most of our time driving our kids to hockey, swimming, lacrosse, and rowing. When I find a bit of time for myself, I enjoy running, playing squash, skiing, reading fiction, theater, and traveling.
What I love about my job
I’ve had the privilege to work with cancer patients and their loved ones to understand their needs and how to address them. As a cancer survivor, I can relate to what they’re going through. I want to make sure that what I’ve experienced is put to good use, making sure that other patients like me do not have to suffer in silence. I am very lucky to be surrounded by incredible colleagues at Astellas who consider patient focus their ‘true north’ too.
What gets me up every day
On my desk, I have a frame with a quote by Brené Brown, “Empathy has no script. There is no right way or wrong way to do it. It’s simply listening, holding space, withholding judgment, emotionally connecting, and communicating that incredibly healing message of ‘you’re not alone.’” I want to make sure that here at Astellas, we listen to patients and their caregivers, and truly empathize with the people we are working to help.
Meaghan Krohe, Director, PInS
A little about me at work
My role involves ensuring the patient voice is brought into each therapeutic area I am supporting, including women’s health, chronic kidney disease and ophthalmology. I have spent my entire career in healthcare, with most of my time (the past 15 years) focused on developing patient reported outcomes (PROs) for pharmaceutical industry clients. Prior to that time, I briefly worked in the hospital setting.
A little about me at home
I live in a suburb of Chicago with my husband, Chris, and our four children. I love to exercise and read, when times allows, but for the most part my down time consists of cheering on my kids at various sports, gymnastics or dance events!
What I love about my job
My favorite part of my job is the people I get to engage with each day at Astellas, and the energy we all have to ensure the patients are heard; I also love all that I learn from the patients we hear from. My career has been focused on making sure we are listening to the patients' needs, and adequately addressing those needs, in whatever stage of a drug development our team is supporting.
What gets me up every day
Hoping that I have made a difference in someone’s life, through listening to their story, or their personal struggles that they felt comfortable sharing with me, and making sure they know we are working to provide them with a solution. Also, knowing that the work we do each day in Patient Centricity will continue to make a difference in the future, as I see how our team keeps trying new and innovative ways to improve outcomes for patients.
Minhhue Nguyen, Director, PInS
A little about me at work
As part of the PInS team, I support teams working on mid- to late-stage real-world evidence programs with patient insights and patient journey surveys in Japan and Asia. Before joining Astellas, I worked as a nurse, achieved a PhD in medical genomics, and was a clinical trial project leader.
A little about me at home
I live in the center of Tokyo, a very crowded and exciting city. When I am not working, I enjoy lots of hobbies, and spending time with my friends and family.
What I love about my job
While all of our projects focus on understanding patient dynamics in the real world and defining solutions to support Astellas’ initiatives, each one is different. In my role, I get to discuss the aims and objectives of each initiative with the internal team, then design the project from the ground up. I love the creativity of this approach.
What gets me up every day
I really enjoy making new connections, so I love the exciting and creative collaborative discussions I have every day with people who work in other divisions of the company. These conversations are always focused on making sure we capture the patient voice as effectively as possible, and that is important to me. Ultimately, everything we do is to support patients and caregivers, and to improve their quality of life. That will always be worth getting out of bed for.
Doreen Nilo, PInS Fellow
A little about me at work
I gather various stakeholder insights (from patients, caregivers, healthcare professionals, etc.) to support business needs, translating real-world findings into patient-centric solutions for internal and external teams, and utilizing my clinical background as a PharmD and technical/medical expertise from other pharma industry experiences to meet objectives. I graduated from the University of Southern California School of Pharmacy in 2022.
A little about me at home
I enjoy being a ‘dog mom’ to my first pet, a two-year-old husky boxer. I also love following sports, such as basketball and baseball; I’m an avid fan of Joe Burrow.
What I love about my job
I love being mentored by my manager Kat Bernacki and being consistently reminded of the human/personal aspect of pharma and healthcare.
What gets me up every day
The fact that I should take advantage of my healthy well-being to curate a sustainable lifestyle and impact others positively.