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Edited by Denise Chen

Frank W. Lee, Ph.D. Former VP of Millennium Pharmaceuticals and had almost 40 years of professional

experience. Currently, he is doing pharmaceutical consulting. Frank is also one of the founding members

of CEA.

How to prepare for the next stage of career after graduation from school? What do students need to do

to find a job? What are the hot trends in pharmaceutical field? These are commonly asked questions by

graduate students and post-docs in school. Frank provided answers based on his professional experience.

1. What would be your advice for graduate students and post-docs?

First, you need to study for your passion based on your gift and show you are capable. Second,

you need to be aware of the pharmaceutical and biotech hot topics and future trends. A teachable

attitude and good reputation will help your career in the long run so be honest and dependable to

others. Lastly, you need to improve your communication skill as well as broadening your TRUE

network (not Linked-in).

2. What research/development areas are in high demand by the pharmaceutical industry and what

are the related skillsets?

The following are the trends in this field.

• Medicines for unmet disease therapeutics

• Target ID and the disease mechanism

• Regeneration therapy (stem cell)

• Protein drugs and ADC

• Biomarker, Modeling & Simulation

• Clinical trials

• Regulatory Affairs

• Business development (M&A, NPV, and market valuation)

3. How to find companies in greater Boston, which need Chinese talent? How to find a job?

Let everyone know that you are looking for a specific job. Prepare a strong CV showing your

experience fits that job perfectly. Find references to back you up. You need to study each

job description and match your strengths with it. How to present yourself in a professional and

confident way takes practice and is important to deliver a good impression in your job-seeking

process.

In summary, Frank thinks that six essential attributes are required for career development and growth.

And people in school should start to work on these to prepare themselves.

1) Passion –You have to like and enjoy what you are doing (fire in the belly)

• Easy – using your strength

• Enjoy – make innovation

• Effective – can delivery (not daydreaming)

2) Humility— Only empty vessel has space to fill. You are willing to listen to other opinions with an open mind. And you should always look for areas for improvement.

3) Unselfishness—Always care about others. True teamwork is focusing on the team objectives, not your own agenda. You help others now and others will help you later.

4) Focus—You need to focus on one thing at a time so that you can deliver good quality results in a timely manner.

5) Positive attitudes—is having a “Can Do” spirit. Can take crises as opportunities and maintain

the humorous sense. Being negative and complain all the time yet not providing solutions is the

killer of your career.

6) Integrity—very important to walk on your talk. You need to take extra effort building up your

reputation of being honest and consistent.