Interview with Elisa Fatzinger

The delivery of the statistical analysis for any project within the pharmaceutical/R&D industry is paramount to the success of the project and the respective development targets.  It is without doubt one of the most important phases and an area that has to have pinpoint accuracy with robust procedures and absolute transparency.

Over the past 24 years SQN has become renown for quality biometrics support to the clinical development industry, we have a large and experienced Statistics and Programming  department. To continue our success in this field and the further development of our statistical department, Elisa Fatzinger was appointed as Head of Statistical Operations. With over 20 years’ experience in the leadership of Biostatistics groups, Elisa has been able to bring new ideas, strengths and efficiencies to our processes.

We caught up with Elisa to find out a little more about her…

What do you like most about SQN Clinical?

I am going to sound very boring, but it is the people. I have got to that stage in my life where I have worked for many companies and it is really the people that make it. We work in quite an intense industry so you need to have a good mix of people that have the fun element but also that are driven to help make things happen. That is the essence of what SQN is all about.

If you could swap your job with anyone in the company, who would you swap with?

I would love to swap with the Admin group, the reason is because what they do is the core of the business, the engine room. They are the key to keep us all stuck together and they support us all. Deep down I’m a mini organised admin person. Historically, I started out as a personal secretary to a CEO and I had to keep everything stuck together for them, sharpening his pencils and all that kind of stuff. So underneath it all, I really like doing that kind of thing so I would swap with Admin, but I doubt they would want to swap with me!

What are your hopes for the industry?

The biggest thing for me is the fact that I hope that we can continue to identify new methods and new drugs to support the human race. That sounds like an intense response, but the reason behind that is because the industry is changing and when I say ‘continue’, this leads onto my next point about the industry and that I hope we can keep up with technology to use to the benefits of pharmaceuticals. We have artificial intelligence coming in and using data to help drive bigger decisions, technology can support all of this. Pharma are picking up on it, but I still feel we are behind where we could be.

I would also like to add that I hope the pharmaceutical industry starts to get a better name for itself in the world. I know it’s had some bad press for different reasons over the years and recently, whether it be the marketing costs or development costs, I hope that reputation improves because underneath all this press there is a reason for the pharmaceutical industry to exist and I hope that continues.

What is the one thing you can’t resist?

I have two answers to this and the first will be a more professional based one. I can’t resist a challenge, for example, if somebody comes to me and says “we have a problem but you won’t be able to fix it”, I would then have to try my hardest to  do something about it.

On the more personal side of the spectrum, I am not able to resist a good bottle of wine, some good food and some good company. Put all three of those together and there is absolutely no way I could resist.

What is your biggest pet peeve?

That has to be my son’s really smelly trainers! That is probably the worst pet peeve I am faced with right now and I can’t seem to stop it.

What is your hidden talent?

I have never shared this with anyone at SQN as of yet, but I am actually trained as a classical guitarist. I used to play in quartets, in orchestra’s and whenever there was a guitar piece required. This is going back a while now, unfortunately the realms of being an adult and enjoying myself as a student got in the way of me pursuing this any further.

What would you like to be famous for?

I have a statistical response to this question, and the answer is that I wouldn’t, I would do my upmost not to be famous. I find becoming famous the most horrendous thought, I love my life and live it to the full, but I also love my privacy and my own company. Sitting reading a book, or sitting watching the world go round with a glass of wine.