Stephanie Oestreich PhD MPA '02
I’m originally from Berlin, Germany, studied biochemistry at the Free University of Berlin, and then I came to New York to do my Master’s at Rockefeller University. I worked on telomeric proteins and published in Cell. Afterwards, I came to the lab of a Nobel Prize winner at Harvard Medical School (Jack Szostak) and did my PhD there workin on RNA aptamers. At the same time, I got an MPA at the Harvard Kennedy School. Afterwards, I started to work at Novartis, where I eventually became the Executive Assistant to the CEO and moved to Basel, Switzerland. Then I was on the commercial side and built different teams locally, regionally and globally and launched six drugs, mainly in oncology. I came to Roche afterwards, and was responsible for a multi-billion product — three times indications of Avastin.. Throughout this whole time, I had great mentors, and I’m really excited to be giving back by mentoring students at this point. When I then came back to Boston, I worked at Evotec, initiated a biotech incubator and some startups. Then I built up US and EU operations for Mnemo Therapeutics.. Now, I’m Chief Business Officer at Galecto, a public, clinical-stage company with 4 ongoing phase 2 clinical trials going in oncology and fibrosis.
I live here in Boston and am also a professional-level violinist (have played with the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra in Carnegie Hall). I use a lot of insights from music to demonstrate analogies on leadership and teams in management and conduct trainings with live orchestras
What drew you to science?
I was always interested in science, and in high school I remember I read additional books in biology and genetics. I was curious and read books and articles beyond what we learned in science in high school; we also had a great chemistry teacher who taught us university-level chemistry. The original medical and scientific interest came from experiences around me with family and friends stricken by disease. I observed how this can strike down an innocent person and take away so many chances in life. I’ve been so blessed with energy and enthusiasm, so I wanted to dedicate my life to finding therapies for as many patients as possible.
One of the most defining moments later when I worked in industry was at a launch meeting when I was sitting next to the inventor of the drug, the first patient, and their treating physician. That was an amazing experience, and it still brings tears to my eyes. That’s why I’m pursuing what I do. It’s this image of patients and their families and physicians whose lives we are trying to improve.
What advice do you have, from your experience moving from a PhD in more basic science research to big pharma, for those who are also deciding and making the transition?
It’s a very individualized choice. There are so many opportunities (I’m actually speaking to students from the German Merit Foundation). There’s academia, startups, biotech, established companies, pharma companies, venture capital, consulting, finance… My advice is to really speak to as many people as possible through informational interviews. That gives people more insights into what a job is really like, and you build lots of connections. Think about what you want to be. At the same time, be very flexible. When I worked for the CEO of Novartis at the time, I did not plan for that. This was an opportunity that opened up for me, and I had to jump into it. There’s career paths for many industries (e.g. sales, managing teams in pharma). Consider, what are the career milestones that you have to demonstrate? Focus on asking people for feedback, and in the end, make up your mind. What are your strengths? Where do you want to be in the long term?
How have you developed your leadership skills over your career?
When I was at Novartis, I was a part of a leadership program where I got to do a lot of reflection on leadership and think about how I could improve. When I was in Austria, I built a team with diverse professionals, and that was my first time really implementing these ideas into reality. With so many different experiences, we really learn from each other. I’ve also worked on building up teams in the Middle East and in Africa, where I learned a lot about cultural diversity and sensitivity.
I grew up in Germany. My mother is Austrian, and I lived in Vienna for a few years. Even with countries that are very close, there are sometimes differences. There are big differences in the US, however. People in Germany are a bit more risk-averse. On the startup side, if something fails, then you’re a bit brand-marked. Compare that to the US, where people know that 90% of startups fail, and you build good experience. Some of my best colleagues are actually from failed startups. Also, in Germany, people don’t speak so much about their achievements as in the US.
You also mentioned you play a great deal of violin — how have you balanced that with your professional career, and what skills have you found helpful and translatable from music to science?
I’ve been playing music since I was five years old and learned a lot about discipline and time-management early on. I was thinking of becoming a professional musician, but I got the best advice from my violin teacher at the time who said that I should focus on science professionally and still do music at a very high level as a great hobby. I use it as a networking opportunity, and have learned a lot about teams and leadership. As a musician, you have to fit into the overall music and sound. You constantly listen and respond to your colleagues. The conductor also doesn’t make a sound, but motivates the musicians and gives them impulses to play together. I also saw what happens when leadership is not done well and is then taken over by someone else in the group. These are lots of important lessons.
Is there anything else you would like to share with our community?
Harvard Alumni in Healthcare is a great way to continue the dialogue and foster connections and friendships. I’ve met so many interesting people during my time at Harvard and through my involvement in the Alumni Network. It’s something important to continue, so I would really encourage people to take advantage of that. It’s a great opportunity.
