ISPE Announces the 2023–2024 Board and Honor Award Winners
Marcy Sanford
As part of the 2023 ISPE Annual Meeting & Expo, the 2023–2024 ISPE International Board of Directors was introduced and the gavel was passed to a new Chair on 16 October 2023 during the 2023 ISPE Membership Meeting and Awards Lunch in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Changes to the Board
Incoming Chair Scott W. Billman, Vice President of Engineering for Pharmaceutical Services at Thermo Fisher Scientific, began his year as Chair. Outgoing Chair Michael L. Rutherford, Executive Director of Computer Systems Quality and Data Integrity at Syneos Health, moves into the Past Chair position of the International Board’s officers.
The Membership Meeting included presentations by Rutherford, Billman, and Thomas Hartman, ISPE President and CEO, as well as reports on the financial health of ISPE and an update on the ISPE Foundation.
Sharing that ISPE was in a strong position for growth, Rutherford gave an overview of ISPE’s accomplishments in 2023, which include a new website that allows members to more easily access their benefits, increased engagement with emerging leaders, the formation of a new student grant program, the implementation of the 2023–2025 Strategic Plan, and continued execution of One ISPE.
ISPE Board of Directors Immediate Past Chair Michael L. Rutherford (right) passes the gavel to incoming Chair Scott W. Billman.
Liz M. Dooley, Zen-Zen Yen, Hirofumi Suzuki, Norman A. Goldschmidt, Michael Martin, David Churchward, Jeffrey A. Biskup, Ylva Ek, Scott W. Billman, Teresa Minero, Jörg Zimmermann, Vivianne J. Arencibia, Michael L. Rutherford, Georg Singewald, and Thomas B. Hartman
ISPE membership has increased nearly 30% from mid-2020. ISPE now has more than 21,000 members in over 120 countries.
“The goal of One ISPE is to make sure that we are connecting with all the affiliates and chapters. In 2023 we added our 40th chapter—the Southwest Chapter, who are hosting this event.” Rutherford also thanked outgoing board members Jörg Zimmermann, Vice President of Vetter Development Service and External Affairs at Vetter Pharma-Fertigung GmbH & Co. KG, and Zen-Zen Yen, Head of Engineering at Bayer AG, for their contributions as they step off the board.
Hartman welcomed attendees to the Membership Meeting and spoke about the ways ISPE members are helping shape the future of the pharmaceutical industry: “All of our accomplishments are thanks to you.”
“ISPE membership has increased nearly 30% from mid-2020. ISPE now has more than 21,000 members in over 120 countries and our goal is to have 25,000 by 2025. This year we increased the number of Communities of Practice (CoPs) from 19 to 22 and we have plans to create an additional three, focusing on artificial intelligence, sustainability, and pharma compounding.”
“We have increased the number of guidance documents we publish. Conference attendance is increasing in numbers when compared to pre-pandemic levels. We have a very active, productive, and industry-relevant regulatory steering council. It is all thanks to you, our subject matter experts. You are the lifeblood of ISPE,” said Hartman.
Billman introduced the 2023–2024 board and presented ISPE’s goals for 2024. “Looking ahead, we want to engage more students and emerging leaders, expand our global reach through engagement and inclusion, continue to drive technical innovation through CoPs, and continue to have more interaction with global regulatory experts. We are committed to continue to evolve and grow ISPE, deliver value to our members, and celebrate the successes of our industry.”
In 2023, ISPE launched an expansive and significant initiative, Enabling Global Pharmaceutical Innovation: Delivering for Patients, to address the barriers to technological innovation in the pharmaceutical industry. The first activity of the initiative was to conduct a three-part survey of ISPE members to understand the circumstances and confirm the sources that create barriers to...
Anil Mathai first heard about ISPE 30 years ago. “I attended Drexel University, where you are required to complete three cooperative education jobs. One of mine was for Rhône-Poulenc Rorer, Inc. in Collegeville, Pennsylvania. While I was there, I learned about validation and decided that I wanted to be in pharmaceuticals as a chemical engineer.”
After completing her doctoral degree at Oklahoma State University, Sarah Pope Miksinski received a fellowship at the National Institutes of Health. While working there, she realized that research was not the best career path for her.