Author: [AUTHOR] Published on 3/1/2021 12:00:00 AM

Akiyuki Suzuki, PhD, Senior Manager, Pfizer, Tokyo, Japan

Who has inspired you in your career?
Looking back on my career, I think I am a very lucky man. I have worked with many people who have inspired me. I cannot talk about my career without mentioning them. One of those people was my supervisor in my first company. He showed me how exciting the clinical pharmacology/pharmacometrics field was. Together we implemented NONMEM at the company 25 years ago. We conducted population pharmacokinetics of antibiotics to evaluate the effect of renal function quantitatively using NONMEM. It was the first population pharmacokinetics analysis for us and very exciting work for us. He helped me connect wide network using online communications (pre‐internet connection). Through him I had the opportunity to participate in pharmacist education and become a part‐time teacher in a school of pharmacy. Not only do I respect his wide variety of knowledge, but also logical explanation and gentle character.

Do you have a favorite tip of trick for clinical practice or research that you want to share with fellow members?
I think that not only actual work, but also preparing for future opportunities is important. I think that an important part of being prepared for future opportunities is to be interested in various things, not to put limitations on myself. I do not want to miss an opportunity due to a lack of preparation.

How do you keep focused and motivated?
I am working with a sense of mission to deliver the medicines to patients as soon as possible. This keeps me motivated. Learning new things is a lot of fun. So, putting in something new/challenging for me to work on motivates me. Working as part of a team also increases my motivation, and discussions with other colleagues is effective to keep my motivation.

What was your childhood dream job?
My childhood dream was not to become a pharmacometrician. When I was in elementary school, I wrote in my yearbook that my dream was to become a Yokozuna SUMO wrestler. However, my dream was also to become an inventor. In a sense, I think my dream has come true as a pharmacometrician.

When you aren’t working, how do you spend your free time?
I eat out with my wife in our free time. Both of us like Chinese dishes. We sometimes go to Yokohama China town. However, we have not been able to do this recently becaue of the pandemic.

What has been the greatest challenge in your career?
The greatest challenge in my career has been changing jobs. I was satisfied with my former company. However, I wanted more opportunities for pharmacometrics‐related work. I found the open position in my current company, so I made a decision to change my job. My concern was rebuilding my network within the company from scratch. With the support of my colleagues and supervisor, I think I have been able to re‐build my network relatively quickly by actively participating in project work, but also in non‐project activities.

Dr. Suzuki has been a member of ASCPT since 2015.