Author: [AUTHOR] Published on 2/1/2024 12:00:00 AM

Nastya Kassir, PharmD, PhD, Director & Principal Scientist, Genentech, San Francisco, CA

What excites you about serving in your role as the Life Cycle Management (LCM) Community Vice Chair?
I am thrilled to serve as the LCM Community Vice Chair at ASCPT because it provides me with an incredible opportunity to collaborate with leading experts in the field of clinical pharmacology. I look forward to contributing toward shaping the Community's direction by facilitating collaboration between scientists from the pharmaceutical industry, government, and academia through webinars and conference sessions. Together, we can address the challenges involved in drug development during post-approval and life cycle management.

What professional accomplishment are you most proud of?
My proudest achievement has been successfully communicating clinical pharmacology and modeling & simulation capabilities and results to different departments and stakeholders within my organization. This effort has led to increased engagement from stakeholders in modeling & stimulation efforts and ensured a comprehensive understanding of our models and results.

What is the most important leadership lesson that you have learned the hard way?
The most important leadership lesson I have learned is that you must always be willing to listen to feedback from others and be open to changing your approach based on that feedback. Sometimes, you can become too invested in a particular strategy or way of doing things and not realize that it may not be the best approach. Being open to feedback and willing to make changes based on that feedback is key to being an effective leader.

What has been the greatest challenge in your career?
One of the greatest challenges in my career has been learning how to balance competing priorities at work and manage my time effectively. It can sometimes be difficult to prioritize tasks and ensure that everything gets done on time. Over the years, I have learned to be more strategic with my time and focus on the most important tasks first.

What's one thing people would be surprised to know about you?
One thing people would be surprised to know about me is that I am an amateur chef in my spare time. I enjoy experimenting with new ingredients and recipes. I love to bring people together around the table to share good food and conversation.

Dr. Kassir has been a member of ASCPT since 2006.