Casual Conversation: Medical Communications @ AstraZeneca/MedImmune - Renu Juneja, PhD and John Smith, PhD

Casual Conversation: Medical Communications @ AstraZeneca/MedImmune - Renu Juneja, PhD and John Smith, PhD

Renu Juneja, PhD is Head of the Medical Communications group at MedImmune (the worldwide biologics research and development arm of AstraZeneca). Her group has the responsibility for regulatory documents (clinical trial reports, summary documents, protocols, investigator brochures, briefing documents, BLA etc.), for development & execution of publication strategy, publications (manuscripts, review articles); for peer-reviewed journals and presentations (abstracts, posters, oral presentations etc) at the scientific meetings. Her team supports all therapeutic areas including Immuno-oncology, respiratory, inflammation, CVMD, infectious diseases and vaccines.

Previously, she led the Strategic Scientific Communication (SSC) group at Novo Nordisk Inc. (NNI). She also had the opportunity to lead the Information & Education group at NNI and was responsible for the company’s library and for Independent Medical Education (IMEs) programs. Renu started her career in Novo Nordisk as a medical writer. After finishing her PhD in Reproductive Biology & Biochemistry from the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education & Research (PGIMER) in India, Renu joined The Population Council in NY as a Postdoctoral fellow. Two years later, she received an independent research grant from the Lalor Foundation and joined the department of Molecular Biology at the Princeton University, She has over 30 publications in peer-reviewed journals and has presented at various national and international conferences.

Renu has presented and conducted workshops at the annual meetings of various professional organizations e.g. ISMPP, TIPPA, CBI, and Q1 productions.

During his 16 years in the pharmaceutical industry, John A Smith, PhD has worked for both medical communication (med comm) companies and pharma (Novo Nordisk, 11 years; AstraZeneca, 2½ years). In his current role as a Clinical Information Science Director, John assists global clinical development teams with their information and documentation needs as drug development moves from phase 2b through to submission to regulatory agencies (e.g., FDA, EMA) and lifecycle management once marketing approval is granted.

At Novo Nordisk, John led teams working on various publication plans and regulatory documents for therapies used for diabetes, obesity, growth disorders, and women's health. John's team has assisted authors with multiple data-driven (primary/ secondary) manuscripts and supported many reviews and supplements. Many med comm partners have been major contributors to these projects. John has also been involved training and optimizing best practices and compliance as the publication landscape evolves.

John has presented on various topics related to publication planning, medical writing, and optimizing the pharma-med comm partnership for ISMPP, AMWA, and TIPPA. John is currently serving on the CMPP Certification Committee.

Prior to joining Novo Nordisk, John spent 3 years at med comm. agencies where he worked as a medical writer and managed publication plans for various pharma clients.

Before joining industry, John worked with the 1996 Australian Olympic team in Atlanta and taught health and exercise science courses at various U.S colleges for 4 years. John is also a member of AMWA and ISMPP. John has a BS and PhD from the Australian National University.

The PDCO/BCI Casual Conversations Series is a monthly career exploration event where career professionals share their career path and answer any questions you might have. YOU drive the conversation and content.