An Interview with Dr. Daled Serrano-Bahri

What was your motivation to pursue the pharmaceutical industry as a career path?

Dr. Daled Serrano-Bahri, PharmD / IPhO

I first started my career as a pharmacy school adjunct professor at my alma mater. From there, I transitioned to clinical practice as a hospital clinical pharmacist and quickly developed passion for it. When the doors opened to transition into the pharmaceutical industry, I decided to take on the challenge. The opportunity to join a company that is committed to the relentless pursuit of science that could improve the lives of patients was exhilarating and a unique chance to expand my experience and knowledge of the pharmacy field. I was fascinated by the idea of building and fostering relationships with key experts in shared therapeutic areas to deliver scientific knowledge, while still helping patients indirectly. I immediately knew, by taking on this unique opportunity, I had a chance to make a great impact in the lives of patients with scientific innovation and research.

Talk about diversity, equity, and inclusion in the pharmaceutical industry; what should companies be doing to continue making progress?

This question has a two-fold answer. While it is important to continue to foster an inclusive and diverse environment within the pharmaceutical industry that supports hiring professionals from different ethnicities, cultural back grounds, languages, religions, genders, race, etc., it is far more important to support and promote growth for all of those already in the industry. This reflects the idea that growth and progress happen from within, which supports the notion that we need to embrace diversity by acknowledging and recognizing professionals in the field that bring upon said diversity.

This is done by continuously providing and facilitating the professional advancement of every employee, bridging income gaps within groups, and fostering safe environments for equal participation and growth. In summary, there must be recognition that we need to continue to work hard to level the playing field, while agreeing to promote diversity, inclusion and equity, which in the end will make for a better industry, empathizing with its own workers while also improving outcomes for our patients.

To learn more about IPhO, visit www.industrypharmacist.org.