Working With Stars: Meet Nicole Baker, PhD...

Nicole Baker is a very unique contributor to the PV world. She is passionate about science, PV, problem solving, and is a very successful and innovative entrepreneur. It is hard not to be impressed by what she has accomplished to date- and the adventure is still ongoing!

How did you start working in PV?

I started my career in academia and translational medicine through my Immunology PhD and Post-Doc activities, then moved into industry through a role at the HPRA (Irish Medicines Agency). Later I tried to become a Medical Scientific Liaison in pharma companies but instead ended up as a PV Scientist for a brand-new PV department that was being created. I worked directly on aggregate reports, responses to regulatory authorities, signal detection, literature review and loved it from the start. This was 14 years ago!

Tell me about a key project in PV you contributed to?

I had to work with all the experts who developed the first anti-TNF. I got to work in all aspects of the drug development, from how a drug is made in the lab, like before it even goes to a pharmaceutical company and then how it's approved and then what happens afterwards. Contributing to the process of a drug approval is a great satisfaction, after all these years of development work. It is such a milestone, that reflects the shared effort of many contributors and the satisfaction of seeing patients benefit from that work.

How did the idea for Biologit began? (Biologit is an extremely successful AI based literature search and analysis platform - Nicole is the Co-Founder and CEO)

The idea came from my interest in using technology to make better use of unstructured safety data. I knew that natural language processing could help uncover meaningful information in literature and other clinical text, with the broader goal of improving patient safety and preventing adverse events and save a lot of time and efforts. This was even before Chat GPT. It was a long but successful entrepreneurial and technical effort from many, but the functionalities and services provided are so impressive!

Why do you think you are successful at what you do?

I like doing things right and do not take shortcuts. It is important for me keep investigating topics until I can interpret and explain what is happening. I have a genuine interest in how drugs affect people and a desire to understand the science behind safety issues. I think most of PV professionals share the same traits.

Why do you like working with JPCC?

Beyond the talents of the leadership team, it is because you can work with a group of really intelligent, knowledgeable people that you can go to. You can exchange practical experience and solve complex problems collaboratively. Because of the collective experience, you know what solutions work. It is a place where smart conversations happen and where no problem feels too big to tackle together.

What did you wanted to be as a child?

I always wanted to be a scientist, like go to Antarctica and save the whales...but when you grow in life your priorities change- I got married very young and had kids. In college, I worked in a lab and that was my start. It began with working on tetanus vaccine and I stayed in immunology and vaccines. I still want to go to Antarctica, Amazonia, and many other places!

What do you want to be remembered for?

That I have helped somehow people and that people, their lives are easier. In PV, we do touch lots of people's lives that we don't know, but we have helped to develop these products somehow on the safety, making sure the drugs are as safe as possible. Even if we don't always get the right recognition for that, we do something that has value and it's good that people can benefit from what we're doing.

See Nicole Baker profile here.