{"id":90939,"date":"2022-12-07T10:11:59","date_gmt":"2022-12-07T15:11:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/gms\/?p=90939"},"modified":"2022-12-07T10:48:40","modified_gmt":"2022-12-07T15:48:40","slug":"student-spotlight-natalia-lopez-mscr-23","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/gms\/2022\/12\/07\/student-spotlight-natalia-lopez-mscr-23\/","title":{"rendered":"Student Spotlight: Natalia Lopez (MSCR ’23)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Natalia Lopez is a student in the Graduate Medical Sciences Masters in Clinical Research<\/a> program. She also works full-time as a Senior Clinical Trial Manager for Moderna, where she manages a global Phase I oncology trial. Natalia graduated from Boston University Sargent College with a BS in Health Science in 201<\/em>4 and will graduate from GMS in May 2023. Learn more about Natalia below!<\/em><\/p>\n

Can you tell me a little bit about your journey to Boston?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

I\u2019m originally from Miami, Florida. I moved up to Boston in 2009 because I got accepted to [Boston University]. I got my BS in Health Science from Sargent College, and then after graduation, I\u2019ve been working in biotech. So, that\u2019s kept me here for over 13 years.<\/p>\n

Besides your time at Sargent and GMS, what other connections to BU do you have? <\/strong><\/h4>\n

I\u2019m a teaching assistant at the [BU] School of Public Health for a Design and Conduct of Clinical Trials course. It was through [MSCR Program Director Janice Weinberg, ScD]. Janice is one of the two professors that run the MS in Clinical Research program. In that program, we have a similar course, but it\u2019s more comprehensive, because it also covers other types of clinical studies that go beyond clinical trials. But this course through the School of Public Health is just focused on clinical trials, and Janice needed a TA. So, she reached out, and I figured it was a good fit, not only because I had taken a very similar course, but also because of what I do for work.<\/p>\n

What drew you to the clinical research field and wanting to pursue it for your Master\u2019s degree?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

I knew in undergrad that I wanted to do something that was health related, and I didn\u2019t know if that meant public health. I didn\u2019t want to be pre-med anymore, so I figured there was an area in research that I could become a part of. I actually got my first job in the industry through the BU Career Portal, and that was a few months after I graduated back in 2014, and I\u2019ve just stayed in the industry ever since. It almost happened by accident, but it was actually everything that I was looking for because it\u2019s a cross section of science, medicine, and technology.<\/p>\n

What drew you back to BU to join the MSCR program at GMS specifically? <\/strong><\/h4>\n

I\u2019m a Clinical Trial Manager, so I get to interact with folks from many different departments. But at the end of the day, I\u2019m still siloed, so to speak, in the clinical operations department. I figured where I was in my career, being that I\u2019ve been doing this for almost nine years, it was a good time to just be better rounded. That\u2019s why I looked at degrees, and I thought that this degree was the perfect fit, because I get to learn more about biostatistics, regulatory compliance, and things of that nature. So, I think this program is a great fit for what I was looking for.<\/p>\n

Can you tell me about your work in industry?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

I\u2019m actually at Moderna. I\u2019ve been there just shy of a year, and I manage a global Phase I oncology trial. We have sites in the U.S. and abroad, and we\u2019re looking at one of our mRNA technologies in combination with another drug that\u2019s already on the market for patients with solid tumors and Non-Hodgkin\u2019s lymphoma. I\u2019ve been managing clinical trials in oncology for the last five and a half years.<\/p>\n

How do you hope to integrate your degree in clinical research with your industry career development and longer-term goals?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

I feel like I\u2019m already applying what I\u2019ve learned in the degree. I think one way is really understanding all of the different submissions that we have to make to the FDA throughout the year for very different reasons. Given that I now have that background, I really understand the reason why we\u2019re submitting certain things at certain intervals. So that\u2019s one thing. And the second thing, because I\u2019ve taken so many of my credits in biostats, I\u2019m understanding the analysis that we\u2019re doing with the patient data that we\u2019re getting every day.<\/p>\n

Who have been some of your greatest mentors throughout your career journey?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

I would say the best mentors that I\u2019ve had in the industry have been fellow Clinical Trial Managers. Earlier in my career, I couldn\u2019t grasp how somebody like a CTM could manage so many things at the same time and do it well. I think I\u2019ve really relied on them to give me advice on how to manage time, how to manage multiple projects across many different time zones. I think many CTMs have been my inspiration.<\/p>\n

How do you balance working full time with being a graduate students?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

I have to be very efficient with my time. How I manage my schedule is when I\u2019m at work, I put in my eight hours. I am not studying. I am not checking my personal email. I am there fully. Once I log out earlier on Tuesdays to be a TA, I am fully in the classroom. When it\u2019s time for me to take class right after, I am fully present. I\u2019m just kind of running my life like a well-oiled machine, and in that way, it\u2019s actually allowed me to have time not only, let\u2019s say, to grade papers for the class I am a TA for, but also exercise and have a social life. It might not seem possible from the outside, but it is if you manage your time wisely.<\/p>\n

What advice would you give to GMS students who are also working full time? <\/strong><\/h4>\n

I think the best advice I would give is to start with a plan, and if that plan doesn\u2019t work, it\u2019s okay. I can tell you, my first semester I had class on Mondays and Thursdays, and I would do my homework for the Monday class on Sunday and on Wednesday for the Thursday class. It was just too much. It just didn\u2019t work for me, being back and forth, working during the day and doing school work at night.<\/p>\n

I had a moment about midway through the semester where I panicked because I had thought about this plan in great detail, and then I realized it just wasn\u2019t working. I had to pivot. That\u2019s when I said, \u201cMonday through Friday, I\u2019m only doing work. Weekends are strictly for school.\u201d Once I figured that out, I haven\u2019t deviated in a year, and it\u2019s worked well. That would be my advice. Start with a plan, and if it doesn\u2019t work, don\u2019t be afraid to pivot to something different.<\/p>\n

What do you like to do for fun in Boston? <\/strong><\/h4>\n

I\u2019m part of a bowling league that meets every Wednesday. I\u2019ve been doing that for a greater part of a year. I also like to do paint nights. So, I go to Assembly Row do that. Something else that I love to do is walk along the Esplanade. I\u2019ve gotta get there earlier now, because it\u2019s getting dark early, but I truly do love the Esplanade, as well as the Public Gardens. In the spring, they have the tulips. Now, all the leaves look very different colors. Those are my top three activities in Boston.<\/p>\n

Is there anything else you\u2019d like to mention?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

I\u2019m part of the Alumni Board for Sargent, so I\u2019ve been part of that for two years now, since 2020. Through the Alumni Board, I\u2019ve been able to talk to the students every year since I graduated. They have an annual event where they have Sargent graduates come in and talk about their experience. I\u2019ve been able to coach students on interview skills, LinkedIn, things of that nature, and then working with the Alumni Board on different activities and ways we can reach out to our fellow alumni.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Natalia Lopez is a student in the Graduate Medical Sciences Masters in Clinical Research program. She also works full-time as a Senior Clinical Trial Manager for Moderna, where she manages a global Phase I oncology trial. Natalia graduated from Boston University Sargent College with a BS in Health Science in 2014 and will graduate from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20706,"featured_media":90942,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[54,7074,1534],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/gms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90939"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/gms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/gms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/gms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20706"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/gms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90939"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/gms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90939\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":90956,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/gms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90939\/revisions\/90956"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/gms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/90942"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/gms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90939"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/gms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90939"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/gms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90939"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}