Meet the team – Lisa Martial

Hi Lisa, can you tell us a little about yourself and your background? Who is Lisa Martial?

I am a hospital pharmacist by training. I did a PhD in clinical pharmacology at the Radboud University in Nijmegen. I like to work with the content, and not so much with the processes. I need to be challenged with new work and new projects. I need to learn new skills in order to feel satisfied with my work. So I think I suit very well at PD-value as we have a broad variety of projects, and I can learn a lot, even after 3 years.

Can you tell us how you made the decision when you are choosing your career and something about your professional development journey?

After graduating as a pharmacist, I wanted to do a PhD to learn how to work with mathematical and PK-PD models, so I found a PhD position in Nijmegen at the hospital pharmacy. There, I developed a lot of different skills, did hands-on work in modeling and data analysis, bioanalysis, and also learned about organization of projects. During my PhD, I became curious about where the research questions originating in the hospital pharmacy were coming from. That is why I did a residency for four years in hospital pharmacy. That was quite practical work. I had a lot of on-call duties, and I learned a lot about formulations of drugs, bio-analysis in the laboratory, toxicology, treatment guidelines, and helping everyone in the hospital involved in medicines. But, there was not enough time to focus on one topic and that is what I like. I like to dive into a topic for a certain period of time. So, I acquired different skills, and I found out what kind of work gives me energy and that is working with data, processing it and making a product out of it, whether it is a presentation, a report or a summary. That is what I like. So, I was looking for a job that fulfilled these criteria.

Does your job at PD-value fulfills these criteria? How would you describe your job at PD-value? How do you like to structure your day?

The good thing about my job as a PK-PD modeler is that I have one or two (or three) clients whom I work with at any given time. The balance between meetings and hands-on work is really good for me. I can spend the majority of my time on modeling.

We always start our day with an update meeting with the whole team. We tell where we are at our project, what we do, and what we plan to do the rest of the day. We share our challenges, if there are any, and get help from each other. After the meeting, we focus on our own work/projects, very individual, but again, once you encounter with a challenge or if you get stuck, we can find each other in the office, or on our internal chat system or via a video call, if we are working from home. So my day starts similarly every day with an update meeting in the morning and then hands-on work.

What do you think is your biggest contribution to the projects you are involved in, and how does it translate to outside world in your opinion?

That is a tough question. I see that I can handle projects more independently, whereas I needed more supervision initially. Now, I can make my own decisions on modeling strategies. I see that as a good development. I think my biggest contribution to projects is I work quite independently towards the solutions we provide. It is challenging to describe the bigger view when you have your contribution a very specific part of drug development. Drug development is a process that takes 10-15 years. I am getting a clearer idea of what I contribute with each project. I see that my biggest contribution occurs in early development. I made, for example, an in vitro model of an oncology drug, a cell cycle model, describing the cell cycle and impact of the drug on the cell cycle. We call it a tumor growth inhibition model. I also had various projects in which I described the pharmacokinetics and tumor growth inhibition in animals, so that’s in vivo modeling. But, I also did quite some clinical modeling. So, I can contribute to a wide range of phases in drug development, which makes it interesting. I especially like the translation from animal to human, or in vitro to in vivo, and then to human. I am happy that I get the chance to do that.

The translation to the outside world is very different. For example, I made a poster presentation of the cell cycle model to be presented in an international congress. That is a contribution to PK-PD research and pharmacometrics community. I wrote a lot of reports based on my own modeling or based on models of my colleagues. These reports are sent to regulatory agencies, such as FDA and EMA. Some of the reports and presentations I prepared supported our clients in the acquisition of their company or their compound by bigger pharma companies or in their discussions with investors.

What do you like most about your work?

Last September, I had the chance to contribute to an EC-funded H2020 project, called Mesi-Strat, working on patient stratification and better treatments against ER+ Breast Cancer. I like that I could develop a pharmacokinetic model of a drug that can potentially treat breast cancer. In one week, in a way, I completed a small scientific research cycle: I did a literature search in selecting candidate drugs. Then, from the literature, I shortlisted some drugs and deducted some PK data, which I used to build my own PK model. Then, I’ve written a concise report on my findings. That was a quick scientific research cycle: designing the question, assembling the data, analyzing and reporting. What I like about consultancy is that turnover times are short. You can do a lot in a short amount of time compared to academic studies, where it takes a lot more time, and the research is more fundamental and detailed. I really like shorter cycles. It gives me the opportunity to see more, do more, and learn more. I also enjoy working in a flat organization and not depending too much on other people to help the clients. I like to do things in own planned time and my own way. That gives me a feeling of autonomy and freedom.

What do you think are some of the biggest challenges that you’ve faced in your field?

There are multiple challenges. I see two big challenges: understanding the technical part, so the statistics and mathematics behind the techniques and software we use, and all the assumptions we need to make in order to draw conclusions about the data. This is something where the learning opportunities are limitless. You can devote a life time and still there will be things to learn. The other part, maybe easier to reach a certain level of expertise, is getting a better overview on strategic drug development decisions, related to PK-PD analysis.

Can you tell us about yourself outside of work? What are your hobbies?

I thought about this on the bike as I knew this interview was coming (both laughing). I guess I like to work with my hands when not working professionally. That means gardening, cooking - I like to try new recipes -, now I started a sewing course, and this month I completed a knitted cardigan for my little niece. I like to be busy with my hands and creating something I enjoy. I like to hike. I am doing a fitness boot camp. I like a lot of things, I like yoga. There is not enough time to do all of this. I think, I am rather a busy, outgoing person. But, I also like reading and watching movies. I am not easily bored in my private life.

I know you are a cinephile, if I may say so. What movie genres you like most?

Yes, I like drama and I like feel-good, but not cheesy, and good documentaries. I think the best movie I saw last year was actually from a Belgian Director, Lukas Dhont, and the name of the movie is ‘Girl’. It is about a girl who was born as a boy, and she is a ballerina. It is really beautiful how her family supports her. I like movies that tell a personal story. The story may be small, as long as it moves me.

Lisa, it was a pleasure to getting to know you. Thank you for sharing your professional and private journey with us.