Vaccine research and development just like drug development is risky and challenging work in the pharmaceutical industry. But Kathrin Jansen, Senior Vice President and Head of Vaccine Research and Development at Pfizer, has risen to the upper echelons of the industry based on her flexibility, ability to trust her gut and her determination.

Susanna Tse studied zoology and physiology in her native Hong Kong before earning a Master’s in public health and Ph.D. in Environmental Health/Toxicology at the University of California, Berkeley. Today, as a Senior Director in Pharmacokinetics, Dynamics and Metabolism at Pfizer, Tse is an expert in understanding medicine’s impact on the body.

As a young postdoctoral researcher, Megan Robinson expected her career would follow a straight line, rising the ranks as a bench scientist. But nearly two decades later, her career in the pharmaceutical industry has taken winding turns from business consultant to educating key stakeholders about drug discovery.

At 18, Marie-Claire Peakman volunteered in a hospital in her native U.K., becoming intrigued with how medicine works on a molecular level to heal patients.

In our pilot series, we’re focusing on scientific careers of people working in biopharma, and their different paths and opportunities taken as they hunt for potential cures to human disease.