Pfizer's women leaders talk representation, mentoring, and vaccine hesitancy

PEARL RIVER - Pfizer's research team at their Rockland campus now has all-female leadership — five top scientists at the world-renown research site are women.

As such, they are in charge of innovating new approaches to vaccines amid growing vaccine hesitation, emerging infectious diseases and recirculating viruses once considered tamed.

Kena Swanson, vice president of viral vaccines, calls the leadership shift an "evolution of time and progress."

According to the National Science Foundation, about a quarter of the U.S. workforce is employed in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Even as college programs become more integrated, the workforce still skews male. About 28% of the STEM workforce, among the highest paying jobs, is comprised of women, according to AAUW. That includes 46% of biological scientists and 40% of chemical and material scientists.

Having women in key leadership roles doesn't change the science. But does it provide perspective that may shift priorities?

'We all need to be represented'

Possibly, said Iona Munjal, a physician certified in pediatrics and infectious diseases. Munjal treated babies with respiratory syncytial virus when she worked as a pediatrician at Montefiore Medical Center before joining Pfizer.

She's now part of the leadership team that's developed a prenatal vaccine that treats RSV, which can leave infants struggling to breathe and cause complications or even death. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the vaccine Monday. The shot will be available during pregnancy so an infant achieves an immune response to the virus right from birth.

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Pirada Suphaphiphat Allen, a virologist and co-lead in viral vaccines research, said she appreciates the commitment she sees with her colleagues, sharing ideas and feedback. Is it all due to women in leadership? There's hardly the scientific data to prove that. But, Allen said, "The awareness is so, so important."

Alejandra Gurtman is senior vice president of clinical research and development, vaccines. She worked as a physician at Mt. Sinai, as an adult infectious diseases specialist. For a long time, she was the only Spanish-speaking physician treating a large and diverse population.

"We all need to be represented," she said.

Gurtman hopes that Pfizer and other research teams can recruit more principal investigators who are Spanish speakers. That will help, she believes, in recruiting "those participants who potentially have the biggest hesitation."

Mentoring matters

Annaliesa Anderson, head of vaccines and research at Pfizer's Pearl River campus, said that she's had great leaders of all sorts in her career. "I’ve always put myself in situations where I have worked with leaders who have been very open to scientific debate."

Now, she said, "there is more of an openness to having a more diverse team in leadership positions."

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Anderson points to Pfizer's Growing STEM Futures program, which provides an array of mentoring programs and opportunities.

"It’s something that I am quite passionate about," said Anderson, who plans to wrap up a multi-year stint as a Girl Scout leader next year, when her daughter heads to college.

"When you first start working with them, most want to be scientists and it’s great," Anderson said of young girls in her Scout troops. "Then in the teen years, it kind of falls off."

Anderson said representation matters.

"There's not really much connectivity to what are the kind of careers you can have in the STEM field," she said. But scientists like her demonstrate the career possibilities. "It gives young people really good opportunity that you can have in science that aren’t being a science teacher or going on to do medicine. One of the strongest things we can do is just be there."

That's why mentoring and simply showing up matter.

"Early in my career, I’d be going to conferences, giving lectures, people would say, 'Oh, Liesa, you’re the only woman in this session,'" Anderson said. "That's not something I notice now."

Vax hesitancy fix: More information

Pfizer was a leader in COVID vaccine research and its R&D campus had a key role in more than a century of vaccine development, going back to diphtheria and polio when Lederle Laboratories was based there.

It's also located in a county where one of the biggest measles outbreaks in the U.S. took place in 2018-2019 and where the first case of polio in the U.S. was detected in 2022. Rockland County has among New York state's lowest levels of vaccination among young children.

Munjal said vaccine hesitancy is a concern. There's a responsibility from the medical and pharmaceutical field to share data "asap," she said. As a pediatrician, she also said that healthcare's current structure doesn't allow doctors the time they need to discuss concerns with patients.

Swanson said scientists have a role in that education. "Pfizer will work very, very hard to bridge vaccine hesitancy," she said. "Ultimately, people want to make the decision about their bodies."

Anderson said when people question her about vaccine safety, she points them to sources without ties to industry. The less bias and more science, she said, the better.

But, Anderson said, vaccine hesitancy is a concern. She thinks people ought to be reminded of how families and society have been strengthened by public health innovations.

"When you go to graveyards and see all the young children who died," she said, it's a reminder that infections and diseases posted a great risks to families before medical innovations. "It’s easy to forget that."

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Pfizer women in STEM leadership on vaccine hesitancy, mentoring