Page 12 - Pharmacology Newsletter 2022

ALUMNI PROFILES
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Dr. Sparber. There I began studying the effects of psychomotor stimulants on the development of brain dopamine sys- tems, a research focus that continues to this day. I left Penn to join the Psychology department at IUPUI in 1993, when the department hired 3 new faculty members to develop a Psychobiology of Addictions doctoral program. I trained our first doctor- al student and continue training students in the program, renamed the Addiction Neuroscience program. Although I have an active research laboratory, now using C. elegans as our model system to study drugs of abuse and addiction, my passion is teaching. I am in year 30 at IUPUI and have taught undergraduate and gradu- ate psychopharmacology courses since the beginning. Over ten years ago, I was involved in the development of the under- graduate neuroscience program at IUPUI and I teach the foundations course for the major, as well as a capstone lab course. I have come a long way from being a TA for Dr. Zimmerman’s autonomic pharmacolo- gy lab with the medical students but that was the beginning of my commitment to teaching. Thousands of past and current students have the UMN Department of Pharmacology to thank for Dr. Beth’s love of the brain and psychopharmacology.
Favorite UMN memories: What I remember most was the closeness between the grad- uate students and the support we gave each other. We commiserated through the tough times and celebrated each other’s successes. Specific memories include be- ing one of the official scorekeepers for the department’s (men’s) softball team and the annual Halloween party at our house (costumes strongly preferred and prizes awarded). Oh, the fun we had! I also have fond memories of Dr. Gil Mannering as he would give me his ticket for the men’s bas- ketball game against Purdue every year.
Nicole Wydeven
UMN training period: 2010 – 2014 (PhD)
UMN advisor: Kevin Wickman
Current position/title(s): Senior Manager, Post Market Clinical Strategy
Current institution: Urology Division of Boston Scientific
✉ Email: I encourage those interested to connect with me on LinkedIn!
Career overview: Upon completing my PhD in 2014, my goal was to pivot to the medical device industry. It took me quite some time to get my foot in the door, but I did - thanks to a recommendation from Pharmacology Alum Laramie Rapp. I found myself in the Product Performance Engineering Group at St. Jude Medical’s Electrophysiology division (this compa- ny is now part of Abbott). I spent 3 years in this role learning everything there was to learn about working in the medical device industry, a corporate setting, and the medical field of Electrophysiology and Cardiac Ablation. I look back on this experience as a “postdoc role in indus- try” because, when paired with my ad- vanced degree in Pharmacology, it gave me the additional foundation I needed to move into the career I have today. My next role was with Abbott, working in their Global Regulatory Operations group as a Regulatory Project Manager of Clinical
Evaluations. In 2017, there was a massive regulatory shift in the European Union’s Medical Device Regulation, creating high demand for individuals that could critical- ly analyze clinical and pre-clinical data pertaining to medical devices. The group I joined at Abbott was created to address this new regulatory challenge and the opportunity to create process and proce- dure within this setting taught me a great deal. I took this experience and leveraged it heavily for my next role at Boston Scien- tific. I started with Boston Scientific as a Senior Clinical Evaluation Scientist in their Clinical Evidence and Risk Management group in Cardiac Rhythm Management in 2019 and moved into a management role in this team in 2020. During this time, I had the privilege of working with another more recent Pharmacology Alum, Allison Anderson. Most recently, I have embarked on another pivot out of the Cardiac space and into Urology. In August of 2022, I took the role of Post Market Clinical Strategy Manager II where I lead two teams that are delving into the use of Real World Data to demonstrate clinical outcomes in the post market phase of our medical devices.
Favorite UMN memories: I had an amazing experience in the Wickman lab where I completed my thesis work. I was lucky to share the lab with some amazing grad stu- dents, post docs, undergrad students, and PI. I still miss my electrophysiology rig - the days I spent recording were far and away my favorite. Recruiting weekends at Brit’s Pub in downtown Minneapolis was always one of my most anticipated weekends of the year. It was so much fun to get together with the others in the program and a great opportunity to socialize with new potential recruits. The pool tables and beer made it worth venturing outside in a Minnesota February!
Recruiting weekends at Brit’s Pub in downtown Minneapolis was always one of my most anticipated weekends of the year. It was so much fun to get together with the others in the program and a
great opportunity to socialize with new potential recruits. The pool tables and beer made it worth venturing outside in a Minnesota February!
—Nicole Wydeven
12 UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA DEPARTMENT OF PHARMACOLOGY