MBA Summer Internship with Novartis

Chris Anderson, MBA Candidate Class of 2022

Whether you are a student or a working professional, it is common to use the phrase “time is of the essence” to convey urgency with an assignment or project. During my summer internship at Novartis Gene Therapies, we coined the same term but with a few adjustments – “time is neurons” – to demonstrate the urgency we acted upon with all of our work. The mission, thus, is ultimately what should drive all decisions and job functions that support a high-performing and supportive culture.

Prior to pursuing my MBA, I was a graduate student at Indiana University’s Mental Health Counseling Program. Outside of my studies, I completed my clinical hours at a substance abuse treatment center, where the “why” behind my work was reinforced on a daily occurrence. I witnessed the 3-month journey of clients sharing their story at the initial pre-treatment screening, participating in our group and individual sessions, and making visible progress to experience long-term recovery and sobriety from substances that previously controlled their lives. They put in the work to show up every day, share their challenges and victories, attend sessions with a willingness to get better, and work through a 12-Step Program aimed at providing community and support they had never experienced before. Every day, I was reminded by the mission of our organization, and it led me to give my best effort and do my part to serve my clients by helping them walk through their journeys. Even with the mundane tasks such as filing papers and writing progress reports, I understood that everything I did would contribute to another client experiencing long-term sobriety for the first time in their life, as well as the tools needed to live in long-term recovery from their addiction.

In similar vein, “time is neurons” consistently reinforced an attitude to always give my best by never losing sight of the why behind my work. Novartis Gene Therapies produces and provides a single drug Zolgensma to young children who suffer from Spinal Muscular Atrophy, a progressive neuromuscular disease that is devastatingly fatal for infants. As time goes on, a baby’s chances of living a normal life exponentially decrease, as motor neurons quickly die as time passes. With the average lifespan for a child diagnosed with SMA being two years old, it is vital to quickly diagnose and provide treatment as soon as possible. Throughout the summer, I was tasked to explore the steps our Field Commercial Team takes in identifying which preborn babies may have the genetic mutation that causes SMA, but also making the case to healthcare providers, payors, and patients for them to view our product as a viable option.
My project that contributed to our mission to save baby’s lives was coordinating the design and execution of an leadership development and training intranet site for our US and Global Field Commercial Teams to build on their talents to advocate for SMA patents by presenting Zolgensma as a helpful treatment option. New information about SMA and Zolgensma comes out every day, so it is critical that our team continue to build on that knowledge, as well as develop skills that they find valuable for their position, giving much value to the training site. I served as the project manager for all activities related to the design, development, and implementation of this new site, frequently acting as a liaison between my managers as well as the 3rd party vendors we used to build the site.

The biggest challenge in coordinating this three-month project was bringing the requests of my managers – capabilities, features, etc. – to life by communicating their desires to the vendor we used. What my managers had pictured in their head for the site to look like, they attempted to communicate that to me, to where I needed to deliver that message over to our website designers. It meant that I had to carefully listen and practice many of my counseling skills I acquired before my MBA pursuit, such as paraphrasing and restating. I also had to make sure the requests being made were within scope of this website by frequently reverting back to what the main purpose of the site is. While there were other challenges along the way, I made sure to always keep in mind how this work would contribute to saving the lives of children diagnosed with SMA, reinforcing the mantra “time is neurons.” At the end of my 10-week internship, I finally got to see the website fully launch so that hundreds of our Field Commercial team members from 30 different countries could use it to hone in on their skills to deliver Zolgensma to babies with SMA and save their lives.

*Chis Anderson is a 2nd year Kelley MBA student majoring in Supply Chain and Operations with a concentration in the life sciences industry. To learn more about the Student Business of Life Sciences program at Kelley visit the CBLS website.