What is your role at Norstella?
The HEOR team at Norstella is nested within the Real-World Data department and is responsible for leading custom projects from proposal to dissemination. As Director, HEOR, I design and implement observational/non-interventional research including exploratory studies, post-marketing evaluations, and external control arms to meet life science clients’ regulatory and commercial objectives. I also serve as a principal methodologist who develops frameworks that leverage NorstellaLinQ, our fully integrated dataset that includes structured and unstructured EMR data, laboratory data, closed and open claims, and social determinants of health to answer clients’ questions.
Tell us about your real-world data expertise.
I completed my graduate training in epidemiology and a post-doctoral training at the National Cancer Institute. I have been conducting observational research since 2009. I bring well over a decade of experience in designing, planning, executing, and interpreting studies using EMR, registries, and claims data across oncology and rare diseases. I have presented at several conferences and produced numerous high-impact publications.
What’s been one of the most rewarding or exciting projects that you’ve been a part of and why?
I completed my MPH capstone project at the American Cancer Society working with Dr. Berta Rios to evaluate ACS’ Patient Navigation Program and provide direct support to patients undergoing cancer treatment. As an epidemiologist, I am immersed in big data on a daily basis, and that remarkable patient support experience is my constant reminder of the ultimate client we serve: the individual patient.
What does a day in the life of a RWD analyst look like at Norstella?
The RWD analysts primarily work with life science clients to understand their needs and provide data solutions aligned with their commercial and regulatory objectives. Typical day-to-day activities involve conversing with clients to understand their needs, querying the data to provide patient counts, creating customized data sets, analyzing data to answer research questions, and providing clients with research results and insights.
What types of problems are our RWD helping pharma solve?
Our RWD are utilized by pharmaceutical clients to solve various problems. For example, we help identify sites and eligible patients to accelerate clinical trials. Additionally, our fully integrated dataset, NorstellaLinQ, is used to conduct studies describing treatment patterns, mapping entire patient journey, investigating treatment outcomes, and quantifying clinical and economic burden of various diseases to equip pharmaceutical clients with rigorous evidence supporting the value of their novel therapies.
When you’re not analyzing data, what do you like to do?
When I am not conducting real-world data studies, I spend my time reading and gardening. I live in Florida, the land of endless summers, and I enjoy being at the beach and going on walks with my family. My husband and I take every opportunity to visit the Kennedy Space Center as the kids never get tired of exploring various exhibits.