From Bench to Bedside, and Beyond: A Personal Journey of Career Charge and Drug Discovery
Cibele Pinto, PhD – Director of Global Medical Strategy (Nephrology), Otsuka Pharmaceuticals
I was born and raised in a beautiful city [on] the Northeast coast of Brazil called Fortaleza. After completing my pharmacy degree, I moved to the United States to pursue my PhD in pharmacology and toxicology at the University of Kansas. I subsequently completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Kansas Medical Center. I currently work as a director of global medical affairs at Otsuka, leading global medical strategy for a drug portfolio that focuses on finding therapies to address unmet needs for kidney diseases.
I have always been curious about life, and my curiosity was a seed that found fertile ground in science. I was particularly interested in medicine development and finding ways to better the lives of people suffering from diseases with no viable treatment options. I got accepted to pharmacy school in Brazil at the age of 17 and worked as a research assistant in the laboratory of physiology and pharmacology, focusing on validating the safety and efficacy of the natural medicines used in my community. This RA position strengthened my decision to follow the research path for my career. Graduate school seemed to be the natural next step for me.
During my last semester in pharmacy school, I found myself for the first time at a career crossroads. I had been offered a position in Brazil to pursue my PhD as a continuation of my existing research, but this opportunity arose when a chance to move to the United States also came about. There were a lot of potential risks associated with this new opportunity that I had to consider. I moved to the U.S. in 2001, knowing no English, having very little money, but at least I had a brand-new shiny pharmacist diploma that would need to be validated so I could practice in the United States. My student visa focused on pursuing English as a Second Language classes (ESL) as well as an interview at the University of Kansas department of Pharmacology and Toxicology. My first interview was in March 2001. The feedback included “must speak better English.” I poured myself into studying English. By November that year I was semi-fluent and passed the GRE and TOFEL. I came back for a second interview knowing very well that a major roadblock was my inability to afford the tuition. After many rounds of interviews, I received an offer letter in the mail accompanied by a scholarship from the most generous woman named Barbara Bishop. Barabara picked me to be one of her recipients, and the scholarship paid for my tuition, books, and supplies for five years of graduate school! I will never be able to thank her enough. Her generous heart to invest in my education and my love for science and research opened up a door that impacted my life, the life of my family in Brazil, and the lives of my children forever.
My newly acquired language skills, coupled with homesickness and cultural shock, all made for a very difficult first semester in graduate school. However, perseverance, newly formed friendships, and my love for science kept me moving on. My research [led me] to yet another crossroads. The animal model I was studying did not work. Instead of scraping the project and starting from ground zero at year two, I was challenged by a young professor named Roland Seifert to be curious, seek the answers through research, and determine why the results were negative. For the next two years, I embarked on a biochemistry and pharmacology adventure that led me to acquire greater curiosity about new subjects. This eventually led to the field of work I have been passionate about for seventeen years now. My PhD research on G protein couple receptors landed me a postdoctoral fellowship at the National Institute of Health where I would dig deeper into molecular biology but further from translational research. However, true to the many unexpected turns my career had taken before, I was approached by Dr. Jared Grantham from the University of Kansas Medical Center who had read some of my published papers and thought that my skill set would fit nicely into his lifelong quest to find a treatment for autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD). That encounter was yet again another life-altering moment.
After much consideration, I made the decision to stay in Kansas and join the Kidney Institute at the University of Kansas Medical Center to pursue translational research with the prospect of helping patients attain treatment options for ADPKD in the near future. Drs. Darren Wallace, James Calvet, Alan Yu, and Robin Maser, each inspired me to ask the hard scientific questions, to write grants, to publish, and present in major scientific conferences. Dr. Grantham challenged me to think critically. His passion was truly contagious. He also taught me how academia and pharma can collaborate for the greater good of patients. Through such collaboration I was able to witness the entire life cycle of a treatment from an idea to bench research and all the way to the first approved therapy to bring hope to patients. Fifteen amazing years transpired between pharmacy school, grad school, postdoctoral fellowship, and a career shift to leave academia and join pharma.
I joined Otsuka eleven years ago as a medical science liaison and was fortunate to have such amazing mentors like Dr.Linda McCormick. She helped me develop my business acumen and learn how my scientific background and personality could help me succeed in pharma. Through mentorship, hard work, and my company’s commitment to diversity and inclusion, I have been able to fulfill my lifelong dream to transform peoples’ lives through science. I was able to carve a career path that I am very proud of and still have so much to look forward to.
Scholarships, mentorship, support from family and friends, and a dash of tenacity have helped me bridge the gap between opportunity and achievement that is so common among Latinos/Hispanics in STEM. Of course, in the middle of all these years pursuing my scientific career, life happened; marriage, a cross-continent move, learning a new language, homesickness, new friends, becoming a mother during the first year as a postdoc, an unexpected divorce, sudden single parenthood, growth, dual citizenship, and eventually remarriage and motherhood once again. Writing this feels cathartic, and I want to normalize the reality that career and life do not run in parallel lines—they are intertwined. All my career decisions were heavily influenced by the pursuit of happiness, fulfillment, and stability for myself and the people I love. I continue to count on the support of my husband, Chad Bourgeois, and my sweet kids Lyla (16) and Lucas (8).
My journey in STEM and higher education has not been an easy one, but it has been incredibly exciting and rewarding. I was the first person in my huge family to have ever been given the privilege to attend college. My grandparents, parents, uncles, and aunts did not have the opportunity to complete even middle school because working to help support their families was a more urgent need and priority. My parents had a dream for their children, knowing very well that education was the way to break out of generational poverty. I built upon their dreams and was able to walk through uncharted territory by developing a career in STEM. As I write this, my heart swells up with gratitude for their sacrifice, and I know very well that my career in STEM truly rests on their shoulders.
If I had any advice for Latinas who are considering a career in STEM, it is to be bold, dream big, take chances, go for the interview, show them your talent, back it up with hard work, create your own path, and challenge the current status quo of Latinas holding only 2% of STEM jobs.
Cibele Pinto, PhD – Director of Global Medical Strategy (Nephrology), Otsuka Pharmaceuticals
I was born and raised in a beautiful city [on] the Northeast coast of Brazil called Fortaleza. After completing my pharmacy degree, I moved to the United States to pursue my PhD in pharmacology and toxicology at the University of Kansas. I subsequently completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Kansas Medical Center. I currently work as a director of global medical affairs at Otsuka, leading global medical strategy for a drug portfolio that focuses on finding therapies to address unmet needs for kidney diseases.
I have always been curious about life, and my curiosity was a seed that found fertile ground in science. I was particularly interested in medicine development and finding ways to better the lives of people suffering from diseases with no viable treatment options. I got accepted to pharmacy school in Brazil at the age of 17 and worked as a research assistant in the laboratory of physiology and pharmacology, focusing on validating the safety and efficacy of the natural medicines used in my community. This RA position strengthened my decision to follow the research path for my career. Graduate school seemed to be the natural next step for me.
During my last semester in pharmacy school, I found myself for the first time at a career crossroads. I had been offered a position in Brazil to pursue my PhD as a continuation of my existing research, but this opportunity arose when a chance to move to the United States also came about. There were a lot of potential risks associated with this new opportunity that I had to consider. I moved to the U.S. in 2001, knowing no English, having very little money, but at least I had a brand-new shiny pharmacist diploma that would need to be validated so I could practice in the United States. My student visa focused on pursuing English as a Second Language classes (ESL) as well as an interview at the University of Kansas department of Pharmacology and Toxicology. My first interview was in March 2001. The feedback included “must speak better English.” I poured myself into studying English. By November that year I was semi-fluent and passed the GRE and TOFEL. I came back for a second interview knowing very well that a major roadblock was my inability to afford the tuition. After many rounds of interviews, I received an offer letter in the mail accompanied by a scholarship from the most generous woman named Barbara Bishop. Barabara picked me to be one of her recipients, and the scholarship paid for my tuition, books, and supplies for five years of graduate school! I will never be able to thank her enough. Her generous heart to invest in my education and my love for science and research opened up a door that impacted my life, the life of my family in Brazil, and the lives of my children forever.
My newly acquired language skills, coupled with homesickness and cultural shock, all made for a very difficult first semester in graduate school. However, perseverance, newly formed friendships, and my love for science kept me moving on. My research [led me] to yet another crossroads. The animal model I was studying did not work. Instead of scraping the project and starting from ground zero at year two, I was challenged by a young professor named Roland Seifert to be curious, seek the answers through research, and determine why the results were negative. For the next two years, I embarked on a biochemistry and pharmacology adventure that led me to acquire greater curiosity about new subjects. This eventually led to the field of work I have been passionate about for seventeen years now. My PhD research on G protein couple receptors landed me a postdoctoral fellowship at the National Institute of Health where I would dig deeper into molecular biology but further from translational research. However, true to the many unexpected turns my career had taken before, I was approached by Dr. Jared Grantham from the University of Kansas Medical Center who had read some of my published papers and thought that my skill set would fit nicely into his lifelong quest to find a treatment for autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD). That encounter was yet again another life-altering moment.
After much consideration, I made the decision to stay in Kansas and join the Kidney Institute at the University of Kansas Medical Center to pursue translational research with the prospect of helping patients attain treatment options for ADPKD in the near future. Drs. Darren Wallace, James Calvet, Alan Yu, and Robin Maser, each inspired me to ask the hard scientific questions, to write grants, to publish, and present in major scientific conferences. Dr. Grantham challenged me to think critically. His passion was truly contagious. He also taught me how academia and pharma can collaborate for the greater good of patients. Through such collaboration I was able to witness the entire life cycle of a treatment from an idea to bench research and all the way to the first approved therapy to bring hope to patients. Fifteen amazing years transpired between pharmacy school, grad school, postdoctoral fellowship, and a career shift to leave academia and join pharma.
I joined Otsuka eleven years ago as a medical science liaison and was fortunate to have such amazing mentors like Dr.Linda McCormick. She helped me develop my business acumen and learn how my scientific background and personality could help me succeed in pharma. Through mentorship, hard work, and my company’s commitment to diversity and inclusion, I have been able to fulfill my lifelong dream to transform peoples’ lives through science. I was able to carve a career path that I am very proud of and still have so much to look forward to.
Scholarships, mentorship, support from family and friends, and a dash of tenacity have helped me bridge the gap between opportunity and achievement that is so common among Latinos/Hispanics in STEM. Of course, in the middle of all these years pursuing my scientific career, life happened; marriage, a cross-continent move, learning a new language, homesickness, new friends, becoming a mother during the first year as a postdoc, an unexpected divorce, sudden single parenthood, growth, dual citizenship, and eventually remarriage and motherhood once again. Writing this feels cathartic, and I want to normalize the reality that career and life do not run in parallel lines—they are intertwined. All my career decisions were heavily influenced by the pursuit of happiness, fulfillment, and stability for myself and the people I love. I continue to count on the support of my husband, Chad Bourgeois, and my sweet kids Lyla (16) and Lucas (8).
My journey in STEM and higher education has not been an easy one, but it has been incredibly exciting and rewarding. I was the first person in my huge family to have ever been given the privilege to attend college. My grandparents, parents, uncles, and aunts did not have the opportunity to complete even middle school because working to help support their families was a more urgent need and priority. My parents had a dream for their children, knowing very well that education was the way to break out of generational poverty. I built upon their dreams and was able to walk through uncharted territory by developing a career in STEM. As I write this, my heart swells up with gratitude for their sacrifice, and I know very well that my career in STEM truly rests on their shoulders.
If I had any advice for Latinas who are considering a career in STEM, it is to be bold, dream big, take chances, go for the interview, show them your talent, back it up with hard work, create your own path, and challenge the current status quo of Latinas holding only 2% of STEM jobs.
RSS Feed
