Profile

Photo:

Kerry Gordon

    • About Me:

      Father of two twenty-something boys, I live in Reading but spend most of my time on the trains travelling to West Ham games, being a home and away season-ticket holder.

    • Read more

      Of course, you don’t get to be a Hammers fan without being a true Cockney, and I grew up in Bow in London, you really don’t get much more cockney than that.  Aside from family, West Ham and maths, my other loves include real ale and modern fiction, though those two things maybe shouldn’t always be connected.  And I’m a gig goer, where I very much try to get up close and personal.  I’ve added a few pics to show you what I mean.

    • My pronouns are:

      He/him

    • My Work:

      Statistician who designs and analyses studies of potential new medicines.

    • Read more

      Interacts with physicians, data monitors and others involved in running clinical trials and developing new medicines.

    • My Typical Day:

      This has changed markedly over the years and, more often than not, can also vary quite a lot even day-to-day.  I work on the “contracted out” side of the pharmaceutical industry.  Companies on my side of the industry don’t invent the new medicines – the companies that do that are our CUSTOMERS (think Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca etc).  Because of that, employees on our side of the industry often have to become jacks-of-all-trades (and, conversely, masters-of-none) – we could be working on a small diabetes study in the morning and a large cancer study in the afternoon for two different customers!

    • Read more

      Drug development is a hugely competitive world.  And enormously costly – a new medicine costs on average £1 billion (yes, that 000,000,000) to develop.  So, the pressure to reach the point of regulatory approval (needed before any money can be made through sales of the medicine) as soon as possible is equally enormous.  This is not a place for the faint-hearted, but it IS immensely rewarding when you realise you’re a key member of a team which has just saved hundreds of thousands of lives every year.

    • What I'd do with the prize money:

      I would use the money to pay for a venue to host an under-18 inter-school bridge (the card game) competition, to aid logical thinking, risk assessment and team play.

    Candidate CV questions (extra)

    • Education:

      Central Foundations Boys’ School, London

      University of Southampton

      University of Nottingham

    • Qualifications:

      11 O Levels

      4 A Levels (Maths A, Further Maths B, Chemistry A and Physics C)

      B.Sc. (Hons) Mathematics with Statistics, Upper Second Class

      Ph.D. Medical Statistics

    • Work History:

      Phastar July 2023 – Present: Strategic Engagement Director

      PAREXEL October 2020 – July 2023: Global Head of Biostatistics and Statistical Programming

      IQVIA (formerly QUINTILES) October 1993 – June 2020: Senior Director, Biostatistics, Japan, Europe, North America and China

      Prior to 1993:

      Applied Statistics Research Unit (ASRU), University of Kent at Canterbury, Statistics Group Manager

      Ciba-Geigy, Basel Switzerland, Statistician

      University of Nottingham, Research Assistant

      University Hospital, Nottingham, Statistician

      City Hospital, Nottingham, Junior Scientific Officer

    • Current Job:

      Strategic Engagement Director – in charge of the largest customer account in my present company

    • Employer:

      Phastar, a specialist “CRO” (contract research organisation), who provide data and statistical services to the pharmaceutical industry.

    • My Interview

      • What did you want to be after you left school?

        I wasn't sure but knew I was good at maths, interested in medicine but didn't have the characteristics to make life and death decisions as a doctor

        Were you ever in trouble at school?

        Yes, but not that often - mostly when I first became a teenager

        If you weren't doing this job, what would you choose instead?

        I would love to be an actor

        Who is your favourite singer or band?

        Dry Cleaning

        What's your favourite food?

        Chicken tikka madras

        If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!

        Become a grandfather; see West Ham win the Premier League; appear alongside Kristen Stewart in a movie

        Tell us a joke.

        I was getting into my car, and this bloke says to me ‘Can you give me a lift?’ I said ‘Sure, you look great, the world’s your oyster, go for it.'