Claudia is a member of the Business Development Search and Evaluation team that strives to position Bristol Myers Squibb as a partner of choice for external research institutions and other pharmaceutical and biotech companies. Claudia and her team use a creative, customized approach that is designed to help speed the delivery of transformational medicines to patients by evaluating potential assets and therapies on two key criteria: the scientific robustness of the data presented and the strategic fit of the asset within Bristol Myers Squibb’s existing portfolio. Driven by her passion for discovering innovative medicines, Claudia transitioned into this role in March 2021 after working as a Drug Metabolism and Pharmacokinetic (DMPK) scientist in the discovery organization. “I’m drawn to innovation,” Claudia said. “Company-wide, Bristol Myers Squibb is looking for transformational medicines, technologies and modalities that harness the novel ways that science is moving forward toward the goal of bringing effective therapies to patients in need.” Claudia came to the U.S. from Bolivia to earn her undergraduate degree in biology with plans to continue on to medical school. Following graduation, she started working for a contract research organization, where she learned the role that DMPK plays in evaluating new medicines. “I thought working in a pharmacy was the only choice if you went to pharmacy school, but I did not know that pharmaceutical scientists were the ones behind the scenes discovering how to make a medicine,” Claudia said. She ultimately decided to pursue her PhD in pharmaceutical sciences, focusing on pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics. Claudia came to Bristol Myers Squibb in 2015 after working in the discovery organization at GlaxoSmithKline. Having spent more than 10 years in the discovery space, she decided in 2021 that she wanted to have a better understanding of what happens outside of the discovery space and how external innovation synergizes with internal R&D efforts to create Bristol Myers Squibb’s portfolio. Her desire to better understand external innovation not only led her to join the BD organization, but also led her to return to graduate school. This May she earned her executive MBA from Cornell.