MERIT Employee Spotlight is a series featuring team members introducing themselves, outlining their role at MERIT, and explaining why they chose to work in the clinical trials industry.
What is your role at MERIT?
In my role as Database Administrator (DBA), I help maintain our backend database systems, work with software developers to interface with the database, and support our project and finance teams with any reports they need. I spent 10 years as DBA at one of MERIT’s predecessor companies, CompleWare, before joining MERIT last year.
What do you like about working at MERIT?
Day to day, it is my coworkers that make MERIT so enjoyable – we have a wonderful cast of people who are fun to work with. Looking at the bigger picture, I love working in an industry where the primary goal is to make people’s lifespans longer and their quality of life better.
How do you see your position/department fitting in to the company as a whole?
On the technology side, ensuring the security and connectivity to our database servers is vital to our software working properly. On the data side, the integrity and usability of our collected data are paramount. We pride ourselves on providing usable, reliable, auditable data to our Sponsors and partners.
Why did you get into clinical research?
My first introduction to the clinical research world was via a former coworker whose new company needed someone with database experience. I had not worked in this industry before, but quickly warmed to the idea of aiding clients and clinical sites in helping patients through advancements in medicine and medical devices. Seventeen years later, I’m still here and am very happy I made the leap into clinical research.
What do you do in your free time?
My most recent hobby has been fixing up a newly purchased 1926 brick, craftsman bungalow. This is a little surprising to me because, 24 years ago, I bought an 1879 brick house, fixed it up, and told myself I’d never do that again. Outside of home renovations, I stay busy with a book club and a card club; I enjoy raising and releasing butterflies in the summer (mostly Black Swallowtails and Monarchs); and building space exploration-related Legos (some off-the-shelf kits, as well as some custom builds).
