BSc Hons. ’84, HEALTH | MBA, Marketing, York University ’90
Currently: Vice President, Global Program Head, Oncology Global Development, Novartis
When Krista McKerracher was diagnosed with kidney cancer in early 2015, it seemed like a bizarre twist of fate. After all, she’d spent the last eight years working for an organization that develops new cancer drugs, and suddenly she was walking in the patients’ shoes.
“I was fortunate to be cured surgically, and am lucky to be well today. But it gave me great insight into the patient side of being part of a clinical trial.”
Working in the pharmaceutical industry wasn’t something Krista planned. In fact, when she first came to Waterloo she had her eye on medical school. But then she landed a sales job with Merrell Pharmaceuticals after graduation, and quickly found it suited her strengths. Eventually she changed her mind about med school and enrolled in a part-time MBA program at York instead.
In 1988 Krista joined Ortho Biotech, a Johnson & Johnson (J&J) company, where she stayed for the next 14 years. As she took on increasingly senior positions, her work caught the eye of superiors at J&J in the US, and soon she was offered an opportunity to relocate and work on a global marketing team. She decided to go, thinking she might stay for a couple of years.
“That was 20 years ago, and I’m still here,” she laughs. Today Krista is with global pharmaceutical giant Novartis, where she heads up a large team developing new drugs to fight cancer and blood diseases. “It was a huge leap to move from marketing to drug development, but I had a great foundation in science from my years at Waterloo and lots of industry experience — so it wasn’t insurmountable.” Her own cancer diagnosis only increased her dedication to this work.
Today Krista is proud to work in an industry that sometimes gets a bad rap. “Despite all the bad press about ‘evil pharma,’ we’re actually on the cutting edge of healthcare, developing new drugs that change people’s lives.”
Krista’s latest gift supports our Applied Health Sciences highest priority fund, which helps with student awards, research, equipment, and other Faculty priorities. Thank you, Krista!
