Bachelors Alum Helping Bring Game-Changing Technology to Pharmaceutical Research

It has been eight years since Pirinka (Georgiev) Tuttle completed her Bachelor of Science in Pharmaceutical Sciences and dove straight into industry work at Pfizer – where she now serves as a Clinician in Translational Clinical Sciences, focused on clinical innovation and qualification of digital endpoints in patient-centric trials. 

Bringing Tech to Pharma 

Her journey at Pfizer started immediately after graduation through a rotational program that allowed her to explore various areas of the pharmaceutical industry. 

“At that point, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to pursue specifically, and it allowed me to dabble in many areas of industry,” explained Tuttle.

Completion of the program led to an operational role in the Digital Medicine group where she worked on clinical trials using sensors and wearables. It was in that role where she fell in love with clinical research and seeing the direct impact these studies have on patient health outcomes. She then set a goal to combine her passion for patients and technology to  serve in a scientific and clinical role on these types of studies. 

In 2022, that dream came true, and she began designing and refining study protocols using digital technologies to track different activities and variables in study participants. For example, these studies may use wearable sensors such as wristbands to measure physical activity if a disease causes mobility issues. 

“As a clinician, I weigh in on the protocol and study design, but I also collaborate  with project managers, statisticians, and data scientists to ensure we gather the best data possible.”

By tracking a patient’s baseline activity on the front end, measures from these technologies can be used to understand disease progression over time and even changes after treatment. 

“Instead of relying on a questionnaire asking someone how active they were in the last month, which can be impacted by recall bias and be burdensome to ask often, we can collect objective, real-time data,” explains Tuttle. 

Tuttle also works behind the scenes before studies are even deployed, ensuring that each measure collected from the use of technology is relevant to the patient population and study and that the team is confident in its ability to collect data from participants. 

“Study participants already have many assessments and procedures in trials so it is important to ensure the technologies used are fit-for-purpose, measure what is relevant to the patient and disease population, and are also easy to use, to minimize overall trial burden.”

Building a Passion

Long before Tuttle was helping implement game-changing technology into large-scale pharmaceutical studies, she was exploring all U-M had to offer her as an undergraduate student in the College of Pharmacy. 

“The BSPS curriculum really went beyond the traditional undergraduate life science coursework and introduced us to the regulatory and drug development process, pharmacokinetics, pharmaceutical science and medicinal chemistry,” explained Tuttle. “Having that knowledge early on helped me land a role in the  pharmaceutical industry straight out of college.”

It was not only the classwork that helped drive her career path toward clinical research, but also her experiences outside of the classroom.

Serving as a pharmacy technician at Michigan Medicine’s Mott Children’s Hospital helped her find her love for the clinical side of pharmacy, while research opportunities in Dr. Gordon Amidon and Dr. James Moon’s labs helped her gain an appreciation for data and processes.

In Dr. Amidon’s lab, the research focused on how drug tablets in different  gastrointestinal conditions are absorbed. With Dr. Moon, she supported formulation studies of lipid nanoparticle treatments for multiple sclerosis using animal models.

“In the BSPS program, we were all encouraged to do lab research,” Tuttle explained. “I thought it was a great opportunity to get that experience under my belt. It helped me explore new avenues and get a lot of one-on-one teaching and mentorship from faculty.”

Sharing Insight

In fact, Tuttle believes that if she had not said yes to research opportunities at the College, her career would have panned out much differently. It’s that experience that shapes her advice for current students. 

“Saying yes to opportunities early on is great so that you can get to a point later in your career where you can start figuring out what you really want,” explained Tuttle. “It’s the opportunities outside of your comfort zone that take you on the career path journey.”

Tuttle will share this advice and more with the BSPS Class of 2025 as the keynote speaker at this year’s Commencement. 

“I hope to share with them that if something doesn’t challenge you, it doesn’t change you. Seek opportunities where you may not know everything or you might be uncomfortable, jump in and be willing to learn, and soak up all the knowledge you can.”

Looking Forward

When asked about her own future, Tuttle said the goal is to keep growing, learning and doing.

To keep growing and learning, Tuttle is pursuing a master’s degree in biology at Brown University – something she is glad she’s taking on at this point in time. 

“There’s never a wrong time to go back to school, whether it’s right away or a few years into your career when you have figured out what you want to focus on. Sometimes it’s better than rushing and realizing that’s not what you wanted to do.”

And to keep ‘doing,’ she’s sticking with her passion. “Clinical research and development is a great place to be, so I have no plans to leave this area anytime soon.”