Beyond the Clinic: Building Impact in Pharmaceutical Startups with Dr. Heather Lampel

In this episode on Startup Physicians, I sit down with Dr. Heather Lampel to talk about what it really looks like to move from traditional clinical medicine into the pharmaceutical startup space.

Heather shares her story with clarity and honesty. From her roots in clinical genetics to navigating an entirely new industry. We talk about what surprised her, what challenged her, and how she kept learning along the way. One thing that stood out: Heather never stopped investing in relationships. Her network, she says, became her lifeline through the transition.

She also makes a powerful case for why physicians are deeply valuable in pharma. From clinical insights to patient advocacy, she shows that our voices matter and that representation isn’t optional if we want to build a better system.

This conversation is about possibility, but also about preparation. It’s a must-listen for anyone considering a leap into industry, or simply wondering what else is out there.

Episode Highlights:

[00:00] - Introduction to Pharmaceutical Startups
[00:58] - Heather's Journey from Clinical Practice to Startups
[03:52] - Navigating the Learning Curve in Pharma
[07:26] - Building Skills and Value in the Pharmaceutical Industry
[11:02] - Exploring Different Roles in Pharma
[13:14] - Mission and Impact in the Pharmaceutical Field
[14:29] - Transitioning into Pharma: Options for Physicians
[16:18] - Finding Opportunities in the Pharmaceutical Space
[20:08] - Addressing Misconceptions about Pharma
[23:34] - The Importance of Physician Representation in Pharma
[24:34] - Final Thoughts and Encouragement for Physicians

Transcript

Alison Curfman (00:01.238)
Hi everyone. Welcome back to Startup Physicians podcast. This is your host, Dr. Alison Curfman, and I am joined today by Dr. Heather Lample. Heather and I had the honor of meeting at a recent medical leadership conference, and I was so interested and inspired by her story because I don't think I've had someone on the podcast yet that represents what it's like to work in startups in the pharmaceutical field.

Heather, thank you so much for joining me today.

Heather Lampel (00:33.688)
My pleasure. Thanks for the invite.

Alison Curfman (00:36.076)
So I was really intrigued by our conversation because I've talked to a lot of people who work in health tech and other healthcare delivery startups, but you're one of the first people that I have connected with that is really thriving in this startup pharmaceutical space. So I'd love if you could start by just sharing a little bit about your initial clinical background and then what made you make the leap over into startups.

Heather Lampel (01:05.432)
Yeah, absolutely. So I have two different board certifications. I've actually practiced both, but I was in academia practicing dermatology and really enjoyed the complexity of it. I really love to solve problems. I love to help people. And I realized I'm a lifelong learner. ultimately, after about four years of that, I was looking for something different and decided to go into private practice. So went down that road.

did that for several years. And at that point was kind of figuring out is you kind of get to that point in your, in your sort of doctor.

career and you go, this it? I then start a practice? What is it for me? I love to continue to learn and grow. And so I was looking around, seeing what is out there. So in terms of the pharmaceutical industry, there's CROs, which is Clinical Research Organizations. That's one option. There's sponsors, which is the, as you call it, the tech startups, the larger companies, things like that. So I was just looking around, trying to figure out what my next

step is. And LinkedIn, as you said, a it's a really good tool. So I was kind of you can change this setting where it's like you're open to opportunities. And I think that that's a really nice tool. So I was just, you again, trying to get my feet wet, like what is out there? What could fit me as a dermatologist who's looking to break into different things and ultimately, a recruiter reached out to me. And there is a there was a local aesthetic company that had a they had a headquarters in in sort of local to where I

Alison Curfman (02:25.23)
yeah.

Heather Lampel (02:45.966)
living and they were European based. And I was like, I don't really know much about what this job is. Even the job description, I didn't know half the words. And so it was ultimately a position in clinical development. clinical development is one aspect of pharmaceutical industry where a physician could be of value. And this is sort of a role where you would end up kind of driving the clinical aspect of a program. So what does that mean? Like you would be

developing either devices or drugs through a pipeline so that ultimately the company can go to the regulator and say, hey, we have this beautiful clinical package. I'd like to be able to market this. And so my job is to drive that, what was to kind of contribute to that driving of the development of whatever it is, a device or a drug. And I did both at this job. So again, I knew nothing. knew dermatology very well, which served me well.

the job but anyway I met the team and I was like you know this would be a great opportunity what's the worst that happens?

You could always go back to clinical, I can always shift. mean, that's the beauty of being a physician, you're always a physician. So I was also able to create a job sort of balance at this point where I was able to do one day of clinic. So I still doing dermatology and seeing patients and then four days of this. What was great about it is that...

Alison Curfman (03:59.148)
Yeah.

Heather Lampel (04:16.25)
It kind of kept things very, I would say busy, but you're constantly learning. What was I doing in this job? So initially what I was doing is we call it like entry level. And at that point, what you're doing is primarily writing protocols. So what is a protocol? It's kind of like a script of how to run a clinical trial. And so that's what you use to contract with someone who is in the community, who is going to be running your clinical trial. And you have multiple sites. Usually we had global sites, but the idea

that this is the of the script that everyone follows. And so you have to learn a whole new language. Like we talked about it. have to. Yeah.

Alison Curfman (04:52.216)
Yeah, I was gonna ask, you feel like, it sounds like, it's similar to me when I first started, kind of felt like a fish out of water. It's like, there's so many new skills you have to develop.

Heather Lampel (05:03.482)
Absolutely. some of it, you know, I think this is not for everybody, but for someone who is looking to continue to grow, work with people who have very different backgrounds from you, learn a whole new language. It's essentially learning a language because you have to learn all these acronyms. And I will tell you, can't Google them. That's the other part of it. There is no like handbook on clinical development or pharmaceutical industry. So you have to lean on your colleagues, which sometimes is difficult. You know, you're like humble pie. You basically come in

Alison Curfman (05:25.955)
Yeah.

Heather Lampel (05:33.486)
and you are the newbie. You no longer are the person, you know, writing the script, telling everyone what to do, you know?

Alison Curfman (05:36.92)
The expert, yeah. Yeah, well, you might still be the expert as a clinician, but you're entering a new world. And one of the things that I really encourage people is to recognize that there's going to be a learning curve and be willing to think of yourself as an intern again when it comes to those skills, because you're bringing something to the table that's really, really valuable, but you're really not good at all the other pieces until you do it.

Heather Lampel (05:42.946)
Yes.

Alison Curfman (06:06.766)
And so it, you know, people that come in with a lot of ego have trouble with this.

Heather Lampel (06:16.556)
You nailed it. That's exactly it. And you need it. You need it to be an egoless culture because that's the only way you can actually get all of this done. Cause not only are you learning, but you're moving very fast. So you have to do a lot of things, which I think we are very good at doing lots of things well at the same time. But part of that is, you know, understanding that you, yeah, you need to continue to learn and ask questions. You know, I think that's really important. And as you learn, help others. And so that's, think a really good sort of, I'd say 10

Alison Curfman (06:27.65)
Mm-hmm.

Heather Lampel (06:46.5)
it to joining industry is, put the ego away if you have one and just know that this is a great opportunity. I mean, that's what I looked at it as, is a huge opportunity, which it absolutely was.

Alison Curfman (06:58.606)
And as you go in as a newbie and you're bringing your clinical skills, and hopefully the reason you're there is because it's someone who values your clinical skills. So you are bringing something to the table. You have something to be confident about, but at the same time realizing that you are a beginner in all these other areas. But those things, as you do your first role, those are actually way easier to learn than going to med school. I found it.

Way easier to try and figure out how to do business development or product development or other things like that with the right support and asking questions. But then the way that positions you all of sudden now, you're a clinician who has all these skills that you've used and you've done and you've developed. So your first role is a lot of humble pie and that upward learning curve.

But then all those skills and it stacks. So all of your value stacks. You very quickly become a lot more valuable after you've had one role.

Heather Lampel (08:01.858)
Absolutely. I think the other part of that is, you thinking about the way that we are in medicine, you kind of graduate from residency and then, you know, there may be a little bit of a path if you're in academia, right? There might be like going up the professor pathway. There may be some administrative roles you can take, but within industry, there is the ability, your title can change. You can take different kinds of roles laterally, upward, and those lateral moves are also incredibly helpful too.

One of the things is, as you said, as you become more valuable, my idea is like you said, you stack these skills and you don't even realize because you're doing it day by day. And then you look back, you're like, wow, like six months ago, I had no idea what I was doing and now look at me, which is similar to like internship and residency, right? So it's just like a trajectory that's very quick.

Alison Curfman (08:49.676)
Yeah.

And the other thing is that like, I know that when I was working with like talent teams and recruiter teams and they started talking about like different people we were recruiting and, and skill sets they were looking for, there were things that I was like, I didn't even know that was considered a skill. Like there were things that even in my background that I was like, I didn't, I didn't know that was a skill. Like I thought it was just, you know, something I did. And I think of skills as like, I know how to put in a central line.

You know, like I've seen one, done one, taught one, you know? And I think that even things like, you know, presentation skills or leader, you talked about leading and growing a team, like leadership skills, all of these things that some of them maybe skills that you have from your clinical role, but, can be transferable, but there were other things that like,

If you keep track of it, you'll realize that like, okay, all these different projects that I've done in this new role have exposed me to all these new skills that are actually really important in industry.

Heather Lampel (09:59.321)
And I would say they even translate into life, right? Like, cause just getting outside of our little world where we've been surrounded by medical teams for decades, decades or more, like it's so nice to have all of these other brilliant minds around me that I can learn from. And hopefully I'm helping to teach them too. So I think not only are these skillsets that you're describing, like things that you learn on the job, but some of these companies also have structured programs where you can learn these skills. They bring in, you know, very smart,

Alison Curfman (10:08.952)
Mm-hmm.

Heather Lampel (10:29.244)
smart people like you for an hour sort of on a lunch lunch break and you can learn these little nuggets and they stack too. So I love that what you said about stacking and

Alison Curfman (10:38.806)
It's the skills and it sounds like you're saying this too, the network. You're meeting so many people that are outside of your medicine bubble and they're interesting and they have different perspectives and they become part of your network.

Heather Lampel (10:44.334)
Yes.

Heather Lampel (10:55.234)
Absolutely, yes, completely.

Alison Curfman (10:57.644)
Another thing I heard you say when you were talking about taking this first role, which I hear this from people because there's really no one size fits all role for any physician looking for consulting or advising work or even transition into industry. I heard you say that like, medical affairs is one option where people do a lot of like.

outward facing, outreach, speaking, and almost more like network and business development. And you were like, I didn't want to do that. I'm more of a researcher. And so I've had people tell me that before and think that because they don't want to be a speaker, an outward face of a company that they won't have opportunities. But that's just one flavor of involvement. And it sounds like your involvement was a lot more

internally focused and more, I don't know, maybe more cerebral.

Heather Lampel (11:54.617)
Yeah, and I wouldn't even, yeah, I would say they're just different sort of different variations on a theme, right? And so I think clinical development, medical affairs, safety, safety is a really big position where they need MDs and that you can bring a lot of value. And that's a skill set that is very unique, I would say to industry and very important. You could even look at the like regulation side. So I know people who are in regs and they, you know, again, you have to learn the skill set, but it's very helpful to have that medical background.

when you are writing these documents and negotiating with regulators. So I think there's a lot of opportunities for physicians in the pharmaceutical industry. And then you think about the C-suites. mean, kind of looking up, also ultimately need chief medical officers. You need people at that level that have the high level view, but still have their background in medicine. And then chief scientific officer oftentimes is a physician as well.

Alison Curfman (12:53.59)
And it sounds like these have been smaller pharmaceutical startups that you've worked for and not like Roche or other big pharma companies.

Heather Lampel (13:06.36)
So my second job was a huge company. I don't know if I'm allowed to say it, but ultimately you can check my LinkedIn. But yes, so I joined a large company for my second role. And that one was really interesting because again, very global, also aesthetics, but there I had this opportunity to build a team of like 25 individuals. So that was really an amazing experience just because of the scope and the breadth. And I was also given increasing responsibility

as well as the ability to build a team and grow that team, which I will also say within pharmaceutical industry, and I think this goes for any sort of business aspect, as you get increasing responsibility and larger teams, your job becomes much more managerial, becomes more strategic, and you're less in the weeds, but you're still expected to know what's going on at all levels. So that's also a very interesting aspect, I would say.

you know, working for a large pharmaceutical company. Again, pros and cons to everything, but that was really an amazing experience.

Alison Curfman (14:13.902)
And what did you feel about sort of your mission or your impact in these roles?

Heather Lampel (14:23.022)
I would say two things. My mission was, again, I have a background in public health. And one of the things I really like to do is to impact a population on a larger level. I think as physicians, it's amazing to have that one-on-one interaction, cure or help with that particular.

part of the patient. But when we think about pharmaceuticals and the pharma industry and the biotech industry, you know, can impact populations on a global level. And for me, that was like, I'd say like my mission statement. And then the second thing, it was more, I would say, on a personal growth level, I love growing people and getting them to be their best selves. And also me learning in the process. So I think it's those two things put together are what drive me on a daily basis in the pharmaceutical industry.

Alison Curfman (15:11.096)
Do you see there being roles? So it sounds like you took a leap and took an actual, I don't know if it was full-time or part-time role initially, but then you were still staying partially clinical in your practice. Do you see there being roles for physicians that are looking to make a slower transition, like more advisory roles, or do you see most people like...

leaving clinical medicine and going full-time into something like this.

Heather Lampel (15:42.489)
I think there's a few of us who have made the transition permanent, sort of like a full-time role. But I would say that there are many ways to get into and just kind of get your toe at like, is this something I would be interested in? I would caution that consulting is different than being sort of in the full-time, but at least you can have a sense of, this something that would get me up in the morning and sort of fulfill me? I think consulting is one thing you can do, advising as you kind of called it. Oftentimes these especially smaller companies,

need someone who knows the medical aspect and they need that piece, but they don't have the role at that point for a full time. So that's an option. And sometimes these are like six month roles. So you could do something like that. You can get involved in research. For instance, if this is your interest, you could start getting involved in clinical research and doing it on the delivery end. So where you're working with sponsors or CROs. So you can see, am I even interested in doing clinical research?

So that's another aspect. But I think that there's like lots of opportunities and ad boards. That's another thing you can kind of, know, getting into advisory boards, as we say, and that's usually by, you know, multiple different, usually asking experts in a field about a specific topic. And that's a nice way to kind of interact, at least with often medical affairs, sometimes commercial, sometimes clinical development. But you can kind of see, is that the kind of thing you'd like to be talking about? So I think there's lots of different options.

Alison Curfman (17:13.186)
Yeah. And I guess I would ask, I know some people might be curious about this. Do you have thoughts about how to find positions like that, even if it was like more like advisory boards or like you said, like running a clinical trial in your office or something like that. Like you're so connected in this space now, it probably comes second nature to you. But what would you say to physicians that are like, well, I'd like to explore this a little bit more. Where should they look?

Heather Lampel (17:42.447)
Yeah, I think there's a couple of ways to do it. One is if you already have people from pharmaceutical companies coming to your office, I think that's a great place to start because you could always, usually these people will know what does their company offer? Is there an ad board coming up? Is there something that maybe they're looking into or maybe this specific drug that they're providing as samples or something that maybe that's a disease state you're super interested in. So I would say first connect with maybe the people that are already immediately in your circle.

Then I would say beyond that go to go to these like Go to meetings, you know go to your specialty meeting or go to a meeting where there are the potential to interact with You know the sponsor the CROs and so forth. There's lots of meetings I can I tell you I could go every weekend to a meeting I'm not going over you know the idea that you can connect Directly and you express your interest There are people who are going to need whatever it is that you have and that could be through an ad board that could be just putting your

name out there. And then I'd say beyond that, you go on LinkedIn. You'd be surprised how many of these jobs are out there that might be just like, you know, temporary, could be just looking for something and always throw your hand, your hat in the ring. You never know. You may feel, we always talk about like the checklist, you're not gonna have everything on there, but you might have enough that would pique the interest of whoever's on the other end. Always go through with the interview. You never know what that might lead to. You may not get that particular role, but they'll keep you in mind or you may have made a connection that will sort

serve you later. So just put yourself out there and put it out to the world. also think positive thinking like the secret is super important. So if you like if this is something that you're interested in like also just like believe in yourself. I think that that's really the sort of the energy you put out there is sort of the energy you get back to.

Alison Curfman (19:29.358)
Yeah, I agree. I always encourage people to use LinkedIn and that's one of the first things I teach people is how to really optimize their LinkedIn profile to really highlight their expertise and their interests. But I tell them the difference, the thing that stands out, the thing that really makes you stand out is if you reach out. They won't know about you otherwise. So I think that even if you're not like, can I have a job? You said express your interest.

Heather Lampel (19:59.515)
Exactly.

Alison Curfman (19:59.63)
Constantly expressing interest in the world of medicine outside of direct patient care, it only can lead to more exposure, more understanding. And I feel like if somebody's looking for an advisory, let's say someone's looking for an advisory board, or they aren't even yet, but they will be in six months. And it's like what they're looking for is not...

the top dermatologist in the entire country who's published in JAMA and Nature and all these other, that's not their criteria. So some people are like, well, I'm not the top in my field. But if you're a dermatologist that responded to a message or reached out and said, hey, I'm really interested in your product, I'd love to hear more about what you're building. Or you go to a conference and you go to their booth and you engage with them and you give them some ideas.

Heather Lampel (20:55.354)
exactly.

Alison Curfman (20:56.864)
It's that engagement and that willingness to be, kind of put yourself out there that leads to eventually opportunities, but in the short term, it just leads to connections.

Heather Lampel (21:09.922)
Absolutely agree. And you never know who that person knows. That's the other thing. Like, it's this like network and you'll be surprised how small the world is. So yeah, just put yourself out there.

Alison Curfman (21:18.734)
It is, yeah. Okay, well, I'm gonna address something that's not always comfortable, but I get it a lot that, so I worked for a private equity firm and people have a preconceived notion that private equity is all evil and is ruining medicine, which in some cases is true.

There are a lot of firms I would absolutely never associate with or I don't think what they're doing is right or use cases of things that I just don't agree with the direction that medicine is going. But I worked with a great firm and I built a Medicaid company for complex kids which would never exist without their expertise and frankly capital.

Heather Lampel (22:00.731)
Thanks

Alison Curfman (22:06.732)
So some people might be thinking the same thing. Pharma is evil. Like we as doctors tend to think like a lot of other healthcare players are evil. We think pharma is evil. We think admin is evil. think health insurance payers are evil and private equity is evil. Like it can't quite be true that everyone that's not a clinician is evil, but did you ever feel uncomfortable working in pharma or that like it wasn't aligned with your mission as a physician?

Heather Lampel (22:36.57)
That's a really cool question, by the way. I just want to commend you on that. I think that, you know, and this is kind I flipped that dialogue. That's why they need people like us. Like.

That's why they need us. They need people who have amazing backgrounds, who are going to continue to push things forward the way that we want to. Like, you have to be the change, right, that you want to see in the world. Literally, like, that's it. Now, you don't want to go into a toxic work environment or anything like that. I get that. But these are not, these are like, you know, pick your, pick your rules, obviously wisely, but there's opportunity around every corner. And that's exactly why they need people like us.

Alison Curfman (23:05.056)
Of course.

Alison Curfman (23:14.496)
Yeah, that's a great answer. I know I actually participated in a leadership like fellowship program with the National Health Care Council. And part of the goal of the cohort was that they brought in people from all different aspects of health care. They had people that were like academic and people that were like more administrative. had clinicians, had payers, they had startups, had investors, had

You know, these, Pharma, we had people from all these different backgrounds, like really, really talented leaders, and we were a really close cohort. And we like went on retreats together and got to know each other. like, you realize very quickly that those people are not all evil. Everyone is like approaching solving the problem of healthcare from a different perspective. And it just really gave me a lot of clarity of

the value of cross collaboration and being willing to consider other perspectives and understanding how complicated health care is and having the humility to realize that we as physicians have one unique perspective. But can we cross pollinate that perspective with other stakeholders and make a bigger impact? So I didn't mean to put you on the spot with that question, but that was a very good answer. I think that

Heather Lampel (24:40.218)
No, it's great.

Alison Curfman (24:42.338)
I think industry needs us. think that whenever I tell physicians that someone is starting a company in your field without a clinician, they're shocked. They can't believe that this development is happening outside of clinical medicine, but it is, and stuff is moving forward very quickly. And I think our perspectives are needed, and I think that's a big part of why I want to...

create this education for physicians is to really inspire them that one, there could be other things you could be doing that could be fulfilling and fun and interesting and a new way to apply your clinical skills. And two, your knowledge is really needed.

Heather Lampel (25:23.994)
Absolutely. And I think going back to what you were talking about with the cross that sort of partnership that you had with that cohort, know, I think assuming positive intent is probably the best thing you can do whenever you're having a conversation with someone who has different opinion than you like or that you're you you and I think like dropping the judgment and just being open-minded is really helpful in all aspects. But when you think about pharma, you know, this is how we move medicine forward like so you it's kind of this like

Okay, we want, absolutely. This is sort of how it, you this is how it gets done. And so, you know, having more and more people who have that sort of, I'd say, focused to change how things are done is really how we're going to change it, you know? So that's, that's again, that's another thing why I feel like, you know, showing up and having representation is so important.

Alison Curfman (25:54.626)
Right, where would we be in medicine without medications, right? Like they need to exist, right?

Alison Curfman (26:13.197)
Yeah.

Alison Curfman (26:20.898)
I agree, I agree. Well, any last thoughts that you wanna share?

Heather Lampel (26:25.802)
I would just say, know, don't talk yourself out of something that you have, if you have this little like, what?

you what would that be like? Just like follow that little voice inside. Just be open to it and explore it. Doesn't mean you have to like jump in, but get your toe wet, make connections, get out there and just see if that, doesn't have to be pharma, it could be anything, but just, you know, don't feel stuck. I think that that's the kind of the, like I'd say the take home message. There's so much you can do with your MD and pharma is one of those things.

Alison Curfman (26:56.13)
That's amazing. Well, if anybody wants to connect with Heather, she is on LinkedIn, Heather Lample. And we will also put a link to her LinkedIn in the show notes. Thank you so much, Heather, for sharing your perspective and giving us a little look into what it looks like to work in pharmaceutical startups and your perspective and your energy. And yeah, we really appreciate having you. Thanks a lot.

Heather Lampel (27:23.483)
Thanks for the opportunity.