Sisters Collaborate on Book for Students Interested in Pharmaceutical Industry

ASA members and sisters Olga V. Marchenko and Natallia V. Katenka co-edited the book Quantitative Methods in Pharmaceutical Research and Development: Concepts and Application. We wanted to know more about the collaboration, so we asked them to answer the following questions.

What motivated you to collaborate on Quantitative Methods in Pharmaceutical Research and Development: Concepts and Application?

This book’s motivation came from a discussion about how to help an individual interested in quantitative disciplines make an informed choice for a college major and future career. In the old days, if someone excelled in quantitative subjects in high school, he or she would go to college to receive a degree in mathematics or physics. Nowadays, universities offer a wide range of different concentration areas that rely on quantitative methods such as mathematics, statistics, biostatistics, pharmacometrics, genetics, computer science, and data science. Choosing a future career path may not be simple. While brainstorming ideas for the book, we decided to focus on the applications of quantitative methods in the pharmaceutical industry, where we had the most experience. 

Who is the audience for this book?

We think this book will be useful to individuals starting their careers in the pharmaceutical industry. We believe it will be particularly helpful to undergraduate and graduate students interested in learning about real-world applications of quantitative methods in the pharmaceutical industry and the potential career options open to them. It may also be of interest to experts working in these areas interested in what quantitative methods different departments at a pharmaceutical company use to answer questions and how people working in these departments collaborate and build on each other’s knowledge. Most chapters of the book start with the basic principles of the specific discipline, highlighting some standard methods and referencing innovative techniques and applications.

Is this the first time you have collaborated on a large project?

This is the first time we have collaborated on a book, which indeed was a large project. Also, this is the first time for us to write a book chapter together (Chapter 1). In the past, we coauthored an article and published it with other researchers in the Journal of Biopharmaceutical Statistics. We have been consulting with each other and helped each other for many years, but mostly informally.

Can you offer any tips for creating a successful writing collaboration?

Being sisters, statisticians, and close friends, we have done many things together, but we have always been aware that we have different strengths and have appreciated our differences. We usually plan and strategize together, and then we go and work independently. One of us likes to write in her office, where her familiar quiet room and a clean desk help her focus. The other prefers to write in a more crowded and less formal environment like a coffee shop, where she can simply let her creativity flow. While working independently, we regularly check on each other’s progress, keeping each other on track and on time. Once we finish our parts, we review each other’s work and provide honest and constructive feedback. We are convinced that it is an essential part of the collaboration to be open-minded and avoid being defensive when co-operating with your sister or anyone else. We think our trust and respect for each other make our partnership successful.