Statistician Types: Tasmin Arnould, Becoming A Pharmaceutical Lead

At Veramed, we’ve done a deep dive into who our Statisticians are and we found 4 Statistician ‘types’ - Delivery, Project Lead, Pharmaceutical Lead, and Technical. Each type differs in its daily tasks, responsibilities, and career options. I found my path quite early in my career. After completing my MSc in 2017, I started my career at Veramed working as a Delivery Statistician. Within two years I was a Pharmaceutical Lead Statistician and I’ve started line managing.

How did I get to this point? What does my typical day look like? And how do I see my role evolving? Read on to find out.

What got you interested in becoming a Statistician?

Maths was always my favourite subject at school and I knew from an early age that I wanted to do a Maths degree. I had mainly signed up for mathematical physics modules at university but we had one mandatory statistics course and it turned out to be my favourite one; I then switched to a 3 year degree with a medical statistics dissertation and moved to an MSc in medical statistics.

How did you become a Pharmaceutical Lead so early in your career?

I guess it was a mix of factors. At the interview stage my soon-to-be line manager, Chet Mistry, identified that I had the right skills and great potential to become a Pharmaceutical Lead Statistician – helping my my confidence. Also, when I first started working at Veramed I worked with one of Veramed’s biggest clients in a study delivery role, which gave me exposure to other areas of Statistical work and further improved my confidence and sense of what I wanted to do. It sort of grew from there. As soon as an opportunity came from another client of ours to work as a Pharmaceutical Lead, I put myself forward and took it with both hands.

I started this new role shadowing a more senior Statistician who was working in a statistical oversight role. This involved overseeing the statistics and programming activities and deliverables produced by another CRO for the pharmaceutical company. Once I had gained enough experience and confidence I started taking on a study lead role on my own and I guess the rest is history! 

What does your typical working day at Veramed look like?

I work directly with the client study team on a daily basis as a clinical trial Statistician. This role involves attending clinical study team meetings, reviewing or authoring study documents and being ready to answer any statistical questions that come up. My role also involves planning timelines for study deliverables, data exploration and supporting junior Statisticians so it is difficult to describe a typical day!

Why do you like working at Veramed?

I love how varied my role is and I work with a great team of Statisticians. There are plenty of opportunities for self-development and growth through mentoring, training and training development so I know I can continue to progress.

Do you consider yourself purely a Pharma Lead Statistician?

Definitely not. I have a diverse role, which I love. Of course, my role is primarily in statistical oversight of studies but I often have exploratory work to do. I support compound level Statisticians with study design work – this can range from trying to find the best model/approach for an analysis to simulating data to determine a trial’s probability of success.

How do our Statistician ‘types’ help those interested in joining Veramed?

The ‘types’ show how varied the roles are at Veramed and how you can pick a role that works best for you and your strengths. It is also great to know that there are options available for those who would like to try something new! I started working on a study delivery team before transitioning into a Pharma Lead role.

How do you see your career progressing as a Statistician?

I have several neurology studies right now and I’d like to pick up more exploratory/study design work in this disease area so I can build a strong knowledge base. In the past year I have started line managing and I have attended a leadership course so I plan to continue working on my management and leadership skills.

What Statistician Type are you? To find out more, check out our Statistician careers page and get in touch today.