What advice can you offer to aspiring journalists?
Be curious, ask difficult questions, and never assume that the first answer is the complete answer.
In highly regulated industries such as pharmaceuticals, it is easy to focus on compliance statements, marketing claims, or headline conclusions. The most valuable insights often emerge when you dig deeper into how systems actually work, how decisions are made, and what challenges practitioners face in the real world.
Technical credibility matters. Take the time to understand the science, engineering, and operational realities behind the story. The best journalism doesn't just report what happened — it helps readers understand why it happened and what can be learned from it.
What's the worst pitch you ever got?
The worst pitches are not necessarily the ones promoting a product. They are the ones that clearly haven't considered the audience.
I've received messages claiming to revolutionize pharmaceutical manufacturing without addressing contamination control, process robustness, regulatory expectations, or operational reality. If a pitch relies entirely on buzzwords and marketing language while ignoring the underlying science and engineering, it quickly loses credibility.
A good pitch demonstrates an understanding of the problem being solved. A great pitch demonstrates an understanding of why that problem matters.
What's the most common misperception about your beat?
The most common misconception is that compliance alone guarantees product quality and patient safety.
In aseptic manufacturing, many people focus on checklists, regulations, and validation reports. While these are important, true contamination control is achieved through sound engineering, robust processes, effective risk management, and a deep understanding of how systems actually perform in operation.
A compliant facility is not automatically a well-designed facility. The challenge is to bridge regulatory expectations with practical, sustainable manufacturing solutions.
