INSPIRING STORIES
brimmer’s caring community Inspiring stories about how our community jumped into action at the height of the pandemic
Standing Up to Fight Tayler Stander ’14
Developing a Vaccine Hilary Malone P ’22 I was previously the Chief Regulatory Officer for a European-based, global pharmaceutical company called Sanofi for the past six years; however, I left last December to pursue a new opportunity and I am now the COO of a biotech startup called Valo (valohealth. com) here in Boston. Like a number of global pharmaceutical companies, Sanofi has two COVID vaccines under very active development. Earlier in the pandemic, the company was also researching if some of their other drugs would work in alleviating COVID symptoms, one was a treatment for malaria and another for rheumatoid arthritis, but both proved to be ineffective. At Valo, we briefly explored the possibility of using our platform to conduct clinical trials with two potential new COVID drugs, both targeting the breathing/lung complications of COVID. Due to the fact that Valo is a machine learning, artificial intelligence–based biotech, we spent time modeling/designing in silico (using computer models/approaches) a number of new potential COVID treatments and collaborating with other companies to potentially design new drugs to treat COVID. We decided not to pursue this work. However, one of our sister biotech companies, Moderna (based in Cambridge, MA), has a COVID vaccine in clinical trials and if effective and approved for use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (the U.S. drug and vaccine regulator) it might be available before the end of the year. Moderna’s vaccine is one of a number of vaccines currently in late-stage clinical trials and, given that it usually takes 5 to 10 years to develop a vaccine, the collaboration between the biotech/pharmaceutical industry, regulators, academics, hospitals, and doctors to find treatments for this pandemic has been amazing!
Working with Veterans
“It’s an unprecedented time. It can be easy to become weighed down with anxiety or fear in the face of truly difficult events. A fact that should ease this fear is the truth that there are many amazing healthcare professionals and essential workers who have remained steadfast in the face of this virus. I am lucky to call these workers my colleagues. I have worked as an EMT at Armstrong Ambulance for over a year and a half. I still find myself facing new challenges every day...whether that be when I respond to a particularly complex call, or when we as a company learn how to adapt in the time of this pandemic. I am incredibly proud of this job, and I am proud of all of those who have stood up to fight.”
Samantha Cacciatore ’13
“I have been working at the Boston VA HealthCare system since August 2019—I was hired after interning throughout my master’s degree in education. I go into the hospital every day to provide veterans resources and care to ensure safety once they discharge from the hospital. I work predominately with geriatric veterans who are considered high risk for COVID-19. My team has provided me immense support during this challenging time, and we are working long hours in hopes of treating as many people as we can during this pandemic.”
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Fall 2020
Brimmer Magazine
