EMPOWERING THE WORKFORCE OF THE FUTURE

In a rapidly evolving world where technological advancements and global shifts reshape industries overnight, setting the groundwork for the future has become an urgent imperative.

Medical Director

For the health and medical community, planning the workforce for the future is shaped by one guiding principle – what does the patient need? When we take this lens, we can help the health of our communities go from strength to strength.

Yet, in order to do this and ensure our work continues at the pace it is at, we need to keep up with the everchanging digital world and plan accordingly. This means building a capable workforce, comprising of individuals with the right expertise and abilities who can help us fully embrace transformative technologies.

Looking To Technology

The role and importance of technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) in our future workforce cannot be overstated.

These types of technologies have the potential to improve our use of medicines, enabling everyone to live healthier, longer lives. Achieving this ambitious vision not only requires the development of cutting-edge ML and AI products, but also close collaboration and innovation among our workforce.

We currently have access to more data than ever before, and this is only the start of how we apply these technologies to create tangible solutions for patients. GSK’s global teams are leading the way in interpreting and unpacking data through AI and ML products, and thanks to this, we’re already seeing the benefits at a local level. This work helps us to develop medicines with a higher probability of success and to better identify the patients that would benefit the most from these interventions.

While our work with AI and ML is in its early stages, here in Australia we’re focused on bringing in people who can interpret and unpack the growing library of data we have available. This includes inviting digital focused professionals and data scientists into our work to help us drive continuous learning through data.

Empowering Our Community

It’s important we empower and expand our workforce as we adopt new technologies into our work. Initiatives like the GSK Australia Graduate Researcher Program, which is supported by MTPConnect’s REDI initiative, and our Industry Based Learning (IBL) Programme are pathways into our industry that help us bring highly skilled individuals into our work.

These programs play a key role in our future workforce planning. The GSK Australia Graduate Researcher Program provides an avenue into our industry where early career researchers can apply their expertise and enhance their capabilities in a practical setting. This in turn allows us to bring in new ideas and innovation to our teams across the business.

When looking at how we can empower the health and medical research sector more broadly, programs like the GSK Award for Research Excellence (ARE) – which aims to recognise outstanding achievements in medical research - play a significant role. By championing home-grown Australian medical researchers, we can help scientists take the next step in their research – which will ultimately improve the health of patients in Australia and beyond. Many of our previous winners have bolstered their achievements by actively supporting their own teams in their research efforts. An example of this can be seen through 2021 ARE winners Professor Jamie Cooper AO and Professor Rinaldo Bellomo AO, Co-Directors of the Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Research Centre (ANZIC-RC). Jaime and Rinaldo used the grant that comes with the GSK ARE to support their team of early to mid-level career investigators working on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) technology, which assists with the management of cardiac arrest, severe cardiac failure and respiratory failure. Thanks to this support, their team are advancing their work into this life-saving equipment.

Bringing in new people and supporting our community is very important for the future of our work. While we may not know precisely what the future holds for our industry, empowering our people and providing them with the resources they need to succeed will help us navigate this journey together.

WHAT’S NEXT FOR US

It is essential we work together to foster a diverse workforce that can push the boundaries to create novel models for comprehending diseases.

As we prepare our future workforce, I am excited to work with our people, partners and community as we embrace new technologies, all while ensuring patients remain the central focus to everything we do. It’s an exciting time to be working within the health and medical space and I can’t wait to see what comes next.

Author:

Dr Alan Paul

is with over

17

years

the Country Medical Director for GSK Australia,

of

pharmaceutical industry experience working in multinational organisations with expertise that spans across Oncology, Specialty & General Medicine, Infectious Diseases and Vaccines. Prior to this role he has held senior executive positions at CSL; AstraZeneca and Ipsen.