Change Agents BY JESSICA CANLAS
Mother knows best. Christina Berberich, PHARMD ’12, MPH ’12, has made it her job to care for mothers.
Berberich admits that her [UIC] education revealed a unique world of possibility for PharmDs, both clinical and nonclinical.
Though her title—head of regulatory and policy affairs—may not sound particularly nurturing or parent focused, the heart of her role undoubtedly is. Berberich is part of the leadership team for Bobbie™, the only female-founded and mom-led organic infant formula company in the United States. As a seasoned healthcare professional with a background in dietetics, pharmacy, and public health, she had witnessed a sorely widening gap in the infant formula industry that was not serving mothers as well as it could. “To me, [this is] about so much more than a job,” she says. “It’s about really giving parents different options. The formulas out there . . . are great products. But at the same time, these are the same products that have been on the market for generations. Having a brand that connects with parents in a real sort of way—that’s what was really missing in this space.” Optimal nutrition for humans, both big and small, is not new in Berberich’s professional wheelhouse. A Mankato, Minnesota, native, Berberich earned her BSc in dietetics from St. Catherine’s University in St. Paul. The program offered her a convergence of interests—cooking,
nutrition, and science. Berberich admits she wasn’t sure what career might emerge from her pursuit, but when she began working with mothers and children at a WIC clinic in Chicago, her path came into view. “I realized that I love working with patients,” she recalls. “I wanted to expand what I was doing in healthcare. That’s why I started looking down other avenues.” Berberich’s search led her to the UIC College of Pharmacy. With “an open mind to nontraditional careers,” Berberich admits that her education revealed a unique world of possibility for PharmDs, both clinical and nonclinical. While there, for example, she did clerkships at both the Food and Drug Administration and the health and wellness advertising firm AbelsonTaylor. “One of the things I really enjoyed about my time at UIC was being exposed to a lot of different parts of pharmacy. I think that’s such a valuable thing for students—just even knowing something exists.” After two years in pharmacy school, Berberich decided she needed to continue her exploration. Fueled by the drive for a big-picture investigation into the industry’s understanding and solving larger-reaching health problems, she concurrently pursued her MPH, also at UIC. “There’s an interesting thing that happens in pharmacy school,” she explains. “It’s almost like you develop a superpower to be able to do all of this stuff. You get in this headspace where you’re driving to be the best that you can, and I felt that I needed to do something more, something bigger.” Berberich recalls enjoying the juxtaposition of science and data during the day and debating ethical publichealth policy in the evening. “It made so many things in pharmacy school matter. Understanding how we can impact health at a higher level is really empowering.” Eventually, she arrived at a eureka moment with a preceptor who’d authored a book on drug and food interaction that helped further focus her career and pushed her to delve deeper into the impact that drugs and nutrition can have on patients. Near graduation, Berberich connected with the VP of regulatory affairs for Abbott Nutrition, also a UIC Pharmacy alumnus. With her background, she smoothly transitioned into a role as a senior regulatory affairs
Dr. Christina Berberich
22
T H E P H A R M A C I ST
P H A R M A C Y.U I C . E D U
