Navigating Your Entry into Regulatory, Quality, and Beyond

Job Interview Techniques & Practical Role-playing with Industry Experts

Join us at this special virtual event that aims to assist participants in navigating effective job interview strategies and techniques, offering invaluable advice from a panel of seasoned regulatory/quality and human resources experts. Gain insider tips on interview preparation, learn the dos and don’ts, and uncover strategies for standing out in a competitive job market.

The highlight of this virtual event is the interactive mock interview session. Participants will have the opportunity to engage in role-play scenarios, simulating responses to real-world interview questions in breakout rooms facilitated by industry experts.

This hands-on experience allows participants to refine their interview skills, receive personalized feedback, and build confidence for their upcoming job interviews in the relevant fields.

Participants must turn on their camera and microphone for the mock interview session.

Panel:

Sara Yazdanfar, Scientific Recruiting Team Lead at Applied Medical

Sara Yazdanfar has been in the recruiting field for 5 years. Currently, Sara is the Scientific Recruiting Team Lead at Applied Medical, a rapidly growing global organization with approximately 5,000 team members. Sara studied at USC in her Master’s in Applied Psychology, emphasis in Organizational Psychology. Her joy in life is connecting with people, learning about their experiences, and hopefully, finding the right career for them, and supporting them through the process!

Richard DeRisio, Training Program Developer and Presenter at DeRisio Group, LLC

Richard DeRisio is a seasoned professional in regulatory affairs and quality systems, with a wealth of experience in the pharmaceuticals, diagnostics, and medical devices industries. Beginning his career at the FDA’s Washington-area headquarters, Richard managed foreign inspections, conducted compliance actions, and served as an expert in sterilization sciences. Throughout his career, he has held leadership positions at major companies including Abbott, J&J, Covidien, and Pfizer, overseeing global and divisional clinical, quality, regulatory, government affairs, and operations functions. Richard also led the Americas Region for the German Notified Body TÜV SÜD, responsible for CE-Mark approval of medical devices manufactured in North America. He holds a B.S. degree in chemical engineering and an M.S. degree in food science and technology from Cornell University. Richard has been actively involved in industry organizations, serving on the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation Board of Directors and co-chairing multiple standards committees. He has presented at regulatory programs at USC and Chapman University, published in Medical Device & Diagnostic Industry magazine, and spoken at UBM/Canon Medical Design and Manufacturing Conferences, among others.

Ronald Kao, Principal Recruitment Consultant, Real Staffing

Ronald is a seasoned Principal Recruitment Consultant based in San Diego, who focuses on Direct-Hire placement within the Medical Device and Diagnostic industry across the West Coast. He has over 5 years of recruiting experience placing and consulting with executives, senior leadership, and senior/principal level professionals. Having a degree in psychology and social behavior, Ronald has a strong ability to understand people and uses that to connect them to their dream jobs and opportunities. A tennis, yoga, and escape room enthusiast, he is driven by bringing skilled people together to create a win-win situation.

Huong Huynh, PhD, Director of Regulatory Science at Critical Path Institute

Huong Huynh, PhD is Director of Regulatory Science at Critical Path Institute (C-Path) and Professor of Practice at The University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law. At C-Path, Huong leads the development of regulatory strategies for the organization and bridges communication with regulatory authorities; she has contributed to the standup of 3 new public-private partnerships to address rare neurodegenerative diseases and for research on unmet medical needs in alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency and lysosomal diseases. At The University of Arizona, Huong is a lead instructor as part of the Graduate Certificate in Regulatory Science. Prior to joining C-Path, Huong was a review pharmacologist at FDA, where she contributed to the assessment of the approvability of over 300 regulatory submissions, leading to the approval of over 50 generic drug products.

Date: Tuesday, April 9^th

Time: 6pm to 8pm

Cost: $10 Members – $20 Non-members

Members: be sure to log in to your account to get your member discount!

Note: Space is limited in order to maintain a good interviewer-interviewee ratio. We respectfully ask you to email programs@ocra-dg.org at least 3 days in advance if you cannot attend the event so the space can be released to others on the waitlist. Priorities will be given to OCRA members.