clinical training to benefit women around
the world--many more than I could have
served in private practice."
industry have given Dr. Sampson-
leadership skills and knowledge of prod-
uct development, including the key role
of clinical trials, at most of New Jersey's
pharmaceutical giants: from Johnson &
Johnson/Ortho, where she got her start,
and J&J's Advanced Care Products, to
Bristol-Myers Squibb, where she was ex-
ecutive medical director of the women's
health care division and clinical research.
When Bristol-Myers Squibb reorganized,
it broke up the women's health division,
reassigning topics such as cardiology,
Landers decided to move on, saying, "I
thought I might get an extended vaca-
tion, but Berlex called within two weeks,
and I found myself in a wonderful new
job."
her years of experience in clinical trial
conduct and management in the area of
women's health. A few years later, Bayer
Schering, including Berlex, and she has
been there ever since, continuing to
focus on the development of women's
health care products and anti-infective
preparations.
ing the efficacy and safety of a low-dose
contraceptive. A fellow investigator was
professor and interim chair, Department
of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Repro-
ductive Sciences. Dr. Bachmann was
struck by the team-building skills Dr.
Sampson-Landers demonstrated in inves-
tigators' meetings. "In the discussion, she
brought out individual talents and view-
points, but by the end of the meeting,
she had achieved consensus and a unified
sense of direction," Dr. Bachmann says.
terface of different points of view: hers
being the highly informed perspective of
the private sector and mine the stand-
point of a clinical/academic institution."
lenging aspects of running a good trial,
says Dr. Sampson-Landers, noting one
instance when it took almost 18 months
to assemble an appropriate pool of par-
ticipants. In an "aha" moment, she was
able to solve the recruitment problem by
proposing a new approach modeled on
Bayer's marketing model. Instead of
relying on physicians to suggest a trial
to their patients, Bayer went directly to
the public, as it would in publicizing a
new product, using popular media such
to reach potential participants.
the Banks," the circles and patterns
Landers--above all, friends, family, and
family traditions. "They are my retreat,
my solace," she says. So, while pursuing
a career that could have taken her far
afield, she has chosen to remain close to
could grow anything. I just love getting
things grow." And the family tradi-
tions continue: last year, Dr.
Sampson-Landers introduced her
2-year-old granddaughter to flow-
ers. A year later, she is delighted
to find herself answering a 3-year-
old's unsolicited requests to help in
the garden.
CAROLE