Monday and Tuesday
The office water cooler is more than just a place to get a drink. It’s a gathering place where colleagues take a break to enjoy friendly conversation. It’s a forum where thoughts and ideas are exchanged. It’s a social hub where people find out what’s really going on in the office.
Brought back by popular demand, PharmaSUG Water Cooler Chats bring this spirit of informal discussion into the conference environment. Facilitated group discussions on a variety of topics will be scheduled for specific times during the conference. All you have to do is show up and join the conversation. We’ll provide the virtual water cooler and get the dialog going – the rest is up to you!
The schedule of topics and facilitators is below. If you have questions, please contact our Water Cooler Chat Coordinators, Amber Randall and Kirsty Lauderdale, at watercoolerchats@pharmasug.org. All Water Cooler Chats will be held in the Indigo Terrace Foyer.
Schedule
Monday, June 2, 2025
| Time | Discussion Topic | Facilitator(s) |
| 10:00 – 10:50 AM | Thriving, not Just Surviving – Strategies for Strong Teams | Maria Dalton |
| 11:00 – 11:50 AM | Biostats and Life Science – Educating for Future Success | Lida Gharibvand and Iuliana Constantin |
| 1:30 – 2:20 PM | Open Source Expansion – Where Are We Now? | Junze Zhang |
| 2:30 – 3:20 PM | SDTM: Practical Strategies and New Approaches | Sunil Gupta |
| 4:00 – 4:50 PM | SAS and Beyond – Programming Best Practices and Bad Habits | Lisa Mendez, Richann Watson and Melodie Rush |
Tuesday, June 3, 2025
| Time | Discussion Topic | Facilitator(s) |
| 10:00 – 10:50 AM | Leveraging GenAI for Transforming Clinical Trials | Kevin Lee |
| 11:00 – 11:50 AM | AI – Tools Within Reach for Today | Charu Shankar |
| 1:30 – 2:20 PM | Everything You Always Wanted to Know About SAS Packages but Were Afraid to Ask | Bart Jablonski |
| 2:30 – 3:20 PM | ADaM Musings – Best Practices and Bad Habits | Sandra Minjoe and Nancy Brucken |
Descriptions
Thriving, not Just Surviving – Strategies for Strong Teams
Maria Dalton, Takeda
Monday, June 2, 10:00-10:50 AM
Come ready to discuss challenges and strategies for building and maintaining strong, resilient teams.
Biostats and Life Science - Educating for Future Success
Lida Gharibvand, Loma Linda University
Iuliana Constantin, CoE Pharma
Monday, June 2, 11:00-11:50 AM
Come ready to discuss how to prepare new talent and ourselves for the future of biostatistics, data analytics, clinical research and life science.
Open Source Expansion - Where Are We Now?
Junze Zhang, Merck
Monday, June 2, 1:30-2:20 PM
The use of open source software in pharma has dominated many conversations over the past several years. Let’s talk about where we are. How are you using open source? What have you learned? What has been successful? What challenges are you still facing? What are some new applications that we can all explore?
SDTM: Practical Strategies and New Approaches
Sunil Gupta, Gupta Programming
Monday, June 2, 2:30-3:20 PM
SDTM has become a routine part of many, if not most, of our programming and reporting processes. Can we do it better? More efficiently? Are there new challenges facing us? Let’s discuss!
SAS and Beyond - Programming Best Practices and Bad Habits
Lisa Mendez, Army MEDCOM
Richann Watson, DataRich Consulting
Melodie Rush, SAS
Monday, June 2, 4:00-4:50 PM
Ever want to learn from someone else’s mistakes? Need some pointers to take your programming strategies to the next level? Come ready to discuss some programming best practices and bad habits with our panel of experts.
Leveraging GenAI for Transforming Clinical Trials
Kevin Lee, Clinvia
Tuesday, June 3, 10:00-10:50 AM
Come ready to discuss possibilities for using GenAI to accelerate clinical trials and biomedical research.
AI – Tools Within Reach for Today
Charu Shankar, SAS
Tuesday, June 3, 11:00-11:50 AM
AI is rapidly changing our approach to work, daily life, and problem solving. Many are debating big ideas for the future, but what are some applications that can benefit us now with tools that are accessible and affordable?
Everything You Always Wanted to Know About SAS Packages but Were Afraid to Ask
Bart Jablonski, yabwon
Tuesday. June 3, 1:30-2:20 PM
Come ready to ask questions and discuss whether and how SAS users have anything to learn from the R community’s approach to package development and maintenance, and what tools are available for SAS programmers to do so.
ADaM Musings - Best Practices and Bad Habits
Sandra Minjoe, ICON PLC
Nancy Brucken, IQVIA
Tuesday, June 3, 2:30-3:20 PM
Come ready to discuss your latest ADaM experiences with our experts. Questions, comments, things we can do better? Let’s share some ideas!