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| Ryan McBride and Arsalan Arif |
I'm tackling a new career challenge. Next month I plan to join Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research (NIBR) in Cambridge, MA, to manage social media. It means that two weeks from today I will end a thrilling experience as executive editor of the life sciences group at FierceMarkets.
FierceBiotech Editor-in-Chief John Carroll and Publisher Arsalan Arif hired me in the first half of 2011 to contribute more original reporting about drug research and to assist in expanding their team of professional journalists. We have succeeded in those efforts and many others, including the growth of our social media presence.
So I will leave Fierce in a strong position to further prosper, with a cadre of excellent reporters and editors, for whom I have a lot of respect. Also, my departure and the continued growth of Fierce have created career opportunities in the life sciences group. (Here is the first job opening.)
I have been working closely with John and Arsalan on the next phase of engaging our readers on multiple platforms, some of which we call "social media platforms," and these efforts are moving ahead without me. These initiatives represent the future of online journalism, and I will be closely following them after I leave.
In my next role at NIBR, I will be in charge of social media, working with the organization's scientists and researchers to share their latest innovations in drug discovery and development. From inside the industry, I will continue to write about science. I am honored that NIBR's talented communications group has asked me to join their team. (The ad for my job at NIBR still appears on some websites.)
Fortunately, my work at NIBR will keep me very close to the biotech community, both in a physical sense and a virtual one. (Please note: I changed my Twitter handle from @RyanMFierce to @ry_mcbride last night.) I will be maintaining an active social media presence and spending more time in global hubs of the industry.
I'm not going anywhere as far as many of you are concerned. So let's keep conversations about biotech and scientific innovation going strong. -- Ryan McBride (email | Twitter)