PICA Member Spotlights
Q&A with independent consultants who successfully “made the leap” and created the consulting career of their dreams
Q: Could you please introduce yourself and your business?
A: My name is Nnenna Ihekoromadu. I’m a physician, biopharmaceutical executive consultant, medical talent coach, and a proud mother of two college kids. I am the founder & CEO of Ocular Clinical Research Company (Ocular CRC).
Ocular CRC is an ophthalmology biopharmaceutical clinical research consulting firm with a formal job training program for doctors. Ocular CRC College provides full job training to eye doctors and other medical professionals interested in transitioning to a clinical job with a biotech or pharmaceutical company. Taught by some of the best faculty members in the industry, they receive online clinical research and soft-skills training, graduate with an ‘Ocular CRC Ready’ Certificate, and then start ‘On-the Job’ training. This allows these doctors to slowly transition out of their current clinical job over time while receiving the firsthand job experience they need.
Ocular CRC Consultants is the second division of the company. Pharmaceutical companies that have a retainer or contract with Ocular CRC have access to our fully trained and experienced eye doctors for hire. These doctors are Ocular CRC Consultants working remotely or hybrid for pharma or biotech companies as Chief Medical Officer, VP Clinical Development, Therapeutic Area Head, Medical Advisor, Medical Director, Drug Safety Physician, or Clinical Development Lead. They continue to receive the training and development they need with abundant resources and access to our faculty members for a two-year period. The best part is that each Ocular CRC Consultant is trained for a particular job in a specific sub-specialty area (cornea, glaucoma, retina or IRD), so they truly master the position. Our goal is to support drug developers of all sizes by creating a culture of excellence in Ophthalmology Clinical Development medical talent-scape.
We are medical experts trained to keep an eye on ophthalmology clinical trials.
Q: This is a very specific niche. How did you come up with the idea?
A: I’ve always been fascinated by the eye, even as a medical student. The eye is an isolated organ, and I feel incredibly blessed to have had the opportunity to transition from my clinical job at the Jules Stein Eye Institute 23 years ago, to my first Pharma job with Johnson & Johnson. At first, it was to get out of the scrubs and white coat, dress up in pant suits, and enjoy the ‘corporate life” for a few months. It was an incredible learning experience at J&J and set the pace for a fulfilling career journey working for ISTA pharmaceuticals, Bausch & Lomb, Santen, Syneos Health, and AGTC. I was fortunate to work on multiple clinical research projects and launch multiple drugs, in doing so, I found that ophthalmology had become the learning lab for innovation such as gene therapy, stem cell research, and even CRISPR. We had stepped up the game in vision care research being the launching pad for many technologies, especially refractive, glaucoma, cataract and vitreoretinal surgery, imaging and diagnostics. We have an incredibly amazing community of people, dedicated to eye and vision care, scientific research, as well as drug and device development.
I found a huge unmet need in this incredible space that I love and after COVID hit, I had the opportunity to take a risk and do something about it.
The Ocular CRC is the first formal pharma clinical job training and placement program, and it was designed by MDs, for MDs. Pharmaceutical companies can now confidently tap into an excellent medical talent pool trained to ensure strong leadership, clinical data reliability, validity, and credibility. The Ocular CRC goal is to keep the hiring process simple, and the rates affordable for all the companies including start-ups.
Q: This has been a humongous undertaking for you. What do you know now that you wish you had known three years ago?
A: By creating a culture of excellence as explained, Ocular CRC is also challenging the status quo. We are creating a paradigm shift in the way pharmaceutical medical talent recruitment and medical services operate. We are finding that HR, outsourcing and some CEOs are not aware that hiring outside Ophthalmology, or even untrained Ophthalmologists is no longer necessary.
The Ocular CRC ‘Eye on the Talent’ pool has a list of our available and upcoming Optometrists, Ophthalmologists, and Ophthalmology trained MDs and Pharmacists who have received job training and experience in a specific sub-specialty to fill their open clinical job openings or provide medical and clinical services.
Q: What tactics have you used for business development or outreach? What marketing things have you done that seem to work?
A: The Ocular CRC Business Development and Client Relationship teams have been busy with email outreach to Optometrists and Ophthalmologists for the summer online training course which has been a big hit because we offer are currently offering a 50% discount on the training fee. It includes an 8-week online asynchronous training through our e-learning platform.
Additionally, we have continued to update our website, and LinkedIn page to boost awareness. Finally, we had a huge launch in April at one of the biggest ophthalmology conferences, ARVO. That was a big win for us because we created a massive awareness by showing up very big at this official launch.
Q: Were you a speaker, or did you have a booth? What was your presence at the conference?
A: Yes. We had a 20’ by 20’ booth space. It was Ocular CRC’s first exhibit booth. We put in a lot of time and money to make sure that the booth space was aesthetically pleasing and welcoming. It showcased the three components of the business: Ocular Clinical Research College, Ocular Clinical Research Consultants, and Ocular Clinical Research Connect. Ocular CRC Connect is a free membership online community that connects professionals that work in the ophthalmology and/or clinical research space anywhere in the world. We had a lot of doctors, scientists, fellows, CROs, and pharma companies visit the booth. Our pre-exhibit marketing efforts helped a lot, and we had some nice, branded gifts for our visitors. We have continued to follow-up since the conference with email outreach.
I gave a presentation at the conference introducing the company, and I focused my presentation on the ‘Ocular CRC Ready’ Consultants Training & Job Placement Program for Eye doctors.
Q: How many days was the conference?
A: It was a six-day conference, but the exhibition hall was open for four days.
Q: And all in, including rental of the business space, design of the space, the giveaways, the travel to the conference, how much money did you invest?
A: A lot! The booth space cost a lot because we went for the best. Fortunately, the ROI is proving that it was a great investment.
Q: I'm sure you got people's names, business cards, addresses, etc. Now what's the plan for the follow-up?
A: Yes, we did. Lots of business cards, referrals, etc. We had a lot of doctors who even called in because they heard about our booth. Our social media following is increasing. I am getting calls for interviews, enquiries about possible partnerships, and collaboration discussions.
Q: It does take time to build momentum. What was one of the early successes or wins that inspired you to keep going?
A: The Ocular CRC College had a huge win. This has been one of my biggest achievements and I’m most excited for the MDs who complete the course.
This activity has been approved for AMA PRA Category 1 CreditTM.
This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the accreditation requirements and policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) through the joint providership of the American Academy of Ophthalmology and Ocular Clinical Research Company. The American Academy of Ophthalmology is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians.
Q: Are you still doing consulting work yourself or are you just focusing now on building the business?
A: Yes, I am an Ocular CRC Executive Consultant. This means that I am one of the Principal Consultants who provide oversight of the work performed by the doctors during ‘On-the-Job’ Training.
Q: What advice would you have for somebody who has been doing some consulting work for a few years and has a well-defined niche, but wants to expand beyond just themselves? Someone that wants to move from being a solopreneur to an entrepreneur. What advice would you give to someone like that?
A: Number one, I would suggest that they speak to the founder of PICA, Liz Steblay. I got a lot of knowledge and intelligence from Liz and the PICA organization, and I am grateful for the insight they shared.
Two, they need to define their niche and not try to do everything. It's important that they narrow this to a subspecialty. You can be a specialist, but if you have a subspecialty you are known for, you can really be a guru in that space. Then you're able to coach the consultants that are within your group.
My last piece of advice is to learn to take a break. When you're doing it by yourself, you can decide when to take a break, but when you bring other people on, it's harder to take a break because you adopt a higher sense of responsibility. I need to learn to take a break myself, but I do not regret any of the time I’ve put into this endeavor.
Q: What’s next for you and Ocular CRC?
A: Ocular CRC is a fast-growing business, and right now, we are creating awareness about the business while exceeding client expectations. Our focus is to continue to pursue excellence in our space, therefore, establishing trust as we penetrate the market is critical. This is a major component of the Ocular CRC Readiness training.
Next, we will be extending our ophthalmology clinical research medical talent training, development, and placement outreach to the global community through Ocular CRC Connect. We want to make a greater impact by providing ophthalmology clinical research job training to eye doctors in developing nations. Ocular CRC can support biopharma companies on a global scale by providing them trained medical talent in each location.
Together, through ophthalmology clinical research, we have all been given the opportunity to give the gift of sight to many. Therefore, by keeping our eyes on the goal, we will soon see an end to global blindness.
Q: How can people find out more about you or Ocular CRC?
A: Our website is ocularcrc.com, our number is 1-866-OCULAR CRC, and we can be reached by email at info@ocularcrc.com. We are also on LinkedIn. The easiest way to reach me is by scheduling a chat, there are multiple links on our website to do that. I’m happy to speak with anyone who would like to learn more about Ocular CRC.
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