Dr. Michael Forstner
Senior Risk Engineer, Global Corporate Switzerland
What is your background?
- I hold an MS in Biochemistry from the University of Technology in Graz, Austria and a PhD in Biochemistry from ETH in Zurich, Switzerland.
- My Postdoc is in Structural Biochemistry from the University of California, Berkeley, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
- I was an Assistant Professor of Structural Molecular Biology at Sveriges Lantbruksuniversitetet in Uppsala, Sweden.
- I've worked as a Senior Scientist (Project Leader) in Oncology R&D at Pharmacia Nerviano in Italy.
- I was also a Senior Research Invesitgator (Group Leader) at the Drug Discovery Center (later Central Technologies) at Novartis in Basel, Switzerland.
Why did you choose Zurich?
I wanted to see another aspect of the pharmaceutical industry after having had the inside experience.
Why have you stayed with Zurich?
I am getting an exciting helicopter view of the global pharmaceutical industry, their issues, their risk management strategies, etc., that I would not be able to get from within. At the same time, I can contribute to specific issues our customers have with their products or their production sites that require active risk management. The very positive feedback I receive from some of the customers is really keeping me going.
If I were interviewing you…
…I'd look for someone with broad experience in the pharmaceutical industry and highly developed analytical skills.
