In a special virtual ceremony held on the evening of June 9, LTEN has announced the winners of the 7th Annual LTEN Excellence Awards, the only professional awards program specifically recognizing excellence, innovation and performance in life sciences training. Disruptive innovation strategist Shawn Kanungo was the keynote speaker and emcee for the awards ceremony, which also featured an opening presentation from Richard Sampson, LTEN Board of Directors president.
Awards were presented in eight competitive categories determined by a panel of judges. The 2021 recipients of the 2nd Annual LTEN Field Trainer Scholarships were also announced during the awards ceremony.
Not announced were the annual LTEN Member of the Year awards for practitioner and supplier categories. Those special awards, along with the annual LTEN Hall of Fame inductions, will be honored at the 50th LTEN Annual Conference, taking place November 8-11, 2021, as a hybrid in-person and online event.
“Innovation was the key to everything our members accomplished in the past year, and it was an honor to recognize that spirit at the annual Excellence Awards,” said Dawn Brehm, LTEN executive director. “Despite all the challenges of the year – or maybe because of them – we shattered the record for number of nominees. That meant a really difficult process for our judges, but they dug in and selected some impressive winners from a list of very deserving nominees. Everyone involved in this year’s awards program – nominees, finalists, winners and judges – should be proud of their contributions.”
Here are the winners in the eight competitive categories in the LTEN Excellence Awards and the 2021 recipients of the LTEN Field Trainer Scholarships:
All-Star Teams (primary market) – The Neuroscience Account Associate Development team, SK Life Science, for creating a peer-driven development program.
Emerging Leaders (primary market) – Brett Smith, Takeda Pharmaceutical Co., for stepping up and planning innovative launches.
Innovation (primary market) – Susan Hendrich, AstraZeneca, for designing patient-centric and emphathetic training, and Jessica Hutchins, Chiesi, for increasing engagement and effectiveness through gamification.
Training for Change (primary market) – The SDPA Sunovion Training & Development team, Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma America, for creating a two-day virtual field leadership summit.
Non-Commercial Training Efficiency (primary market) – Jennifer A. Marshall of Janssen, for redefining her work group to develop the workforce of the future.
Innovation (provider) – LCILX, for building a virtual reality mindful meditation program, and MC3, for using a virtual city to build a multimodal launch.
Industry Partnership (provider) – TiER1 Performance & Genentech, for together using a fitness theme to create engaging compliance training.
Learning Content (provider) – CMR Institute, for developing client-focused virtual selling content.
Also honored at the ceremony were the two 2021 winners of the 2nd annual LTEN Field Trainer Scholarships, which helps cover cost for selected field trainers to attend LTEN events. The LTEN Field Trainer Committee created the scholarship program, solicited applications and suggested winners to the LTEN Board of Directors, who made the final decisions.
The 2021 field trainer scholarships went to Shawn Nordquist of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, for designing and implementing a new field training framework, and Michael Tomlinson of Eisai, for improving retention through career path education.
Recently honored at #LTEN2021 were four 2021 Members of the Year who were named at the conference ceremonies for the 7th Annual LTEN Excellence Awards.
The Members of the Year award honors those LTEN colleagues who have gone “above and beyond” to support LTEN missions, goals and objectives. At the in-person ceremony, two Members of the Year were named from the supplier community and two were named from the “practitioner” community. The 2021 LTEN Members of the Year are:
- Amity Cutaia, executive director, capabilities, learning & development, for Astellas Pharma
- Joe Wilmoth, executive director, training and development, for Arcutis Biotherapeutics
- Jessica Knox, chief executive officer, Metrix Group
- Celeste Mosby, vice president & general manager, learning solutions, for Syneos Health.
A special issue of LTEN Focus on Training magazine will be released in August 2021, spotlighting the winners and finalists in the 2021 awards competition. For more information on the awards and/or to view past winners, visit www.L-TEN.org/awards.
LTEN congratulates all winners, and thanks all nominees, finalists and judges for their participation in the 7th Annual LTEN Excellence Awards. Nominations for the 8th Annual LTEN Excellence Awards will open late in 2021.
ABOUT LTEN
The Life Sciences Trainers & Educators Network (www.L-TEN.org) is the only global 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization specializing in meeting the needs of life sciences learning professionals. LTEN shares the knowledge of industry leaders, provides insight into new technologies, offers innovative solutions and communities of practice that grow careers and organizational capabilities. Founded in 1971, LTEN has grown to more than 2,100 individual members who work in pharmaceutical, biotech, medical device and diagnostic companies, and industry partners who support the life sciences training departments.
MEDIA CONTACT
For more information contact Nannette Nolan, LTEN director of marketing communications, at nnolan@L-TEN.org.
