Her Story
About Jenna
I'm currently the Senior Director of Regulatory Affairs at Synchromia, where I've been for about 6 months. We're a drug-device combination immunotherapy developer for prostate cancer currently, but also expanding out to breast cancer and lung cancer. I'm responsible for all the regulatory operations for the organization in developing our regulatory and clinical strategy, working with FDA, working with global regulatory agencies, developing clinical trial applications, mapping out the regulatory strategy, and all of the interactions with FDA. I have a team of about 6 people at this point in this mid-sized startup. Before this, I was at Smith & Nephew for about 5 or 6 years, where I was the Director of Global Regulatory Affairs within Sports Medicine, advanced tissue healing, and ENT. I worked on Class III implants, CE marking, global regulatory commercialization, and reimbursement, managing a team of about 7-8 people. I was promoted from a senior manager position in 2022 and stayed as a director until 2025 when I got the opportunity at Synchromia. My background is pretty broad, from in vitro diagnostics to high-risk implants, autografts, allografts, wound devices, infusion pumps, software as a medical device, and other surgical RF devices. All the skills I learned in those organizations have allowed me to be successful in my current role.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Jenna
01What do you attribute your success to?
I have a personality that allows me to really communicate on a deeper level with people. I think there's a lot of psychology involved, and I just have always been able to not just hear what people say, but understand what they want. That psychology has allowed me to really get ahead and think about not just what somebody needs now, but what they need in the next month, 6 months, a year, and planning out solutions to address those concerns and those needs. I've never been waiting for an opportunity or waiting for somebody to tell me what they want, because I already know, and I've already come up with lots of strategies and solutions to get there. I'm not just thinking about today or tomorrow, but what's happening with the business. Are we at risk, and how are we going to solve those risks? I'm thinking about everything all at the same time - the problems of the company, my welfare, and where things are going. Sometimes it's sleepless nights, and I sometimes overthink, but I really want to do a great job, and to do that, I really have to think about the variables, the risks, and all the solutions.
02What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
Resourcing is always a challenge, being able to do more with less. I've hit that as well as part of this startup, coming from a larger organization and being able to be successful here and turn the needle. Being able to negotiate with leadership teams, sometimes in a weakened position, but I think through my relationship building, my negotiation skills, and just my ability to connect and problem solve has really allowed me to build a lot of respect within the organization, develop a lot of strong organizational change, and convince other strong leaders to want to go along with some of the initiatives I've developed.
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