Lise Giehm

I have this saying that 90% of your work needs to be fun.

Job Title: Senior Director Pharmaceutical Development

Education: PhD in Biophysics and Post-doc at the Department of Pharmaceutical and Analytical Chemistry

Lise always enjoyed chemistry, math, biology, and physics. That is why she decided to study engineering in biotechnology, where she was introduced to peptide aggregation. 

“It fascinated me. I was blown away by how proteins and peptides clump together to form aggregates.”

This discovery motivated Lise to complete a PhD and post-doc and pursue a university career.  It was her plan to continue this path until an open position for a ‘Research Scientist knowledgeable in peptide aggregation’ at Zealand Pharma popped up.

Lise applied and soon after started her journey at Zealand.

Lise’s first project was special

When she started working at Zealand, Lise was assigned what would become a significant project.

“My first project at Zealand is now a drug on the market. That is really special to me.” 

Lise felt lucky and privileged that this was her very first project, and she recognizes the huge opportunity at Zealand. You can inquire about anything that interests you, and most likely, you will have the opportunity to explore it, she says. 

From labs to leadership

“People talk about the difference between university and industry work, but I didn’t really feel that. My career at Zealand felt more like a continuation of my research.” 

When Lise started at Zealand, she worked both inside and outside the labs, doing research, training technicians, and working with assays in the lab. Now, 13 years later, her role has developed to Senior Director of Pharmaceutical Development.

Leadership was not a path that Lise initially thought to actively pursue. Rather, it came naturally as she always enjoyed teaching. 

For Lise, being a good leader and colleague is a combination of seeing individual potential, empowerment, trust, and fun. Lise always tries to remove any obstacles for her team so they can focus on and excel at what they do best. But she is also here to make work fun.

“I have this saying that 90% of your work needs to be fun. Because when you have fun, you’re more creative and efficient.” 

Culture and colleagues stand out

Lise faces different challenges and tasks every day, but that is what she loves about her job. And her team of course. 

Lise credits her team and their ‘we help each other’ mentality for enabling her to do anything. Because even as Senior Director, Lise needs help sometimes. 

“I think that is the beauty of Zealand, right? It’s part of our culture to reach out and ask questions.”