Victoria Cavendish, Ph.D. leads the IQVIA MedTech Regulatory Solutions team. She joined IQVIA in 2016 and is responsible for strategy execution, including customer engagement and service delivery. Victoria has over 20 years of experience in supporting medical device and diagnostics companies navigate the regulatory, quality and clinical evidence landscape.
Give us IQVIA’s elevator pitch.
IQVIA MedTech, part of IQVIA, is dedicated to supporting the needs of the Medical Device and In Vitro Diagnostics industry, from concept to patient. IQVIA MedTech delivers powerful insights with speed and agility — enabling customers to accelerate the clinical development and commercialization of innovative solutions that improve healthcare outcomes for patients.
What is one thing the Medical Alley community might be unaware of about IQVIA MedTech that you think would be good to know?
IQVIA MedTech focuses on end to end support for medical device and IVD companies regardless of whether you are a startup or large established manufacturer. We achieve this by building on four key pillars: technology enabled clinical trial design and delivery to speed new products to patients, regulatory, quality and safety compliance across the product lifecycle, real world evidence based innovation in the use of data, and commercial technology solutions to ensure stakeholder engagement.
How did the COVID-19 pandemic change IQVIA MedTech for the long term?
We are proud to join the global effort to proactively fight COVID-19. We are mobilizing our capabilities and resources to help governments, patients, healthcare providers, life sciences, and others understand what’s happening and how we can reduce the impact of this virus, together. Above all, we are committed to helping everyone in healthcare do what needs to be done to keep things moving forward in this new reality.
What are the big milestones to come in the next few years for IQVIA MedTech?
IQVIA MedTech will maintain our commitment to partner with medical device and diagnostic companies deliver innovative treatments and achieve better patient outcomes. We work with more than 700 medtech companies, including a majority of Top 100 and emerging companies across our clinical and commercial solutions. Therefore, we will strategically expand, by diversifying both the product portfolio and geographic areas to ensure our fit-for-purpose offerings provide premier solutions for our customers. Ultimately, our guiding light remains the same – helping medical device and diagnostic companies move from concept to patients faster and drive healthcare forward.
What does leadership look like to you?
Being a leader does not mean I know everything, in fact on some occasions I can be the least experienced person around the table. Therefore, my role as a leader is to provide the ambition, direction, and guidance so the team can fly. To effectively put this mindset into action, I engage with the team, actively listen, observe and be willing to try new approaches. It can feel messy and uncomfortable at times, but it creates space for the team to flourish and achieve their goals.
What is the best advice you have received in your career? What is the worst?
The best advice I have ever received is to make sure you do something that you love, so that it drives and inspires you without you really noticing. The worst was to ‘follow the money’!
What have been the most rewarding moments in your career?
Personally, one of the most rewarding moments was completing my PhD. However, as I have the privilege of leading a team, I am regularly rewarded when I see individuals succeed and progress in their careers.
What is one personal goal for the upcoming year?
After the challenges of the past year, I’m working on reminding myself it’s OK to breath and take some time out. I’m good at encouraging my team to that, but often forget I should do that too.
How do you relax/decompress?
My family has recently moved closer to the coast so I’m starting to sea swim and kayak regularly. I have found this is a great way to ‘clear your mind’ and relax.
What do you enjoy most about the Medical Alley community?
The Medical Alley community is a great source to connect with people and catch up on topics across functional areas. It’s remarkable to have an industry association that is genuinely embedded in the medical device community, that is what makes it invaluable.
