College of Science alumni spotlight: Paris Hamilton

Meet Paris Hamilton. In his role at Voisin Consulting Life Sciences, he helps pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies navigate government regulations placed on drug development. He earned his Ph.D. in synthetic, organic and medicinal chemistry from Clemson University in 2017. We caught up with Hamilton and asked him about his career, Clemson and his life outside of work.

Q: What is your current position and what do you do in it?

I am an associate director in regulatory affairs for chemistry, manufacturing, and controls (CMC). There are many parts of drug applications and a lot of different scientific studies that are needed to prove the drug is safe and effective for patients. In the CMC area where I specialize, I focus on the chemistry of new molecules to understand all of their properties, how they are manufactured, the kind of controls that are in place to ensure they can be made consistently with the right quality, how the molecules interact with things like packaging, and the molecules' behavior over time under different environmental and chemical conditions (e.g., to be able to set an expiration date).

Q: Why did you choose Clemson?

When I was doing undergraduate research at James Madison University (JMU), my advisor suggested I read scientific articles that interested me and check out where the authors worked. The articles I read led me to the Clemson chemistry department, where I had a chance to talk with different professors. Clemson was my top choice, and I was excited to be accepted.

Q: When did you know you wanted to pursue a career in science and specifically chemistry?

I was really good with biology and chemistry in high school at Lake Taylor High School (Norfolk, VA). In chemistry, I had a friendly classroom competition with a friend of mine to see who got the higher grade on a test or assignment. It helped that I enjoyed my chemistry teacher at the time. From then on, I knew I would pursue science in college.

I started out as a biology major at JMU, but I found the introductory biology classes way too easy and I could not see myself sticking with it. When I got my first taste of college chemistry, I surprisingly struggled a bit. It was that initial struggle that pushed me to select chemistry as my major. I love a good puzzle and I knew that if I found something that was interesting and where I could always learn something new, then I would never get bored with it. One of my loves at the time was the television show "CSI" and I just knew that after college, I would work as a forensic scientist. For the longest time, that was my end goal.

Q: What is the most satisfying part of your job? The most challenging?

The most satisfying part of my role is when I've put in a lot of effort into a drug development program and I see that it's either successfully meeting clinical trial milestones or it has been approved by the FDA (in the U.S.) or EMA (in Europe). Then I know the therapeutic will soon be in the hands of the patients who need it.

The most challenging part of my role is when you try to help a company with the studies required for a successful drug development program, but they are not open to the feedback. So much time is wasted, and the people that suffer the most are those living with the disease.

Q: What has surprised you about your career?

The flexibility I've shown in navigating my career. The career path that I had envisioned for myself had changed by the time I got to Clemson. I went from wanting to be a forensic scientist to wanting to use organic chemistry to create new molecules for use as drugs (i.e., medicinal chemistry).

After learning more about the drug development world, I was exposed to other career paths where I could use my knowledge and experience and pursue my interest in business. I didn't want to stay in the laboratory for my whole career since a lot of decisions on the direction of scientific progress and research happens at the administrative levels.

In order to get a seat at the table for those higher level decisions, I had to make pivots into areas that I did not always feel comfortable. I am surprised at my ability to adapt to new things even when imposter syndrome crept in, telling me that I might not know enough to be successful. I've always proved that imposter feeling wrong.

Q: What is the best advice you've ever gotten?

Don't wish the task was easier, wish you were better.

Q: Besides the necessities, what is one thing you could not go a day without?

A moment of quiet time to myself to think. I am a person who can fit into both extrovert and introvert worlds, but too much extrovert activity drains my battery and I need time to recharge and feel like myself again.

Q: What is your proudest accomplishment?

Being around to watch my three boys grow up and having the ability to share my knowledge and experiences with them.

Q: What is the top item on your bucket list?

To leave my kids with assets they can build upon. A second would be to become a New York Times bestselling author.

Q: What was your first job ever?

I worked at Chuck E. Cheese in different positions - cook, game room technician and dressing up as the mascot. I did that job for years in high school and even continued it when I went home on summer vacations from JMU until I started doing summer chemistry research.

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