For Truc Phan Moyer, who graduated from the Executive MBA/MS in Healthcare Leadership program in 2022, a career in health care was always the plan. She loves learning at the intersection of science, technology, and innovation, and has built a rewarding career in clinical research. Notably, she contributed to clinical studies on some of the first FDA-approved drugs for treating hepatitis C and supported Phase 3 clinical trials for chronic kidney disease. However, it was her work during the COVID-19 pandemic that spurred a deeper interest in the business side of health care.
In 2020, Moyer was at Genentech conducting a clinical study with underserved and minority patients infected with COVID-19. “I wanted to learn new ways to approach the same problems we see recurring in health care, and improve the processes patients go through,” she explained.
The Executive MBA/MS in Healthcare Leadership program stood out to her for its focus on health care. She also loved the location on Roosevelt Island, where the energy and excitement of meeting new people never dissipated. Though classes were remote for the first year due to the pandemic, Moyer valued any opportunity to learn alongside her cohort. Even when the winter residential session was made remote, students coordinated to meet in the Hamptons for a week, taking classes online together and building their community.
Moyer explained that the rigorous coursework rarely felt like work, as the cohort used their growing skillsets to navigate the pandemic together. “While running clinical studies for COVID-19, I gained real-world perspective and feedback from frontline clinicians that data alone could never provide,” said Moyer. “The obstacles they faced with funding really motivated me to seek new solutions. We needed new tools, whether in finance, strategy, or health care leadership to improve patient care.”
Her capstone project was particularly relevant to her work in clinical trials. She collaborated with Salesforce on implementing technology in health care and was grateful for the firsthand experience managing partnerships between technological companies and health care institutions.
Now working at Cytokinetics, a global specialty cardiovascular biopharma company, Moyer is leading COMET-HF, a Phase 3 clinical trial in patients with heart failure with severely reduced ejection fraction enrolling approximately 1,800 patients. It is a complex study requiring strong collaboration across regions and functions. She uses the skills she gained in the EMBA/MS program every day, whether she’s identifying risks or negotiating with other leaders. She’s especially proud to have the expertise to build highly efficient teams that execute with precision, discipline, and a commitment to improving outcomes for patients and their families.
Moyer is excited to pay her knowledge forward, so that she can support both her team and other emerging leaders in the field. She has mentored candidates for the EMBA/MS program and coached start-up companies, which she plans to continue supporting in the years to come.
Moyer advises incoming students to focus on what they love. She started the program when her children were young, while balancing a full-time career, but was determined to maintain a positive mindset. “There will always be obstacles, and you can only control how you react to them,” she said. “But, when you focus on what you love to do, everything else will fall into place.”