Esteban González Burchard Cover Letter

Dear Human Resources Manager, I am interested in the Medical Director position at Esteban González Burchard and my qualifications align with the FDA's current inclusivity requirements for clinical trials. I have 28 years of NIH-funded experience in pulmonary and critical care medicine, immunologic, genetic, and pharmacogenetic research from academia to the biotech/biopharma industry. I have led UCSF’s Clinical Pharmacology fellowship and taught genetics to all first-year PharmD students for nearly two decades. My work has involved collaborations with biotech firms, pharma companies, the FDA, and NIH. As an intensive care unit (ICSU) physician, I am well-trained to under the pathophysiology and care for patients with cardiovascular disease. My focus has been on engaging diverse populations in research, particularly studying asthma in African-American, Puerto Rican, and Mexican communities. This research has yielded insights into disease pathways and drug responses applicable to drug development. As principal investigator (PI) for studies including GALA (Latinos), SAGE (African-Americans), and most recently as the lead principal investigator of the PRIMERO Puerto Rican birth cohort study, I have led large cross-functional teams that have identified key genetic markers for asthma across 16,000 minority participants. I initiated and served as the lead Principal Investigator for the PRIMERO (Puerto Rican Infant Metagenomic and Epidemiologic Study of Respiratory Outcomes) longitudinal birth cohort study from 2016-2022, focused on exploring the early origins of asthma in Puerto Rican children. An Observational Study Monitoring Board (OSMB), appointed by the NIH, regularly monitored our progress and provided feedback. Commencing recruitment in March 2020, coinciding with the “COVID-19 Shelter In Place” orders, we successfully achieved 95% of our recruitment goal by enrolling over 2,300 mothers and their newborns. We closely monitored the infants for respiratory infections and adverse events throughout the recruitment process, identifying, evaluating, and documenting over 5,000 cases. We collected blood samples from the mothers, nasal swabs, and cord blood from the newborns. We will use these samples for whole genome and RNA sequencing, epigenetic analyses, biochemical monitoring, and the systematic measurement of immunologic biomarkers. We regularly met with and submitted safety data reports to the OSMB and NIH. As the lead PI, I aim to apply this knowledge to your drug development programs. I have a proven track record in managing large-scale research and I am equipped to help reduce the time and cost of introducing new drugs to the market. I would like to discuss how my skills can benefit your team and contribute to developing innovative treatments. Thank you for your time and consideration. Sincerely, Esteban González Burchard, M.D., M.P.H.