Lauren Fontana PhD

Lauren joined the Sanofi R&D Lyophilization Center of Excellence within the Global Biological Drug Product Development (BioDPD) team in May 2019. Lauren recently defended her doctorate in Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Connecticut, where she was advised by Dr. Robin Bogner. For her dissertation research, she developed a Raman spectroscopic method to detect secondary and tertiary structural changes in proteins in the solid state. The goal was the development of a structural analysis tool for use in formulation development, process development, and stability studies. Prior to UConn, Lauren spent 15 years in the pharmaceutical industry as a chemist working in various areas, including the development of analytical methods and medical devices, as well as, formulation and process development for lyophilized protein drug products.

After receiving her B.S. in Chemistry from Framingham State University in Massachusetts Fontana left academia to work and start a family. Fifteen years elapsed between her B.S. and her work towards a doctoral degree. She joined the graduate program in Pharmaceutical Sciences at UConn in 2013 as her son went off to college. In 2017 she secured a Pre-Doctoral Fellowship in Pharmaceutics from the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) Foundation.