May 13, 2025 | In this episode of The Chain, host Tariq Ghayur, PhD, Tariq Ghayur Consulting, LLC , talks with Pamela Barney, former associate director of HR, AbbVie, about her career within biotech/pharma organizations and some key lessons learned, such as taking advantage of your contacts and network, managing diverse workforces, and HR’s role in creating an engaged team. Barney also discusses why she entered the HR field and the challenges of culture changes when transitioning from a small organization to a large company.

GUEST BIO

Pamela Barney, Senior Human Resources Consultant; Former Associate Director of HR, AbbVie
A seasoned human resources director with over 35 years of experience, Pam Barney is currently working as a human resources consultant focused on aligning HR initiatives with business goals, encouraging a positive workplace culture and championing strategic talent management. In 2024 she retired from AbbVie where she worked in the bio-pharma field beginning in 1989, starting at BASF Bioresearch Corporation as the first person in HR. At BASF she initially partnered with a team of 5 scientists from Germany and was tasked with launching, staffing, and driving the success of this startup division. Pam held multiple human resources roles following BASFs acquisition by Abbott in 2001, continuing to collaborate with R&D and manufacturing throughout. From there she partnered closely with leaders of multiple divisions throughout the split of Abbott to AbbVie in 2013, supporting the continuing growth and driving HR alignment to this global bio-pharma corporation.

MODERATOR BIO

Tariq Ghayur, PhD, Tariq Ghayur Consulting, LLC; Entrepreneur in Residence, FairJourney Biologics
Dr. Ghayur retired from AbbVie (July 2021) and works as an independent consultant. He has 30+ years’ experience leading multi-disciplinary and cross-therapeutic area Biologics discovery programs and developing novel Biologics platforms. Several biologics programs resulted in clinical development candidates. Dr. Ghayur led the team that pioneered the discovery and development of the Dual-variable-Domain-Ig (DVD-Ig) and other multi-specific platforms. Dr. Ghayur also led the team that defined the uptake, intracellular trafficking, and lysosomal degradation of anti-TNF mAbs/DVD-Ig, resulting in the concept of anti-TNF-ADC (next-Gen anti-TNF). In addition, Dr. Ghayur proposed and helped implement several corporate-wide (Abbott & AbbVie) initiatives to foster cross-functional/cross-TA collaborations to bring forward innovative concepts/programs.