Syamala Schoemperlen, the 2022 PharmaSUG Operations Chair, is from Benbrook, TX.

She has been a PharmaSUG volunteer for 21 years and a member of the executive committee for 13 of those years. Her roles have run the gamut from Operations Chair to Banquet Coordinator and much more! Syamala was introduced to SAS while working as a statistician and became so enamored, she decided to change careers.

She is a vegetarian who loves classical music, green sea turtles, and wine. Her hobbies include reading (preferably on the beach), listening to classical music, crocheting, and gardening.

Gary Moore, the 2022 PharmaSUG Academic Chair, is originally from Selma, Alabama and now resides in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Did you know on the back of his birth announcement is an article about the Selma to Montgomery March led by Martin Luther King Jr.?

Gary got his start studying Computer Science and Mathematics in college before landing his first post-schooling job at an FDA research facility. On his first day, they laid a 3-foot stack of SAS manuals on his desk and, thus, began his adventures.

He is a self-described “collector of hobbies”, including singing, string instruments, pottery, photography, Aikido, Judo, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

Richann, aka Lady in Pink, aka Lead Social Media Coordinator, is from Ohio by way of California and west Texas. You may also remember her as the Academic Chair for PharmaSUG 2019!

Richann was introduced to SAS in college and had her first job as an intern at a research lab. On the first day she was tasked with taking over a program that was uncommented using nothing more than the SAS manual to guide her.

She is an avid crafter and is known to make everything from her own tops, purses, and outfits for her dog.

Louise, a Social Media Coordinator, calls Boston home but is originally from Cincinnati and has lived all over the Midwest and Northeast.

She started her SAS journey writing code for her master’s thesis at MIT and was an early adopter of SAS graphics back when the graphics were output directly to a color printer.

She loves walking, travelling and photography. Did you know that Louise was a walk on to the McGill University hockey team? It’s a love that continues to this day having gained her coaching license to co-coach her daughter’s hockey teams up to Peewee!

DeDe, a Social Media Coordinator, was born in Montana but currently calls Maryland home (by way of North Dakota, Minnesota, and California).

Starting out as a Psychology major, Deanna first used SAS during her fourth year while working on a large-scale meta-analysis project and broke down in tears seeing her first SAS procedure. Luckily, she persevered and went on to submit her work for a presentation at MWSUG!

Did you know that Deanna sleeps with her eyes open (called nocturnal lagophthalmos)? It’s a trait that her son has also inherited!

Phil, Photographer, was born in Minnesota but currently calls Maryland home (by way of North Dakota).

While not a SAS user himself, he is frequently involved with various SAS conferences through photography and/or graphic design (such as WUSS, SESUG, and more!).

Phil is a classically trained artist in painting, sculpting, photography, and drawing. He co-owns a consulting business along with his wife (Deanna Schreiber-Gregory) and his favorite snack is trail mix.

Sean, a Social Media Coordinator, originally hails from Kansas but currently calls Boston his home.

He started learning SAS through the Summer Institute in Biostatistics (SIBS) at Boston University) which led him to pursue a master’s degree in Biostatistics at BU as well.

Sean loves playing video games, maintaining his pandemic sourdough starter, and trying to keep up with his three-year old son. He also has a love of bourbon in addition to a bit of a sweet tooth!

Karl, Data Standards Co-Chair, was born and raised in the open prairies of western Nebraska but currently calls eastern Nebraska home.

Being introduced to SAS during graduate school for statistics he found himself following the career path of a SAS programmer in the pharmaceutical industry.

He continually is involved with PharmaSUG and tries to develop other skills through conferences whenever possible (although parenting four daughters seems to be leaving less and less time). Being involved with athletics he continues to coach football and this year has found himself in gymnasiums for hours (and hours) watching his kids participate in their sports as well.

Andy, Marking Coordinator, was born in western North Carolina and now calls Raleigh home.

She worked for SAS for 40 years before taking a well-deserved retirement earlier this year. In that time she has served PharmaSUG and countless other user groups and conferences. For a time, she would assist the section chairs at SUGI (then the largest SAS conference) by creating a dataset of all the papers submitted for consideration.

Finally, her favorite food is…definitely not liver!

Bill, Statistics and Analytics Co-Chair, currently calls Colorado home but comes from Scranton, PA (of The Office fame).

Bill started using SAS working for a CRO in Pennsylvania and still uses it in his current work. When he’s not coding, Bill can be found spending time with his 6-year-old son, baking bread such as baguettes and sourdough, fly fishing, or back country skiing. He began his conference volunteer career back in 2013 at WUSS and has not looked back since!

Lida, Statistics and Analytics Co-Chair, calls southern California home. There she is the president of the OCIE SAS User Group and on the executive committee of for the local ASA chapter.

Lida was introduced to SAS during her master’s program after being encouraged to attend a conference, PharmaSUG 2007 in fact!

In her free time, Lida loves dancing, writing poems, and international travel and has a bit of a sweet tooth, especially dark chocolate!

Radha, Diversity Ambassador, comes from Pennsylvania by way of India by way of U.K. by way of India.

They were introduced to SAS in graduate school, using it to run all simulations for their dissertation which then led to using SAS when they joined the Pharmaceutical Industry.

Radha loves to travel, walk, hike, try new restaurants, and they are HUGE Philadelphia Eagles fans.

Nancy, both a Mobile App Coordinator and Webmaster, comes from Ann Arbor by way of Ohio.

She first encountered SAS while working as a statistician for a local phone company which made her realized she liked programming more than statistics.

She enjoys softball, sailing, volleyball, skiing, and is a big Ohio State Buckeyes fan. When it comes to snacks, Nancy loves fresh popped popcorn, but not of the microwave variety.

Ajay, Applications Development Co-Chair, comes from Cary, North Carolina but is originally from Amravati city located in Maharashtra India.

He was introduced to SAS while doing his master’s thesis on clinical data analysis. Ajay has been a section chair at PharmaSUG since 2017 and loves to cook and try new recipes.

He also loves playing cricket and badminton with his son.

Ali, Philanthropy Coordinator, comes from San Luis Obispo, California.

She is a senior recruiter and loves sky diving, hiking in Hawaii, and having ‘say yes’, days.

Her favorite snack is cheese and also enjoys surfing, hiking, and bike riding.

Mike, Submission Standards Co-Chair, comes to us from Indianapolis but originally is from the Chicago suburbs.

He had been a professional programmer, not using SAS, for 16 years prior to entering the pharmaceutical industry. There he encountered a trial-by-fire learning SAS and utilizes that knowledge in his current role as a data standards consultant.

Mike loves hiking, cycling, and is a self-described “recovering marathon runner”. Mike once lived in a New York City bus station for a week during a cross country bus trip while a poor college student.

Ellen wears many hats at PharmaSUG as a Philanthropy, Scholarship, and Special Events Coordinator and has been a part of the Executive Committee since 1998. She comes from Philadelphia and was introduced to SAS during her time in Cambridge Massachusetts.

Ellen used to be a competitive ballroom dancer and adores her grandchildren and spending time with them.

Raymond, Freelancers Forum Coordinator, is originally from Korea but has called California home for the past 44 years.

He was introduced to a wide variety of statistical software during his time in graduate school including SPSS, BMDP, and SAS, and, lucky for us, SAS is the one that stuck around.

Before becoming a statistical programmer, Raymond enjoyed a stint as a blackjack dealer and his favorite snack is nuts.

Soumya, e-Posters Co-Chair, was born and raised in Mumbai, India but now calls Pennsylvania home.

Her first exposure to SAS was back in 2005 when she was given a crash course in SDTM using SAS ETL Studio. Soumya discovered she was good enough at it to be absorbed into the SDTM team by the end of the course and has been coding since.

She enjoys roasted, salted mixed nuts, seasonal fruits, pita chips with hummus, and chips with guacamole. Some of her hobbies include music, reading, singing in a Bollywood karaoke group, and yoga.

Eric, Registration Coordinator and Electronic Document Coordinator, was born in Okinawa during a typhoon and was raised in Wisconsin.

He was introduced to SAS during his last year in college at a job fair. Every booth seemed to be asking if they knew SAS and, upon returning home, Eric’s boss in the computer science department pulled him aside and asked if he wanted to learn SAS.

Eric’s favorite food is chips and queso and their hobbies include music festivals, cruising, and hunting.

Carol, Real World Evidence and Big Data Co-Chair, was born on the naval base in Philadelphia and currently calls southern New Jersey home. .

Carol has worked with SAS for over 20 years, but only last May (2021) was she finally forced to work with SAS Graphs when an oncology study required her to do some complicated figures. .

Her favorite snacks include honey roasted peanut butter on a rice cracker (healthy) and dark chocolate peanut chews (not as healthy). .

Since marrying her husband, Carol has traveled to several countries including France, Germany, Costa Rica, Belize, and more.

Kristin, Regulatory & Standards Liaison, grew up in Downingtown, Pennsylvania.

Her first job in industry was at a small eDC company where she was handed the SDTMIG and told to use it to write a spec for an eCRF.

She has a passion for wine and, over the pandemic, even has become a certified sommelier. Kristin’s favorite snacks include beef jerky, cool ranch doritos, and cheese.

Dave, Co-Chair for Leadership Skills, comes from the Sacramento, California area where he resides in a converted hanger on a 20-acre airstrip.

His first exposure to SAS was in 2008 working for TalentMine where SAS Programmers were the first positions he filled. He loves to fly small planes and is working towards becoming a flight instructor.

Dave also loves salsa, cooking quesadillas, and, as for his sweet tooth, is biased towards Reese’s.

Matt, A/V Coordinator, was born in a small town in Michigan but currently calls Clayton, North Carolina home.

He was introduced to SAS in college, working for his uncle’s company that performed analytics for clinical trials.

Matt is a self-described technology enthusiast and always want to have the latest and greatest tech. He loves pretzels and sour patch kids and is very passionate about golf.

Surabhi, Electronic & Printed Signage Coordinator, grew up in Delhi, India and currently lives in Seattle.

She first used SAS back in 2008 at her first job and used it within the finance and insurance industry up until 2017 when she first worked within the pharmaceutical industry.

Surabhi loves to bake and considers the Great British Bakeoff to be high intensity drama.

Nagadip “Deep”, Quick Tips Co-Chair, grew up in Bangalore, India and currently lives in Monroe Township, NJ.

He first started programming using FORTRAN during his undergraduate career and first used SAS during graduate school.

Nagadip’s favorite snacks are anything that is salty, starchy, and fried. He loves to travel, spend times outdoors, and perform DIY home repairs through the use of YouTube tutorials.

Amber, Water Cooler Chat Coordinator, is born and raised in Washington state.

She was first introduced to SAS in graduate school when she had to learn a statistical software package. Several years later she further expanded on that knowledge in a new job in data management in clinical trials.

Amber’s favorite beverage is coffee and her hobbies include: skating, cycling, skiing, speedskating, and more.

Niraj, e-Posters Co-Chair, was born in India, attended graduate school in New Jersey, and currently lives in New Haven, Connecticut.

He was introduced to SAS while working as a graduate assistant. A fun fact about Niraj is that he was once bitten by a scorpion and the scorpion died a few minutes later (Niraj on the other hand had a fever for three days afterwards).

His favorite foods are chex-mix and popcorn and his hobbies include: collecting watches, watching movies, playing chess, and listening to jazz.

Brad, AI Co-Chair, was born and raised in Omaha but now lives in a little south of Nashville.

He started using SAS around 2000, during his first year in graduate school and has continued to use throughout his career (with a little R sprinkled in as well!).

Brad is also a craft beer enthusiast with a preference for west coast IPAs, and has even brewed a few of his own. He enjoys walking his dog twice each day and volunteers his time with his son's local scout troop.

Susan, Marketing Coordinator, is an avid knitter, considering it to be a very mathematical craft.

She has a, self-described, abnormally large stash of yarn for knitting and has won the blue and red ribbons at county fairs.

Susan started using SAS back in 1980 and first attended PharmaSUG back in 1997 in Hilton Head, South Carolina.

Derek, Quick Tips Co-Chair, lives in St. Louis but still considers Philadelphia, his birthplace, home.

He was hired for his first job as a SAS Programmer based on his experience with BASIC and FORTRAN for years prior. During Derek's first day on the job, he crashed the university's system due to not understanding how the data step worked.

He also has an affinity for trains, big and small and has even run a real steam locomotive on the Essex Steam Train and Riverboat. Derek loves to travel, watch ice hockey, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, and perform in a variety of blues bands.

Paul, has been heavily involved in the use of data flow technologies using the management of metadata. Recently he led two teams in the adoption of metadata systems. One of those teams is moving to automation between study build and SDTM build which will remove many of the challenges where changes in the data collection affect SDTM. With this, he has the benefit of working with talented team members who keep him "on my toes" with my programming skills. He is also pleased to share that he is a leader for the CDISC ADaM Standards Team developing oncology standards.

In addition, to all his work contributions, he has the privilege of being the PharmaSUG 2023 Operations Chair.

And what does he do when he is not working, well visiting with his son's family and spoiling grandsons. He also enjoys going on the Bourbon Trail when he makes it out to Kentucky.