Alum 'Tackles Global Emergency' at Moderna
Relentlessness. Lilly Medeiros, a Roger Williams graduate from the class of 2014, shares that relentlessness is one of the core values her employer, Moderna, emphasizes at their company, and the one that resonates with her most. As an Engineer in Early Development Operations, Lilly has spent the last year and a half directly contributing to the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Everybody rallied, it was one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen. Everyone dropped what they were doing to tackle this global emergency with no hesitation. The resilience that people have shown; we know that there’s a goal out there, and that we need to achieve it, so we have to figure out a way to do it.”
Having graduated from RWU with degree concentrations in both Biology and Chemistry, Lilly always knew she wanted to contribute to the medical field somehow, but wasn’t quite sure where.
“My path was very non-linear. Honestly, I graduated not really knowing for sure what I wanted to do,” she said.
She worked in several sectors of the medical field, including orthopedics and biomedical engineering with silk biomaterials, before eventually landing in the biotechnology world, finding where she truly wants to be. Lilly started with Moderna in 2018, when the company was quite new, and had no products out on the market.
“It was very much a building blocks situation, we were finding things out, testing new opportunities, and I really, really liked that. Those water cooler conversations amongst us all are what helped build such a strong environment.” Fast forward to today, and Lilly’s work with Moderna is more crucial than ever. “I am indebted to the people we’ve pulled together in this fight. I am very proud of everyone that is a part of this, whether directly or indirectly.”
When asked about some of the things she loved most about her experience at Roger, she praised RWU’s instruction model, saying how much she loves that RWU gives students the opportunity to go outside the usual structures of curricula.
“You get to sort of build the ship as you are flying it,” she said.
Lilly also made sure to praise the Public Speaking course she took her first semester as a freshman at RWU.
“That class taught me not only how to speak well, but to listen," she said. "In our situation now, it’s listening to folks in the public on what’s happening; how are people reacting to things? How do we make the vaccine more accessible? How do we get communications out there? Listening resonates through every single aspect of a business, whether you’re doing the research, whether you’re in quality assurance, all the way through to marketing, and getting a product out there. You have to listen.”
A former member of the RWU Volleyball team, as well as the former chair of RWU’s Inter-Class Council, Lilly also shared how impactful her extra-curricular experiences at RWU were. “I made very close friends who I’m still close with to this day. They were at my wedding. I learned skills with these extracurriculars that are still applicable in my everyday life.”
Lilly shared with all of us some thoughtful advice for anyone looking to get into the healthcare field, or even for anyone seeking a major shift in life somewhere: one: use your network, and two: engross yourself in things that are different, and that put you into an uncomfortable space. “Make sure you meet all the standard requirements, but also, challenge yourself to be a more well-rounded person.”