13 Roles Spanning 28+ Years: Alyssa's Journey at ICON

Alyssa Gilliam reflects on 13 roles at ICON, why curiosity has shaped her career, and the opportunities many people don't realise exist in clinical research.

When Alyssa graduated from university, she thought she knew exactly what her future looked like.

"I thought I wanted to be a doctor," she says. "That was always the plan."

After working in a laboratory during graduate school, however, she realised research at the bench wasn't where she wanted to build her career.

A friend suggested she apply for a Clinical Trial Assistant (CTA) role at ICON while she figured out what came next.

"I thought it was something I'd do for a little while while I worked out what I wanted to be when I grew up."

Twenty-eight years later, she's still here.

Today, Alyssa is Vice President of Clinical Supply Management (CSM) and Interactive Response Technology (IRT), having progressed through 13 different roles across clinical operations, project management and technology leadership at ICON.

Looking back, Alyssa says her first role as a CTA taught her far more than she realised at the time.

"It was a very administrative role. There was a lot of filing, faxing and data entry." But beneath those everyday responsibilities was something much bigger.

"That's where you actually learn the foundation of clinical research. You learn the terminology, the acronyms, how study teams work together and, most importantly, why we do what we do."

As a CTA, she attended study meetings, worked alongside Clinical Research Associates (CRAs), Clinical Trial Managers and Project Managers, and began to understand how clinical trials move from planning to patient care.

"You're sitting in meetings taking minutes, but you're also hearing how studies are progressing, how patients are enrolled and how treatments reach the people who need them."

One realisation has stayed with her ever since.

"People think they're just filing paperwork, but you're an integral part of getting medicines to patients. That's something many people don't realise."

After progressing into a CRA role, Alyssa discovered that technical knowledge alone wasn't enough.

"The biggest thing being a CRA taught me was how to manage setbacks"

Travel delays, changing site schedules and unexpected challenges meant every monitoring visit required flexibility.

"You may arrive with a perfectly planned schedule, only to discover everything has changed. You learn to adapt very quickly." Those experiences proved invaluable as she moved into project management.

"As a CRA, you're already managing lots of small projects. You're balancing priorities, organising your workload and solving problems every day."

Moving into project management felt like a natural next step, while broadening her understanding of the wider clinical development process and the many specialist functions involved in delivering a study.

One of the biggest turning points in Alyssa's career came when she was offered an opportunity outside traditional clinical operations.

She joined ICON's Interactive Response Technology (IRT) team, a move that required her to develop an entirely new technical skillset.

"I had to learn to speak a different language." Working alongside programmers, validation specialists and IT teams pushed her well outside her comfort zone.

"I'm not programming these systems myself, but I had to understand how they worked and how all the different teams worked together."

For candidates unfamiliar with IRT, Alyssa explains its purpose simply. "IRT is how you get the right drug to the right patient at the right time."

The technology manages patient randomisation and clinical supply throughout a study, ensuring participants receive the correct treatment according to the study protocol.

Over the past decade, the technology has continued to evolve, with configurable platforms, greater system integration and increasing demand for flexible solutions.

"Our job is to understand what problem a client is trying to solve and then build the right solution for them."

Across almost three decades at ICON, Alyssa says one factor has consistently influenced her development.

"The people."

She credits mentors and colleagues with helping her recognise opportunities she may never have considered herself.

"I've been incredibly lucky to have some great mentors." She also believes relationships built across departments have been just as important.

"As people move around the business, they remember who they've worked with. When opportunities come up, they often think of those relationships."

Her own move into IRT came after a former colleague recognised her potential for a completely different role, which reinforced an important lesson.

"Building relationships across the organisation is incredibly important."

Ask Alyssa why she's spent nearly three decades at ICON and her answer comes quickly.

"It really is the people."

She acknowledges it can sound like a cliché, but believes it's true. "I've had so many opportunities over the years."

She also values working in an environment that continually encourages growth.

"People challenge you. They test you. But they also strengthen you."

For Alyssa, that's why every new role has felt like another opportunity rather than simply another promotion.

When Alyssa joined ICON, she never imagined where her career would lead.

Her advice to anyone beginning their own journey is to stay open-minded. "Be open to different opportunities."

She also believes clinical research remains one of the most misunderstood industries. "Most people have no idea what clinical research actually is."

Whether you're working in quality, project management, technology, data, clinical operations or another specialist function, every role contributes to bringing new treatments to patients.

"You don't have to work in a laboratory or become a doctor to help save people's lives."

Perhaps her most important advice is to take ownership of your own development. "You are your best advocate."

She encourages early career professionals to ask questions, volunteer for new experiences and embrace challenges, even when they feel uncomfortable.

"Be willing to learn. Be willing to try hard things. Be willing to fail, then pick yourself up, dust yourself off and go back to the next opportunity."

For Alyssa, that mindset has shaped every stage of her career, from her first day as a Clinical Trial Assistant to leading global teams today. And if there's one lesson her story demonstrates, it's that the best careers are often the ones you never planned.