UPMC ACES consistently go beyond what is asked of them to deliver Life Changing Medicine and embody the values that drive all that we do at UPMC: responsibility and integrity, dignity and respect, caring and listening, quality and safety, innovation and excellence. Simply put, ACES winners make UPMC the best for our patients, colleagues, health plan members, and communities.
John Lowman, Senior Associate, Translational Sciences, was recognized as an employee who exemplifies UPMC’s Core Values as a 2024 ACES winner! Get to know John and the reasons he was nominated for this esteemed award.
Q: How long have you worked at Enterprises and how did you end up in your current role as Senior Associate on the Translational Sciences team?
I wouldn’t call it a linear path. After graduating from the Biomedical Engineering program at the University of Delaware in 2016, three friends and I cofounded a start-up to prevent narcotic waste abuse at hospitals. Guided by our mentors at the Horn Entrepreneurship program, we were able to understand the market and gather key product requirements from pharmacy leaders at UPMC and other innovative hospital systems during that time. Ultimately, technical constraints kept us from building what the market needed, but that adventure into entrepreneurship really got me hooked on the impact you can have in small, mission-driven teams.
I then found my way to a wonderful Dutch biotech company called Mimetas, which uses ‘organ-on-a-chip’ technology to make miniaturized cellular models of human tissues, partnering with biotech and pharma companies to use these models to study new drugs. Over the course of four and a half years, I was lucky enough to be surrounded by colleagues, collaborators, and lifelong friends (both in the U.S. and in Holland) who graciously coached me on the nuances of cellular biology, strategic partnerships, and preclinical drug development.
I moved back to Pittsburgh in 2021 to be closer to family, and actually daydreamed about finding a job where I could help develop therapeutic research programs at the University of Pittsburgh. Three months and a push notification from LinkedIn later, I was somehow interviewing for my dream job at Enterprises. Off the bat, I really connected with my manager Anna and the team here – it was awesome to find so much overlap in our vision for supporting research and medical innovation in Pittsburgh. I started at UPMC Enterprises in Oct. 2021 and it’s been an incredible two and a half years!
Q: What is your favorite thing about your job?
A: Definitely the people! We have such a uniquely talented and insightful group in Translational Sciences, and a culture that matches ambitious goals with rigorous intellectual honesty and yet somehow leaves space for genuine laughter. I know it sounds so cliché to say this, but we really do feel like a family and it’s so great to see how everyone thinks, grows, and makes an impact day in and day out.
Even beyond TSci, it’s a ton of fun to learn from, collaborate, and joke around with the other Enterprises teams. Even though we spend our days focused on different technologies and areas of healthcare innovation, I really appreciate the friendship and camaraderie across the entire Enterprises team!
Q: What motivates you to go above and beyond at UPMC Enterprises?
A: For me, it’s a healthy mix of trying to help patients and trying to keep up! When thinking bigger picture, our team’s mission is entirely geared toward giving individuals and their families longer, happier, and healthier lives together. This feels like one of the most unambiguously good outcomes to be working on. And when you’re doing that surrounded by incredibly talented, experienced, and high-performing peers, it’s pretty natural to stay dialed in.
Q: How does it feel to be an ACES Winner?
A: I’m personally very honored to be thought of for ACES, but I see the award much more as a reflection on the Translational Sciences team and the culture at Enterprises, rather than something I’ve achieved on my own. It really is an honor to be here, to learn from incredible colleagues, and to help advance the next generation of life-changing medicines (cue the UPMC jingle).
Hear from some of John’s colleagues who nominated him for this year’s ACES Award.
Matthias Kleinz, Executive Vice President, Translational Sciences
Anna Mamo, Director of Translational Sciences
