Doing a Number While Finding Joy

By Gwen Farris Newman, as published in Capsule, Spring 2026

Janet Edwards, BSP, MS ’21, is a talker — by her own admission — and loves people.

These traits have served her well both personally and professionally.

Edwards, an alumna of the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy’s (UMSOP) Master of Science (MS) in Regulatory Science program, graduated from the University of North Carolina (UNC) Eshelman School of Pharmacy in 1995. Although experiencing retail pharmacy and hospital pharmacy, her interests were strongest in the pharmaceutical industry.

At UNC, Edwards had internships at numerous pharmaceutical companies. There was one poll question she asked almost everyone she met: “Are you happy?”

Finding those in the pharmaceutical industry had a high level of happiness given the flexibility to change paths if they chose, without having to go back to school necessarily, Edwards forged her future path.

Now, Edwards – who lives in Washington, D.C. – is a senior account specialist with GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), where she’s been for 28 years. GSK has offered a robust respiratory pipeline that has been a disease state of most interest to Edwards because of its impact on so many lives. It’s also allowed her to mix her love of economics (her father was an accountant) with health, business, and science.

Over the years, Edwards took on a growing array of sales and account management roles to better position GSK’s products and assist health care professionals in making informed decisions for their patients.

An academically gifted student who showed a natural talent for leadership, serving as her high school class president for three years and student body president in her hometown of Siler City, N.C., Edwards also has looked both retrospectively and prospectively at previous interests and future aspirations.

Edwards had an interest in regulatory science, in addition to pharmaceutical sales, in college. In 2019, she decided to honor that interest by pursuing an MS in Regulatory Science at UMSOP. That decision was supported by a mentor who saw her as the go-getter she is, always open to change and craving immersive experiences.

Because the MS program is 100 percent online, Edwards could easily remain on course while working full time and maintaining her personal and professional obligations. Not even the COVID-19 pandemic could alter her warm feelings of being at home and in good care at UMSOP.

“The MS in Regulatory Science shapes my sales and regulatory activities by adhering to a highly regulated marketplace that is ever-changing,” says Edwards. “We’re navigating a new world, and I get excited about the totality of it all. I ask, ‘How can I be a part of the solutions in health care to better help patients?’ The needle is always moving, and I knew it was never going to be stagnant, but rather always interesting and exciting.”

That excitement dates to her last two years of high school, when Edwards participated in the Leadership Education and Development (LEAD) program in business. Thirty students from across the country were paired with mentors at premier universities and immersed in case presentations and visits to government agencies and businesses. That grew into roles in pharmacy school with the Student National Pharmaceutical Association (including chapter president) and induction into the Rho Chi Pharmacy Honor Society as a UMSOP student.

Currently Edwards relishes being vice chair of the UNC Eshelman Foundation board and secretary of the UMSOP Alumni Association Council. “I love interacting with alumni from both institutions, sharing my experience and networking with students,” she says. “Being able to see where students have landed, learn of the experiences they’re having, and what they aspire to be brings great joy.”

This natural evolution allows Edwards to use her passion to speak about novel medications to health care professionals, mentor students, and volunteer with pharmacy alumni.

The icing on the cake? “I get to interact with a wide range of people — physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and students. And I know I’m also helping patients at the end of every day.”

Her advice to students? “I look at a job like others look for a home. You’ll know it in your gut. Observe. Ask questions. Be open to new opportunities. You’ll know intuitively if it’s for you.”