What Was It Like To Work At Pfizer In 2020? 4 Ramapo Alums Share

PEARL RIVER, NY — "Surreal."

That's how Ramapo College graduate Jake Stass described the news that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration would grant emergency use approval to Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine in December of last year.

Stass, a "key member" of Pfizer's vaccine research development team, is one of four Ramapo College alumni who were with the company during the months leading up to approval.

"The world was waiting and we were about to offer something that could help turn the corner in this pandemic," Stass told Ramapo College Public Relations Specialist Angela Daidone, in an interview.

When efficacy results were shared internally with the company, Stass called it a "wow moment."

"Up to then, we only had the data from blind studies so we really didn’t know how effective the vaccine would be until it was announced. We were thrilled, to say the least," he added.

Stass, along with Amanda Gryzmolowicz, Mingzhao Liu and Patrick DeMarinis, are all employed with Pfizer at the Pearl River, New York facility.

Gryzmolowicz, a senior manager in research informatics operations, compliance and support, said the pandemic shifted everything within the company.

"We were working on a number of activities when COVID took center stage. It consumed us for the next eight months of our lives," Gryzmolowicz told Daidone.

"The only word I can use to describe how I felt is ‘proud’ — for everyone and for the teamwork and commitment they showed. It was a tremendous effort."

Neither Stass nor Gryzmolowicz imagined their careers would lead them on such a high-profile journey.

Stass said his interest in science grew during high school in Westwood, New Jersey, while Gryzmolowicz assumed she'd work in the healthcare field while growing up in Wayne, New Jersey.

But both of them centered their focus while at Ramapo, thanks in large part to the bioinformatics program at the college. Ramapo College was among the first four-year colleges in the U.S. to develop a bachelor of science in Bioinformatics in 2002.

The program connects Stass and Gryzmolowicz to Liu and Demarinis.

Liu, of Park Ridge decided to study Bioinformatics because it “touched on almost every science discipline,” but he also wanted to focus on Computer Science. He earned a Bachelor of Science in both disciplines, and joined Pfizer as a Senior Informatics Engineer in 2017.

"I was directly responsible for building and supporting the application for one of our COVID-19 assays," said Liu.

"The work could be best described as being constantly on alert since everything relating to COVID-19 had to be handled carefully and quickly. We were constantly picking up one task and dropping it to work on COVID-19 related work. It naturally took precedence over all other projects."

DeMarinis, a Wayne native, also knew the Bioinformatics program was for him.

"It was exactly the type of thing I was interested in," said DeMarinis.

He began his career at Pfizer as a Validation Engineer on the Research Informatics team shortly after graduation.

"Things were busy, to say the least," said DeMarinis.

"Everyone knew the importance our work could have and was totally committed to it. There was a lot to get done, but I was really thrilled to see how people helped each other and came together to make it all happen."

Interviews conducted by Ramapo College Public Relations Specialist Angela Daidone.

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