Alumnae News 

Veronica Szmyd (2016)

It was lovely to catch up with Veronica recently as she helped to organise the 2016 Reunion and learn of the interesting work she is doing in a rapidly expanding field as a Clinical Research Assistant.

What is your strongest memory of being a student at Sacré Cœur?

It’s quite challenging to pick one memory or specific activity that I enjoyed during my time at Sacré Cœur , however, something that I will never forget was winning Arts Festival in 2016. 2016, was my final year at Sacré Cœur and during my time within the Senior School Duchesne was struggling to secure the win in any House event. Don’t get me wrong, consecutively winning the Spirit Cup is awesome but coming first and winning is something euphoric and memorable altogether. 

I remember Arts Festival and that night so well, the emotions of the long day and hard work coming together on stage. I’m sure we can all look back and reflect on the excitement, anticipation and memories that are associated with Arts Festival. When the winners were announced we were all surprised and left speechless, probably no more than Ms Long who quickly noticed and informed us that she had left the trophy at school. Nevertheless, that didn’t matter, we had won Arts Festival and seeing the smiles on the girls faces, feeling that rush and pride made it all worth it, not to mention the icing on the cake, as in 2016 I was Duchesne Co-Captain with Courtney.    

What course did you do at University?

At university I completed a Bachelor of Pharmaceutical Sciences with Honours at RMIT University. This is a three-year course with an additional selective entry for a fourth honours year.     

What is your current job, place of work and what does the role entail?

I am currently working as a CRA (Clinical Research Associate) within PPD, a part of Thermo Fisher Scientific. PPD is a contract research organisation (CRO), this means my company provides research services on a contractual basis to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. Within my role as a CRA I am involved in overseeing Phase I-IV Clinical Trials of new therapeutics and medical devices where I work closely with sponsors and clients. My Role as a CRA within PPD means I am assigned to oversee multiple study protocols and sites. Each day provides a new challenge; be that coordinating study supplies, contract negotiations or simply having your flight to site or home cancelled. 

Over my career, I’ve worked closely with and managed clinical studies for Moderna, Novavax, GSK and Roche. You may recognise some of these companies, as they have recently had success from the approval and use of their COVID-19 Vaccines. My workplace has also provided me with different opportunities. Some of these include being on the Victoria Based Colleagues Social Committee and my Teams social group. I am also involved with the welcoming and onboarding of new APAC Colleagues. Each quarter I host a onboarding “meet and greet” for new joiners to PPD where we share and discuss our backgrounds and experiences. Thermo Fisher Scientific is also a provider of STEM outreach programs to schools in Australia. This November, I have volunteered to tour schools in Victoria and share the love for STEM with kids and young adults

Calling all Alumnae Golfers Women’s Inter-School Golf Challenge Cup 2023

Each year Sacré Cœur participates in the Women’s Interschool Golf Challenge Cup which is played at a different course every year in March or April. 

The Challenge Cup, formerly the Herald Sun Cup, has been played for over 90 years currently with 30 girls' schools competing. Each team comprises 4 alumnae golfers, playing individual stableford. 

We are keen to gather together a pool of alumnae women golfers to play together in a social golf day and then those who are interested to represent Sacré Cœur in the Challenge Cup.

Please contact Rosemary Kelly if you are interested and for more details

Email or  Phone : 0414 328 706