Dr. Susan Behrens received a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Michigan and completed her Ph.D. at the University of California at Berkeley.

Sue joined Merck in 1990 in Technical Operations in Elkton, VA providing process development and manufacturing support for antibiotics, lovastatin and large-scale fermentation of cephalosporin intermediates using a novel biosynthetic route. She transferred to Merck Research Labs, leading the manufacture of clinical supplies for sterile and liquid products, before returning to MMD in Process Engineering supporting new product development and environmental projects for API manufacture.

As Senior Director, Sterile Process Technology and Engineering, Dr. Behrens directed technical support for sterile pharmaceutical and vaccine products including technology transfer for new vaccines and design activities for the new Vaccine Manufacturing Facility in Durham, NC. Her most recent assignment was leading a group in Regulatory & Analytical Sciences–Biologics which was responsible for regulatory support for Live Virus vaccines and Operational Excellence initiatives to improve bioanalytical method business processes.

Dr. Behrens recently transitioned to an operations role for the purpose of defining a long-term supply chain strategy for vaccine and sterile pharmaceutical products to meet the needs of Merck’s growing product portfolio