Alum Spotlight: Meet Jennifer Han, Pharm.D., ‘17

What is a typical day like for you? How do you balance both roles?

As program manager for pain and opioid safety at the VA, I build and manage our interdisciplinary pain team. We see patients with complex chronic pain and treat pain using a whole-person care approach. My role is 80% administrative and 20% clinical, which includes managing our facility pain budget, hiring new talent, applying for grants, and overseeing expansion of our team and work.

I work four days a week at the VA, so my work at Seen Nutrition takes place on Fridays, nights and weekends. I have an amazing co-founder, Adrienne Bitar, Ph.D., who is a food studies scholar at Cornell and shares the workload. Since we just launched our calcium chew, a lot of our work involves traveling and speaking at menopause conferences to spread the word about our product. 

What inspired you to found Seen Nutrition?

I started looking into calcium supplements because of my diagnosis with osteoporosis after I broke my back post-partum. That was when I realized all of their limitations.

First, synthetic calcium has poor absorption and limited bioavailability. Synthetic calcium goes everywhere, not just the bones, which can increase the risk of accumulation in soft tissues and gastrointestinal side effects.

In addition, from a holistic viewpoint, bones don’t just need calcium, they also need other minerals, protein  and vitamin D, which is what we get when we eat dietary calcium. Milk, especially, has all of these minerals and in the exact ratio our body requires. We don’t need to tinker with milk. The supplements that only contain synthetic calcium are missing the other key ingredients needed for bone health.

In my research, I found there hasn’t been innovation in the calcium supplement industry for over a decade despite the rate of osteoporosis increasing. Further, osteoporosis is largely considered a women’s disease, with 80% of those diagnosed with osteoporosis being women. With attention now spotlighting women’s physiology, especially around menopause, I found it’s time for innovation in a much-needed space.

How has your product been received?

It’s been incredibly well received. Women love that Seen is a women-founded company and that our chews are only made from real foods. We recently had the amazing opportunity to share our product at a large menopause event hosted by Naomi Watts in New York City and the reception was incredible. Bobbi Brown even stopped by our booth! 

At the event it was amazing to hear from women who previously struggled to swallow large synthetic calcium pills and now look forward to eating their Seen Calcium Chew, which they said feels like a treat. Other women shared about how bloating they experienced with calcium carbonate disappeared once they switched to our chew. Adrienne and I couldn’t have been happier to hear all of this!

How did Skaggs School of Pharmacy prepare you for your current roles?

My time at Skaggs School of Pharmacy really prepared me to lead. It gave me the confidence that I could create a startup. This was a huge leap that felt very big, but totally possible.

When I was at Skaggs I was president of the California Society of Health-System Pharmacists (CSHP), and those skills helped my leadership development. I put on multiple events each quarter and managed a whole team. Those organization and speaking skills, including interacting with faculty and colleagues, gave me the confidence to start a company and manage a large, cross-functional team. 

The second year co-curriculum with medical students has also stuck with me, now that I build interdisciplinary teams at the VA. I’m always thinking about how to keep a team that works well together, has good communication and respect. I love that UC San Diego values interdisciplinary training, because in the real world we all work together.

Do you have a favorite memory from your time at our school?

I loved the CSHP Culture Fusion show. I am super happy it is still going strong. I love that everyone gets involved, that students come in with hidden talents and it’s amazing to see a different side of everyone, including faculty. I still remember Dr. Atayee displaying her beautiful traditional Afghan dress.

Did anything surprise you after graduation?

I was surprised when I was tasked with creating a new pharmacy practice outside of the academic environment. My previous training was all in very supportive and interdisciplinary academic settings, where the whole team knew what pharmacists do and what we bring to the table in terms of patient support.

When I was brought in to start a pharmacy practice within the ambulatory care clinic at a private hospital, I learned they had never worked with a pharmacist before in a clinical setting. But once they learned what a pharmacist could bring to the table, they loved it! They wanted to send all of their patients to me. So it was a surprise but ended up being a great opportunity.

When you aren’t working, what do you do for fun?

I moved to Ithaca, New York, about three years ago, so I have been exploring the area. It’s a completely different environment from San Diego, with four distinct seasons, and lots of beautiful waterfalls and gorges. I’ve been getting into hiking; there are five national parks within driving distance of us and my four-year-old loves it. She can walk the whole trail on her own. I also love a good game night, especially Catan. 

Learn more about our nationally-renowned Pharm.D. program