UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — A Penn State Smeal College of Business master’s student added valuable insights to a team that secured a third-place finish in the 2023 Penn Healthcare Case Competition, held last semester at the University of Pennsylvania.
The competition brought together top graduate and professional degree program students who are passionate about careers in consulting, health care and pharmaceutical/biotechnology-related industries.
Taylor Turrisi, who is currently pursuing his master’s in business analytics at Smeal, also holds a bachelor’s degree in management from the college, as well as a master’s in kinesiology from the Penn State College of Health and Human Development. His teammates included students from the University of Arizona, Dartmouth College and Tufts University.
This year's case competition focused on Amicus Therapeutics, a global biotechnology company dedicated to discovering, developing and delivering high-quality medicines for rare and devastating diseases. The case asked the teams to incorporate artificial intelligence into their business plan to increase market share in the rare disease sector and explore how AI can be integrated into Amicus' overall business plan.
Turrisi attributed the team's success to its diverse background and skill sets. With his management background and experience working in health sciences, Turrisi said he focused on the end goal and helped guide the team to develop practical solutions.
“Learning from [Smeal on] how a business works ... you have to take classes in finance, marketing, management, supply chain and accounting, so it helps in understanding how business actually works and what was feasible and what's not. I think that was helpful, because I could explain that to them,” he said.
Turrisi said his research interests in chronic pain and AI techniques also aligned with the competition problem, allowing him to provide valuable contributions to the team's strategy. For two years, Turrisi worked at Boston Children’s Hospital for research and learned about different administrative factors that play into patient care.
Though the preparation time was limited, the team leveraged its collective expertise to create a winning solution.
Turrisi said the team’s proposal impressed Amicus Therapeutics and consulting professionals during the presentation, underlining the potential of their ideas and strategies. Turrisi and his team placed third and were rewarded $1,000 plus a six-month CaseCoach subscription.
“I think that it is less about placing and just more about the experience, on top of graduate work, balancing social and other responsibilities,” he said. “This was a lot of work and it brought me back to my consulting days, and it was good because it helped me cross-explore career paths, pointing me in the right direction."
Turrisi said this accomplishment has contributed to his professional and academic goals. Inspired by the experience, Turrisi now plans to pursue a one-year master's program in artificial intelligence. The case competition highlighted his interest in problem-solving and creative thinking, and he looks forward to applying his skills in the field of AI.