People and Culture
Unitherian Journeys: Three Different Paths, One Destination
Jan 23, 2025
10 Min Read
"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference."
"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference."
If you ask United Therapeutics (UT) employees—whom we call Unitherians—what they value about working at UT, among the things they mention are their colleagues. There is undoubtedly some special sparkle about the people who have come together to do this purpose-fueled work. Still, like the good science-based organization we are, we wanted to probe the question: What makes a Unitherian a Unitherian?
We invited three Unitherians to talk with us about their pathways to UT to try to get at the heart of our matter: Gina Johnson, Lead Operations Coordinator of UT subsidiary Unither Bioengineering, has been with UT for almost 14 years; Earlene Gibbons, Associate VP of Operational Technology, has been with UT for almost 17 years; and Yu-Lun Lin, VP, Global Alliance Management and Supply Chain, is starting his 27th year with UT.
Here are their stories.
"…I researched the organization and read about Martine Rothblatt starting the company to find a cure for her daughter. I knew no matter what that I had to be a part of the journey."
"…I researched the organization and read about Martine Rothblatt starting the company to find a cure for her daughter. I knew no matter what that I had to be a part of the journey."
“I’d done volunteer work my entire life—through my church and a local organization called the Hope Club. We’d go to nursing homes and hospitals, putting smiles on people’s faces and keeping them ‘hopeful’ throughout their health struggles,” Gina explained. “Later, my daughter was born at one-pound, ten ounces, and placed in the NICU [neonatal intensive care unit] with very questionable odds. I knew nursing was the career I wanted to pursue. The NICU nurses saved my daughter’s life!” Gina then enrolled in a nursing program. After completing the program, she struggled to find employment, then stumbled upon United Therapeutics. “I first thought UT was a rehab center of sorts. Once asked to interview for a receptionist position, I researched the organization and read about Martine Rothblatt starting the company to find a cure for her daughter Jenesis. I knew no matter what that I had to be a part of the journey. After interviewing for the position, I was offered a temporary job. But things were financially tight for me at the time—I had an infant who needed special care, and I needed health benefits for my still ailing child.” Gina offered a counter-proposal: to come in for a trial period to showcase her abilities, for a “permanent position, with health benefits.”
After a few hours on that first trial day, Joy Carr, UT’s now senior HR Manager, told Gina she was done for the day and could go home. “I was at the bus stop—I didn’t have a car at the time—when Joy called me, to say everyone was impressed with me and they’d like to send an offer letter for full time position with benefits. I was elated!"
Since becoming a Unitherian in 2011, Gina has held several positions—with HR, Finance, and now in the Unither Bioengineering Group, working with a team that is in pursuit of an unlimited supply of transplantable organs. “I put my dream aside to be part of a team of dedicated people working every day to find a cure—and I am glad I did,” she explained.
Gina credits UT with being the “detour, that lead to the most fulfilling journey of my life.”
Today, Gina coordinates a wide range of activities within Unither Bioengineering, from vendor contracting to events. “I don’t stay in just one lane,” she said. “I like seeing how all the moving pieces fit together. I am most proud of the relationships I’ve been able to cultivate across the organization and beyond over 14 years. If someone needs something, they know they can trust me to get it done!”
When asked what she’s most excited about, she talks about projects on the horizon. “I am proud to be on a capable and motivated team!”
“Every single one of my team members is the best.”
“Every single one of my team members is the best.”
“I appreciated the ability to serve my country in the Army, where I was an electronic warfare signals intelligence analyst and Czech linguist. My next [civilian] job was very different—I basically wound up managing satellite teleconference technology for an institute. It started when leadership wanted to hold a virtual meeting with 50 different sites. This was before we had [Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and other] technologies we all use daily today. Nobody knew how to do this, but I said ‘sure’. And I figured it out well enough that next time, it was four different dates across hundreds of sites, and it grew from there,” Earlene explained.
Wanting to experience something different, Earlene applied to a position for an administrative assistant role to a scientist in a pharmaceutical company. “This was my first job [in the pharmaceutical industry], and I just followed the scientists in the R&D lab, learning so much, getting exposure across the company’s operations. I was able to segue that experience pretty quickly into managing that company’s IT and Operational Technology (OT) Department. And that’s how I made my way into UT,” Earlene shared.
“UT had been one of our R&D customers. Mike Camp [UT Senior VP of Manufacturing and Operations] had already moved from that company to UT to build its manufacturing program on what would become UT’s Research Triangle Park, North Carolina campus. Mike invited me to join him. UT was just building its infrastructure then…. I built the OT program and team to what it is today. We are involved in so many things—for example, supporting our automation, our GxP1 systems, supply chain, drug safety, and serialization, every new construction project, addressing thousands of other support requests annually, and more. Every single one of my team members is the best.”
It’s a challenging function, but one that Earlene and her team understand is essential. “We know what and why we do what we do, and we get to learn something new every day. Even playing a small part in bringing an unlimited supply of transplantable organs to those who need them—that is so rewarding.”
“I’ve learned that the key to success is doing the right thing, even when no one is looking.”
“I’ve learned that the key to success is doing the right thing, even when no one is looking.”
Before Yu Lun-Lin joined UT, he’d worked on several projects with UT’s then-future-CEO Martine Rothblatt and General Counsel Paul Mahon. “I was half-way through my graduate program when Martine asked me to join her in this new venture. I knew what kind of leader she was, I knew what was at stake, and I knew it would be unconventional and exciting. I was UT employee number 13! Given UT’s success today, I think it’s hard for new employees to imagine and appreciate our truly humble beginnings!”
Thus began the almost three-decades career for this mechanical engineer who remembers when there were three people at the Silver Spring office—“the receptionist, the IT guy, and me,” Yu-Lun said. Today, more than 250 Unitherians call UT’s Silver Spring, Maryland co-headquarters their home office.
Yu-Lun credits his growth as a person and a Unitherian with the opportunity to work in a purposeful startup. “I’ve had nine different positions at UT over my career. I am lucky to have joined UT in the early days and have never taken anything things for granted. I remember pulling all-nighters in our Silver Spring office to meet deadlines with minimum resources. I recall celebrating the holidays with all our UT colleagues and their significant others in the corner of a small hotel ballroom. I was there to help format the dossier of our first FDA [U.S. Federal Drug Administration]-approved therapy, as well as manning the first humble UT commercial booth at the American Thoracic Society annual conference. I will never forget the sheer, unbridled joy when we got FDA approval for our first inhaled therapy. I am lucky to now travel internationally to develop and maintain relationships with our international partners, from Asia to the Middle East, from Latin America to Europe. Regardless of country or affiliation, our partners are just as passionate and committed to support the patients and healthcare providers, as if they were Unitherians, just like us! And, I started a family while at UT—my oldest child is now 18—which means learning not about work-life balance, but work-life integration. It has been exciting, exhausting, and rewarding, and we have just gotten started,” Yu-Lun shared.
“Our industry has changed, and the environment in which we operate has changed, but the lessons I learned are still relevant today,” Yu-Lun explained. “I also look for these lessons everywhere. For example, when I was waiting for a connecting flight at the Narita airport, I noticed the ground crew waving good-bye and bowing the departing jet liner… most passengers probably could not see them or didn’t notice them. This reminded me to always give the same effort and respect to my job… and I’ve learned that the key to success is doing the right thing, even when no one is looking.”
When asked what he looks forward to next, Yu-Lun didn’t hesitate: “To be able to say that I am part of a company that one day cured end-stage organ diseases—makes me get up each morning excited to tackle the day!”
WHAT MAKES A UNITHERIAN A UNITHERIAN?
We know there’s more to probe to get to the core of our starting question, but we observed that our interviewees had four things in common:
- they travelled unconventional pathways to UT;
- they are open and eager to learn new things;
- they are passionate about UT’s purpose; and,
- they are the helpers Fred Rogers2 said his mother told him to look for as a child when faced with scary things.
That seems pretty “Unitherian” to us.
1. GxP refers to Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), as well as Good Clinical Practices (GCP), Good Distribution Practices (GDP), Good Laboratory Practices (GLP), Good Tissue Practices (GTP), and Good Vigilance Practices (GVP).
2. Fred Rogers was the beloved creator and host of the long-running preschool television series, “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.”
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United Therapeutics converted to a public benefit corporation (PBC) in 2021—the first publicly-traded biopharmaceutical company to do so. Our PBC Purpose has two parts: to create a brighter future for patients through the development of novel pharmaceutical therapies and technologies that expand the availability of transplantable organs. Our first purpose helps delay or avoid the need for a transplant, while our second purpose enables a patient to have a transplant when they need one. We align our PBC purpose with three pillars—our patients, our people, and our planet. We believe our people are the key to our success in our other two pillars, which is why we seek to be a destination employer. Find out more here: https://www.unither.com/careers/to-be-a-unitherian