Dr. Joseph C. Cappelleri, MPH ’93, has infectious energy. He is a dynamic advocate for a higher purpose in his full-time work at Pfizer Inc., his teaching at Brown University and the University of Connecticut, and his volunteer work as an alumni interviewer for Harvard College. Speaking with him, one cannot escape feeling the “turbo power of psychology in living for a higher purpose,” as he describes it. “Every day is fresh. It’s as if I’ve never lived before, so I feel a new romance with the endeavor, whatever it is.” As a statistical scientist and executive director of biostatistics at Pfizer, and as a Fellow of the American Statistical Association, he is a most prolific researcher in the pharmaceutical industry with more than 400 publications. He has co-authored at least 800 presentations in his 21 years at Pfizer and three years previously at Tufts University School of Medicine. “I’m not built this way,” he says. “I have to work at it humbly and continually. And that is the secret sauce. Working at it assiduously, meaningfully, and sincerely where substance and practice reign—and collaborating with others who have a shared interest.”

He credits his success in part to his experience with both the faculty and the students at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. “Harvard has been a beacon and champion in fostering faculty-student engagement. Mastery of subject matter is extended from professors to students, who benefit from this commendable ethos with elevated understanding and knowledge. Thus, the opportunity exists for a student to become a virtual chameleon in mastering coursework in public health and transcending it with original and influential research.”

One of his favorite experiences was case study at the School. “We were set up in Snyder Auditorium as if we were in an executive setting,” he says. “I envisioned the setting mimicking stellar institutions like the World Health Organization and its members having dynamic exchanges and discussion. We were expected to be prepared in knowing the case studies, because we might be called upon to discuss them—on the spur of the moment.” He loved it. “It resembled the Harvard Business School model.” “The interaction with confident classmates from Alabama to Zimbabwe—including the center of the universe, Brooklyn, New York, where I was born and raised—brought out the better angels in all of us through infusing a culture of diversity, graciousness and industriousness. It created positive energy and raised standards, increasing expectations with a whirlpool of collaborative spirit.”

Dr. Cappelleri cites Professors Thomas Chalmers, Frederick Mosteller, Alexander Walker, and James Ware as particularly inspirational and wonderful. It was at Harvard Chan that he was first introduced to meta-analysis and evidence-based synthesis that have since become part of his research repertoire, including his present work. In collaboration with colleagues, both internal and external to Pfizer, he considers himself most fortunate to have been a major researcher for well-known medicines—Viagra, Lyrica, Chantix, Sutent—that have greatly benefited millions of patients worldwide. Working on the development and validation of health measurement scales has also been a passion. Dr. Cappelleri is the lead author of the book Patient Reported Outcomes: Measurement, Implementation and photo Interpretation.

“My colleagues and I were the first to develop and validate a self-report scale on erectile function—the International Index of Erectile Function—for regulatory acceptance,” he says. “In a separate undertaking, we provided strong evidence for the sound measurement properties of the Minnesota Nicotine Withdrawal Scale, which showed a benefit of Chantix in terms of reducing the urge to smoke, and received a regulatory label claim.” Dr. Cappelleri expanded his knowledge of health measurement scales at Harvard. He also completed a postdoctoral internship in metanalysis in addition to immersing himself in coursework on epidemiology, a subject that he has taught at the University of Connecticut and whose principles he uses regularly at Pfizer.

He credits his positive experiences at Harvard and at the Harvard Chan School with his decision to ultimately create a seven-figure endowed bequest for research, to be divided equally between the Center for Population and Development Studies and the Lee Kum Sheung Center for Health and Happiness. “Giving to Harvard is important because private resources empower the University to advance its mission, fulfilling its ideals for education, research, and enterprise,” he says. “I have experienced the trials and tribulations of life that have forced me to go down deep to the bowels of my existence and examine what life is about. Life is certainly a lot more than my infinitesimal speck in this universe. So I want to give back with dividends, with gratitude, with appreciation for what Harvard has given me in terms of knowledge, opportunities, and connections—and for providing a conduit to realize my potential.”

Dr. Cappelleri’s own mission is to bring out the best in the human condition, for himself and for others. “I want to say thanks for the opportunity and the privilege to be a proud citizen within the first-class Harvard community and its fabulous Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health,” he says. “Now it’s my turn to give to you. Doing so gives me complete closure and satisfaction in my life’s journey that has centered on education and research.”