January 28, 2020

Department Spotlight: Anthony Wheeler

Anthony Wheeler's photo

Take charge of your graduate school experience and enjoy those years to the fullest. USU is a beautiful place with a lot of opportunity for personal and professional growth, as well as unlimited outdoor adventure.

Anthony Wheeler


Anthony Wheeler is an alumnus of the experimental psychology program and a current Health Outcomes Advisor at Eli Lilly and Company. He came to Logan seeking unique research opportunities and was captivated by the beauty and mountains. Since graduating, Anthony has relocated to Reno, Nevada with his partner and travels regularly for his job, which is based out of Indiana. After leaving Utah, Anthony has become involved with the mentorship of graduate and professional students pursuing careers in industry.

What were your future goals when you started the program? How do those compare to your current career path?

I knew I wanted to work in health care as a researcher, but I was not sure if that would be in academia or the private sector. As a PhD student, I got the opportunity to work in the private sector as a consultant through USU faculty. I was drawn to the fast pace of change and interesting research questions in this work. I became focused on finding that kind of work after graduation and have had a few different jobs in the private sector since graduating.

Now, I work for a large biopharmaceutical company that makes drugs for diabetes, cancer, and autoimmune diseases. I support these drugs by answering complex research questions asked by payers and health care systems. Answering these questions can be as easy as digging up a journal article on the internet and as challenging as organizing a team of researchers and businesspeople to gather and analyze proprietary data. Much of my job involves fostering teamwork and building positive relationships with groups of people that have conflicting interests. These include business leaders, attorneys, health care providers, and scientists, among others.

What advice do you have for other students pursuing a degree in Psychology?

Take pride in the huge variety of training received in a psychology degree program. This discipline provides a breadth of knowledge and a contextual style of seeing the world that is incredibly valuable in academia, health care, the business world, and public service of all kinds.

Who influenced you most during your time at USU?

The faculty in the psychology department. I worked closely with my advisor, Scott DeBerard, and a few other faculty members who gave me incredible experience working with their colleagues around campus and across the country. I felt very lucky to have been given the freedom to work with my advisor while learning from close work with other faculty, too.

What is the most important thing you learned at USU?

To “trust the process” by understanding that great things take time to accomplish and that they almost always require the help of others.