Finding Purpose Through Work

Noel Burash's Journey of Impact and Dedication

Manufacturing Associate Director, Noel Burash remembers the day her father called with news that would change both of their lives. “My father said, ‘I think I’m having a heart attack,’” says Noel, who instructed him to call an ambulance. After being admitted to the hospital, her father underwent triple bypass surgery. However, due to his weak heart condition, the doctors had to settle for a double bypass instead. Post-surgery, Noel’s father was placed on a heart pump and remained in the intensive care unit for several days. During one of her visits, Noel made the remarkable discovery that by her father’s bedside was the same medication that Noel helped to manufacture in her professional career. 

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Finding Purpose Through Work: Noel Burash's Journey of Impact and Dedication

Making a meaningful impact

At this moment, Noel realized that her family member might have to take a medication that is usually meant for a patient with a rare disease, not a patient from a heart surgery. “That could be any of us, at any time,” says Noel. 

While the therapy didn’t save her father’s life, Noel says it, “extended it for a few days and helped to make him more comfortable;” something she will forever be grateful for. 

Having dedicated nearly three decades to the plasma-derived therapy industry, Noel understands the profound impact these therapies can have. Noel leads a team at our manufacturing site near Covington, Georgia that is responsible for manufacturing a therapy used to treat patients with primary immunodeficiency—a group of diseases that disrupt the body’s immune system. 

“Where else can you have somebody tell you that you are their hero?” says Noel. “You are impacting these people’s everyday lives.”

Creating better health and a brighter future

Beyond her daily responsibilities, Noel’s most cherished moments are meeting the patients who depend on these medications to survive. There are thousands out there, with the need for plasma-derived therapies only growing. 

Looking back at the plasma-derived therapy that prolonged her father’s life, Noel’s unwavering dedication to her work is driven by his story, along with countless others. Like the company she is proud to work for, Noel is committed to transforming lives and making the world a better place. 

“I never expected that someone that I loved and cared about would require the medications that we’re making,” says Noel, “and that let me know that I’m in the industry where I belong.”