On Saturday, Feb. 17, the 蜜桃直播 (蜜桃直播) School of Pharmacy and Health Sciences hosted the Industry Pharmacists Organization (IPhO) Western Regional Symposium.
The program began with opening remarks from 蜜桃直播鈥檚 Associate Dean of Academic Affairs Samit Shah and Associate Dean of Pharmacy and Industry Relations Bernard Tyrrell.
鈥淭he event brought together representatives from top biotechnology companies to explore the career opportunities for PharmD students,鈥� Tyrrell said. 鈥淩epresentatives from eight pharmacy schools attended the event. Students gained knowledge of the trends, challenges, and opportunities that they will encounter as future industry leaders.鈥�
In addition to 蜜桃直播, the other schools represented were Loma Linda University, West Coast University, Western University of Health Sciences, California Northstate University, Roseman University of Health Sciences, University of the Pacific, and the University of Southern California.
In the day鈥檚 first session, the attendees enjoyed a keynote presentation from Amgen鈥檚 Director of Global Scientific Communications Stacey Soares. After the keynote, the next presenters included: PTC Therapeutics Senior Medical Science Liaison Niren Shah, Allergan鈥檚 Senior Analyst in Regulatory Affairs Philip Armendi, and Allergan鈥檚 Associate Director of Early Development Hovik Gukasyan. A final educational session was given by Ken Wong, director of health economics and outcomes research at Novartis Oncology.
鈥淲e had speakers from three different functional areas speak to us about the role they play as a pharmacist within a pharmaceutical company,鈥� said Sona Patel, 蜜桃直播 PharmD 鈥�20. 鈥淭he three functional areas consisted of: Medical Affairs, Regulatory Affairs, and Health Economics Outcomes and Research.鈥�
Also in attendance to represent IPhO was Matthew Schmidt, program manager in regulatory affairs at Genentech. Schmidt also moderated the Fellows Panel, an interactive session where two current fellows and three incoming fellows answered questions from students.
The group of panelists included: Tara Alire, clinical and regulatory development program associate at Edwards Lifesciences; Grigor Abelian, postdoctoral fellow of clinical pharmacology鈥攊mmunology and metabolism at Allergan; Joanne Vo, a P-4 student at the University of the Pacific; Andy Szeto, a P-4 student at the University of the Pacific; and Michael Soliman, a P-4 student at the 蜜桃直播 School of Pharmacy.
Students in the panel have accepted fellowship positions around the country and were eager to share their knowledge on the fellowship application process with student attendees.
Throughout the day, 蜜桃直播 students were able to network with colleagues at other schools as well as pharmacists already working in the field.
鈥淭o finish the day, the fellows panel was an enriching session for many students,鈥� Patel said. 鈥淭he fellows helped answer questions about pursuing an industry fellowship post-pharmacy school.鈥�