Following in the footsteps of her mother, a registered nurse,
Michelle Pernice, 4th year student in St. John’s University’s
College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, is destined for
success in the healthcare industry.
Michelle grew up hearing stories about her mother’s experiences as
a nurse. Exposed to the ins and outs of the healthcare industry at
young age, Michelle knew she too would one day save lives. “Always
hearing these stories about the people my mother helped inspired me
to pursue a career in healthcare. I too want to help people.”
Combining her love of the sciences with a growing interest in
the legal field, Michelle is taking a more non-traditional route
and plans to become a pharmaceutical lawyer. As a pre-law pharmacy
student, she is well on her way to accomplishing these goals.
“One of the many reasons why I love St. John’s is because the deans
and faculty are really supportive of their students. I am pursuing
a less conventional pharmaceutical career and the deans have been
100 percent behind everything I have done.”
Among others, Michelle is the winner of the 2009 Academic
Achievement Award, Lisa Carrera Memorial Award and recipient of the
Andrew J. Bartilucci Scholarship Award. Her many contributions to
the field of pharmacy never go unrecognized by the college.
“Robert A. Mangione,
Ph.D., R.Ph. [Dean of the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences] knows me as a student and knows that I have a passion
for the field of pharmacy with immense ambition for the future. His
ability to identify and encourage his students’ interests has made
St. John’s an invaluable choice.”
Michelle has conducted multiple research projects with
Dr. Abu Serajuddin as her mentor. One project currently being
worked on, she hopes it will uncover the reasons behind the high
cost of medicine. Understanding the causes, will help drug
companies make the drug approval process more effective and foster
innovate ways to make medicine more affordable for everyone.
“The faculty and staff have been extremely supportive of my
research and are there to help in any way they can. I’d recommend
St. John’s to any student who is interested in exploring career
goals that best suit their talents and abilities; this is extremely
important for me as a student with diverse goals.”