Produced by: Office of Marketing and Communications
November 13, 2017
Thirteen fellowship recipients in St. John’s College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences are pursuing a two-year, post-Pharm.D. training program at the University designed to prepare them for success in specific practice areas of the pharmaceuticals industry.
“The purpose of the fellowship is to provide pharmacists who want a career in the industry with a significant jump start,” said Joseph M. Brocavich, Pharm.D., Senior Associate Dean for Pharmacy at St. John’s.
The Pharmaceutical Industry Fellowship Program began at the University in 2004. The program focuses on areas such as regulatory affairs, clinical development, medical affairs, and pharmaceutical marketing. The fellows, broken out into first- and second-year cohorts, are employed by St. John’s. They are supported by grants from the three companies.
The Fellows spend 95 percent of their time learning on the job at Allergan, a global pharmaceuticals company with offices in New Jersey; American Regent, in New York and Pennsylvania; and Daiichi-Sankyo, also in New Jersey. Global headquarters for Allergan are located in Ireland and Daiichi-Sankyo’s are in Japan. The Fellows spend the balance of their time teaching at St. John’s.
Texas native John Jeffrey Jones, Pharm.D., who will graduate with an M.B.A. from The Peter J. Tobin College of Business in 2018, is one of the six, second-year fellows. “I have worked primarily in the Clinical Research and Development department and have gained a wealth of experience,” said Dr. Jones, who is employed at American Regent. “I have also spent a considerable amount of time in the Pharmacovigilance department, gaining familiarity with post-marketing safety reporting.”
Erika Culotta, Pharm.D., who taught Application of Randomized Controlled Trials to fourth-year pharmacy students in the Spring 2017 semester, is confident the fellowship will advance her career. “After the fellowship, I want to be able to confidently apply to a position that builds upon the skills I have acquired during my time here at St. John’s and Allergan.”
“We recruit students who are graduating from the top doctoral pharmacy programs across the country,” noted Dr. Brocavich. Applicants have to graduate from a school accredited by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education, or ACPE. They also have to go to school in the United States.
Omar Khalid ’14Pharm.D., ’16MBA completed his fellowship from May 2014 to May 2016 working at Allergan. After completing his fellowship, he was hired as a regulatory affairs manager at Biogen. He was promoted within a year to Senior Manager, Regulatory Affairs.
“I am extremely grateful to St. John’s University for giving me the opportunity to gain meaningful, real-world experience during my two-year pharmaceutical industry fellowship,” Dr. Khalid said. “My education at St. John’s, along with the fellowship, helped prepare me for a fulfilling career in the pharmaceutical industry—where I can truly make a difference in the lives of patients by developing medicines for serious and rare conditions.”