IPhO News

Kyle Noonan, PharmD
Health Outcomes and Market Access Fellow
AmerisourceBergen Xcenda

Can you give a brief overview of your functional area and its structure and value within your company?

Briefly, Health Outcomes centers around how a drug impacts patient outcomes, such as hospitalization or mortality. Market Access often uses these outcomes in addition to clinical data to tell the value story of a certain medication. Each of these takes many forms, but both are important aspects of the late development and commercialization phase of a drug, when speaking with a payer audience.

Within Xcenda, this places me under the Value and Access Strategy team.

We are pleased to announce that University of South Carolina College of Pharmacy has joined our growing 100-chapter network!

Congratulations to the student pharmacists at University of South Carolina! IPhO now connects them to nearly 6,000 student pharmacists with similar interests, as well as a national network of hundreds of industry fellows and thousands of industry pharmacists.

Several more schools are in the late stages of filing their chapter applications and will soon join the growing national network.

To start a chapter at your school, contact us here.

For the student benefits of joining IPhO, view the National Student Brochure here!

We are pleased to announce that Samford University McWhorter School of Pharmacy has joined our growing 100-chapter network!

Congratulations to the student pharmacists at Samford University! IPhO now connects them to nearly 6,000 student pharmacists with similar interests, as well as a national network of hundreds of industry fellows and thousands of industry pharmacists.

Several more schools are in the late stages of filing their chapter applications and will soon join the growing national network.

To start a chapter at your school, contact us here.

For the student benefits of joining IPhO, view the National Student Brochure here!

Alexander Fletcher, PharmD, RPh, MBA
US Cardiovascular Medical Science Liaison (MSL) Fellow
Bristol Myers Squibb

Can you give a brief overview of your functional area and its structure and value within your company?

The Cardiovascular MSL team helps to execute upon the medical strategy created by the Home Office Medical team. The MSLs engage with thought leaders to provide educational value to the provider, support the commercial sales team, and to generate medical product related insights.

We are pleased to announce that Manchester University College of Pharmacy has joined our growing 100-chapter network!

Congratulations to the student pharmacists at Manchester University! IPhO now connects them to more than 5,000 student pharmacists with similar interests, as well as a national network of hundreds of industry fellows and thousands of industry pharmacists.

Several more schools are in the late stages of filing their chapter applications and will soon join the growing national network.

To start a chapter at your school, contact us here.

For the student benefits of joining IPhO, view the National Student Brochure here!

Cassie Goodman, PharmD
First-year US Public Affairs & Patient Advocacy Fellow
Sanofi/MCPHS

Tell us about your current day-to-day responsibilities in your fellowship role.

My current day-to-day routine is meeting with patient advocacy groups and internal team members to bridge the conversations from the patient perspective to the industry teams.

Throughout my day, I also work on innovative projects to work with patient advocacy groups, deliver scientific exchange, and report the work happening externally to our internal teams.

The Industry Pharmacists Organization (IPhO) and the Medical Affairs Professional Society (MAPS) are pleased to announce an important new strategic collaboration to help advance the careers of student pharmacists interested in the pharmaceutical industry, as well as Fellows and early-stage Industry Pharmacist professionals.

We are pleased to announce that UC San Diego Skaggs School of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences has joined our growing 100-chapter network!

Congratulations to the student pharmacists at UCSD! IPhO now connects them to more than 5,000 student pharmacists with similar interests, as well as a national network of hundreds of industry fellows and thousands of industry pharmacists.

Several more schools are in the late stages of filing their chapter applications and will soon join the growing national network.

To start a chapter at your school, contact us here.

For the student benefits of joining IPhO, view the National Student Brochure here!

Nardeen Perko, PharmD
Alma Mater: Albany College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences (ACPHS)
Scientific Communications Fellow, Medical Affairs
Edwards Lifesciences / Keck Graduate Institute (KGI)

What interested you in industry and how did you prepare for your interviews?

I wanted a position that offered diverse responsibilities. I did not have the predilection for a static, one-track career and instead, I wanted the fluidity of having different tasks and intertwined problems for me to solve. I knew that a fellowship would propel my professional development at the pace I wanted to grow.

For the past two years, IPhO has partnered with organizations that are committed to the professional development and advancement of underrepresented PharmD students.

As part of this important initiative in 2022, scholarships were provided to 39 Black, Hispanic, and Native American student pharmacists, who now have access to a year of IPhO Membership, Annual Meeting Registration, and a suite of Fellowship preparation resources.

Congratulations to this year's scholarship recipients, and thank you to the generous scholarship supporters below:

Believe it or not, this year's Annual Meeting is one month away! We're giving registration away for free to ten contest winners!

The rules are simple:

• Follow IPhO on Instagram (@industrypharmacistorg).
• View our feed and locate the "IPhO Annual Meeting 2022" Giveaway post (to be made at 12 PM ET on August 9, 2022).
• Like the post.
• Comment on the post and tag three friends who might benefit from entering the contest/attending the meeting.
• Ten winners who follow the steps above will be selected at random and tagged in an announcement post on August 16.
• Winners will receive a complimentary code to register for the meeting on the IPhO website.
• Terms and conditions apply. Please see below.

Deadline to like and comment is Friday, August 12, at midnight ET. Good luck!

We are pleased to announce that Wingate University School of Pharmacy, Appalachian College of Pharmacy, and Texas A&M Irma Lerma Rangel School of Pharmacy have joined our growing 100 chapter network!

Congratulations to the student pharmacists at these three schools! IPhO now connects them to more than 5,000 student pharmacists with similar interests, as well as a national network of hundreds of industry fellows and thousands of industry pharmacists.

Several more schools are in the late stages of filing their chapter applications and will soon join the growing national network.

To start a chapter at your school, contact us here.

For the student benefits of joining IPhO, view the National Student Brochure here!

Kevin Darko, PharmD
Alma Mater: The University of Tennessee
Fellowship Sponsor Company/Affiliation: UCB/IPhO
Fellowship Duration: 2 Years (2022—2024)
UCB Function/Discipline: Global Regulatory Affairs
IPhO Function/Discipline: Fellow Co-Lead, Diversity & Representation National Initiative

Why did you choose Regulatory Affairs as your functional area?

When I started pharmacy school, I knew that my goal was to pursue a career within the pharmaceutical industry, due to my experience working in a drug synthesis lab for two years during my undergraduate education at Bowie State University. However, my decision to pursue a career in Regulatory Affairs was made during my third year of pharmacy school when I enrolled in the Duke Office of Regulatory Affairs training program. I gained an in-depth look into the drug development process, FDA meetings, and how FDA drug regulation impacts drug development strategy applied in clinical studies. Seeing firsthand how collaborative Regulatory Affairs was as a functional area, and how Regulatory Affairs professionals were involved during every step of the drug development process, truly solidified my decision as I’m an individual who must see how all the pieces come together to lead to great results. Regulatory is also an enriching career path because it’s our job to ensure we can stay compliant with regulations and provide safe and effective products for patient use worldwide. One of my top priorities in life is to do impactful work, and Regulatory is a career field filled with impact!

Jerald Grace, PharmD
Senior Director, Regulatory Science
Day One Biopharmaceuticals
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeraldgrace/

What was your motivation to pursue the Pharmaceutical Industry as a career path?

Growing up, I always enjoyed providing help and assistance to loved ones in any aspect I could - which led me to pursue pharmacy as a career. Additionally, I knew I wanted to work in an environment where I could help patients on a wide scale. In school, I enjoyed working with my classmates in a team atmosphere on projects and activities. Seeing fellow alumni from Florida A&M return to campus and speak about the various opportunities for pharmacists within the industry was quite appealing and lined up well with my career aspirations post-graduation. I continued to network with past and current fellows during my last year of school, which led to me pursue the Rutgers Pharmaceutical Industry Fellowship Program.

Osamagbe (Osa) V. Woghiren, PharmD
Alma Mater: Notre Dame of Maryland University (NDMU)
Fellowship Sponsor Company/Affiliation: UCB/IPhO
Fellowship Duration: 2 Years (2022—2024)
UCB Function/Discipline: Patient Safety
IPhO Function/Discipline: Fellow Co-Lead, Diversity & Representation National Initiative

Why are you passionate about the pharmaceutical industry?

My passion stems from my experience having lived on different continents and being exposed to varying levels of healthcare and the disparities that exist among them. Working in the Pharmaceutical Industry gives me a worldwide approach to healthcare, which I love. By applying my clinical knowledge and innovative strategies, I can impact patient care globally.

IPhO is pleased to share the following consensus statement on behalf of the newly-formed Academic Industry Fellowship Alliance (AIFA).

This decision is a step in the right direction to bring stability to a marketplace in which offers were trending earlier each year—as early as the beginning of November—which is 8 months before the Fellowship start date.

AIFA programs offer more than 70% of available fellowship positions. It is not known at this time what the offer timing will be for the other 25-30% of programs. Some may make offers earlier, some may agree to the December 7 timing, while others will extend offers later or even "off cycle."

Class of 2023 students are strongly encouraged to attend the upcoming IPhO Annual Meeting from September 9-11 for information on program updates. Students should also follow IPhO news posts/email announcements to learn more.

Consensus Statement:

Recognizing that the choice of a Post-Doctoral Industry Fellowship is an important decision, the Academic Industry Fellowship Alliance (AIFA) has agreed to extend offers for Fellowships no earlier than December 7, 2022.

• AIFA is comprised of Keck Graduate Institute (KGI), Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (MCPHS), Northeastern University Pharmaceutical Industry Fellowships, Purdue University College of Pharmacy, Rutgers Institute for Pharmaceutical Industry Fellowships (RPIF), Saint Joseph’s University, University of North Carolina Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics (UNC, DPET), and University of Southern California School of Pharmacy (USC School of Pharmacy).

AIFA sees this respect for candidate choice as a common aspect of the Program culture of each member institution. AIFA hopes that other academic and non-academic Fellowship Programs will respect this timeline.

Fellowship Programs interested in joining AIFA should contact any of the member institutions above via their Fellowship Program websites.

Paul Oyefesobi, PharmD, MS
Senior Manager, Pricing & Market Access
REGENXBIO
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-oyefesobi/
Instagram: @Tosinsview

What was your motivation to pursue the Pharmaceutical Industry as a career path?

As a young child with asthma, I constantly interacted with the health care system/pharmacies, exposing me to how decentralized and inefficient the process was. I then began familiarizing myself with pharmacy as a whole and noticed small gaps regarding the lack of counseling. When I pursued a Master's Degree in Health Care Systems Engineering, I saw the elevated cost of our specialized therapeutics—HIV, Hep C, and Oncology—which opened my eyes to the inefficiency in the system. Approximately 18% of our country's GDP is spent on healthcare. However, we are still not the most efficient globally. Through this realization, I saw the opportunity to make an impact by marrying my science background with my knowledge of health economics, which led me to start my career in pharma in HEOR. Leveraging my HEOR foundation along with my payer background, I pivoted to pursue a career in market access in biotech.

We are pleased to announce that Chapman University has joined our growing network of close to 100 chapters!

Congratulations to student pharmacists at Chapman University! IPhO now connects them to more than 5,000 student pharmacists with similar interests, as well as a national network of hundreds of industry fellows and thousands of industry pharmacists.

Several more schools are in the late stages of filing their chapter applications and will soon join the growing national network.

To start a chapter at your school, contact us here.

For the student benefits of joining IPhO, view the National Student Brochure here!

IPhO recently collected preferences and insights from Class of 2023 IPhO student pharmacist members regarding Fellowship recruiting processes and affordability. These results are being shared widely to help support students and Fellowship employers in preparation for the Fall 2022 Fellowship recruiting season.