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Greetings all. I have been subscribed to this message board for awhile.
I teach PK, drug metabolism, TDM, etc. to Med Students, Grad Students
and Pathology Residents here at Yale. I learn a lot from the discussions
going on here and this has been helpful in my teaching.
Today, I want to ask for general advice on training for someone to find
a job like most of you. A lot of PhD students are reasonably anxious
about their future job market and many have asked me about alternative
careers outside of academic research. We also hear a lot about Big
Pharma cutting back on basic research & drug discovery. Yet, I see a lot
of PK-related jobs posted here and I always wonder what sort of training
one requires to pursue such a job. Some of my students have expressed an
interest in the PK/PD side of drug development/pre-clinical trials/etc.
How can I guide them? They are getting PhD degrees from the Pharmacology
Department here at Yale, but they are mostly all doing basic biomedical
research. How would you advise them if they were interested in pursuing
these sorts of jobs in your industry?
Many thanks, in advance, for your kind responses.
---
Michael E Hodsdon, MD, PhD
Associate Professor of Laboratory Medicine and Pharmacology
Yale University School of Medicine
email: michael.hodsdon.-at-.yale.edu
http://info.med.yale.edu/labmed/faculty/hodsdonm.html
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Dear Michael,
Since you mentioned about interests in PK/PD, I would like to share the
following articles that might be helpful:
--
J Clin Pharmacol. 2008 May;48(5):632-49.
Pharmacometrics: a multidisciplinary field to facilitate critical
thinking in drug development and translational research settings.
Barrett JS, Fossler MJ, Cadieu KD, Gastonguay MR.
Clin Pharmacol Ther. 2007 Jul;82(1):103-5. Epub 2007 May 9.
Time for quantitative clinical pharmacology: a proposal for a
pharmacometrics curriculum.
Holford N, Karlsson MO.
--
The best way to get into this area is training, and a Postdoc is one of
the options. Above articles will give you an idea of the
course-work/training needed to get into this position. I followed
similar path after getting PhD in basic Pharmacology.
Hope this helps,
Gaurav
--
Gaurav Bajaj
Postdoctoral Fellow, Pharmacometrics
Laboratory for Applied PK/PD
Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics
The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
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Courses like our in PK/PD Modeling
will be helpful.
***************************************
William J. Jusko, PhD
SUNY Distinguished Professor and Chair
Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences
565 Hochstetter Hall
School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences
University at Buffalo
Buffalo, New York 14260-1200
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Dear Michael,
I have heard this question raised numerous times and, while it would
seem logical to point students towards more science, it is not the
answer in my opinion. I actually think they are more than adequately
trained by professors and organizations such as yours. What the
industry (and your students) need is to understand how the science is
applied in the Pharmaceutical Industry. I have just recently worked
with 2 graduate students who have developed a 1 semester course which
deals with concepts in "Drug Development" including the areas of
discovery, chemistry, preclinical and clinical development, from
strategy, science and regulatory perspectives. There are even more
areas but as a first attempt these students are trying to cover the
steps leading from idea or molecule (large or small) to registered drug
product.
There are courses available to the industry where you can model your own
course. I am sure that within your halls are professors who have lived
the life of the "Pharma Industry". Tapping into those resources would
be a boon to any PhD program or student. Whether your background is
pharmacology (as was mine) or chemistry, all students will find that
this type of course will assist them in preparing for a career in drug
development. The concepts presented will also help those who stay in
academia, particularly with President Obama's newly established National
Center for Advancing Translational Sciences at the NIH.
If you have any further questions, please feel free to ask.
Best regards,
Bien cordialement,
Mit freundlichen Gruessen,
Barati uedvoezlettel
Pat
Sanofi U.S.
Associate Director
Projects, standards and Innovation
Disposition, safety and Animal Research
PO Box 6800
Mail-stop: BRJR2-203B
1041 Route 202-206
Bridgewater, NJ 08807-0800
T: (908) 231 - 2962
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