Nominations being accepted for new Altria-funded $100,000 graduate fellowship
Richmond-based Altria has awarded VCU School of Pharmacy $100,000 to fund an Altria Group Tobacco Products Regulatory Science Fellowship.
The fellowship is intended to train scientists who have completed at least two years of graduate (Ph.D.) study and who demonstrate an aptitude for strategic management, policy development and research assessment.
Because of the mandate stated in the 2009 Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, the need for specialized training in this area has been noted by both the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The 2009 act empowered the FDA to review and regulate products with the intention of reducing “risks or exposures associated with tobacco products [and] to review any advertising and labeling for such products.”
“We are excited about the opportunities this fellowship brings and proud to be a part of it,” said Jane Lewis, senior vice president, Tobacco Regulatory and Health Sciences for Altria Client Services. “We hope that with the establishment of this fellowship many students and faculty will consider tobacco product regulatory science as an emerging and exciting field of study.”
H. Thomas Karnes, professor of pharmaceutics, chaired the School of Pharmacy committee that worked with Altria to establish and form the fellowship. The committee also included Dean Victor Yanchick and Ellen Leverich, director of development.
“The idea was grown by alumni who have come through our program and now work as scientists there,” said Yanchick. “We’re very appreciative to Altria for supporting our research initiatives.”
Mohamadi Sarkar, who received his Ph.D. in pharmaceutical sciences from the School of Pharmacy, was among those who helped facilitate the fellowship. A former associate professor at the school, he is director, health and behavior assessment, for Altria Client Services.
Nominations for the fellowship must be submitted to Yanchick by April 27. A committee appointed by the dean will choose the recipient of the two-year fellowship.
The recipient, to be announced May 25 at the school’s 2012 Graduate Awards Luncheon, will be invited to present a brief overview of his or her research to Altria scientists in August.
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