Research and Career Day aids in student professional development
Vijay Anne, medical affairs review officer and manager for Reckitt Benckiser Pharmaceuticals Inc., will serve as guest speaker at VCU School of Pharmacy’s 16th Annual Pharmaceutical Sciences Research and Career Day. The event takes place 8 a.m.-3 p.m. Oct. 17 in the Larrick Student Center’s Court End Ballroom, 900 Turpin St.
Anne’s topic will be “Adaptation.” Headquartered in North Chesterfield, Reckitt Benckiser’s vision is to “make a difference by giving people innovative solutions for healthier lives and happier homes.”
The School of Pharmacy’s annual Research and Career Day showcases the pharmaceutical sciences graduate and research programs by providing classes on career development, sponsoring a poster competition, and offering mock interviews and student meetings with government and industry scientists that can help develop the skills and contacts necessary to find jobs. Postdoctoral fellows, graduate students and Pharm.D. students are encouraged to contribute to their own professional development by attending and participating.
Among the scientists offering their expertise to students will be Gene Cefali (Pharm.D./Ph.D. ’87) of EA Cefali Pharmaceutical Consulting LLC; Tony Coniglio (Pharm.D. ’86) of Opus Pharma Consulting; Leslie Edinboro (Ph.D. ’04) of Quest Diagnostics, Nichols Institute; Eric Edwards (Ph.D. ’11) of Kaleo; Dwight Flammia (Ph.D. ’99) of the Virginia Department of Health; Ken Kolb (Pharm.D. ’82) of Kolotti Group LLC; Susan Learned (Pharm.D./Ph.D. 97), of Stiefel, a GlaxoSmithKline company; Pat Noonan of PK Noonan Pharmaceutical Consulting LLC; Nikhil Parekh of Pfizer Consumer Healthcare; and Shanaz M. Tejani-Butt (Ph.D. ’84) of University of the Sciences in Philadelphia. (SOP alumni are indicated by degrees, in parentheses).
This year’s student podium presenters will be Farhana Sakloth, Medicinal Chemistry; Xiangyin Wei, Pharmaceutics; and Emmanuel Cudjoe, Pharmacotherapy and Outcomes Science. “We got a very good response for the call for nominees and, as such, it was a difficult decision,” said Susanna Wu-Pong, director of the Pharmaceutical Sciences Graduate Programs.
Students who attend R&C Day also are invited to participate in an interactive panel discussion on “Network Approaches” with members of the Pharmaceutical Sciences Graduate Advisory Board. The GAB fall meeting is set for Oct. 16 at the School of Pharmacy.
A preparatory day of related classes, which takes place the week before Research and Career Day, will include a welcome by Wu-Pong; “Preparing and Delivering an ‘Elevator Speech’” by SOP professor David Holdford; “Networking at Professional Meetings” by SOP professor Patty Slattum (Pharm.D./Ph.D. ’92); “CV and Interviewing Basics” by Tom Reinders, associate dean for admissions and students services; and “Industry Perspectives” by Michael Peoples (Ph.D. ’08) of Pfizer Consumer Healthcare.
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