UC Medical Center Creates New Master's Program in Drug Development

The UC Medical Center's College of Pharmacy has created a new master's-level degree program specializing in drug development.

The new program will provide cutting-edge training in global aspects of preclinical and clinical drug development, regulatory affairs, pharmacovigilance and pharmacoeconomics.

One of only a few master's-level courses of its kind in the country, the new program will fill a growing need by biopharmaceutical companies and clinical research organizations (CROs) for employees cross-trained in scientific and regulatory aspects of drug development.

Fifteen students are enrolled in this two-year program.

"There's a significant upsurge in global drug discovery and development," said Daniel Acosta, Jr., PhD, dean of the College of Pharmacy, "fueled by technological advances, shifting paradigms of pharmaceutical research and evolving regulatory guidelines.

"However, few professionals are educated in the diverse range of activities needed to take a therapeutic concept from bench top to bedside. This program will address this unmet and growing need."

College of Pharmacy and other UC Medical Center faculty members collaborated with scientists from pharmaceutical and clinical research companies, including Kendle International Inc., Parexel International, Patheon Inc., and Procter & Gamble, to perform a marketplace analysis, make recommendations for the new program and eventually create a model curriculum and implementation strategy.

Headed by Pankaj B. Desai, PhD, associate professor of pharmacokinetics, the new program will be supported by 18 UC faculty members who are internationally known in their specialties. They include: Dr. Michael Bottoroff, Dr. Melanie Bruno, Dr. William Cacini, Dr. Stephen R. Cammarn, Dr. Loren Friedman, Dr. Jeff Guo, Dr. Daniel Healy, Dr. Raymond Jang, Dr. Gerald Kasting, Dr. Giovanni Pauletti, Dr. Adel Sakr, Dr. William Sietsema, Dr. Kevin Skare, Dr. David Tonnuci, Dr. Richard Schwen, Dr. Alexander A. Vinks, Dr. Philip D. Walson and Dr. Georg Weber. 

"As a member of UC's Board of Trustees and the clinical research industry, I'm confident this groundbreaking program will provide the world-class educational opportunity we need to help prepare the next generation of professionals for the pharmaceutical and CRO industries," said Candace Kendle, PharmD, chairman and CEO of Kendle International Inc.