Pharmaceutical Sciences: Insights and Observations from Academic Chairs and Vice Chairs

Kristy M Ainslie; Albert A Bowers; Robert H Chichewicz; Lara S Collier; Jonathan A Doorn; Christopher R Frei; Hamidreza Ghandehari; Robert B Gibbs; David S Lawrence; Craig R Lee; Donald E Mager; Paul Marker; Anna Schwendeman; Raj Suryanarayanan; Robert O Williams 3rd; Yaguang Xi; Wen Xie; Xiang-Qun Xie; Guizhi Zhu; Juliane Nguyen

doi:10.1208/s12248-025-01026-9

Pharmaceutical Sciences: Insights and Observations from Academic Chairs and Vice Chairs

AAPS J. 2025 Feb 4;27(1):41. doi: 10.1208/s12248-025-01026-9.

Authors

Kristy M Ainslie^{1

2}, Albert A Bowers³, Robert H Chichewicz⁴, Lara S Collier⁵, Jonathan A Doorn⁶, Christopher R Frei⁷, Hamidreza Ghandehari⁸, Robert B Gibbs⁹, David S Lawrence³, Craig R Lee¹⁰, Donald E Mager¹¹, Paul Marker⁵, Anna Schwendeman¹², Raj Suryanarayanan¹³, Robert O Williams 3rd¹⁴, Yaguang Xi¹⁵, Wen Xie¹⁶, Xiang-Qun Xie¹⁶, Guizhi Zhu¹², Juliane Nguyen^{17

18}

Affiliations

¹ Division of Pharmacoengineering and Molecular Pharmaceutics, Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA. ainsliek@email.unc.edu.
² Division of Pharmacoengineering & Molecular Pharmaceutics, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, 4012 Marsico Hall, 125 Mason Farm Road, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 27599, USA. ainsliek@email.unc.edu.
³ Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry, Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA.
⁴ Medicinal Chemistry, College of Pharmacy, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.
⁵ Pharmaceutical Sciences Division, School of Pharmacy, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, USA.
⁶ Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Experimental Therapeutics, College of Pharmacy, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, USA.
⁷ College of Pharmacy, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, USA.
⁸ Departments of Molecular Pharmaceutics and Biomedical Engineering, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.
⁹ Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, 1004 Salk Hall, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.
¹⁰ Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
¹¹ Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University at Buffalo, SUNY, Buffalo, New York, USA.
¹² Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.
¹³ Department of Pharmaceutics, College of Pharmacy, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.
¹⁴ College of Pharmacy, Division of Molecular Pharmaceutics and Drug Delivery, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA.
¹⁵ Department of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, USA.
¹⁶ Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.
¹⁷ Division of Pharmacoengineering and Molecular Pharmaceutics, Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA. julianen@email.unc.edu.
¹⁸ Division of Pharmacoengineering and Molecular Pharmaceutics, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, 4205 Marsico Hall, 125 Mason Farm Road, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 27599, USA. julianen@email.unc.edu.

PMID: 39904863
DOI: 10.1208/s12248-025-01026-9

Abstract

On October 29, 2024, a virtual meeting, brought together chairs and vice chairs from several research-oriented U.S. Schools of Pharmacy to discuss the current landscape of pharmaceutical sciences, advocacy strategies, and best practices in graduate education. Key topics included alumni engagement, and the relatively low number of trainees interested in an academic career path. Dr. Dawn Beraud, the Executive Director of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) emphasized the importance of science advocacy, including increasing science funding and linking evidence-based decision making to policy. Discussions about graduate education highlighted best practices in using large language models, financial support challenges, and the significant role of industrial professionals in teaching. The proposed NextProf PharmSci program was discussed, which aims to address the imbalance of trainees leaning towards industry by preparing them for academic roles through a multi-day workshop. Participants expressed strong support for this initiative, emphasizing the need for a training pipeline and mentoring junior faculty. Participants agreed the event should be held annually, as it was found to be useful, and discussed future topics including sharing graduate and PharmD curricula as well as a shared summer school program.

Keywords: alumni; chatbots; graduate education.

Publication types

Editorial

MeSH terms

Curriculum
Education, Pharmacy, Graduate*
Humans
Schools, Pharmacy
United States