Pharmacy Perspectives - Winter/Spring 2017 - 12

Research :

INVESTING IN
FUTURE LEADERS
BY DANA A. BRANDORFF

the USC-Allergan Postdoctoral
Fellowship and the Allergan APPE
Rotation in Clinical Development,
under the guidance and direction of
alumnus Kevin Kerr (PharmD 2011).
"We're proud of our relationship with
CU," says Kerr, associate director of
clinical development. According
to Kerr, "Several CU students and
alums have been selected for highly

In 2011-2012, Kerr was CU's first
Allergan Postdoctoral Fellow, followed
by CU PharmD graduates Colleen
Tholen in 2014-2015, Quoc Ho in
2016-2017, and Palak Prasad 20172018. According to Kerr, "The program
is very competitive. In 2017-2018 class,
only 10 fellows were chosen from an
applicant pool of more than 180, representing more than 50 pharmacy schools."

he relationship between Allergan and the
University of Colorado Skaggs School of
Pharmacy began many years ago when
CU alumnus John Biles worked with the
Company on the early formulations for
many of its compounds.

ADVANCING GRADUATE EDUCATION
Seven years ago, Allergan established The Allergan
Foundation Fund with CU to assist PhD students with
their graduate education and research interests. The fund
has made a meaningful impact on several students - Tanya
Clapp, Uma Fogueri, Aditya Gandhi, Mustafa Ibrahim,
Dinen Shah, Stacey Tuey and Ten-Chieh Yang - by providing them with stipends to help launch their careers.
According to Tuey, "The generosity of The Allergan
Foundation means so much to me. The company's support
has allowed me to pursue my goal of earning a PhD in pharmaceutical science where I hope to enter a career in drug
discovery and development." Tuey graduated with a BS in
chemistry from California State Polytechnic University of
Pomona and is a graduate student at CU in pharmaceutical
science. Currently under the mentorship of faculty member
Melanie Joy, PhD, Tuey's research interests include drug
delivery and formulation development. Upon receiving her
PhD, she hopes to utilize these skills to begin her career in
the pharmaceutical industry.

CONTINUING CU CONNECTIONS
Since 2011, CU pharmacy students and alumni have
participated in Allergan's Trainee Programs including

CU Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences

Alums Quoc Ho and Kevin Kerr pictured in front of Allergan headquarters in California continue the CU/Allergan tradition.

competitive positions at Allergan."
This now totals four postdoctoral fellows and six APPE rotation students,
including one fellow and three APPE
students selected for the 2017-2018
academic year.
During the one-year fellowship
program, fellows receive hands-on
training as integrated members of
Allergan project teams and contribute to the success of these programs.
APPE rotation students engage in
didactic learning about the clinical
development process, interact with
pharmacists in several different industry roles, and contribute to clinical
development programs.

Kerr's fellowship led him to his
current position with Allergan. In
addition, he is the preceptor for
the APPE Rotation in Clinical
Development. The six students who
were selected from CU to participate
in this rotation throughout the years
include Alicia Moruf in 2014-2015,
Quoc Ho in 2015-2016, Fatemah
Namdar-Yeganeh in 2016-2017, and
three for the 2017-2018 year including Hannah Dam, Rhea Hautea and
Rupa Parikh.
"It was really quite an accomplishment to have three CU students
make the final cut as we accepted only
five into our program," says Kerr. A

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pharmacy Perspectives - Winter/Spring 2017