1. When did you get your degree(s) at UW? What is your area of expertise?
B.S. in Biochemistry in 1985, M.S. in Pharmaceutics in 1988, and Ph.D. in Pharmaceutics in 1990.
2. Where do you currently work? What are your job responsibilities?
I work at Cephalon, Inc., a mediumsized biopharmaceutical company where I am the Director of Pharmaceutics responsible for drug discovery support, preformulation, and analytical development support for process chemistry and formulation development.
3. Describe a special memory from your time at the School of Pharmacy?
I remember the Tuesday evening pharmaceutics graduate student seminars very well. All pharmaceutics graduate students, after their first year, had to present their research to other students and the faculty. Each of these presentations felt like a thesis defense as the faculty and students would ask challenging questions of the presenter. The experiences I gained from attending these seminars, such as learning how to defend scientific research, to justify experimental design, and to draw conclusions convincingly, have remained with me as I think back to my time at the School of Pharmacy.
4. How do you feel pharmaceutical research has changed since you graduated from the School of Pharmacy?
When I began my career, the pharmaceutical industry was focused on optimizing biopharmaceutical properties of new chemical entities, known as small molecules, and developing technologies and formulations for oral delivery of these poorly soluble compounds. While this is still an active area of research in pharmaceutical development, most companies have added biologics, like peptides, proteins, and antibodies, to their development pipeline. Developing biologics presents a new set of challenges and requires a skill set and knowledge base that differs from that required for developing small molecules. Similarly, the focus of academic research appears to have shifted from physical pharmacy to biotechnology and biologics over the years.
5. How do you "stay connected" with UW grads or with the School of Pharmacy?
I have maintained contact with most of the graduate students from my time at the School of Pharmacy through periodic phone and email communications. I have met and kept in touch with other alumni at scientific meetings and especially at UW School of Pharmacy breakfasts at the AAPS meetings.
6. What advice would you give to current graduate students or aspiring graduate students?
Graduate school is an opportunity to focus on learning, thinking creatively, conducting research in a specific area of science, and becoming an expert in that field. It is the opportunity of a lifetime and should be fully taken advantage of.
7. Faculty and or staff member remembered the most and why?
I was very fortunate to have been mentored by Professor George Zografi who is a brilliant scientist and a passionate educator. I was also lucky to have interacted and worked with many remarkable and well known scientists in the field of Pharmaceutics such as Professors Carstensen, Connors, Mukerjee and Robinson.
8. Hobbies/interests
I enjoy traveling around the world to learn more about various cultures. I am also an avid reader and news junkie.
9. Random thoughts…
I consider myself very lucky to have picked the University of Wisconsin and Madison for college—sight unseen. The University and city are my true "home," both personally and professionally.
