Occupation Station

In this episode of Occupation Station, host Diane Donato speaks with Christopher Fausel ('96), Director of Pharmacy, Precision Genomics Oncology at Indiana University Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center. Fausel delves into the fascinating world of precision medicine, where tumor DNA is analyzed to create personalized treatment plans. While the field presents challenges due to its rapid evolution, Fa...

The biopharmaceutical industry is experiencing rapid growth, and the need for a well-trained workforce comes with that. In this episode of Occupation Station, Diane Donato talks with Dr. Michelle Lewis, executive director for the Stack Family Center for Biopharmaceutical Education and Training (CBET) and David Stack, member of the ACPHS Board of Trustees, and CEO of Pacira Pharmaceuticals about ho...

A strong desire to help people has always drawn Nawshin Ahmed toward health related careers. That desire is what attracted her to ACPHS with thoughts of becoming a pharmacist. But not long into her academic career, Ahmed began to realize that pharmacy was not going to be her career destination. With advice from her thoughtful, knowledgeable and caring professors, Ahmed began to switch her focus to...

Dr. Nardine Nakhla’s career has branched off in multiple directions since her graduation in 2007 from ACPHS with one common denominator, she always works to help as many people as possible. That desire is seen in her work with students, as a faculty member at the University of Waterloo School of Pharmacy. Dr. Nakhla’s patient-centered approach also comes through in her research, which has focused...

During his years at Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Dr. Greg Dewey accomplished many great things. In this episode of Occupation Station Dr. Dewey reflects on The Collaboratory, the Stack Family Center for Biopharmaceutical Education and Training (CBET), and the creation of two student-run pharmacies. The Collaboratory, a “laboratory for collaboration,” offers services which are de...

In this episode of Occupation Station, meet Dan Bosley, class of '93 and now owner of two independent pharmacies, Keeseville Pharmacy and Cornerstone Drug and Gift in Rouses Point, NY. Dan always knew he wanted to be a pharmacist but didn’t originally picture himself going solo. Yet Dan was attracted to the freedom associated with working independently. He loves being able to bypass the red tape o...

Kelsey Hennig '18 is the perfect example of the power of mentorship. In this episode of Occupation Station, Henning talks about the incredible guidance she received while at ACPHS and how she now tries to give that back as a clinical assistant professor at Binghamton University. Henning says it was some of that mentorship during a research opportunity at ACPHS that helped her realize her passion f...

In this episode of Occupation Station, 2008 ACPHS grad Shawn Leland talks about the personal, educational and professional ways he has been inspired to help people live longer, healthier lives. Some of that inspiration came to him through a clerkship rotation that didn’t go as planned and instead landed him at Roswell Park Cancer Institute. While engaged in his studies, he was also seeing real hea...

While his work is always changing to adapt to industry needs, a typical day for ACPHS grad Salah El-Saheb involves working with biostatisticians, data scientists and clinical operations. Salah is Executive Director, Evidence Generation Leader at Genentech and his goal is to find more efficient and effective ways to conduct drug trials to bring therapies out to patients as quickly as possible. Whil...

Joe Medicis worked his way up from the ground floor pharmacy stock room of Upstate Medical University as he embarked on a path that would continue to take him ever upward. That’s just one part of the story of this Class of ‘91 ACPHS grad on his journey to becoming vice president of medical affairs at Baudax Bio. In this episode of Occupation Station, Joe talks about his early plans of becoming a p...

Growing up, Steve St. Onge saw his grandfather working in his pharmacy and thought he would follow in his footsteps. Like his grandfather, he set out to graduate from ACPHS. But shortly later St. Onge started following a different path. In this episode of Occupation Station, he talks about why he decided to pursue interests both in drug development and in business, ultimately adding an MBA to his...

Graduating from either pharmacy or law school is an admirable achievement. Graduating from both is a rare accomplishment indeed! That’s just what 1985 ACPHS grad Scott Terrillion did, despite having more than a few people advising him against it. In this episode of Occupation Station, Scott talks about why he made such an unusual move. He says his education at ACPHS prepared him to take on the new...

Ina Shah entered Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences through the non-traditional Doctor of Pharmacy degree program. After successfully balancing the demands of work and school, she graduated in 2001 ready for a career in the industry. Now she’s the executive director medical information for Abbvie. Ina credits the ACPHS Pharm D program with preparing her for this essential work by givin...

In this episode of Occupation Station we discover how Dr. Kelly Cycon went from lab tech to Director of the Virology Department at Zeptometrix. During her years there the company has also grown and evolved and currently ZeptoMetrix is providing support for the COVID 19 response. Kelly’s career journey involved a leap into a graduate program, many miles traveled on I-90, and a willingness to be fle...

The path that a student embarks on is often very different from the career path they ultimately follow. ACPHS class of ’94 grad Kelly Mahar is a prime example. Kelly planned on becoming a retail pharmacist and she knew that there were lots of attractive jobs open in the field. But during her coursework and internships at ACPHS, Kelly started to notice her strengths and interests lay elsewhere. In...

In this episode of Occupation Station meet 2008 Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences grad Stephan Esker. Stephan is now Senior Medical Director, Antibody Drug Conjugate (ADC) Franchise at Daiichi Sankyo. From his time as a student and continuing throughout his career, Stephan has been inspired by people who are fighting challenging diseases. His concentrations have mainly centered on HIV...

Billy Gallo has combined some core values and an education at ACPHS to thrive in a career as associate director, medical information, scientific communications at Boehringer Ingelheim. In this episode of Occupation Station, Gallo talks about how his APPE rotations helped shape his career path and how being true to his authentic self rather than “faking it” has helped him earn the respect of his pe...

Curiosity and resilience are two of the important characteristics that 1984 ACPHS grad Jim Notaro says are important for a successful educational and professional career. In 1999, Notaro founded Clinical Support Services, Inc., a provider of medication management solutions. In this episode of Occupation Station, Notaro, RPh, Ph. D., talks about how having focus and facing some diversity leads to s...

Exciting news at ACPHS! In January 2020, the College will open the Center for Biopharmaceutical Education and Training (CBET), a $37.3 million facility that will train pharmacy students and mid-career professionals for jobs making biopharmaceutical drugs, which is a rapidly growing part of the drug industry nationwide. CBET will be a 20,000-square-foot advanced technology facility that will featur...

An early change in direction ultimately led to a healthcare career that spanned decades for Bill Shields. Shields, who currently serves as CEO of Advanced Infusion Solutions, already held a degree in education when he decided to further challenge himself by gaining a degree in pharmacy at ACPHS. Even though he quickly found work as a pharmacist, Shields felt a drive to branch out even further and...

Mina Tadrous began to understand what career would spark him while getting his Doctor of Pharmacy at Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. As his career trajectory shows, Tadrous has turned that spark into a flame in many, many ways. You could say his main focus is on post-marketing surveillance of drugs that have been approved. It is crucial work that uncovers the hidden differences bet...

Tom Long admits his career was not the one he’d dreamed of. He’d hoped to one day open his own pharmacy and while he did work in retail pharmacy for about a year after graduation, an opportunity came knocking that he couldn’t resist. Tom was recruited by Bristol Laboratories to become a technical liaison between manufacturing and product development. From there his career took off with increasing...

During her time at ACPHS Dr. Sema Hart, realized two things: she wanted to go on to medical school and she wanted to finish pharmacy school first! Dr. Hart talks about how her time at ACPHS helped her realize her dream. She is now an associate professor of Clinical Pediatrics at the University of Rochester Medical Center. Working with babies and helping their mothers is a calling that she describe...

In this episode of Occupation Station, we meet ACPHS grad Brian Carroll, who had an extremely satisfying career for decades with Eli Lilly and Company before recently retiring. Carroll talks about how his pharmacy background gave him greater credibility in working with physicians as a medical liaison. He recalls what a typical day on the job entailed and how communication skills he honed at ACPHS...

In this edition of Occupation Station, Dr. Whitney Kirschbrown, a Scientist in Clinical Pharmacology at Genentech in South San Francisco, California, talks about her role in pharmacokinetic, drug interaction, and exposure-response analyses that help guide prescribing information in the drug label. Dr. Kirschbrown shares some advice for today’s students. She advises student to engage with faculty a...