The University of South Florida College of Pharmacy and Clearwater-based CoreRx recently received a $200,000 grant from the Florida High Tech Corridor designed to train students to meet local demand for pharmaceutical careers.
Pharmaceutical companies in Tampa Bay historically have had to look outside of the region to find talent, from pharmaceutical hubs such as New Jersey or Michigan. USF’s long-term goal is to create a hub in Tampa Bay so companies can find the talent they seek.
"We create the talent right here and then the students get the opportunity to get into positions where they can create opportunity and build leadership," says Srinivas Tipparaju, assistant professor at
USF’s College of Pharmacy. "We want to be in the forefront of what’s going on in the industry."
CoreRx provides drug development from the pre-formulation stage all the way through to manufacturing. The grant will allow for multidisplinary collaboration among USF’s College of Pharmacy and College of Engineering, providing undergraduate and graduate students with opportunities to work with CoreRx’s scientists through hands-on projects and internships. The cross-college collaboration helps address the need for a more highly skilled workforce in STEM fields.
Among other things, students will learn about the development of drug delivery systems, the functionality of ingredients found in modern drugs and techniques involved with quality control. Students will also be challenged to use technology to develop new solutions that will overcome current issues with drug delivery systems.
The idea is for students to be market-ready, with no lag time in transitioning from an academic setting into industry.
The program is initially for one year, but long term goals are to extend it beyond that, and eventually develop patentable technologies.
Writer:
Megan Hendricks
Soure: Srinivas Tipparaju, USF College of Pharmacy
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