FROM PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY TO ACADEMIA
SCHOOL OF PHARMACY AND PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCES
DEAN AND SUNY DISTINGUISHED PROFESSOR
Kanneboyina Nagaraju, PhD
ASSOCIATE DEAN FOR ACADEMIC AND STUDENT AFFAIRS
Judith DeLuca, PharmD, BCPS
ASSOCIATE DEAN FOR RESEARCH AND RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT
Eric Hoffman, PhD
ASSISTANT DEAN FOR ADMINISTRATION, FINANCE AND OPERATIONS
Laura McDuffee
ASSISTANT DEAN FOR ACADEMIC AFFAIRS
Erin Pauling, PharmD, BCACP
INTERIM DIRECTOR FOR EXPERIENTIAL EDUCATION
Marissa Langett
CHAIR, DEPARTMENT OF PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCE
Tracy Brooks, PhD
CHAIR, DEPARTMENT OF PHARMACY PRACTICE
Kenneth McCall, PharmD, FAPhA
REMEDIES
EDITOR
Scott Sasina
ART DIRECTOR
Katie Samson ’14
PHOTOGRAPHER
Jonathan Cohen
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
John Brhel, Anthony Borrelli, Ethan Knox ’20, Jennifer Micale, Katelyn Pothakul ’27, Steve Seepersaud, Emma Young ’26
VICE PRESIDENT FOR COMMUNICATION AND MARKETING
Greg Delviscio
SENIOR DIRECTOR OF CREATIVE SERVICES
Gerald Hovancik Jr.
COPY EDITORS
Natalie Blando-George, Eric Coker, Chris Kocher
ON THE COVER
Nathan Tumey, the assistant graduate director; vice chair and associate professor of pharmaceutical sciences.
FEATURES
2 Researching the researchers
Postdoc students are learning the skills needed to take their careers to the next level
10
From industry to university
Taking what you’ve learned from the real world and giving it to students
14
Pharm tech success
First year of Pharmacy Technician Program met with positive results, new opportunities for students
18
TRUST the process
A unique microcredential is letting students give back to their community while gaining hands-on experience
8 / Meet the scientist revolutionizing gene therapy while empowering the next generation
12 / You can tell how much pharmacy means to this student just by looking at her skin
22 / Sometimes, pharmacy is a family business
24 / A new group is hoping to keep alumni connected
LEARN MORE
For the latest School of Pharmacy news, go to binghamton.edu/news/stories/category/pharmacy
TRUST students participate in a drug take-back and Narcan training event at the Multicultural Resource Center on the Vestal campus.
Associate Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences Tao Zhang conducts research in the labs at SOPPS.
Bioanalysis Facility, has two postdocs in his lab: Sung Hun Bae and Mohammad Asikur Rahman; the latter is co-sponsored by both Zhang and Associate Professor Nathan Tumey. Both postdocs work on projects building innovative assays and pharmacokinetic models of drug secretion into breast milk, with the goal of assessing drug safety for breastfeeding mothers and infants.
“Postdocs are crucial to my research,” Zhang says. “They bring substantial experience and independence, which allows them to contribute significantly to advancing projects and managing complex experiments.”
Drawing on knowledge
Fellowships aren’t necessary to work in industry, but they play a major role in shaping academic careers, preparing scientists to someday run their own university labs, explains Mohan Mullapudi, a medicinal chemist and one of three postdocs in Tumey’s lab. Many aspiring academics complete at least three years of postdoctoral research, which they select based on their professional development needs.
Mullapudi is from India’s temple city of Tirupati and received his master’s degree from the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research Raebareli and a PhD from the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Pune, two of India’s most prestigious institutes. After finishing his doctorate, Mullapudi pursued postdoctoral positions in his field, but the coronavirus pandemic put his plans on hold. Instead, he ended up at an Indian startup. When the pandemic subsided, he found
a position in Binghamton.
In Tumey’s lab, Mullapudi researches immunestimulating antibody conjugates (ISACs), which are used in cancer immunotherapy. With these agents, the body’s immune system is prompted to attack the cancer, providing oncologists with another tool to treat a complex and often terrifying disease.
Side effects of immune-stimulating drugs, however, can be challenging — and familiar to anyone who has suffered from a severe viral illness: fevers and body aches, for example. A long-term goal in drug development is to direct the immune activation only at the site of the cancer rather than a whole-body response.
Mullapudi is researching an approach that can mitigate this program. If the drugs are conjugated to specific antibodies, creating ISACs, immune stimulation only happens in the tumor’s microenvironment, potentially reducing adverse side effects, he says. Mullapudi is particularly focused on pancreatic cancer, which has no established, effective treatments, making it one of the deadliest forms of the disease.
A postdoc in Assistant Professor Yanyan Li’s lab, Thilina Kasthuriarachchi had his start in zoology, focusing on aquaculture in his native Sri Lanka. He then worked as a high school biology teacher before earning his master’s degree in industrial and environmental chemistry. After a stint in environmental monitoring at Sri Lanka’s National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency, he headed to Jeju National University in South Korea to earn a master’s and PhD in marine molecular biology.
His work now focuses on inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). For one project, he monitors how different pharmaceuticals impact an inflamed gut using mouse models. In another, the lab investigates the connection
“When we have a lot of exposure, we can go in any direction.”
THILINA KASTHURIARACHCHI
Assistant Professor Yanyan Li, remembers the challenges of being an earlycareer scientist and is glad to help this next generation.
Postdoctoral Student Thilina Kasthuriarachchi is grateful that his skills related to chemistry have carried over into his drug development research.
between gut microbiota and IBD; a third explores how that gut microbiota affects the brain via the gut-brain axis.
“The gut-brain axis is a recent discovery associated with brain health,” he explains. “Researchers found that when we have a healthy gut microbiome, we have better mental health.”
He’ll also be setting up Drosophila model systems to study the gut-brain axis in neurodegeneration, complementing the current mouse models. With such varied research streams, Kasthuriarachchi’s diverse scientific background has proven an asset.
“When we have a lot of exposure, we can go in any direction,” he says.
Mastering new skills
Landing a postdoc can be challenging in many ways; many of these researchers find themselves far from their homeland, a situation that can last for years or even a lifetime. Others, such as Kasthuriarachchi, balance family life — his wife is a postdoc in Binghamton’s Chemistry Department, and the two have an 8-year-old son.
If you’re seeking financial solvency, look for a job in the private sector after earning your graduate degree, Mullapudi advises.
“A postdoctoral experience can often be daunting. You have to be prepared to take these calculated risks,” he says. “If you do want to pursue postdoctoral research, do so in a different country or institute, so you get exposed to different research environments.”
Sometimes a postdoc needs to add new skills, so instead of teaching, Mullapudi audited an immunology course in Binghamton, he says.
Postdoctoral fellows have more freedom to generate new ideas and experiments than doctoral candidates, who typically follow the path laid by their mentor’s lab. Like Kasthuriarachchi and his pivot from marine to
“A postdoctoral experience can often be daunting. You have to be prepared to take these calculated risks.”
MOHAN MULLAPUDI
human biology, they can shift their focus to master new techniques and explore new areas.
A molecular biologist by training, Kasthuriarachchi has been developing skills related to chemistry that are useful in drug development research. Right now, Mullapudi is focused on developing two skill areas: antibody engineering and grant writing. Ultimately, he plans to return to India, where he will work in academia and continue to research infectious diseases and cancer immunotherapy.
Kasthuriarachchi would also like to become a principal investigator, running a lab in collaboration with other researchers. Long-term, he would like to explore the link between inflammatory and viral diseases, he says.
“A key goal in a postdoc is threefold: first to diversify your skill set to make you more ‘marketable’ during your job search; second to use your current expertise to rapidly advance a project in order to produce publications; and third to build scientific independence,” Tumey says.
For their part, mentors are tasked with supervising projects, providing the guidance necessary to keep the work moving forward and assisting with troubleshooting when experiments encounter challenges. They also foster their mentees’ professional and research development.
Neither Li, Tumey nor Zhang were postdocs themselves; Zhang and Tumey had a prior career in the pharmaceutical industry, and Li secured a faculty position early on. However, both have collaborated with postdocs during their career, and Li remembers well the challenges of being an early-career scientist, she says.
Li joined Binghamton in January 2024 and began building her lab from scratch. Hired in April, Kasthuriarachchi was her first postdoc and played an important role in getting the lab up and running, she says.
Both Kasthuriarachchi and Mullapudi are grateful for the support of their Binghamton mentors, as well as family and previous mentors. Like so much in research, mentoring is a collaborative process.
“We have different areas of expertise and learning from each other is very beneficial. And besides that, I like to share my thoughts and experience in what it’s like to be a PI and a faculty member,” Li reflects. “[Postdocs] bring in a wealth of prior research experience and technical expertise, which significantly contributes to the current projects.”
“Knowing that the MEI Lab plays a role in shaping their future careers is a powerful reminder of why I pursued this path ...”
KC MEI
KC MEI
By Katelyn Pothakul ’27
W The MEI Lab: Meet the scientist revolutionizing gene therapy while empowering the next generation of pharmacists
HILE HE WAS MENTORED by experts pushing the frontier of medical science, Kuo-Ching (KC) Mei is now inspired by the ambitious students he works alongside at the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.
“After working at various institutions, I was excited to join a place where I could build my own lab from the ground up and help shape the next generation of healthcare professionals, scientists and pharmacists,” he says. “One of the things I found especially appealing was the chance to be part of a young and innovative SOPPS, where there is room to grow and where I can make a real impact both in the classroom and in the lab.”
Fascinated by “how drugs work,” Mei’s career as a licensed pharmacist and researcher started around drug-delivery systems, a field that focuses on improving transportation of compounds to targeted sites in the body and reducing side effects.
When it came time to establish his own lab, Mei prioritized joining a burgeoning research community as a leader and mentor. He believed that Binghamton University’s collaborative environment could take his research on immunoengineering to new heights.
Stationed inside SOPPS, the state-of-the-art MEI Lab is equipped to tackle issues surrounding immunogenicity — a major challenge in gene therapy that prevents access to safe, effective treatment. The team, ranging from undergraduates to postdocs, uses nucleic acid drugs to communicate with the immune system and help the body tolerate adeno-associated virus-based therapies. Their goal is to offer new hope to patients with limited options.
In summer 2024, the MEI Lab received $1.9 million in funding as part of the Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences. As a result, MEI Lab team members have been able to accelerate progress toward groundbreaking discoveries and ensure stability for years to come.
“By working on projects like RNA therapeutics, lipid nanoparticle development and T cell engineering, [students] acquire the skills and knowledge needed to solve real-world healthcare challenges,” Mei says. “It’s incredibly rewarding to see students grow through their involvement in these projects, preparing them for careers in pharmaceutical sciences and biotechnology. The grant gives us the resources to solidify our long-term research strategy and explore new approaches to immune modulation and gene therapy delivery.”
SOPPS Dean and SUNY Distinguished Professor Kanneboyina Nagaraju believes Mei’s work could address a critical problem in modern healthcare.
“Mei is an outstanding young investigator and his innovative work will significantly enhance both efficacy and safety of this therapeutic intervention,” Nagaraju says.
However, beyond his potential contributions to healthcare, Mei’s “greatest source of pride” has been witnessing the transformative growth students undergo during their time at Binghamton.
“Knowing that the MEI Lab plays a role in shaping their future careers is a powerful reminder of why I pursued this path — to mentor, guide and empower the next generation of scientists, pharmacists and healthcare professionals,” Mei says. “Their achievements inspire me to keep pushing our research forward and to continue creating new opportunities for every student who steps into our lab.”
Associate Professor Nathan Tumey guides a student through research inside the school’s labs.
NATHAN TUMEY
Medicinal marks
TATTOOS REFLECT STUDENT’S INTERESTS IN HEALTHCARE AND MEDICATION
By John Brhel
YOU’VE PROBABLY SEEN a butterfly tattoo. A rose? Sure. Quote from a famous book? Chances are likely. How about a tattoo depicting the molecular structure of lidocaine?
For that one, you’ll have to turn to Erin Wong. One look at her arm and you’ll know: She takes healthcare seriously.
A third-year (P3) pharmacy student, Wong loves learning about the drugs pharmacists handle.
“Every year the curriculum is obviously going to change because new drugs come out every year,” Wong says. “That’s the aspect of pharmacy that I love so much.”
Wong was attending an American Pharmacists Association conference (she’s president of the Binghamton chapter) when she noticed someone with a full tattoo sleeve of drug structures. Wong, a self-proclaimed “nerd,” was inspired to get her own.
“I started thinking about what medications and neurotransmitters that I’ve learned so far that pertain to me, or something that I’ve done throughout my experiential rotations that made an impact,” she says.
Wong found a picture of the molecular structures she wanted and tweaked each one to be visually cleaner (images of molecular structures often contain a lot of letters). Once she had the designs sketched the way she wanted, she got all eight tattooed on her right forearm (during one session!) in her hometown of Canandaigua, N.Y.
Each tattoo represents significant aspects
of Wong’s education, experience and interests. Some, like Narcan, were selected out of an academic interest.
“The opioid epidemic isn’t going away anytime soon,” she says. “So I feel like it’s very important, as a pharmacist, for us to be educating the community and whoever we possibly can about Narcan.”
Then there are others with more personal meaning, like adrenaline (“I’m kind of an adrenaline junkie,” Wong says) and rizatriptan (“That is my rescue migraine medication.”)
Beyond her healthcare-related tattoos, Wong also has a tattoo in honor of her biggest role model: her mom. A nurse for more than 20 years, Wong’s mom inspired her to enter the healthcare field. Fittingly enough, her mom signed off on her first tattoo when she was 16.
“Growing up, I was around the hospital all the time. She’d bring home random stuff from the hospital and I’d play doctor with it, and I just found everything so fascinating about healthcare and medicine,” Wong says. “I feel like that’s always been my calling. Anytime she’d tell me stories about the hospital or things that happened throughout her day, I was like, ‘Those kinds of things sound cool. And how can I make an impact one day?’”
Wong will start her rotations next year. While she’s unsure if she wants to do a residency or outpatient pharmacy, whatever she decides, she’s excited to have a career that — like tattoos — isn’t boring.
“Every year, new medications come out and standards of care change,” Wong says. “I like how [pharmacy] is not a stagnant job; you’re not doing one thing for the rest of your life. You have to continue your education for the rest of your career.”
As for more tattoos, Wong’s are spaced out and she is open to filling in the gaps.
“As I learn more and I find more interesting-looking structures or if I learn about something else that relates to me or something in a way, I probably will,” she says.
ERIN WONG
RIZATRIPTAN
LIDOCAINE NALOXONE
DOPAMINE SEROTONIN
Pharmacy ‘fast track’
ON THE
Technician Training program celebrates successful first year
By Katelyn Pothakul ’27
JADA WILLIAMS didn’t know what would come next. Even though she had just finished high school and wasn’t yet ready for college, one thing she knew was the time had come to choose a pathway. Still, she never anticipated it would lead her to don a white lab coat and uncover the building blocks of medications. But as one of the inaugural class members in the Pharmacy Technician Training program at the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Williams is embracing this unique opportunity to move forward in a rewarding, if not unexpected, career.
“This program was the chance to try something I never thought I’d get to do,” Williams says. “Some of my favorite things during my training were making the medications in the IV bags and picking meds through the carousel.”
As a “fast track” of sorts, the 19-week, 420-hour microcredential was born out of a growing need in communities to bolster the healthcare workforce by filling crucial pharmacy technician positions. Planning began about two years ago when SOPPS faculty surveyed hospitals and community pharmacies around New York’s Southern Tier region and found at least 200 open pharmacy technician positions.
Kenneth McCall, program director, co-chair and clinical professor of pharmacy practice, credits the Pharmacy Technician Training program’s successful first year to a
The 2024 inaugural class of the Pharmacy Technician Program poses for a class photo inside the School of Pharmacy’s atrium following its graduation ceremony.
Instructional Support
Associate Katie Sasina and Pharmacy Technician
Program Director Kenneth McCall practice measuring liquids inside SOPPS’ compounding lab.
Program learners were able to get hands-on experience during their rotations at local pharmacies and hospitals like UHS
“I am very proud that the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences is helping learners in the greater Binghamton area to pursue a career in pharmacy.”
NAGARAJU
Wilson Medical Center.
KANNEBOYINA
TRUST the process
INTERPROFESSIONAL COLLABORATION BRINGS BINGHAMTON’S COMMUNITY TOGETHER
By Scott Sasina
BUILDING TRUST TAKES TIME. Whether with family, friends or co-workers, it’s a process that can take years. But how do you build trust within a community?
The School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences is trying to accomplish that through The Rural and Underserved Service Track (TRUST), a two-year, co-curricular track available to students in healthcarerelated fields, including pharmacy, medicine, social work, public health, nursing, and community research and action (CRA).
It focuses on providing care for rural and underserved populations through educational retreats and hands-on service activities. TRUST doesn’t have specific geographical boundaries, giving students the opportunity to conduct service projects anywhere they want or where there is a need.
Rachel Lucas, director of TRUST and clinical assistant professor of pharmacy practice, says the program has impacted the Binghamton community since its creation in 2019.
“TRUST scholars have made a real difference in our area,” she says. “They’ve delivered immunizations, led Narcan trainings, hosted drug take-back events, and taught both students and community members about important health skills and resources. Beyond clinical services, students have also visited schools to talk with kids about careers in healthcare, encouraging interest and understanding from a young age.”
Scholars participate in several retreats each year, engaging students from other disciplines and broadening their approach to healthcare and problem-solving. Lucas
JONATHAN COHEN
Assistant Professor of Social Work
Jackie McGinley stands behind the College of Community and Public Affairs in downtown Binghamton.
emphasizes the added value of the program, noting that it provides real-world interprofessional training for working with diverse patient populations.
“TRUST provides an additional level of workplace development that students may not experience in their primary didactic curriculum,” she says. “The program introduces students to specific patient populations — like patients with intellectual or developmental disabilities, veterans and those with substance use disorders — that they’ll likely encounter in their careers but may not study in-depth. It’s a chance to develop clinical skills and humanistic and empathetic approaches to care.”
Lucas says feedback has been positive, highlighting the program’s impact and fostering long-term connections between students and the communities they serve.
Many hands make light work
SOPPS isn’t the only Binghamton University school involved in this program; the College of Community and Public Affairs and Decker College of Nursing and Health Sciences participate in TRUST. SUNY Upstate Medical University is also part of the collaboration.
Jackie McGinley, an assistant professor of social work, joined the TRUST program when it first started. She says it reminded her of other training programs she had been
“It’s a chance to develop clinical skills and humanistic and empathetic approaches to care.”
RACHEL LUCAS
a part of, especially those involving interprofessional collaboration.
“I thought it was a unique chance to work across disciplines and address the needs of populations that don’t always get the attention they deserve,” McGinley says. “These students are also building a professional network beyond their field. They spend two years getting to know students from other disciplines — not just for a brief assignment, but through ongoing projects and realworld activities.”
TRUST students are responsible for five service activities a year, which adds up to hundreds — if not thousands — of hours of face-to-face interactions with community members.
“They’re out there providing hand-washing training during COVID, teaching fall-prevention strategies in senior centers and participating in events for people with chronic illnesses,” McGinley says. “They’re helping fill critical needs in the community while building their skills. It’s a reciprocal relationship where they learn from the community while giving back in meaningful ways.”
Heeral Naik, a third-year pharmacy student, cherishes these interactive community service projects.
“The activities are hands-on, not just creating flyers or hosting seminars,” she says. “Some groups run drug take-back programs, while others organize tabling events at schools on topics like dental hygiene or mental health. Last year, I joined activities where we made posters and goodie bags for kids to brush their teeth. It’s all about actively engaging with the community, which makes the service more impactful.”
Personal connections
Joining the program is a big commitment for TRUST students. They’re expected to find time for the retreats and service projects while balancing their degree workload. Yet students are motivated to do both — and do it well — because they recognize the long-term benefits.
Third-year pharmacy student Victoria Kostiv joined TRUST after what she says was a life-changing encounter with a patient.
“I was doing a medical history on someone who was struggling with substance use and a few undiagnosed mental health conditions, and I remember thinking,
PHARM-ILY TIES
FIRST-YEAR STUDENT LOOKS TO CONTINUE HER FAMILY’S TRADITION OF BECOMING A PHARMACIST
By Emma Young ’26
SOMETIMES, PHARMACY IS A FAMILY BUSINESS.
Lamya Islam is a first-year (P1) pharmacy student at Binghamton. Her brother, Eshraq Islam PharmD, ’24, recently graduated from the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences and is completing his residency at NYU Langone Health. Their father is also in the field, working at North Shore University Hospital in New Hyde Park, N.Y.
“On my dad’s side, we have a few other people in healthcare fields, but in terms of our family, we’re the ‘side with the pharmacists,’” says Lamya Islam, a Long Island native. “We make the joke that someday we can have our own practice!”
Lamya Islam completed her undergraduate degree in biology at Stony Brook University with a concentration in neuroscience and psychology. However, after some encouragement from Eshraq Islam, she followed her brother to Binghamton University for her doctoral degree.
“When I was deciding and still unsure, Eshraq had a heart-to-heart, saying that he would support me through whatever I chose,” Lamya Islam says. “It meant a lot to me. Knowing he would be in my corner, no matter what, was so helpful.”
Lamya Islam says her pharmacy road hit pit stops, and that her relationship with her brother wasn’t always so encouraging. Like most siblings five years apart, the pair had to make up some distance.
“When I entered seventh grade, he was finishing 12th grade, so I entered whenever he exited,” she says. “I
always admired him in a way, but in terms of how close we are — I was an annoying younger sibling, trying to get him to spend time with me. And he did, although he sometimes gave me an unplugged Xbox controller and told me I was playing the game!”
Eventually, though, as Lamya Islam matured, she believed the field evened out.
Thanks to her brother’s footsteps, she knew Binghamton provided a more intimate school setting where “the faculty could respond faster, and it feels more personal,” and thanks to her brother’s classmates — some of whom Lamya Islam got close to during Eshraq Islam’s time at Binghamton — she had a good outlook on available opportunities in the area and clubs to join. For example, she is considering joining a club focusing on psychiatry specializations, one of her interests, in the future.
Although Lamya Islam says she came to the field on her own after exploring other options, she credits her brother with some of her changing opinions about the role of a pharmacist, as she continues to grow (and the family takes one step closer to that family practice!).
“Through my brother, I realized pharmacy was a lot more hands-on, a lot more patient-care-oriented than I originally thought,” she says. “It’s a more accessible type of healthcare. How often are patients and their care teams going to talk to their doctor versus a pharmacist about their medication? Nine times out of 10, pharmacists are the ones who are getting you your medicine.”
P1 Student Lamya Islam stands next to antique piece of pharmacy equipment inside SOPPS.
James “JJ” Brice, director of student affairs, stands in front of SOPPS.
Lamiyah Kamal, PharmD ’21, is proud to be the inaugural president of PALs.
By Steve Seepersaud
A Pharmacy Alumni Leaders: New alumni group aims to forge lasting connections
S THE SCHOOL OF PHARMACY and Pharmaceutical Sciences continues to grow its programming and network – having graduated four Doctor of Pharmacy cohorts and two groups of Master of Pharmaceutical Sciences recipients – alumni engagement will be a critical part of the effort. That’s one reason the Pharmacy Alumni Leaders (PALs) group recently formed.
“As a school that has always prioritized the positive experiences of our students and their success pre- and post-graduation, establishing PALs was the next logical step to maintaining the connection with our exceptional alumni,” says James “JJ” Brice, director of student affairs. “We recognize that alumni volunteerism is an incredible advantage for any school, and by maintaining engagement and connection to our programs and services, we will extend the network of influence and opportunity for Binghamton University pharmacy.”
Lamiyah Kamal, PharmD ’21, a long-term-care pharmacist in Plainview, N.Y., and PALs’ first president, says one of the group’s main goals is to provide mentorship to students.
“We want students to be confident in their abilities as future professionals,” she says. “Pharmacy is a small world, after all, so our goal is to make sure students know they have a resource to reach out to as they progress in their careers.”
Alumni join PALs through a nomination process managed by the school’s student affairs office. Brice says PALs will connect with Binghamton undergraduate students who are interested in pharmacy via remote “PALS Talks,” sharing their experiences in SOPPS, their career paths and what they love about being a pharmacist. A Class of 2025 celebration dinner in May will connect faculty, staff, new graduates and peers. PALs members are working on other programs and events, Brice
says, including meetups in locations where alumni are concentrated.
Antonietta Macri ’20, PharmD ’24, a postdoctoral fellow in regulatory affairs strategy at Novartis in conjunction with the Rutgers Pharmaceutical Industry Fellowship Program, joined PALs because she had mentor support during her time at SOPPS, in particular crediting Julia Napoli, PharmD ’22, and Stephanie Kovnat, PharmD ’23.
“From my first year, they inspired me to get involved in different organizations and stressed how being involved was essential to gaining experiences that would help me in my career journey,” Macri says. “These activities helped me stand out when it came time to apply for pharmaceutical industry fellowships. I want to be a Stephanie or Julia for future students. SOPPS has given me so much. I hope to give back everything that I have gained.
“Starting your career is a scary journey and, if you do it alone, it seems like an impossible and daunting task,” she adds. “With the right support system and resources, starting your career becomes less scary and even a little exciting!”
Kamal is confident PALs will strengthen the relationship between the school and its alumni, and that members will be vocal ambassadors, helping to spread the school’s reach.
“As a graduate of the inaugural SOPPS cohort, I’m no stranger to the start of something new,” she says. “I just hope I can do right by fellow alumni and future graduating classes as we build this organization together.”
Want to learn about future events for pharmacy alumni?
The Alumni Association needs your current contact information. Visit www.bconnectalumni.binghamton.edu to make sure your profile is up to date.
SCHOOL OF PHARMACY AND P HARMACE UTI CAL SC IE NCES
PO Box 6000, Binghamton, NY 13902-6000
Binghamton, NY
Light of Knowledge
Class of 2028 students recite the Oath of a Pharmacist while holding the Light of Knowledge during the 2024 White Coat Ceremony inside the Anderson Center’s Osterhout Concert Theater.
