Pharmaceutical Sciences: Insights and Observations from Academic Chairs and Vice Chairs

On October 29, 2024, a virtual meeting, brought together chairs and vice chairs from several research-oriented U.S. Schools of Pharmacy to discuss the current landscape of pharmaceutical sciences, advocacy strategies, and best practices in graduate education. Key topics included alumni engagement, and the relatively low number of trainees interested in an academic career path. Dr. Dawn Beraud, the Executive Director of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) emphasized the importance of science advocacy, including increasing science funding and linking evidence-based decision making to policy. Discussions about graduate education highlighted best practices in using large language models, financial support challenges, and the significant role of industrial professionals in teaching. The proposed NextProf PharmSci program was discussed, which aims to address the imbalance of trainees leaning towards industry by preparing them for academic roles through a multi-day workshop. Participants expressed strong support for this initiative, emphasizing the need for a training pipeline and mentoring junior faculty. Participants agreed the event should be held annually, as it was found to be useful, and discussed future topics including sharing graduate and PharmD curricula as well as a shared summer school program.