The
Pulse
News from Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences
September 2010
Campus Renovations 2
Exchange Programs Open Worlds of Opportunities New MS Students Arrive from Saudia Arabia Students Spend Summers in Europe and Asia The College’s new master’s degree program in Biotechonology is enrolling its first students this semester, and the inaugural class includes a talented group of students from the Middle East. Fourteen of the students in the program are from King Saud University, the oldest university in Saudi Arabia. The KSU students have completed medical school and are expected to return to Saudi Arabia to become demonstrators (lecturers).
eventually choose faculty mentors to oversee their thesis work. “This is an opportunity to foster another international relationship for the College and to learn firsthand from the Middle East,” said Dr. El-Fawal. “These students will receive well-rounded medical, scientific and cultural educations.” The relationship with KSU was forged by Vice Provost for Research and PRI Chairman Shaker Mousa, who has served as a visiting professor chair at KSU Medical College for the past two years. Dr. Mousa said KSU wants its medical students involved in more interdisciplinary research, and the school sees ACPHS as a place that can provide students the necessary resources, including faculty mentors, for future career success.
“It is the beginning of a relationship that will help both institutions – Fourteen students from King Saud University are pursuing their Master’s in Biotechnology. offering opportunities not only for KSU students on our campus, but also for our students to study at The students come from a variety of fields, including pediatrics, psychiatry, KSU,” Mousa said. “It also represents another step in radiology, obstetrics and internal expanding the College's global medicine. After completing their master’s degrees at ACPHS, they will footprint and building awareness of ACPHS in other regions of the complete international medical world.” residencies and return to KSU to become faculty members and establish Two KSU students, Ebaa Jastaniah individual research labs. and Lana Shaiba, said their experiences here will shape their Hassan El-Fawal, chair of the bedside manners and serve to make Department of Health Sciences, said them better doctors and professors. the “benchtop” experience is an important component of the program, “Getting a master’s degree in the one which appealed to the KSU U.S. is an opportunity to experience students. Students in the a different culture,” Shaiba said. “It Biotechnology program will learn makes you think in a more principles of research, molecular comprehensive way.” diagnostics, drug discovery and development, medical ethics and
d’Oney shares his 3 Dr. thoughts on the Gulf oil spill
on Dean 4 What’s Denio’s Wall?
This past summer, ACPHS students spanned the globe for academic opportunities. While studying in Asia and Europe, students gained valuable professional, educational and cultural exposure. For the first time, ACPHS students spent summers studying at Fudan University in Shanghai and the University of Santiago de Compostela in Spain. Students also completed rotations at Maruzen Pharmaceuticals and Showa
perspectives. Students also agreed that growth came with their time abroad. “The laboratory techniques and especially the patience I procured will help me to become a more focused scientist,” Joe Cross ’11 said, after spending his summer at the University of Basel. “I think more importantly that everything I did was a test to see if I could venture out on my own. It taught me a crucial component of that: how to work independently without an instructor standing over my shoulder making every decision.” And this independence is exactly what is intended by study abroad programs at ACPHS, according to Professor Dudley Moon and Associate Professor Kevin Hickey, who started rotations in Japan and Switzerland respectively.
Truong Huynh absorbed much Japanese culture outside of his studies, including visiting a famous sushi bar.
Since 2001, Moon has coordinated five-week internships for ACPHS students at Maruzen’s research and
University in Japan and the University of Basel in Switzerland. In spite of language barriers and culture shock, students participated in what they described as lifechanging experiences. “Aside from the lab experience, I was able to grow and learn in a more personal type of way,” said Jessica Phelps ’11, who spent her summer in Spain. “I formed many relationships with other students who attended the university and who came from various other parts of the world. From them, I learned all different ways of life.” Several students thought their foreign experiences provided them with more global academic, professional and social
In Kyoto, Heather Van Kuren and David Denio asked some Japanese women in traditional dress to join them in a photo.
development facilities. For more than five years, Hickey has overseen the Switzerland rotations, during which students work in hospital, retail and industrial pharmacies as well as in a heroin clinic.
Study Abroad Continued on page 5
go back to 5 Faculty school to enhance their teaching skills