VOLUME VII ISSUE 3 NOV/DEC 2012 PIONEER.GATECH.EDU
DIVERSITY
FACULTY SPOTLIGHT
INNOVATION
Dr. Barabino discusses her initiatives to improve diversity within the academic fields
One of our newest faculty members from Imperial College, Dr. Ethier talks about his journey towards Biomedical research
How FDA regulations and patent law influence the development of new devices
Pioneer THE COULTER DEPARTMENT STUDENT PUBLICATION
Alumni Spotlight: Dr. Chris Gemmiti The Business Side of Biomedical Engineering by Valeriya Popova— Popova— Undergraduate Student in the Coulter Department WHY DID YOU BECOME a Biomedical Engineering major? Among the variety of reasons everyone has is the desire to be in a career that has a direct impact on the world, and on the lives of the people in it. Yet, few engineers are able to witness the usage of a product that they helped develop. Chris Gemmiti, Georgia Tech and Emory Department of Biomedical Engineering Ph.D. graduate of 2006, has that envied job: he is able to see the product through from start to finish. Dr. Gemmiti works as the Product Director for the Oral Regeneration department of Organogenesis, an industry leader in the field of regenerative medicine. While he was always interested in
business, it took what Dr. Gemmiti called "a wake-up moment" to pursue it: Organogenesis went bankrupt, despite having a revenue-generating, FDAapproved product. From then on it became a personal goal − how can "a very cool, sexy, interesting tissue eng ineered product” become a commercially successful product as well? During his following years at Tech, Dr. Gemmiti partook in the Technological Innovation: Generating Economic Results (TI:GER) program, earned a minor in Management and received a Certificate of Engineering Entrepreneurship. Now, from his post Continued on page 10
Dr. Chris Gemmiti at the Georgia Bio Convention (Photo: Benjamin Stewart)
PrePre-Pharmacy Path to Becoming a Pharmacist by Jaemin Sung— Sung — Undergraduate Student in the Coulter Department
A corner of the pre-health advising section in Clough Commons (Photo: by Alex Y. Shao)
BELIEVE IT OR NOT, this past October was American Pharmacists Month, an initiative created by the American Pharmacists Association (APhA) to educate the public about the pharmacist's role in improving medication and advancing patient care. While the common perception of pharmacists evokes an image of someone who interprets a physician's prescription at a local drug store, reality can create a different picture. Instead of the “typical” pharmacists, imagine the growing group of medication therapy managers (MTM): pharmacists who serve patients as counselors by reviewing their medication history and suggesting the best way to reduce drug-related costs. Alongside these new, proactive pharmacists, imagine a pharmacist goes on rounds with a doctor and recommends medications that meet the unique needs of a patient. Finally, imagine pharmacists in consultant positions in which they can advise healthcare facilities or insurance providers on raising the efficiency of pharmacy services. Regardless of the form, these growing breeds of Continued on page 4