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Bringing Industry to the Classroom
A teaching award honors biopharma experts’ skills, innovation and commitment to students
BY AMANDA CASTLEMAN
Two alumni-turned-teachers have earned acclaim for guiding students and drawing industry expertise into their Rutgers courses: Ramez Labib, PhD’02, and Thomas Visalli, PhD’05.
The adjunct assistant professors of pharmacology, physiology and neuroscience teamteach Principles of Toxicology I and II, while holding full-time, demanding jobs elsewhere. And they’re sticking the landing, with each racking up a prestigious New Jersey Health Foundation Excellence in Teaching Award (EIT), which honor exemplary faculty within Rutgers Health.
“They’re great teachers and their courses are heavily enrolled each semester,” says Andrew Thomas, PhD, their department chair and the School of Graduate Studies’ senior associate dean. He nominated the team for the awards, which have been given for 34 years. “For 18 years they’ve been giving these courses while working professional day jobs. They’re really committed.”
The pair teach for the Biomedical Science Master’s Program, designed to enhance students’ credentials for admission to medical and dental schools, or advance their future biopharmaceutical careers. Both draw on a wealth of practical knowledge: Labib, as Avon’s executive director of global product safety and regulatory operations, and Visalli, as executive director and global head of the nonclinical regulatory group at Eisai. Avon needs no explanation. Eisai, a Japanesebased pharmaceutical company developing drugs for neurology and oncology indications, has U.S. corporate headquarters in Nutley, NJ.
Labib and Visalli met years ago at NJMS, later collaborating at the beauty company Avon for several years. They then started team-teaching. “We decided to bring our industry experience into the classroom with real-life examples, since toxicology is very much an applied science,” Labib says.
The two professors said the EIT came as a surprise. They were celebrated at last year’s Lab Coat Ceremony, welcoming newly matriculated graduate students to the world of research. Labib recalls: “I got my PhD a long, long time ago, but I still felt very proud to be there. It helps students understand that they’re taking an important journey in life and what they’re doing is critical.”
Labib was working on his dissertation when he first met Visalli, then a graduate student. A strong friendship flourished. Visalli wound up joining the same lab and continuing Labib’s research on cocaine and endotoxin, as the more senior scholar graduated and went to work at Avon. They later collaborated at the beauty company for several years and started teaching about organ-directed toxicity. “We decided to bring our industry experience into the classroom with real-life examples, since toxicology is very much an applied science,” Labib says. Three years in, they added a second class focusing on toxic agents like pesticides, poisons, and animal venoms.
“Because the courses are so popular, people sign up without even knowing what toxicology is! And almost every semester, one or two students ask, ‘What can we do to get a career in this field?’ It makes us feel like we’re not just helping people get into medical or dental schools, but also, we’re giving them a career path they weren’t thinking about before. That makes us very, very happy,” Labib says.
Pre-pandemic, the professors alternated delivering the dozen lectures for each course. But lockdown routed classes online, where they discovered a winning new formula. The pair began pre-recording their lectures and posting them a week or two early. This allows students to listen at their convenience, then engage in dynamic discussions during class time on Webex. Attendance shot through the roof once students didn’t have to contend with commuting. They also seem more comfortable asking questions, Visalli says.
And it turns out, the benefits flow both ways. Visalli explains that course creation drives the search for new literature, and staying current with topics and examples. “We’ve learned from teaching the course and also from the students. It’s incredibly rewarding to remain part of the Rutgers community from graduation until now.” ●
Calling All Aspiring Toxicologists!
NJMS offers a medical toxicology fellowship, sponsored by the Department of Emergency Medicine and housed within the New Jersey Poison Information and Education System (NJPIES). This dynamic and growing program, founded in 2019, offers an exciting opportunity to learn about poisons and their impact on human health. Our two-year program is fully accredited through the American Board of Emergency Medicine. We accept physicians who are board-eligible or board-certified in a variety of primary specialties. NJPIES, the statewide poison center, serves 9 million state residents, fielding more than 50,000 poisonrelated calls annually from the public and health care providers. Our medical toxicology division is staffed by accomplished faculty.
The fellowship accepts applicants on a yearly cycle (typically starting in August) through the National Resident Matching Program through the ERAS system (program ID 1183311002).
For more information, visit: njms.rutgers.edu/medical_toxicology
