From ideation to practice: How pharmacists and students can leverage hackathons and innovation labs to accelerate innovation in pharmacy.

OBJECTIVES: To describe novel methods regarding innovation for pharmacists and student pharmacists to leverage local and national events, such as hackathons and innovation labs, that provide guidance and resources for developing novel products and solutions in health care. DATA SOURCES: Not applicable. SUMMARY: The profession of pharmacy exists in a diverse and complex system where collaboration is essential for innovation and can leverage existing resources to accelerate this. Hackathons occur over one or more days and offer a venue and resources to support innovation as interprofessional teams develop and pitch new product ideas for potential investment. Innovation labs serve as more permanent locations that offer resources and expertise to help realize ideas and guide development into potentially viable solutions and products for health care. CONCLUSION: Although currently hosted hackathons and design spaces may prove to be beneficial to pharmacists looking to innovate, they are frequently located in urban areas or large academic institutions that are not readily accessible to the larger pharmacy community. Fostering opportunities, whether as local hackathons or innovation labs, can potentially help to accelerate the innovation cycle for the pharmacy profession. These resources can be developed in local communities or through national pharmacy societies and organizations to increase access.

The Impact of the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Technology and Education on Academic Research.

Surveys of institutional representatives of member institutions and faculty members engaged in the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Technology and Education (NIPTE) revealed that NIPTE is having a positive impact on academic research in the area of pharmaceutical technology by aligning research directions with FDA needs, by providing funding that may not be available elsewhere, and by creating a collegial and collaborative relationship among researchers in this area from various institutions. NIPTE is contributing to the viability of pharmaceutics and pharmaceutical engineering research in academic settings. Some responders cite the fluctuations in funding and relative low levels of funding received as a problem in maintaining programs, but most perceived a positive impact.

[Regulatory science: modern trends in science and education for pharmaceutical products].

This article reviews modern trends in development of new instruments, standards and approaches to drugs safety, efficacy and quality assessment in USA and EU that can be called by unique term--"regulatory science" which is a new concept for Russian Federation. New education programs (curricula) developed by USA and EU universities within last 3 years are reviewed. These programs were designed in order to build workforce capable to utilize science approach for drug regulation. The principal mechanisms for financing research in regulatory science used by Food and Drug Administration are analyzed. There are no such science and relevant researches in Russian Federation despite the high demand as well as needs for the system for higher education and life-long learning education of specialists for regulatory affairs (or compliance).

The pharmaceutical sciences in 2020: report of a conference organized by the board of pharmaceutical sciences of the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP).

The Board of Pharmaceutical Sciences (BPS) of the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) has developed a view on the future of pharmaceutical sciences in 2020. This followed an international conference with invited participants from various fields (academicians, scientists, regulators, industrialists, venture capitalists) who shared their views on the forces that might determine how the pharmaceutical sciences will look in 2020. The commentary here provides a summary of major research activities that will drive drug discovery and development, enabling technologies for pharmaceutical sciences, paradigm shifts in drug discovery, development and regulations, and changes in education to meet the demands of academia, industry and regulatory institutions for pharmaceutical sciences in 2020.

A simple and cost-effective method, as an appropriate alternative for visible spectrophotometry: development of a dopamine biosensor.

In this study, a new, simple, fast and inexpensive method as an alternative to visible spectrophotometry is developed. In this method the cells containing the sample solution were scanned with a scanner, then the color of each cell was analyzed with software written in visual basic (VB 6) media to red, green and blue values. The cells were built by creating holes in the Plexiglas sheet. The dimensions of identical cells were examined by Cr (III) solution with known concentrations. The validity of this new method was studied by determination of dopamine (DA) without using any other reagent. The parameters which affect the system were optimized. The comparison between the current and traditional UV-Vis spectrophotometry methods was studied and the results revealed similar trends in both methods. The developed method was successfully applied to the determination of dopamine in serum and urine without using any pretreatment. Finally comparing the results obtained in the developed method showed that microwave irradiation of the solution can decrease the experimental time, increase sensitivity and improve the limit of detection.

Explaining and forecasting attrition in the Army pharmacy technician course.

The Army pharmacy technician (68Q) course trains--260 students per year, with a mean graduation rate of 71.3%. In support of this course, a research team conducted a study using multiple analytical methods to evaluate, to explain, and potentially to forecast failures, because the 28.7% of students who do not graduate are associated with both opportunity and real costs. Results of this study indicated that largely uncontrollable population demographic characteristics, such as rank and enrollment status, along with controllable Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery skilled technical test scores, were related to graduation rates. The results of this study may be used to assist individuals at risk of failure or to establish additional admission criteria to increase the likelihood of success.

An Education Strategy to Respond to Medicine Inequality in Africa.

People living in Africa face a heavy and wide-ranging burden of disease that takes an incalculable toll on social and economic development as well as shortening life expectancy (life expectancy in Tanzania is about 60 vs. about 80 in the United States and Europe. Further, the pharmaceutical market in developing countries is immature and may not support quality medicines. In many cases, a tender system is used, and medicines are bought by the government at the lowest price. In addition to access to medicines, a number of pharmaceutical sciences problems are apparent. The availability of infrastructure and especially standard instruments such as HPLC and X-ray diffraction is minimal. Additionally, there is an important need to increase access to advanced education for men and women in Africa, especially access to state-of-the-art scientific education. Utilizing the mandate of Nelson Mandela, Purdue's conceptual approach has been to utilize education to combat these problems.

A Pharmacy Elective Course on Creative Thinking, Innovation, and TED Talks.

Objective. To implement and assess an elective course designed to enhance student creative thinking and presentation skills. Design. A two-credit elective course was developed that incorporated creative-thinking exercises, article discussions pertaining to creativity, TED Talk (TED Conferences, New York, NY) analyses, and presentation design and delivery exercises. Assessment. Assessment instruments included pre- and post-course Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT). A scoring rubric was developed and used to evaluate a final mock TED Talk presented to faculty and students. Course evaluations were also used to assess student experiences in the course. Students' TTCT verbal creativity scores increased significantly (p<0.05) during the course and their mock TED Talk mean scores (135±6.4) out of 150 were rated highly. Conclusion. The outcomes from this elective course confirmed that pharmacy students could develop and present an original "idea worth sharing" using the TED Talk format.

Strategic framework for education and training in Quality by Design (QbD) and process analytical technology (PAT).

The regulatory and technical landscape of the pharmaceutical field is rapidly evolving from one focused predominantly on development of small molecules, using well established manufacturing technologies towards an environment in which biologicals and complex modalities are being developed using advanced science and technology coupled with the application of modern Quality by Design (QbD) principles. In order that Europe keeps pace with these changes and sustains its position as major player in the development and commercialization of medicines, it is essential that measures are put in place to maintain a highly skilled workforce. A number of challenges however exist to equipping academic, industrial and health agency staff with the requisite knowledge, skills and experience to develop the next generation of medicines. In this regard, the EUFEPS QbD and PAT Sciences Network has proposed a structured framework for education, training and continued professional development, which comprises a number of pillars covering the fundamental principles of modern pharmaceutical development including the underpinning aspects of science, engineering and technology innovation. The framework is not prescriptive and is not aimed at describing specific course content in detail. It should however be used as a point of reference for those institutions delivering pharmaceutical based educational courses, to ensure that the necessary skills, knowledge and experience for successful pharmaceutical development are maintained. A positive start has been made and a number of examples of formal higher education courses and short training programs containing elements of this framework have been described. The ultimate vision for this framework however, is to see widespread adoption and proliferation of this curriculum with it forming the backbone of QbD and PAT science based skills development.

Approaches to education of pharmaceutical biotechnology in faculties of pharmacy.

Pharmaceutical biotechnology is developing rapidly both in academic institutions and in the biopharmaceutical industry. For this reason, FIP Special Interest Group of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology decided to develop a questionnaire concerning pharmaceutical biotechnology education. After preliminary studies were completed, questionnaires were sent to the leading scientists in academia and research directors or senior managers of various Pharmaceutical Biotechnology Companies in order to gather their views about how to create a satisfactory program. The objectives of this study were as follows: -To review all of the graduate and undergraduate courses which are presently available worldwide on pharmaceutical biotechnology in Faculties of Pharmacy. -To review all of the text books, references and scientific sources available worldwide in the area of pharmaceutical biotechnology. When replying to the questionnaires, the respondents were asked to consider the present status of pharmaceutical biotechnology education in academia and future learning needs in collaboration with the biotechnology industry. The data from various pharmacy faculties and biotechnology industry representatives from Asia, Europe and America were evaluated and the outcome of the survey showed that educational efforts in training qualified staff in the rapidly growing field of pharmaceutical biotechnology is promising. Part of the results of this questionnaire study have already been presented at the 57th International Congress of FIP Vancouver, Canada in 1997.

Future training needs in the pharmaceutical sciences: academia -- industry.

The markets for the traditional output of schools of pharmacy, namely education, research and graduates, are changing. The main private client in these markets, the pharmaceutical industry, is moving fast to become more efficient, under pressure from overly costly drug development. The challenges to the industry that emanate from the fantastic rate of advances in the biomedical sciences and pharmaceutical development are considerable. The many agents that were unheard of 10 years ago, such as gene-regulators, together with new technologies, all require new approaches to fundamental pharmaceutical issues. The concept of disciplines in graduate education may have to be reconsidered in the light of the multidisciplinary problems to be tackled. In addition, graduates will need to acquire a range of non-disciplinary skills, such as better communication or team working, in order to be effective in the commercial market place. The concept of 'research schools' following either a local or network model may provide the way forward to help academia meet the graduate education needs of industry. The objectives and mission of such institutions must be clearly defined to ensure that the current scientific environment is embraced fully.

PCP: a review of synthetic methods for forensic clandestine investigation.

A review of the synthetic routes to phencyclidine (PCP, 1-(1-phenylcyclohexyl)piperidine) available in the open literature is presented. The emphasis herein is directed toward the forensic investigation of clandestine PCP laboratories. Six published synthetic routes to PCP/analogs are discussed. Each method is rated for overall yield, degree of difficulty and potential hazard, in order to assist the forensic chemist in evaluation of a particular clandestine operation. One clandestine recipe is illustrated and discussed.

A survey of selected issues involving pharmacy technician training in Canada.

A non-random, snowball sampling technique was used to survey eleven Canadian pharmacy technician training programs and thirteen pharmacy regulatory and voluntary bodies on issues surrounding pharmacy technicians. A 100% response rate was achieved in the questionnaires which targeted issues such as nomenclature, certification, accreditation, and education of pharmacy technicians. Survey results indicate that while many provincial pharmacy regulatory boards have addressed issues such as the nomenclature and workplace role of pharmacy technicians, there is a lack of consensus and discussion in the areas of certification, accreditation, and responsibility for continuing education.

Current status of hospital pharmacy technicians in Michigan.

The results of a comprehensive statewide survey of hospital pharmacy technicians are presented. Although this was only a statewide survey, its findings should be of interest to technicians and pharmacists everywhere since very few data of this type are available. In addition, Michigan is a very progressive pharmacy state and has recently implemented a formal technician certification process (described in an appendix) via the Michigan Pharmacists' Association. The survey instrument was mailed to the Directors of Pharmacy at 252 Michigan hospitals. The response rate was 68.7% (173) hospitals). The survey pointed out that Michigan hospitals employ on the average one technician for each pharmacist. Most hospitals required high school graduation and typing skills as a minimum for hiring of a technician. Numerous technician work responsibilities were identified, including the admixture of sterile products. Technicians in this survey had a variable work schedule, and the future job market appeared to be healthy. Most of the technicians were females under the age of 30. Average hourly wages for regular technician position ranged from $5.05 to $6.25 (June 1981). Numerous categories of technicians were noted, and about 20% of the technicians were unionized. Many of the hospitals utilized a formal on-the-job technician training program. The performance of the majority of technicians was evaluated annually, and many opportunities existed for continuing education. The concept of technician certification appeared to be looked upon favorably by most of the pharmacy directors.

Comprehensive hands-on training for influenza vaccine manufacturing: a WHO-BARDA-BTEC partnership for global workforce development.

The critical need for enhancing influenza pandemic preparedness in many developing nations has led the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), to develop an international influenza vaccine capacity-building program. Among the critical limitations faced by many of these nations is lack of access to training programs for staff supporting operations within vaccine production facilities. With support from BARDA, the Biomanufacturing Training and Education Center (BTEC) at North Carolina State University has addressed this need for training by developing and delivering a comprehensive training program, consisting of three courses: Fundamentals of cGMP Influenza Vaccine Manufacturing, Advanced Upstream Processes for Influenza Vaccine Manufacturing, and Advanced Downstream Processes for Influenza Vaccine Manufacturing. The courses cover process design, transfer, and execution at manufacturing scale, quality systems, and regulations covering both manufacturing and approval of pandemic vaccines. The Fundamentals course focuses on the concepts, equipment, applicable regulations, and procedures commonly used to produce influenza vaccine. The two Advanced courses focus on process design, scale up, validation, and new technologies likely to improve efficiency of vaccine production. All three courses rely on a combination of classroom instruction and hands-on training in BTEC's various laboratories. Each course stands alone, and participants may take one or more of the three courses. Overall participant satisfaction with the courses has been high, and follow-up surveys show that participants actively transferred the knowledge they gained to the workplace. Future plans call for BTEC to continue offering the three courses and to create an online version of several modules of the Fundamentals course.

Vaccine production training to develop the workforce of foreign institutions supported by the BARDA influenza vaccine capacity building program.

In the event of an influenza pandemic, vaccination will be the best method to limit virus spread. However, lack of vaccine biomanufacturing capacity means there will not be enough vaccine for the world's population. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) provides support to the World Health Organization to enhance global vaccine production capacity in developing countries. However, developing a trained workforce in some of those countries is necessary. Biomanufacturing is labor-intensive, requiring unique skills not found in traditional academic programs. Employees must understand the scientific basis of biotechnology, operate specialized equipment, and work in an environment regulated by good manufacturing practices (cGMP). Therefore, BARDA supported development of vaccine biomanufacturing training at Utah State University. The training consisted of a three-week industry-focused course for participants from institutions supported by the BARDA and WHO influenza vaccine production capacity building program. The curriculum was divided into six components: (1) biosafety, (2) cell culture and growth of cells in bioreactors, (3) virus assays and inactivation, (4) scale-up strategies, (5) downstream processing, and (6) egg- and cell-based vaccine production and cGMP. Lectures were combined with laboratory exercises to provide a balance of theory and hands-on training. The initial course included sixteen participants from seven countries including: Egypt, Romania, Russia, Serbia, South Korea, Thailand, and Vietnam. The participant's job responsibilities included: Production, Quality Control, Quality Assurance, and Research; and their education ranged from bachelors to doctoral level. Internal course evaluations utilized descriptive methods including surveys, observation of laboratory activities, and interviews with participants. Generally, participants had appropriate academic backgrounds, but lacked expertise in vaccine production. All participants acknowledged the utility of the training, and many expressed interest in receiving additional support to implement new practices at their home institutions.

Evaluation of brilliance and visibility of fluorescence and chemiluminescence solution for training of preparing injections.

Personnel who prepare and administer chemotherapeutic agents have been reported to develop untoward effects. The use of appropriate techniques for preparing these agents is encouraged, and educational training systems that involve the use of a fluorescent or chemiluminescence reagent as placebos have been established to minimize potential exposure to these agents. However, the optimum conditions for the use and visibility of these placebos remain obscure. In this study, our results indicated that the fluorescence intensity of fluorescent reagent decreased when it was used at a concentration greater than 0.01%. Because drops created due to splashes and leaks are extremely small and easily evaporate, it is possible that the fluorescence resulting from such drops readily disappears despite using an anti-evaporation reagent. We also developed a method to evaluate the visibility of the small drop; using this method, we determined the distance at which the drop present on the pin could be seen by the observer. The distance at which the drop was clearly recognized as a pinpoint by using the fluorescence method was almost comparable to that for the chemiluminescence method. In the chemiluminescence method, the drop on the pin was faintly visible as a slightly bright area because of low background when observed at a certain distance that was much greater than that at which the drop was clearly visible; however, such an area was not observed in the fluorescence method. The results of our study will help in the selection of a training method depending on the situation.

The drug discovery portal: a computational platform for identifying drug leads from academia.

The Drug Discovery Portal (DDP) is a research initiative based at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland. It was initiated in 2007 by a group of researchers with expertise in virtual screening. Academic research groups in the university working in drug discovery programmes estimated there was a historical collection of physical compounds going back 50 years that had never been adequately catalogued. This invaluable resource has been harnessed to form the basis of the DDP library, and has attracted a high-percentage uptake from the Universities and Research Groups internationally. Its unique attributes include the diversity of the academic database, sourced from synthetic, medicinal and phytochemists working an academic laboratories and the ability to link biologists with appropriate chemical expertise through a target-matching virtual screening approach, and has resulted in seven emerging hit development programmes between international contributors.