The UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, in cooperation with UCB Biosciences, Duke University, and the Hamner Institutes for Health Sciences, sponsors a two-year fellowship in neurology and clinical drug development. This program offers an innovative combination of academic and pharmaceutical industry training that prepares fellows to launch careers in pharmaceutical medicine. Upon completion of training, fellows will have the knowledge and skills to serve as program physicians involved in academic or pharmaceutical industry neurotherapeutic projects.

Neurotherapeutics is a research area of great interest to pharmaceutical and biotech companies. The field offers promise and opportunity, and there is strong demand for physicians with training in both neurological disorders and clinical drug development.

Fellows will participate in clinical research projects with faculty at UNC and with research scientists at UCB, Duke, and the Hamner. Fellows will design, initiate, conduct and analyze research projects as part of their development programs.

Fellowship training includes:

• An orientation to all aspects of the drug development process (e.g., preclinical and clinical development)
• Experience in developing, reviewing, and composing protocols, study reports, and regulatory submissions
• Exposure to the process of  selection, set-up, and monitoring of clinical sites engaged in Phase I/ II/III and/or investigator-initiated studies

Fellows will develop expertise in:

• Proposal development
• Drug safety and regulatory affairs
• Clinical monitoring
• Data analysis, including PK and PD studies in healthy subjects, patient populations, or relevant
  in vitro/pre-clinical models
• Biostatistical analysis

Fellows may participate in selected coursework in:

• Drug development
• Clinical study design and research methods
• Clinical pharmacology, biostatistics and data management
• Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics
• Pharmacogenomics
• Advanced therapeutics
• Molecular biology and drug metabolism

Fellowship compensation includes:

• A competitive stipend, health insurance, and benefits
• An allowance for professional travel
• Malpractice insurance

The ideal fellowship applicant will have obtained an MD and completed a US-based neurology residency or equivalent prior to the start of training. Fellows must be eligible to work in the United States and be committed to completing the two-year program.