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Students and Postdocs

MOPH group

Cole Batty

Hunter Bomba

Phil Durham

Wulin Jiang

Quan Jin

John Prybylski

Ava Vargason

Alyssa Master

Career Opportunities for DPMP Graduates

Our students have been highly successful after graduating from the DPMP program. Many find jobs in industry where they engineer drug-delivery systems for new therapies and vaccines intended for human use. Those who pursue an academic career usually obtain additional training as postdoctoral fellows at other institutions. Whichever path they choose, our graduates have enjoyed outstanding employment throughout the history of the Pharmacoengineering and Molecular Pharmaceutics program. Here are some examples of the roles graduates have obtained after completing their PhD:

  • Assistant Professor, Chapman University
  • Research Scientist, Precision Biosciences
  • Postdoctoral Fellow, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston
  • Senior Scientist, Novan Therapeutics, Durham, NC
  • Senior Scientist, GlaxoSmithKline, King of Prussia, PA
  • Assistant Professor at The University of Rhode Island
  • Project Chemist at Buckman
  • Research Associate at Taiwan Liposome Company
  • Formulation Scientist, Eli Lilly
  • Formulation Scientist, Avanti Polar Lipids
  • Scientist, Formulation Development at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals
  • Senior International Strategic Insights Manager (Atezolizumab – Anti-PDL1) at Genentech
  • Associate Consultant at inVentiv Health Consulting
  • Research Scientist at Gilead Sciences
  • Principal Scientist at Tergus Pharma
  • Adjunct Assistant Professor, Bioengineering, University of Missouri College of Engineering
  • Associate Consultant at Triangle Insights Group, LLC
  • Postdoctoral Researcher at University of Delaware
  • Postdoctoral Associate at Duke University
  • Postdoctoral Fellow at Yale University

Recent Graduates

Samantha Fix (Ph.D. 2019)

  • Thesis Title: Applying a Molecular Pharmaceutics Framework to the Study of Ultrasound Contrast Agents
  • Employer: Postdoctoral Fellow at MD Anderson Cancer Center

Holly Schroeder (Ph.D. 2019)

  • Thesis Title: Antibody-Mucus Interactions as a Universal Mechanism of Protection Against Invasive Pathogens at Mucosal Surfaces
  • Employer: Clinical Research Fellow at AskBio

Xiaomeng Wan (Ph.D. 2018)

  • Thesis Title: Poly (2-Oxazoline) Micellar Formulation for Cancer Therapy
  • Employer: Sabbatical

Naihan Chen (Ph.D. 2018)

  • Thesis Title: Characterization of Degradation Profiles of Acelated Dextran Microparticles and their Application for Immune Modulation
  • Employer: Associate Manager, Clinical Pharmacology Lead at Pfizer

Tejash Patel (Ph.D. 2018)

  • Thesis Title: Process Design for Scalable Recombinant Adeno-Associated Virus
  • Employer: Senior Research Associate at REGENXBIO Inc.

Karen Bulaklak (Ph.D. 2017)

  • Thesis Title: Uncovering the role of microRNA-206 in Duchenne muscular dystrophy
  • Employer: Postdoctoral Associate at Duke University

Mike Collier (Ph.D. 2017)

  • Thesis Title: Formulation and characterization of carrier vehicles for infectious disease treatment and modulation of the innate immune system
  • Employer: Formulation Scientist, Avanti Polar Lipids

Tyler Goodwin (Ph.D. 2017)

  • Thesis Title: Treatment of liver metastasis via nanoparticle delivery of engineered gene immunotherapies expressed locally and transiently by the liver hepatocytes
  • Employer: Research Scientist at Precision BioSciences, Inc

Jay Kim (Ph.D. 2017)

  • Thesis Title: Neutron-Activation of Material Matrices for Producing Therapeutic Radionuclides
  • Employer: Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Institute for Basic Science (IBS)

Dongfen Yuan (Ph.D. 2017)

  • Thesis Title: Delivery of Therapeutic Proteins to the Brain
  • Employer: Postdoctoral researcher at UNC Chapel Hill

Matt Haynes (Ph.D. 2017)

  • Thesis Title: Maximizing the Supported Bilayer Phenomenon: Liposomes Comprised Exclusively of Pegylated Phospholipids for Enhanced Local and Systemic Delivery
  • Employer: Associate Strategy Consultant at Triangle Insights Group, LLC

Cameron Bloomquist (Ph.D. 2017)

  • Thesis Title: Continuous Liquid Interface Production of Medical Devices for Drug Delivery and Cancer Therapy
  • Employer: Principal Scientist at Cytex Therapeutics

Cassie Caudill (Ph.D. 2017)

  • Thesis Title: Engineering Microneedles for the Transdermal Delivery of Therapeutics
  • Employer: Ph.D. Scientist at UNC Chapel Hill

Erin Wilson (Ph.D. 2017)

  • Thesis Title: Developing PRINT Dry Powders for Pulmonary Protein Delivery
  • Employer: Formulation Scientist at UNC Chapel Hill

Lei Miao (Ph.D. 2016)

  • Thesis Title: The role of tumor desmoplasia is nanoparticle delivery of drugs and genes
  • Employer: Postdoctoral Research Associate at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Tojan Rahhal (Ph.D. 2016)

  • Thesis Title: Engineering PRINT particles for Pulmonary Delivery of Therapeutics
  • Employer: Consultant at Alliance Professional Development

Dylan Glatt (Ph.D. 2016)

  • Thesis title: Monoclonal antibody-mediated tumor targeting and drug delivery to solid tumors
  • Employer: Research Scientist at Gilead Sciences

James Huckle (Ph.D. 2014)

  • Thesis Title: C2E2 An Orally Administered Rodionuclide Decorporation Agent
  • Employer: Scientist – Basic Pharmaceutics

Zhijian He (Ph.D. 2014)

  • Thesis Title: Poly (2-oxazoline)s as new drug delivery systems
  • Employer: Research Scientist, Clinical Pharmacology and Pharmacokinetics at INC Research

Tammy Shen (Ph.D. 2014)

  • Thesis Title: Development and Characterization of PRINT Particles as Drug Delivery Vehicles in the Lung
  • Employer: Senior Scientist at Merck

Luke Roode (Ph.D. 2014)

  • Thesis Title: Sub-Tumor Distribution of Print Nanoparticles and Its Application for Nucleic Acid Delivery
  • Employer: Medical Writer I at QuintileIMS