Student Pursues Unique Fellowship Path to Career in Pharmaceutical Industry
After he earns his PharmD degree in May 2023, Kong Choua Thao is pursuing a unique career pathway in pharmaceutical industry.
On Pharmacy Match Day, March 15, Thao learned that he was selected for a drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics (DMPK) fellowship in Cambridge, Massachusetts with pharmaceutical and healthcare company Sanofi. In this role, Thao will determine the disposition, safe starting dose and predicted efficacious dose prior to first-in-human clinical trials.
“I believe this fellowship really fits who I am as a person," says Thao. “I came into pharmacy school wanting to pursue the drug development side because I wanted to make an impact on health care at a macro level, compared to a patient care level. I feel like I’ll be helping more people at that macro scale.”
Thao has a background in analytical chemistry. Before becoming a student in the MCW School of Pharmacy, he worked in quality control as a chromatography specialist for a pharmaceutical company. His upcoming fellowship opportunity will involve instrumentation and preclinical research with animals, which will be a new experience for him.
“Cambridge is almost the heart of the industry and there are lots of pharmaceutical companies within a few blocks of where I’ll be working. So, I’ll definitely take advantage of the networking opportunities with individuals within Sanofi or other companies,” says Thao.
Thao was born in Thailand and was raised in Milwaukee. Soon, he’ll become the first doctor in his family. He says it will be hard traveling far away from his family, but he knows this fellowship is a good opportunity to get his foot in the door for a career in the highly competitive pharmaceutical industry.
Two MCW faculty members with previous pharmaceutical industry experience mentored Thao in his pursuit of this career path: Ehab A. Abourashed, PhD and Philip D. Mosier, PhD.
“While working in the biopharmaceutics lab, Kong was self-confident and comfortable with his surroundings. His interest in the pharmaceutical industry was the focal point of many of our discussions. Kong’s enrollment in an academic concentration with research focus offered further reinforcement towards pursuing his career goals, starting with a pharmaceutical industry fellowship.” says Dr. Abourashed.
“In the modeling lab, Kong was a quick learner and very engaged, wanting to learn not only about molecular modeling but about all aspects of drug development in an industrial setting, including the regulatory side, and the many career possibilities that industry has to offer. The combined knowledge and experiences that Kong has gained in the MCW School of Pharmacy will serve him well as he pursues his own career in industry,” says Dr. Mosier.
Thao recently finished a rotation where he learned about FDA guidelines from Kristin Busse, PharmD, BCPS. He says that experience helped prepare him for the fellowship position.
“I have to really thank the faculty here because they did a good job guiding me and helping me decide what I wanted to do with my career goals,” says Thao. “It was a great experience for me, and I appreciate all the hard work that they put in behind closed doors to help prepare me for this fellowship opportunity.”