At URI, you can study hot pharmaceutical research topics with accessible mentors renowned for their work on such killer diseases as cancer, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, AIDS, and others. And you’ll study them in the coolest of settings — a 3-D animation lab, greenhouses, the ocean, and a brand new building that’s all about inspiration and innovation. Our $75 million College of Pharmacy building will open its doors to students for the first time on September 4, and all eyes will be on the college’s role in making the state, nation, and world healthier.
With 144,000 square feet of labs, classrooms, and offices, the new building will be the largest academic building on the Kingston campus. And it was made possible thanks to voters’ overwhelming approval of a $65 million bond issue, plus private donations. That’s right, our very own neighbors and friends wanted you to have the best learning environment possible.
It’s going to enhance the teaching, research, and service missions of the college, including our national leadership in interdisciplinary education with other institutions, including the Alpert Medical School at Brown and nursing and other programs at URI and Rhode Island College. It’s got an interdisciplinary health simulation lab where teams including social workers and physical therapists will train with simulators and patient actors. And it has a good manufacturing process center that allows URI to lead in best practices training for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, as well as private pharmaceutical companies. Not to mention all the environmentally friendly features in design and construction.
But our College of Pharmacy celebration doesn’t end with the opening of the new building. On Sept. 14, students, faculty, and the community are invited to hear from speakers like Richard B. Silverman, the inventor of the pain medication Lyrica, during our first free public symposium, Drug Therapy in the 21st Century, Discovery and Clinical Use. Registration is required. Then Sept. 28 through Sept. 30, Frontiers in Pharmaceutical Sciences: Global Perspectives, will attract about 30 researchers from around the world including Nobel laureate Thomas Steitz. URI undergrads can register to attend this conference free.
And if you are wondering if your pharmacy education at URI will pay off in terms of employment, the college’s job placement rate has exceeded 95 percent each year for the last five years.