It’s been 15 years since what was then the Albany College of Pharmacy added “Health Sciences” to its name, reflecting that it has expanded into areas complementary to pharmacy. In that time, both the pharmacy and health sciences fields have grown in different ways.
Pharmacists still dispense medications, of course. But in a world where illness is increasingly managed by drugs and drugs are increasingly personalized, their options have multiplied. Meanwhile, growth in the health sciences is exploding, due to factors such as an aging population and a better understanding of the human genome. Interest in both areas was, of course, heightened by the important contributions that health professionals made in the recent global pandemic, including pharmacists’ roles as immunizers.
Early in her tenure at ACPHS, President Toyin Tofade determined that each area needed a leader who would be laser-focused on each of these two distinct areas. Earlier this year, she created two new positions, naming Dr. Joseph Carreno ’10 associate dean of pharmacy and Dr. Meenakshi Malik associate dean of health sciences. Dr. Carreno, who joined the ACPHS faculty in 2013, was most recently vice chair of the Department of Pharmacy Practice. Dr. Malik, who joined ACPHS in 2010, has been the director of the Bachelor’s in Microbiology and Master’s in Molecular Biosciences programs.
“It’s all on a continuum of caring for patients at the end of the day,” said Dr. Carreno ’10. “It's just which side of the coin do you want to be on?”
Pharmacy: building on a long-standing reputation
Dr. Carreno’s side is pharmacy, where the common perception remains rooted in the past. Despite myriad changes in medicine and drug policy that have rendered pharmacists’ expertise invaluable, many people still think of them as pill dispensers behind a retail chain counter. Part of Dr. Carreno’s charge will be to raise awareness of the roles that pharmacists play in fields as diverse as clinical practice, drug manufacturing, government affairs and managed care, among others.
“There’s over 100 different ways that you can be a pharmacist,” said Dr. Carreno, who has a background in both pharmacy and public health, and practices as a clinician himself at the Samuel S. Stratton Department of Veteran Affairs Medical Center in Albany.
The new associate dean has his eye on several technological advancements poised to further alter the profession: pharmacogenomics, which considers a patient’s genetic factors as part of their likely response to drug therapies; digital healthcare, which uses information and communication technologies (think: smart watch) to manage disease, including drug dosing and frequency; and artificial intelligence , which may lead to personalized drug recommendations using information gleaned from the other two trends.
Health sciences: new pathways to burgeoning fields
In the health sciences, positions are growing in many fields, from nurse practitioner to data scientist. Dr. Malik’s new charge involves building on the strengths of the College’s exemplary programs to ensure
students are prepared to fill emerging roles – and that more students, at all stages of their careers, know about the College’s offerings.
Two main areas of promise dominate Dr. Malik’s initial efforts: Configuring current programs to provide students with more entry points to a variety of health professions. And exploring online programs that could potentially draw applicants from around the world.
With the goal of providing a pipeline to more of the health professions, Dr. Malik is crafting a new bachelor’s degree program in health sciences, with the current B.S. program in biomedical technology as its core.
The biomedical technology program is already a path to further training in some health professions, including medical school or physician assistant programs. The B.S. in Health Sciences will be structured as a pathway to multiple health professions: NP, PA, physical therapist, occupational therapist and others. An articulation agreement signed in June 2023 will further ease entry of graduates from the program to PT and OT master’s programs at nearby Russell Sage College.
For ACPHS’ initial online offerings, Dr. Malik is considering three master’s programs sought by professionals seeking to expand their career opportunities – cytotechnology, biomedical sciences, and biomanufacturing and bioprocessing.
Her approach will stem from her own roots in biomedical research.
“As a researcher, if one avenue of research doesn’t work, I immediately have to modify my hypothesis and go in the other way,” Dr. Malik said. “This is the same thing. I’m going to start with multiple pathways, see which one shows the most promise and pull more resources into that direction.”
A version of this article with additional information will appear in the upcoming publication, Breakthroughs magazine, scheduled for distribution in late September