Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences visits Trinity

Posted on: 01 November 2005

A party of 30 executives, faculty, and pharmacist alumni from Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (MCPHS) visited the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences in Trinity on 12 and 13 October. A joint symposium, organised by MCPHS and TCD’s Centre for the Practice of Pharmacy, on Biotechnology, Drug Policy and Pharmaceutical Care in Ireland and the United States took place with the purpose of bringing together pharmacists, pharmaceutical researchers, biotech leadership and policy makers from Ireland and the United States to discuss the current state of pharmacy practice and biopharm research in their respective countries.

MCPHS and TCD are the oldest Schools of Pharmacy in their respective countries. Massachusetts is the original centre of third level education in the USA and has a substantial concentration of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology research and production facilities.

It is a private College that operates on several campus sites in and around Boston and offers a PharmD (the professional-level pharmacy qualification in the USA) and a number of Pharmaceutical industry and technology related courses (at Masters level), as well as undergraduate courses in Radiological Sciences, Health Psychology, Dental Hygiene and Nursing.

Among the MCPHS personnel who visited TCD were the Chairman of the Board, David Maher, and President Tom Finneran. Tom Finneran is President of the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council and a patron of MCPHS. He is a former Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives.

Massachusetts is a major centre of the Biotechnology industry in the USA, with a significant concentration of productive manufacturing and research and development operations and many university-industry linkages.

“It is hoped that the MCPHS visit to TCD and Ireland proves fruitful in a number of fields – in building lasting academic links with a view to facilitating faculty and student exchanges and fostering industrial partnerships which will establish strong relationships with pharmaceutical and biotech companies in Ireland and the United States,” commented Michael Gleeson, Secretary to the College at a special dinner attended by Tim O’Malley, Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children.

The Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Micheál Martin, TD was guest of honour at a private dinner after the symposium.