On September 8, seven UBRP students had the opportunity to meet with Dr. Herson Quinones, Regional Scientific Manager for AstraZeneca.  Herson is a UBRP and MARC alum from Dr. Eugene Gerner's lab, Cell Biology & Anatomy.  He received his PhD from UT Southwest Medical Center, Dallas in Neuroscience.

AstraZeneca is a world-renowned pharmaceutical company with a wide range of medicines to fight diseases and disorders. Dr. Quinones mentioned the company works in six areas of healthcare including cancer, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, infection, neuroscience and respiratory and inflammation. It delivers a flow of new medicines that make a huge difference in the patients' lives and is active in over 100 countries. AstraZeneca is well known for key products like Arimidex (cancer), Crestor (cardiovascular), Nexium (gastrointestinal disease), Seroquel (schizophrenia and bipolar disorder) and Symbicort (asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease).

Innovation and creativity along with research is emphasized in the research labs of AstraZeneca. Dr. Quinones conveyed the message that university students should work in research labs during their undergraduate careers, especially if they are interested in a career in the pharmaceutical industry.  He encouraged us to take advantage of our time as undergraduates to hone our speaking skills, build a resume, do research and attend national and international conferences -- all opportunities provided by being part of a program such as UBRP and MARC.  AstraZeneca's internship and career opportunities can be found at:  http://www.azandu.com. and at http://careers.astrazeneca-us.com/azd/maine.d?s=580FDEFC2E046A8AE0440003BA74ACCF. 

Dr. Quinones's inspiring discussion encouraged many of the UBRP students to consider a career in pharmaceutical research and maybe seek out possible internship opportunities at AstraZeneca and other Pharma companies.

Neha Bandekar, URBPer in Dr. Pinku Mukherjee's lab, Mayo Clinic, Scottsdale and Dr. Terry Landowski's lab, Arizona Cancer Center.