Press Release
Date: 01-06-10Name: Terri Guess Phone: 973-972-7265
Email: guesstp@umdnj.edu
Clinical Trial Sciences Master's Degree Program at UMDNJ Accepting Applications
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NEWARK �The School of Health Related Professions at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) is currently accepting applications for its master's degree program in Clinical Trial Sciences, which offers advanced education on the complexities of clinical trial design and execution. The program is geared toward students who wish to develop, conduct and monitor clinical trials that help determine whether pharmaceuticals and medical devices are safe and effective enough to be allowed on the market.
This master's program is taught completely online, offering maximum flexibility to students with demanding schedules, including those with fulltime jobs. Barbara Gladson, PhD, program director of the Biopharma Educational Initiative, says science professionals who have entered the program will play a vital role in the worldwide biopharmaceutical industry, which is a major employer here in New Jersey.
The Biopharma Educational Initiative (BEI) is a collaboration between UMDNJ and pharmaceutical industry leaders that provides graduate level education and real-world training for biopharma professionals and for individuals interested in entering the industry. Areas of study in the master's program in Clinical Trial Sciences include selecting, preparing and maintaining a clinical trial site; mastering FDA regulations; and the ethics and techniques involved in recruiting scientifically valid groups of volunteer patients.
Students can choose among three tracks within the 36-credit master's degree program: Clinical Trials Management and Recruitment Sciences, Clinical Trial Informatics, or Regulatory Affairs. Also available are 15-credit online graduate certificates in these same three areas. Students who are unsure about the track or level of study they hope to pursue can take individual courses on a trial basis.
Virginia Suarez, MPH, CQA, RQAP-GCP, RAC, director of Global Clinical quality assurance and regulatory affairs at Abraxis BioScience in North Carolina, began the program in August 2009. Suarez said, "Anyone involved in clinical trials who wishes to continue their professional development or gain credit for maintaining their accreditations is most suitable for this program."
The online classes are taught by UMDNJ faculty and by pharmaceutical professionals from Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals, Novartis, Merck and AstraZeneca. Nurses, recent college graduates or people who work in other health related fields can use the BEI courses to prepare for careers as clinical research associates, clinical research coordinators, regulatory affairs professionals and clinical data managers.
For more information contact Patrick Forte at 973-972-6482 or fortepr@umdnj.edu
The University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) is the nation's largest free-standing public health sciences university with more than 5,600 students attending the state's three medical schools, its only dental school, a graduate school of biomedical sciences, a school of health related professions, a school of nursing and its only school of public health on five campuses. Annually, there are more than two million patient visits at UMDNJ facilities and faculty practices at campuses in Newark, New Brunswick/Piscataway, Scotch Plains, Camden and Stratford. UMDNJ operates University Hospital, a Level I Trauma Center in Newark, and University Behavioral HealthCare, a statewide mental health and addiction services network.
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