Saint Joseph College Announces Six Appointments to its New School of Pharmacy
Saint Joseph College announced today the appointment of six faculty members to its new School of Pharmacy which, pending appropriate approvals, will open in the Fall of 2010 at Hartford 21 on Trumbull Street in downtown Hartford.
"These six superbly qualified academics add to our growing leadership team for our new School of Pharmacy. Under the leadership of our founding Dean, Dr. Joseph R. Ofosu, our expanding faculty is an exciting testament to the School of Pharmacy’s development," said Pamela Trotman Reid, Ph.D., president of Saint Joseph College.
The appointments are: Professor Dalia Giedrimiene, M.D., Ph.D., Associate Professor Diane Dean, Ph.D. and Assistant Professors Diane Pacitti, Ph.D., R.Ph.; Doreen Soldato, Ph.D.; Mark Sweezy, Ph.D.; and Rajesh Vadlapatla, Ph.D.
Dr. Giedrimiene received both her M.D. and her Ph.D. from the Institute of Medicine, Kaunas, Lithuania. She also holds a Doctor of Sciences from the Council of Sciences of Lithuania and a Certificate in Public Health from the University of Connecticut Health Center.
Dr. Giedrimiene is an expert in the field of Cardiology and Physiology. She has extensive experience as an Intensive Cardiac Care Physician and co-developed an Arrhythmias Center for patients with cardiac arrhythmias and conduction abnormalities. She holds three medical patents, including one in the area of Diagnostic Methods for Interpretation of Disturbances in Cardiac Rhythm and Conduction, and she has published several groundbreaking medical articles in leading journals.
Dr. Dean received her bachelor's degree from the University of Wisconsin, Madison and her Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Minnesota. After a National Institutes of Health postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Minnesota’s Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Program under the direction of Prof. Michel Sanders, Dr. Dean moved to Saint Joseph College, where she continues to serve on the faculties of Chemistry and Pharmacy. Dr. Dean has taught nursing biochemistry and both biochemistry and physical chemistry for majors, as well as graduate courses.
Dr. Pacitti received a Bachelor of Science degree in Pharmacy from the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences in Boston. She went on to earn her Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology from the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester. Following a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, Dr. Pacitti joined the faculty of Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences-Boston, teaching Biochemistry to students enrolled in its pharmacy program housed at Western New England College, then joined the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (MCPHS) in Worcester, in its inaugural year.
Dr. Soldato received her B.S. in Animal Science and Technology from the University of Rhode Island and her Ph.D. in Pathobiology from Brown University. While at Brown, Dr. Soldato’s research focused on death receptor-mediated apoptosis of the liver and spleen in a clinically relevant mouse model of polymicrobial sepsis. Dr. Soldato has published her work in leading journals including Blood, the American Journal of Pathology, and the Journal of Leukocyte Biology. She has also presented her research at various national meetings including the Society of Leukocyte Biology, the Shock meeting, where she was the recipient of the 2004 New Investigator Award, and Experimental Biology, where she was the winner of the American Society for Investigative Pathology’s 2006 Pre-doctoral Merit Award. Her teaching interests are in Microbiology, Infectious Diseases, Cell Biology, and Immunology, among others.
Dr. Sweezy earned his Bachelor’s degree in Biology from Western State College of Colorado and his Ph.D. in Microbiology & Molecular Genetics from the University of Vermont. He completed an NSF-funded postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Colorado in the laboratory of Dr. Richard McIntosh. Following this, he served on the faculty at the University of New England in the Department of Chemistry and Physics before coming to Saint Joseph College.
Dr. Vadlapatla received his B.S. in Pharmacy (B.Pharm) from Bangalore University, India and his M.S. in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the University of Toledo. He went on to earn his Ph. D. in Pharmacology (Pharmaceutical Sciences Track) from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS). After a brief stint as a post doctoral fellow, Dr. Vadlapatla joined the faculty at the Pacific University School of Pharmacy, where he taught Pharmaceutics & Biopharmaceutics, Natural Products and Dietary Supplements, and Compounding Laboratory Courses in a modified block design system. At Texas A&M University Dr. Vadlapatla performed curricular assessment activity in addition to teaching Pharmaceutics II and Pharmacokinetics courses.
Saint Joseph College’s School of Pharmacy will offer a unique three calendar-year, co-educational doctoral degree program in Pharmacy (Pharm.D.). Like other professional degree programs (e.g. law or medicine), students can enroll upon completion of a bachelor’s degree, subject to required courses. The College’s undergraduate program now offers a pre-pharmacy option where all the prerequisite courses can be completed.
The School of Pharmacy’s three calendar-year model will allow students to enjoy the financial benefits of employment sooner and will provide much-needed expertise to the community. According to the Connecticut Department of Labor, the demand for pharmacy professionals will grow by 20 percent through 2016 and likely well beyond.
