Sajid Ahmed ’14
Sajid Ahmed is an Associate Director in Global Medical Affairs at Daiichi Sankyo. In his current role, Sajid is the lung cancer lead for an early-stage oncology program and is responsible for leading global medical strategy in lung cancer indications including scientific engagement, evidence generation, medical information and education, and publications.
Prior to joining Daiichi Sankyo, Sajid had previous experience with Loxo Oncology, Allergan, and Pfizer in multiple functional areas. He most recently served as Associate Director, Pipeline Medical Affairs at Loxo Oncology where he had responsibility across the portfolio, including targeted therapies for non-small cell lung cancer.
Sajid was a co-founder of the Student Industry Organization at the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Pharmacy. The goal of this organization is to educate pharmacy students about career options in the pharmaceutical industry and to prepare students for a fellowship upon graduation.
Sajid graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a PharmD and went on to complete a post-doctoral fellowship in medical affairs strategy with Rutgers University and Pfizer.
Joe Fiore ’14
Joseph Fiore (PharmD ’14) is a Sr. Director, Clinical Development Lead with global pharmaceutical company Bristol Myers Squibb in Princeton, NJ. In this role, Joe is responsible for the clinical trial strategy of immunotherapies for the treatment of lung cancer and mesothelioma. His research has led to FDA and global drug approvals and is published in journals including New England Journal of Medicine and Lancet Oncology. As a student, Joe founded the Student Industry Organization at Pitt with classmate Sajid Ahmed to help students learn about pharmaceutical industry careers, and Joe remains active with this group through student mentoring, creation of scholarship opportunities, and lecturing in the newly-formed Industry elective course. Joe is a past-member of the school’s Alumni Advisory Board.
Jennifer Bacci ‘11
Dr. Bacci is the Endowed Associate Professor of Innovative Pharmacy Practice at the University of Washington School of Pharmacy (UWSOP) in Seattle, Washington. Her research focuses on the application of implementation science to evaluate and advance the adoption of innovative patient care models in community pharmacy practice. She has investigated the implementation of a variety of community pharmacy-based patient care services and practice management supports, including childhood and adult vaccinations, point-of-care testing, chronic disease management, pharmacist prescribing, and medical billing.
Dr. Bacci remains highly engaged in practice as a member of the Washington State Pharmacy Association (WSPA) Board of Directors, a Network Facilitator for CPESN WA, a clinically integrated network of independent pharmacies in Washington State, and as a leader in the Academic-CPESN Transformation (ACT) Pharmacy Collaborative, a nationwide collaboration to support and facilitate community pharmacy practice transformation efforts.
Dr. Bacci has been honored with the 2021 Albert B. Prescott Pharmacy Leadership Award and 2019 Washington State Distinguished Young Pharmacist of the Year Award. Dr. Bacci and her research collaborators have been recognized with the 2018 NAIIS “Immunization Neighborhood” Adult Immunization Champion Award and 2018 American Pharmacist Association Immunization Champion Award.
Dr. Bacci completed her PharmD at PittPharmacy in 2011 followed by followed by a PGY-1 Community-based Pharmacy Residency with PittPharmacy and Rite Aid. After working full-time in community practice, she returned to PittPharmacy to complete a two-year Community Pharmacy Research Fellowship and Master’s in Public Health.
Corey DeLuca ‘11
Corey (Baron) DeLuca earned her Doctorate of Pharmacy degree from the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy in 2011, and has spent the last 11 years practicing as a managed care pharmacist at Highmark, Inc., a health insurance organization serving more than 6 million members and the fourth-largest Blue Cross Blue Shield-affiliated organization in the country. Upon graduating from Pitt, she joined Highmark Inc. as a PGY-1 managed care pharmacy resident and went on to assume various clinical and leadership roles throughout her tenure. Prior to graduation, Corey cultivated an interest and passion for managed care pharmacy working as an intern in the clinical operations department at CVS Caremark, a national Pharmacy Benefits Manager (PBM).
In her current role as Vice President of Clinical & Specialty Pharmacy Services, Corey is responsible for overseeing the strategic development and implementation of Highmark’s clinical and specialty drug management programs across the pharmacy and medical benefits including formulary and utilization management, manufacturer relations, specialty pharmacy partnerships and analytics. Her department’s mission is to ensure the safe and appropriate use of medications for Highmark members throughout their healthcare journey and deliver programs that improve medication accessibility and affordability. She is also responsible for directing Highmark’s evidence-based medicine (EBM) drug evaluation and rebate administration programs, which are utilized by other health plan clients nationwide. One recent innovation that Corey is incredibly proud to be part of, along with the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association and other Blues plans nationwide, is being a founding contributing member to CivicaScript, a non-profit generic drug manufacturer dedicated to bringing lower-cost generic medicines to U.S. consumers.
Corey currently resides in Pittsburgh, PA with her husband and recent new addition to the family, a daughter born in September 2022.
Sandeep Devabhakthuni ‘09
Sandeep Devabhakthuni, PharmD, BCCP is an associate professor at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy and a clinical pharmacy specialist at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore, MD. He practices in the area of advanced heart failure and cardiac transplantation. He is also the Director of Postgraduate Training for the residency and fellowship programs at the University of Maryland.
Sandeep received his Bachelor of Engineering in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh School of Engineering in Pittsburgh, PA and Doctor of Pharmacy from the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy in Pittsburgh, PA. He then completed a PGY1 pharmacy practice residency at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore, MD and a cardiology/critical care specialty residency at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center in Pittsburgh, PA. He is a board-certified pharmacotherapy specialist in cardiology.
Sandeep’s practice and research interests include sedation practices in critically ill patients, appropriate use of cardiovascular medications, and postgraduate training. In 2015, he co-founded the Applied Therapeutics, Research, and Instruction at the University of Maryland (ATRIUM) collaborative, which is dedicated to managing patients with cardiovascular disease. He has published over 30 peer-reviewed articles and 3 book chapters as well as delivered over 40 national oral and poster presentations. He is a Past President of the Maryland Society of Health-System Pharmacy (MSHP) and Past Chair for the American Society of Health System Pharmacists’ Section of Inpatient Care Practitioners’ Educational Steering Committee. He has been awarded Pharmacist of the Year by MSHP in 2013, Preceptor of the Year in 2016, and Teacher of the Year by the Doctor of Pharmacy Classes of 2018 and 2020 at the University of Maryland.
Megan Langer ’11
Dr. Megan Langer, PharmD, BCOP, graduated from the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy in 2011. Having always been passionate about oncology, she started her pharmacist career as an outpatient oncology pharmacist at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) Hillman Cancer Center, while also picking up shifts on the inpatient oncology service at UPMC Shadyside Hospital. In late 2016, Dr. Langer went on to pursue a clinical career and became board certification in oncology, and worked as a hematology clinical pharmacy specialist at Allegheny Health Network (AHN) where she specialized in outpatient hematologic malignancies at the Division of Hematology and Cellular Therapy. Throughout her career, Dr. Langer has served as a preceptor for students of University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy and PGY1 and PGY2 pharmacy residents. Dr. Langer has authored or co-authored several oncology publications in national journals, and in 2021, Dr. Langer was twice recognized nationally as she was the recipient of the Hematology Oncology Pharmacy Association (HOPA) Patient Advocacy Award, and the Association for Value Based Cancer Care (AVBCC) 40 Under 40 in Cancer Award. Dr. Langer currently is a Medical Science Liaison for Bristol Myers Squibb, where she specializes in myeloid hematologic malignancies. She lives in Pittsburgh, PA and enjoys exercise, traveling and spending time with her two sons and her husband.
Margie Snyder ‘06
Dr. Margie E. Snyder is a Professor of Pharmacy Practice at the Purdue University College of Pharmacy. Dr. Snyder completed her Doctor of Pharmacy, PGY-1 community pharmacy residency, Master of Public Health, and community practice research fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh. Her scholarship is focused on community pharmacist practice advancement. Her expertise is in collaboration with practice-based research networks (PBRNs) and the application of qualitative and mixed-methods. She founded and directs a community pharmacy PBRN (Rx-SafeNet). Dr. Snyder has been almost continuously federally funded since 2010, first receiving a KL2 award from the Indiana Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute, followed by K08, R21, and R18 awards from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). Her total extramural funding support to date equals approximately $2.5 million as a Principal Investigator and she has published over 50 peer-reviewed journal articles. In 2021, she was appointed as a standing member to the NIH Organization and Delivery of Health Services study section for a 4-year term.
Michael Tortorici ‘07
Michael Tortorici is currently the Vice President of Nonclinical Development and Clinical Pharmacology at Aro Biotherapeutics in Philadephia, Pennsylvania. In his current role, Michael is responsible for taking molecules from Discovery into Development with a focus on Pharmacology, Toxicology, Drug Metabolism and Pharmacokinetics, Bioanalytical Sciences and Clinical Pharmacology. Aro Biotherapeutics developing a patented platform technology called Centyrins that are uniquely positioned to achieve precise targeting of diverse therapeutic payloads to specific cells of interest. Our initial efforts are focused on discovering and developing Centyrin-oligonucleotide conjugate therapies that are meant to address one of the greatest challenges facing oligonucleotide-based medicines today: targeted delivery of oligonucleotides to extra-hepatic tissues. Reporting to the CEO of Aro, he has the ability to drive strategy and future direction of the companies R&D pipeline.
Michael began his career at Pfizer in 2007, where he was a Clinical Pharmacologist working in Oncology Therapeutic Area. He worked on the New Drug Application for Inlyta®, indicated for 2nd line metastatic renal cell carcinoma. He then switched therapeutic areas and joined a late-stage development group called Specialty Care focused on Immunology, Kidney Disease, and Transplant. In 2014, he joined CSL Behring as Director of Clinical Pharmacology working on biologics in the area of rare disease. At CSL Behring, he had the opportunity to work on 5 successful Biologics License Application’s for Privigen® and Hizentra® indicated for treatment of Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy, HAEGAARDA® indicated for prophylaxis to prevent Hereditary Angioedema attacks, Idelvion® for on-demand treatment and control of bleeding episodes in patients with Hemophilia B, and Afstyla® for on-demand treatment and control of bleeding episodes in patients with Hemophilia A. During his tenure at CSL he was head of the Clinical Pharmacology & Pharmacometrics group for 3 years building an international team across the US and Europe.
Michael received his PharmD in 2002 and his PhD in 2007 from the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy. He currently serves an Advisory Council Member for the College of Pharmacy at the University of Texas and has been the Chair of the Quantitative Pharmacology Network in the American Society of Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics. He has published over 50 papers and is currently an Associate Editor of the journal Pharmacometrics and Systems Pharmacology.