Pfizer Hosts SPH Practicum Students for Second Summer.
Four members of the 2024 SPH Pfizer practicum cohort were able to join colleagues at Pfizer’s Cambridge R&D hub to celebrate the company’s 175th anniversary (From left: Amanda Lanciault, Dan Nguyen, Linge Hong, and Cameron Pettinato)
Pfizer Hosts SPH Practicum Students for Second Summer
An inaugural cohort of six MPH students completed practicums at the multinational biopharmaceutical company last summer. Building on the success of the program, Pfizer’s Medical Affairs team will come to SPH on February 27 to hold an information session for students seeking to join this summer’s group.
After the success of last summer’s practicum program for SPH students, Pfizer is renewing its relationship with the school by offering additional opportunities for 10-week paid internships at the multinational pharmaceutical company.
The 2024 cohort, the first of its kind to be hosted by the Medical and Scientific Affairs Team at Pfizer, joined the industry giant for 10 weeks, during which each student worked under the supervision of a senior member of leadership on projects ranging from the quantitative analysis of phase 4 clinical trial data to the summary of recommendations from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“What makes this exciting is this program was designed exclusively for our students,” says Ryan Wisniewski, assistant director of SPH’s practicum program. James Stark, the global medical and scientific affairs lead for the tick-borne disease vaccines at Pfizer and a member of Dean’s Advisory Board, initiated and coordinates the practicum partnership.
Pfizer offers undergraduate internships through its Pfizer Futures (formerly Summer Growth Experience) program, but opportunities for graduate students of public health at the company are more limited, says Stark. Through the practicum program, SPH students can join other early talent for trainings and various networking events, including meeting with the CEO, that are designed to build the skills and relationships needed to secure a career in the industry.
“The feedback I received from the various mentors was that [the 2024 cohort] was a very committed group, a very knowledgeable group. They were really motivated, and they had sort of the requisite background to complete the projects and tasks that they were given,” says Stark. “I think that speaks well to the training that you get at BUSPH, because it demonstrates that the training that the students receive at the SPH is in the type of skills and knowledge that you need to succeed in the workplace.”
Stark and his team will be on campus for an informational session about the 2025 cohort on February 27. They are seeking six or more MPH candidates with training in epidemiology and biostatistics and/or health law and policy for 10-week, fully remote, paid internships beginning in mid-May and extending through mid-August. To be considered, students must be enrolled for the Fall 2025 semester.
“Working at Pfizer was an incredible experience,” says Linge Hong, an MPH student in epidemiology and biostatistics who moved from Shanghai, China to attend SPH after earning her bachelor’s degree in medicine from West China School of Medicine, Sichuan University. As a member of the Global Respiratory Pneumococcal Vaccines Team at Pfizer, Hong worked with Eileen Dunne, scientific affairs and epidemiology lead, to conduct a systematic literature review of the effectiveness of a single dose of pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) against invasive pneumococcal disease among children. Hong says her responsibilities included drafting a protocol, conducting a search and screening of the literature, extracting data, and synthesizing the data. The project has important public health implications, she says, as it provides insights that could inform vaccine strategies and improve health outcomes for vulnerable populations.
“It was a large workload, but I completed it effectively,” says Hong. “The mentors and colleagues were supportive and provided invaluable guidance, making it a great environment to learn about the operations of a pharmaceutical company and explore potential career paths. I would highly recommend this opportunity to other students.”
Among the company’s best-known products are the first FDA-approved COVID-19 vaccine, the cholesterol-lowering drug Lipitor, the erectile dysfunction medication Viagra, and the antidepressants Zoloft and Xanax.
