News & Events
PIER Mentorship Programme Background
In 2017, PIER ran a six-month pilot mentorship programme to support experienced pharmacists working in patient-facing roles and early industry career pharmacists develop their careers. Twelve pharmacists participated (8 patient-facing and 4 industry based). The pilot was supported by an external career consultant who assisted with the development of a framework for the initiative.
Following the successful pilot in 2017, PIER ran mentorship programmes in 2018 and 2021. Mentees were matched with experienced industry-based pharmacists (mentors) working in the area of expressed interest of the mentee e.g. Market Access, Medical Affairs, Quality, Regulatory Affairs. Participants also attended a one-day workshop facilitated by the external career coach.
2024 Mentorship Programme
The PIER Committee is organising another mentorship programme for pharmacists (> 3 years qualified in Ireland or abroad) interested in exploring other career options.
Call for Mentees
Call for Mentor Volunteers
The PIER Committee are looking to establish a panel of experienced industry-based pharmacist mentors who fulfil the following criteria:
- Have at least 5 years post-qualification experience, currently working in an industry or regulatory agency role.
- Can commit to supporting a fellow pharmacist looking to make a career change.
- The time commitment is envisaged as at least once a month meeting (online or f2f) for a period of 6 months and attendance at an evening briefing webinar in June 2024.
If interested in participating as a mentor, please email education@pier.ie before Friday 24 May 2024.
Please register your interest in attending at the link here: https://forms.gle/ZxDXCP4vL7ASQ6MC8. Registered attendees will be provided with a Zoom link ahead of the webinar.
A Masterclass programme on the Pharmaceutical Treatment of Cancer has been developed by the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences in Trinity College Dublin in collaboration with the Trinity St. James’s Cancer Institute (TSJCI) and with support from the Irish Pharmacy Haematology Oncology Society (IPHOS) and Pharmacists in Industry, Education and Regulation (PIER).
Duration: The programme will be delivered in person on TCD campus over two high energy, one-day masterclasses.
Masterclass 1: Wednesday April 17th
Masterclass 2: Wednesday May 15th
Closing Date: 3rd April 2024 (places are limited and early registration is recommended)
Course Fees: €495 payable at registration.
Course Co-ordinator: AnneMarie De Frein
For queries, please email: defreina@tcd.ie
For further information see https://pharmacy.tcd.ie/postgraduate/masterclass_cancer.php.
Interested in learning more about alternate career opportunities for pharmacists?
The PIER Committee will be hosting a Careers Evening in College Hall, RCSI on Thursday 29th February 2024 (6.30pm-9.00pm). This event are a great opportunity for pharmacy students, postgrads and patient facing ~20 pharmacists to meet pharmacists working in a number of different roles in a consulting (Accenture, EY, PwC), HPRA and the biopharmaceutical industry (AbbVie, Astellas, Avandel, AZ, Bayer, BMS, IQVIA, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, Pfizer, Sanofi).
PIER members & non-members welcome to attend this particular event. Registration and refreshments are available from 6.00pm.
Register by emailing careerhub2@rcsi.ie.
PIER membership is open to all pharmacists registered or eligible to be registered with PSI and pharmacy students with an interest in industry.
For further information, please visit https://www.pier.ie/members-area-public/membership
EIPG in collaboration with PIER and UCC School of Pharmacy is organising a webinar on the topic of 'Insights into the Industrial Pharmacist of the Future' on Tuesday 14th November 2023 (4pm).
Overview of Webinar
The EIPG report Advisory Group on Competencies for Industrial Pharmacists aims to raise awareness of the exciting changes in requirements for the profile of an industrial pharmacist at any stage in their career. We should also like to engage with academics working in the various faculties of pharmacy throughout Europe. Newly observed trends in drug science and technology and the opportunities and challenges that are likely to arrive will be considered. The target of the project is to determine the roles where the industrial pharmacist will work in the future and what knowledge, competencies and skills are needed for these future roles. It is a shared understanding that there are gaps in the current curricula, but academia cannot cover all the needs of the pharmaceutical industry and the Advisory Group have made some proposals to recognise and fill these gaps. The pharmaceutical industry is deluged with various challenges that are likely to influence the future of our planet. Unpredictable conditions such as pandemics and geopolitical instability as well as novel introductions in personalised medicines and advanced manufacturing technologies will continue to shape the healthcare environment. Pharmacists, as professionals in healthcare, must continually update their professional performance and develop new knowledge, competencies and skills in order to effectively support patient care.
For further information including registration link, see Insights into Industrial Pharmacist of the Future flyer_14 Nov 2023.
The PIER Commitee is pleased to announce our next open site tour to the state-of-the-art GMP facility at APC/VLE Therapeutics in Cherrywood Business Park, Loughlinstown, Co Dublin (Eircode D18 DH50) on Friday 10th Nov 2023 fron 10.30am-12.00pm.
About APC/VLE
APC Ltd is a process development company that is slashing the time it takes to deliver medicines to patients. Using breakthrough science and lightning speed APC eliminates CMC bottlenecks and accelerates clients’ journey to their patients. See https://approcess.com/about-us for further information.
VLE Therapeutics, a spin out from APC was set up to enable the rapid development and manufacture of vaccines and other advanced therapeutics. See https://www.vletherapeutics.com/our-story for further information.
For those wishing to attend the facility tour, please book your place by registering via this link APC VLE site visit registration form before 5.00pm on 8th November 2023.
For queries about the site visit, please contact us by emailing stanoneill@gmail.com
PIER CPD Event: 'Pharmacists and Entrepreneurship in Ireland'
When: Thursday November 9, 2023, 6:30pm – 9:00pm
Where: Lecture Theatre LTEE1 accessed via the Panoz Institute, Trinity College, Dublin 2
Discussion Chair: Caroline Gaynor, Lightstone Ventures
Guest Speakers:
- Caroline Gaynor, Partner of Lightstone Ventures
- Professor Anne Marie Healy, Academic Co-Founder, Aer Therapeutics
- Colm McGarvey, Co-Founder and CEO Selio Medical
- Dr. Waleed Faisal, Scientific Founder and CEO, ArrayPatch
See speakers profiles on CPD meeting speaker profiles_9 Nov 2023.
Networking Reception: 9.00pm to late in The Lincoln.
Register your interest with us here: https://forms.gle/SP7bsgDXkUSjQc2k8. This will be a members only event.
PIER membership is open to all pharmacists, interns and pharmacy students with an interest in industry. For further information, please visit https://www.pier.ie/members-area-public/membership.
Useful Links
- Academy of Pharmaceutical Sciences (APS)
- European Industrial Pharmacist Group (EIPG)
- European Industrial Pharmacists Group Newsletter
- European Medicines Agency (EMA)
- Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA)
- Irish Institute of Pharmacy (IIOP)
- Irish Medical Device Association (IMDA)
- Irish Pharmaceutical Healthcare Assocation (IPHA)
- Pharmaceutical Managers Institute (PMI)
- BioPharmaChem Ireland
- The Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland (PSI)
- UK & Ireland Controlled Release Society (UKICRS)
- The Organisation for Professionals in Regulatory Affairs (TOPRA)
Find out more about the PBF and the work they do 