UCB, in collaboration with the Industry Pharmacists Organization (IPhO), offers two-year fellowship programs for PharmD graduates with the opportunity to learn and gain experience within the biopharmaceutical industry under the mentorship of experienced preceptors:
 

• Global Patient Safety

• Global Regulatory Affairs

• Medical Affairs - Immunology

• Global Clinical Sciences & Operations

• Global Medical Affairs - Rare Diseases
   

The fellowships at UCB offers a unique opportunity to work in an environment that is patient-focused, creative, flexible, and agile, with an exciting and promising pipeline. 

The Patient Safety Fellowship at UCB provides Fellows with a broad and comprehensive experience into all aspects of Pharmacovigilance. Fellows have a unique opportunity to participate in and lead global initiatives that focus on ensuring the safety of patients and leveraging safety data to enable informed decision making that builds a robust foundation for an impactful career in Pharmacovigilance.

The fellowship is purposefully designed with rotations that enable the Fellows to have end-to-end experience across the various aspects or Pharmacovigilance. The Fellow will begin by establishing a fundamental understanding of how safety data is captured and processed and then be immersed in sub-functions of Patient Safety to gain working knowledge of how the safety data are assessed and utilized to support decision making around the benefit / risk balance of compounds. This includes working with a global Safety Lead to apply Pharmacovigilance principles to one or more compounds. Additionally, the Fellow will gain working experience on Medical Device Safety and Surveillance. The fellowship also includes built-in time for 2 elective rotations for the Fellows to gain broader exposure and further explore opportunities of their choice, including areas outside of Patient Safety.

The Global Regulatory Affairs Fellowship provides Fellows with the depth and breadth of experience with all aspects of Regulatory Affairs to successfully position them for a career as a uniquely well-rounded Regulatory professional. During the rotations within the sub-functions of Regulatory Affairs, the Fellows are assigned to work with the Regulatory Science Lead for one or more compounds, including pipeline and marketed products, ensuring that the chosen projects offer the greatest learning opportunity and exposure to FDA and other global regulatory health authorities. Additionally, the longitudinal exposure to Regulatory Operations throughout the two-year fellowship provides the Fellows with a holistic view of submission and project management. Lastly, the Fellows have an opportunity for a three-month elective in a functional area of their choice, outside of Regulatory Affairs, to allow them to gain additional insights from the outside in.

The Medical Affairs Fellowship focuses on opportunities to learn, experience and lead various activities involved within the dynamic functions within a Medical Affairs organization. Fellows will utilize their first year to learn how medical affairs strategies are implemented and executed within the umbrella of the overall product life cycle, interacting with various departments such as Marketing, Regulatory Affairs, Health Economics Outcomes Research (HEOR)/Real World Evidence (RWE), and Clinical Development. The uniqueness of the UCB Medical Affairs Fellowship is that it allows for optional rotations in the second year to various roles within Medical Affairs such as Medical Information, Medical Communications and Field Medical Operations & Strategy. This flexibility in the second year of the program allows for Fellows to gain broad experiences that will develop them into a well-rounded Medical Affairs professional.

Global Clinical Sciences & Operations (GCSO) at UCB aspires to deliver UCB’s pipeline projects with top in the industry cycle times, strong patient focus, and innovative technologies. From efficient planning, to delivery of clinical trials of assigned products, to successful regulatory submissions for approval, GCSO is focused on the successful delivery of patient-preferred studies, thereby bringing value to our study participants and the global community. 

The GCSO Fellowship will provide the Fellow with the unique opportunity to acquire in-depth end-to-end knowledge of the fundamentals of clinical trial operations. The 2-year Fellowship is designed to provide the Fellow with a variety of engaging rotational experiences to grow their knowledge and understanding of the many cross-functional teams required to execute highly rigorous clinical studies with high quality, within ambitious timelines, and ultimately providing value to our patients. 

The Global Medical Affairs Fellowship in the Rare Disease Organization (RDO) - a new addition to the UCB Fellowship Program - focuses on opportunities to learn, experience, and lead various activities involved in the dynamic functions of a global medical affairs organization. Fellows will utilize their time to learn how medical affairs strategies are developed, implemented, and executed across the different indications that make up the global medical rare disease team. Fellows will learn to work collaboratively and cross-functionally across regions while considering global needs.

The uniqueness of the UCB Global Medical Affairs Fellowship is that it allows the fellow the opportunity to learn and work in a truly global environment. Working in global medical affairs is uniquely rewarding, involving international collaboration to address medical challenges, bridge research, and real-world practices, and ensure global access to cutting-edge treatments. The fellow can expect to engage with diverse stakeholders, gaining insights into various healthcare systems and regulatory landscapes, requiring adaptability and deep medical expertise. It’s a one-of-a-kind opportunity to make a positive impact on global healthcare. Additionally, the option to select an elective within or outside of medical affairs will allow the fellow to learn about another area of interest.
 

• UCB Second Year PharmD Fellows Share Reflections and Advice

This fellowship position may only be applied for through the IPhO FellowMatch service:
https://www.industrypharmacist.org/fm_landing.php

A letter of intent and CV should be submitted through the FellowMatch portal. 

Two letters of recommendation should be emailed to ucbpharmdfellowshipprogram@ucb.com. In the subject line of the email, please enter the functional area acronym, followed by candidate’s name.

The application deadline is October 27, 2023.

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, and applicants are encouraged to submit their materials on  FellowMatch accordingly.

• Global Regulatory Affairs Fellowship: Iram Hasan (iram.hasan@ucb.com)
• Patient Safety Fellowship: Catherine Wilputte (catherine.wilputte@ucb.com)
• Medical Affairs Fellowship: Tae Oh (tae.oh@ucb.com)
• Global Clinical Sciences & Operations: Amber Barnes (amber.barnes@ucb.com)
• Global Medical Affairs – Rare Disease Fellowship: Chioma Ezenduka (chioma.ezenduka@ucb.com)