Kennedy Pharmacy Innovation Center creatively opens doors to impactful careers
A decade ago, Bill and Lou Kennedy announced a multimillion-dollar gift to help create a center that would serve as a home for collaborative research and education. It would bring together the nation’s top minds in entrepreneurship, health sciences, communications and other disciplines with leading pharmacy practice faculty.
The Kennedy Pharmacy Innovation Center has been a launching pad for initiatives that have pushed the College of Pharmacy to new heights since the September 2010 announcement of that $30 million gift.
Patti Fabel, executive director of KPIC, says the center’s focus of equipping students with entrepreneurial skills is necessary to tackle the ever-changing field of health care.
“There are more than 140 pharmacy schools in the country,” she says. “Students have to be more creative. Part of what we do is help them figure out their own career path.”
Since its inception, KPIC has offered unique training opportunities to students seeking to expand both their clinical and business skills. These offerings include the Aseptic Compounding Lab and community-based, post-graduate residencies, along with learning opportunities that include the Business Plan Competition and Ownership Boot Camp.
KPIC also has sponsored pilot studies where pharmacists were embedded into family medicine practices and demonstrated that pharmacists improved patient care, satisfaction and financial sustainability of those practices.
The program has helped train more than 500 pharmacy professionals, has 48 students currently enrolled in the Business and Entrepreneurship track, and has trained 22 residents since 2011.
We are so proud of the progress KPIC has made, and we are excited for the future, as KPIC trains the next generation of pharmacists ...
Lou Kennedy CEO, Nephron Pharmaceuticals Corporation
KPIC serves as a significant differentiator — a specialized learning center combining the study and practice of pharmacy with the exciting opportunities of entrepreneurship and innovation.
“We are so proud of the progress KPIC has made, and we are excited for the future, as KPIC trains the next generation of pharmacists,” says Lou Kennedy, CEO of Nephron Pharmaceuticals. “Thanks to the rock stars at the College of Pharmacy and KPIC, university pharmacy students are blazing trails in research and development, entrepreneurism and improved health outcomes. Bill and I cannot believe it has already been a decade, and we cannot wait to see what the next one holds for KPIC.”