This fellowship is intended to provide training in pharmaceutical medicine and exposure to various functions and roles that a physician or PhD scientist can play in the industry. The fellow is expected to actively participate in cutting-edge clinical pharmaceutical development programs at Janssen Research & Development, the pharmaceutical company of Johnson & Johnson.
Our previous and current fellows have engaged in numerous innovative projects and collaborated with essential stakeholders in the field of psychiatric drug development at Janssen Research & Development.
Eligibility
The successful applicant must have an MD/DO or a PhD. The MD applicant will be either board certified or eligible for the ABPN certification exam at the start of the fellowship, have completed four years of psychiatry residency training in an ACGME-accredited program, and be able to obtain a license to practice in Pennsylvania. The PhD applicant should have their primary training or research focus in neuroscience or pharmacology.
Start Date
July 1, 2025
Appointment
We will hire one fellow per year. The fellow will be appointed as a junior faculty member at the level of instructor or assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry, Drexel University College of Medicine.
Salary and Benefits
The selected fellow is paid $90,000 annually. The fellow (MD/DO) may earn additional income by providing clinical coverage such as weekend rounding. Benefits are offered through Drexel University College of Medicine.
Fellowship Structure
This is a 12-month fellowship that provides the opportunity for the fellow to work in both an academic and pharmaceutical setting. The fellow will spend 70% to 80% time in the pharmaceutical setting and 20% to 30% time in the Department of Psychiatry at Drexel University College of Medicine. The fellow will be required to attend selected courses offered through the highly regarded graduate program in Drug Discovery and Development at Drexel University. The pharmaceutical setting will be at Janssen Research & Development in Titusville, New Jersey.
Pharmaceutical experiences will include one or more of the following: clinical development, medical affairs, pharmacovigilance and other relevant areas.
Upon completion of the program, the fellow is expected to:
- Understand and apply various clinical trial design strategies especially in psychiatric disorders
- Know how to develop protocols, obtain appropriate approvals, recruit and monitor patients or subjects, collect and analyze data, and prepare a manuscript from the academic perspective
- Understand principles of clinical research, including important concepts of good clinical practice
- Conduct strategic reviews of the medical literature and the competitive environment to identify data and educational gaps to enhance patient care
- Gain an understanding of clinical operations in pharmaceutical trials
- Gain an understanding of FDA requirements and regulations
- Understand the concept and importance of life cycle management
- Participate in medical review of promotional materials
- Participate in pharmacovigilance and drug safety evaluations
For MD/DO fellows, clinical time at Drexel may include direct patient care (inpatient and/or outpatient setting), teaching and supervising residents and medical students.
For both MD and PhD fellows, research time at Drexel may include participating in existing clinical and/or basic science research projects.
Supervision
Supervision will be provided by pharmaceutical physicians or scientists while at Jannsen. Since the fellow will be appointed as a Drexel faculty member, there will be no required educational supervision. However, mentorship will be provided by the senior faculty members in the Department of Psychiatry and the Drug Discovery & Development and clinical research graduate programs at Drexel.
Program Administrative Structure:
Program Director: Wei Du, MD, Professor and Academic Chair, Department of Psychiatry
Janssen Site Director: Carla Canuso, MD, Vice President, Medical Neuroscience, Johnson & Johnson
Supervising Faculty: David Bennett, PhD, Professor of Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Drexel University College of Medicine; Abi Bangerter, DEdPsy, Director, Clin Sci Group Leader Neuro, Johnson & Johnson
Program Coordinator: Leinaala Kline, Program Manager, General Psychiatry Residency Program, Department of Psychiatry
Advisory Committee
In order to develop a high-quality program, we have established an Advisory Committee consisting of experienced drug development experts and academic and research leaders.
How to Apply
Interested candidates should submit a CV and a personal statement (one page) to the program director, Wei Du, MD at wd26@drexel.edu.
Current Fellow
Graduate Placement
- 2024: Denia Cai Shi, PhD, Clinical Biospecimen Senior Scientist, Novartis
- 2023: Bridget Kajs, PhD, Instructor, Department of Psychiatry, Drexel University College of Medicine
- 2020: Josef Witt-Doerring, MD, Medical Officer, FDA