AAPS Speaker: Transitioning From Graduate School to Industry

I will be discussing my transition from graduate school to industry, including how my time in the College of Pharmacy did (and did not) prepare me for a career in clinical research, what it is like to have a job in industry, clinical development team dynamics, what we look for in a job candidate, a brief overview of clinical drug development, and share some of Lipocine’s clinical trial results. 

Ben J. Bruno, Ph.D. PharmD
Senior Director of Clinical Development Lipocine Inc.

Biography

After completing my BS in Biology at the University of Michigan in 2009 I enrolled in the University of Utah’s PharmD program. I began working in Dr. Carol Lim’s lab during the first year of PharmD training, and joined as a PhD student that summer. My research in the Lim Lab involved converting the group’s Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML) gene therapy product into a deliverable therapeutic protein. Beyond CML, I also worked on developing ‘super p53’ gene therapy for the treatment of various cancers, including breast, ovarian, and head and neck. 

Ben is an alumnus of both our PharmD and PhD programs; his PhD advisor was Prof. Carol Lim; and he’s currently employed by Lipocene in Research Park. Since completing my PharmD in 2013 and then PhD in 2017, I have held a handful of jobs including Adjunct Professor at Utah Valley University, Clinical Trial Specialist at SMRTL (a leader in sport anti-doping research), and Scientific Affairs Manager at NAVICAN Genomics. I am currently the Senior Director of Clinical Development for Lipocine Inc., a Salt Lake City-based clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company. My main responsibilities are the design and oversight of Lipocine’s clinical trials, although I am also heavily involved in dissemination of study results (via publications, press releases, and at conferences), provide clinical support to the business development team, and interact with regulators. During my time at Lipocine I have directed the design and execution of a dozen clinical trials, and have designed dozens more across a wide variety of clinical indications (e.g. preterm birth, epilepsy, post-partum depression, COVID-19, liver diseases, testosterone replacement).  

Monday, February 26, 2024
4:00PM – 5:00PM
COP Auditorium