Brown med students to train at biotech companies

04/13/2003

PROVIDENCE -- A new program at Brown University's Medical School will help aspiring doctors learn about biotechnology and biomedical industries.

The Clerkship in Biotechnology, devised by fourth-year medical student Barrett Bready, allows students in their fourth and final year of medical school to get academic credit for working up to six weeks in one of four Boston-area companies that specialize in biotechnology or in the design and manufacturing of medical devices.

Bready conceived the elective two years ago after reading about the growing number of young doctors pursuing careers in other fields. The program allows doctors to better understand the impact of biotechnology on medicine.

"It bridges a gap between clinical medicine, where you apply therapies, and industry, where you create and shape those therapies," Bready said. "Each company in the program will offer different learning opportunities."

The four firms are AnVil Inc., which commercializes knowledge extracted from health-care data; Biogen Inc., discoverer and developer of drugs through genetic engineering; Boston Scientific, designer and builder of less-invasive medical devices such as catheters; and CombinatoRx Inc., a privately held pharmaceutical company.

A top-level executive at each firm has received an adjunct faculty appointment at the Brown Medical School. Each will mentor one medical student.

"This clerkship represents a much more formal opportunity than in the past to learn how biotech companies work and to transfer biotech results into clinical practice," said Donald J. Marsh, dean of medicine and biological sciences, who worked with Bready to develop, design and drive the elective through the approval process.

Arthur L. Rosenthal, senior vice president and chief scientific officer at Boston Scientific, said the program would give students "an understanding of the science and business behind therapeutics," and ensure they got "a more balanced exposure to industry."

Currently, the relationships between many doctors and pharmaceutical firms are negative and antagonistic.

Joanna Horobin, executive vice president and COO of CombinatoRx Inc., said most medical students "learn little about drug or device development." These students, she said, "will be better prepared" to interact with pharmaceutical companies to get the best treatments for their patients.

Mariska Kooijmans-Coutinho, director of clinical research at Biogen Inc., said the program will "open bright minds to biotechnology, while infusing firms with new ideas," and also show medical students other potential career options.

"This is one way for us to build and refine our scientific team, while providing an avenue for students to explore what is out in the medical community," said Richard D. Gill, president and CEO of AnVil.