The students who have worked with Chris Jensen ’17 (Pharm.D./MBA) at Biohaven Pharmaceuticals in New Haven say that he is an invaluable preceptor, knowledgeable with a humble confidence. Jennifer Akosa ’20 (Pharm.D.) who completed an internship at Biohaven last summer sums it up, “Chris is a great mentor. He’s really approachable, and he sets the bar [for preceptors] really high.” Accolades such as this are not uncommon when UConn School of Pharmacy students speak of their preceptors, but what makes Jensen really unusual is that he’s not that much older than the individuals he’s guiding through industry rotations and internships.
Students pursuing a Doctor of Pharmacy degree complete two years in pre-pharmacy studies, and then spend the next four years completing academic course work and professional training. In their fourth, or P4, year they are required to spend nine months rotating through four required and five elective Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences. These APPEs are critical in determining future career decisions by providing real world exposure to pharmacy pathways in retail, industry, government and more.
This is where Jensen comes in. For him, being an industry preceptor is a way of ‘paying it forward’ and he’s eager to share his experiences with current UConn School of Pharmacy students. A native of Newington, Conn., Jensen’s affinity for the sciences and the career flexibility promised by a pharmacy degree led him to UConn. “I like to have options,” he says, “and I knew that at UConn I would also have the opportunity to complete a dual degree in pharmacy and business administration. That really appealed to me.”
Once he started in the School of Pharmacy, he became especially interested in drug development and he was confident that an MBA would give him the career flexibility he desired. Adding to that, he spent three summers doing internships at Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS), the global biopharmaceutical company, at its former location in Wallingford, Conn. It was at BMS where he met Vladimir (Vlad) Coric, M.D., who is now CEO of Biohaven, and a mentor to Jensen.
At the time they met, Coric was Group Director of Global Clinical Research and he and Jensen interacted occasionally and discussed drug development and career opportunities in the biopharmaceutical industry. Maybe it was the UConn connection that caused the two to click — Coric (’92 CLAS) had been an Honors Scholar in Physiology and Nerobiology as an undergraduate – but it soon became apparent that Jensen had found his niche.
Coric left BMS to lead a small biotech company, Biohaven, in New Haven, Conn., and acted as Jensen’s preceptor for his first APPE rotation during his P4 year at the startup company. Following graduation, Jensen participated in a Pharm.D. industry fellowship at Alexion, a global pharmaceutical company that focuses on developing treatments for rare diseases. That, in turn, was followed by a job offer from Coric.
In his position as Director of Medical Affairs, Jensen is charged with communicating and publishing data related to the treatments being developed at Biohaven that target neurological and neuropsychiatric diseases, such as migraine, ALS, Alzheimer’s Disease, anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder, and spinocerebellar ataxia.
He publishes data from the company’s clinical trials for the health care community, physicians, patients, and investors; develops journal articles and abstracts, and communicates with the medical community about Biohaven’s novel therapies. He also attends meetings specific to the disorders Biohaven is interested in, and engages in scientific discussions with healthcare providers who treat patients with these diseases.
However, as if playing an important role at an innovative pharmaceutical company wasn’t enough, Jensen opted to increase his duties.
“I knew how important the preceptors I’d had when I was a student had been, as well as the value of the internships I participated in, and I thought this would be a great opportunity to pay some of my experience forward by offering to help current pharmacy students,” Jensen says. Biohaven leadership agreed and were thrilled to have more UConn students on board. Starting with Akosa, who he hired as a summer intern in 2018, he added two P4 students on APPE rotations last fall.
One was Brendan Clark ’19 (Pharm.D.) who said, “Chris was an excellent mentor and made this rotation a great experience for me. This rotation has certainly influenced my career goals. Although I do not yet have a definite plan for post-graduation, I am continuing to work with Biohaven on a project that I started during my rotation.” And, as an added nod towards Jensen’s skills, he added, “In my opinion, future students would be lucky to have this rotation.”
Yangzhou Li ’19 (Pharm.D.) was appreciative of the collegiality at Biohaven, and she spoke of the positive atmosphere where employees are encouraged to ‘leave their titles at the door’ when they enter the offices located on Church Street in the Elm City.
She describes the atmosphere at Biohaven as encouraging and collaborative and adds that Jensen is a great industry preceptor. “He is a detail oriented person, and also very good at project management. He was willing to share his thoughts, experiences, and information (with me). Additionally, he encouraged me to reach out to other people in the company to learn more about their roles and projects and gain opportunities to get involved in other projects.”
And, she adds, “Chris is a hardworking, ambitious professional who projects a humble confidence. He is a great role model that I would recommend to other pharmacy students.”
With accolades such as these, it might seem natural for Jensen to rest on his laurels just a bit. But, that isn’t his nature and if he has his way he’ll be precepting students for many years to come. “Sharing my story and helping students is definitely rewarding. I’m really passionate about my career and I can’t think of anything better than sharing my experiences with others,” he says with a smile.
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