URI_Research_Magazine_2012-2013_Melissa-McCarthy

Rhode Island’s Knowledge Based Economy: The Role of Pharmaceutical Science

In the pharmaceutical world, the phrase “bench to bedside” refers to the process of creating a new drug, manufacturing it, and getting it to the patients who need it, a series of often complicated tasks that includes everything from basic research to knowing how the laws of intellectual property and federal regulations apply to new product development. This is David Worthen’s area of expertise. This innovative thinker is balancing teaching, research and business development while collaborating extensively with industry. Worthen holds a joint appointment as an assistant professor in the Department of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences and in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Rhode Island (URI). This South Kingstown native and URI alum worked in the pharmaceutical and consumer products industries before coming to URI. In addition to his scientific education, Worthen earned his law degree from the University of Kentucky. A founding member of URI’s new Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Program, he is using his experience in industry and law, as well as scientific research, to help further URI’s programs in pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and medical device development. The pharmaceutical science program had a significant boost with the opening of the new $75 million College of Pharmacy building on the Kingston Campus. The new building is part of an energy efficient, three- building science complex.

Eventually, the five-story pharmacy building will include a manufacturing facility where, with the approval of the United States Food and Drug Administration and other regulatory bodies, URI’s innovative research scientists and professors will be able to manufacture their new drugs under controlled conditions for eventual administration to patients in clinical trials. The facility should provide opportunities for manufacturing and contract work as well. But, in the meantime, the building signifies the importance that URI and the state’s residents, who approved a $65 million bond for the project, are placing on pharmaceutical sciences as a path to regenerate Rhode Island’s flagging economy. “We have a proud history of textiles, machine tools, and other manufacturing in Rhode Island, but those industries have mostly matured and relocated,” noted Worthen. In the place of those fading industries, state officials hope Rhode Island will develop a knowledge-based economy, where biomedicine, pharmaceutical sciences, and technology will all play major roles in creating new jobs for highly skilled workers. Doing its part, URI has created a new four-year bachelor’s degree in pharmaceutical science, in addition to its six-year pharmacy degree program. Worthen enthusiastically embraces this vision for his home state and he teaches his students at URI with the goal of preparing them for jobs in this new economy. “I love mentoring students as best I can in their studies and in their careers,” said Worthen.

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