Student finds inspiration in mentorship and summer research fellowship

Like many students, Cassandra Van Horn hadn’t decided which path she would take as a pharmacist when she entered the UMKC School of Pharmacy four years ago. But she was certain of one thing.

“I knew that I didn’t want to do a traditional hospital job or retail job in pharmacy,” she said. “It really started me thinking about research.”

Van Horn, who graduated May 2024, was one of five students selected to participate in the first-ever, summer-long pre-doctoral fellowship program in pharmacy research in 2022.

Dean Russell Melchert said the goal of the program is to give qualified students hands-on research experience while providing them with a competitive stipend during the summer semester, ultimately increasing the number of pharmacy-trained research scientists.

“We believe that this approach has the potential to positively impact the pipeline of pharmacists going into graduate programs and postdoctoral fellowships and ultimately research careers,” Melchert said.

One student participated in the second year of the program in 2023, and Melchert said the school has been contacted by several current students interested in participating in the program this upcoming summer.

In time, the plan is to expand the program to award research fellowships at each of the school’s campuses in Kansas City, Columbia and Springfield. Partially funded by alumni donations, the first year of the summer program produced a diverse range of projects, from cancer therapeutics to novel printed stents for treating cardiovascular disease.

“We want to enable the kind of learning that comes from engaging with difficult problems in a collaborative research setting,” said Gerald Wyckoff, Ph.D., director of research and graduate studies. “The fellows can then see how their training in the Pharm.D. program enables them to have a place in the wide ecosystem of pharmaceutical sciences research.”

Van Horn had the added benefit of working with School of Pharmacy alumna Janelle Sabo (Pharm.D. ’00) as a mentor as part of the Dean’s Council Mentorship Program, which pairs School of Pharmacy alumni mentors with students.

Sabo, the 2022 School of Pharmacy Alumni Award winner, is the global head of clinical innovation, system and clinical supply chain at Eli Lilly and Co. She has been accountable for the overall development, registration and launch of anti-COVID-19 therapeutics across the globe.

“It started for me when I joined the dean’s mentorship program and got paired with Dr. Sabo,” Van Horn said. “Just speaking with her, learning about her experience at UMKC, seeing how that panned out and what she does currently was very inspiring. Dr. Sabo was really a huge part of my decision to join the fellowship program.”

During her fellowship, Van Horn worked with School of Pharmacy research scientist Chi Lee, Ph.D., on a project exploring the development of cardiac stents through 3D printing. The research included a special focus on the effect of COVID-19 on patients who experience cardiac stent thrombosis.

Once the pair decided on the topic, Van Horn said she was given the reins to manage her research, under Lee’s guidance.

“I got to decide what I wanted to write on and met with Dr. Lee for his feedback,” she said. “I sent him what I had been working on, and then we discussed it. I think that helped me grow as a student and professionally, because in future practice we’re not going to be given a detailed list of, ‘this what we need to do.’ We’re going to have to generate that ourselves, so that really helped me to see a project from start to finish.”

Van Horn said that for students interested in industry pharmacy, the value of having an alumni mentor and taking part in the summer research experience is priceless.

“I got to work on my research skills. I got to work on my networking skills. I got to work on my presentation skills,” Van Horn said. “It’s really preparing me in general. All the skills I’ve learned will be applicable moving forward, and that’s incredibly valuable.”