Wide World of Pharmacy
Highlighting the myriad career opportunities in pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences
Story by Ryan McDaniel | Published September 10, 2024
DeLon Canterbury: Entrepreneur and Consultant
DeLon is a Class of 2014 alum and President and Chief Executive Officer of GeriatRx, Inc. DeLon’s journey to being a consultant and entrepreneur began in retail pharmacy, where he worked for about six years. During this time, DeLon consistently saw the same patients struggling with complicated medical regimens, trouble with medication adherence, and struggling to afford their prescribed medications. “Their heart is breaking, my heart is breaking. I felt like I wasn’t truly helping people,” he recalls.
Determined to practice at the top of his license and to fulfill his passion for serving the most vulnerable populations, DeLon founded GeriatRx in 2019. His company takes a very personal approach to working with patients, focusing on comprehensive medication management, such as deprescribing, medication adherence counseling, and side effect counseling. DeLon works with patients and their providers to create effective, sustainable medication regimens.
DeLon has found this work incredibly rewarding. He recalls one patient case of an 80-year-old woman GeriatRx was able to help. “The poor thing was prescribed 36 medications. Completely ridiculous,” he describes. “After we reviewed her case and managed her meds, we were able to reduce her down to 8 medications, which was amazing. If it wasn’t for our Comprehensive Medication Management, this patient would have been thrown into a nursing home costing over $150,000 annually.”
There are many opportunities for pharmacists to learn about consulting and working with geriatric patient populations. Here in the triangle we have GeriatRx as well as Senior PharmAssist. You can take a deeper dive into DeLon’s work and history with this 2021 story. DeLon advises seeking mentors and networking with others doing work like this. He says, “Joining a pharmacist association has been extremely beneficial for me, such as the Student National Pharmaceutical Association (SNPhA) and American Society of Consultant Pharmacists . . . Follow people that are entrepreneurs within the pharmacy space and gain the tools to be your own entrepreneur . . . And invest in yourself with coaching or conferences.”
Natalie Young: Veterinary Pharmacy Director
Natalie is a Class of 2016 alum who currently serves as the Director of Clinical Pharmacy Services at Vets Pets, a major veterinary health system with over 30 veterinary clinics and hospitals in North Carolina. In her role, Natalie oversees pharmacy operations for the organization, including supervising compounding operations, pharmacy purchasing, quality assurance, regulatory compliance, and vetting and implementing technological innovations for solutions from inventory management to patient tracking. She collaborates with veterinarians to ensure top-quality care for animals from cats and dogs to birds, exotic pets, and horses.
Natalie’s interest in veterinary pharmacy began her first year of pharmacy school. She credits a bevy of mentors in having helped her along her path to where she is now. “. . . incredible mentors like Gigi Davidson, Brent Talley, Tim White, Joey McLaughlin, and Jay Campbell, whose guidance was instrumental in my journey,” she cites. Her work at the School included a major veterinary toxicology project and research studies, which have since been published.
After graduation, Natalie spent time in independent community pharmacy, gaining more experience in both clinical programs and business operations. At the same time, she served as a Visiting Scholar at NCSU’s College of Veterinary Medicine, where she learned from Gigi Davidson, a Class of ’83 alum and one of the most accomplished veterinary pharmacists in the country. Natalie joined Realo Drugs as the Veterinary Director where the worked for several years before joining Vet Pets.
Natalie’s fulfillment in her work comes from helping both her animal patients and the human clients who love them. “The profound human-animal bond motivates me to excel in my role,” she shares. “I am deeply passionate about animals and strive to ensure they receive pharmaceutical care equivalent to human standards.”
Those interested in pursuing veterinary pharmacy have opportunities both at the Eshelman School of Pharmacy and more broadly. At the School, students can pursue a 3rd-year APPE rotation with Natalie at Vet Pets, or with Dr. Emily Sorah at NCSU’s College of Veterinary Medicine. Natalie recommends students get involved with the American College of Veterinary Pharmacists (ACVP) and the Society of Veterinary Hospital Pharmacists (SVHP). She also advises seeking out those, like her, who are currently practicing. “The best way to get involved and secure post-doc opportunities is to start networking as early as possible and impress those of us who work in the field,” she recommends. “Building relationships and demonstrating your passion and commitment can open doors.”
Chelsea Sumner: Artificial Intelligence Lead
Chelsea is a Class of 2019 alumna working at the forefront of health care and technology as NVIDIA’s North and Latin America and Africa Healthcare AI Lead. In her role, Chelsea works with both startup companies and venture capital firms to assess their needs and align NVIDIA’s artificial intelligence tools and technologies to help them build their health care solutions. “Ultimately, I spend every day getting a glimpse of what the potential future of health care will look like across the entire ecosystem,” she explains.
The work she’s doing, and the innovation she sees through her job, are exciting to Chelsea. “I have the opportunity to see the art of what’s possible in health care,” she explains. “With the advancements in technology we are closer to personalized medicine and what it truly means to give the right dose at the right time to the right patient. I love being at the forefront and the intersection of technology and health care.”
When she was studying at the Eshelman School of Pharmacy, Chelsea didn’t really foresee this being her job – in fact, when she was at the School, AI was not remotely as developed or ubiquitous as it has become just in the last couple of years. Instead, she cites a few key factors that led her to where she is now.
The first was a Visiting Scientist Fellowship she pursued at Eli Lilly & Company. The fellowship, in Pharmaceutical Project Management, developed her project management skills as well as helped her connect with pharma industry professionals. After her fellowship, she was hired at Lilly as an HCP Marketing supporting insulin. That role helped lead her to NVIDIA, where she’s been since 2021.
Underlying those skills-building experiences is Chelsea’s appreciation for and understanding of global health care. Between her first and second years at the School, Chelsea interned with an NGO, Advance Access & Delivery, where she worked on a research project on TB/Diabetes in South Africa. She was also a Global Pharmacy Scholar, completing one of her APPEs in Lilongwe, Malawi. As Chelsea puts it, “The exposure I had to global healthcare, as well as my leadership experience in SNPhA, PLS and working with Associate Dean [Carla] White . . . were all pivotal to my project management and leadership skills.”
Chelsea advises current students interested in working at the intersection of tech and health care to seek leadership and project management development opportunities. She recommends, “Learn about new technologies. Don’t be afraid to take an AI course . . . Pursue things that are interesting to you beyond the classroom.”
Her biggest piece of advice, though, is to connect with people – professors, classmates, mentors within or outside of the School – to learn more about what’s out there, what’s coming soon, and how to go after it. She says, “Be open about possibilities that you haven’t even thought about.” After all, Chelsea is now in a career that didn’t even exist when she was in school.