The following statements
regarding mission and vision are experts from
a speech given by Robert A.
Mangione, Dean of the College of Pharmacy and Allied Health
Professions at their 75th Anniversary Dinner.
Dean's Message
Some of you have memories of the
college in Brooklyn; some experienced the transition from Brooklyn
to Queens; and some spent their college days in beloved St. Albert
Hall on the Queens Campus; but all who hold a St. John's diploma
have inculcated the great Vincentian charisma that is St. John's
University into their hearts.
This is a proud day for St. John's
University College of
Pharmacy and Allied Health Professions. As I reflect upon our
extraordinary history I cannot help but be overwhelmed, and a bit
emotional, about how truly fortunate we are.
Each of us has special St. John's memories of the past and
dreams of the future. I hope that you enjoyed reliving some great
days in the College of Pharmacy and Allied Health Professions’
history. As we reflect on the past, I also ask that you to focus on
the present, and plan for the future.
I think that you will be impressed, as I am, by the many ways in
which our faculty, students and alumni are committed to excellence.
Our faculty is conducting cutting edge basic science, applied
clinical, and educational research. The excitement of
discovery engulfs our professors’ laboratories, classrooms and
clinical sites as we earn competitive federal grants, develop new
teaching techniques, and ease the pain and suffering of our
patients.
If you visit the campus you will find our Pharmacy and Allied
Health Professions students engaged in active classroom learning
environments. If you travel to our affiliated experiential sites,
you will observe our students providing outstanding patient care as
they learn from their site-based full time and voluntary faculty in
our region’s leading pharmacies, hospitals, long term care
facilities, and industrial settings. Our graduate students maintain
the high standards of the past, as they continue to create new
knowledge in the laboratories of St. Albert Hall through the
mentorship of our world-class faculty.
The College Renews Commitment To Our
Vision
“to be a nationally recognized model for the preparation of
exemplary health care providers dedicated to meeting the needs of
all patients, particularly the medically underserved in urban
areas, distinguished scholars, and leading researchers in the
pharmaceutical and biomedical sciences.”
The College is engaged in many activities that will help us to
achieve this vision. One of particular note has been the
establishment of the Urban Pharmaceutical Care Research and
Education Institute. The Urban Institute is an institute without
walls that takes a multi-disciplinary approach to identify and
address the challenging health problems that plague the urban poor.
The Institute seeks to improve the health outcomes for these
vulnerable patients through professional education, creative
research and community outreach programs.
In the short time since we announced the establishment of the
Institute we have made significant progress. We are currently
engaged in a congressionally funded high school recruitment
initiative to encourage traditionally under-represented inner-city
high school students to study pharmacy at St. John’s.
Consistent with the goals and objectives of the Institute, St.
John’s faculty are serving at Project Renewal (a mobile
health clinic that serves the homeless in New York City) and at
Rotacare (a free clinic for un-insured patients in Uniondale,
Long Island). Bringing compassionate care to the poor and
marginalized.
We are proud to announce the establishment in 2005 of the
University’s first, and perhaps the nation’s first, Post-Pharm.D.
Residency program in Urban Pharmaceutical Care. This program was
made possible by the generous funding provided by alumni John
Navarra, President and CEO of Town Total Health in New York
City.
The Institute will also provide a focus as we look forward to
conducting research that will enhance our understanding of New York
City’s health disparities and improve the health literacy of the
poor and the disadvantaged. My friends I know that you share
our excitement and our commitment. I invite you to come visit with
us to learn more about the Urban Institute as well as our other
exciting Pharmacy, Allied Health Professions, and graduate program
initiatives.
Let us tell you more about the newly established Forest Research
Institute, St. John’s University fellowships in regulatory affairs
and new drug development. Perhaps you would like to learn more
about Dr. Yunbo Li’s exciting $875,000 National Institutes of
Health Research Study.
Or maybe you would like to meet the national President-elect of
the American Pharmacy Association’s Academy of Students of
Pharmacy, the leader of our nation’s pharmacy students, St. John’s
own 5th year pharmacy student Vibhuti Arya. You are invited and
always welcome to come home to alma mater. My friends, I am
confident that with your help we can continue to be a caring voice
in a changing world.