Clinical trial management is the next step for BSPS student and start-up co-president

College of Pharmacy Student Spotlight: Ava Barone, BSPS Class of 2023

The Ohio State University College of Pharmacy is shining a spotlight on students throughout the year. Meet Ava Barone, a third-year Bachelor of Science of Pharmaceutical Sciences (BSPS) student from North Royalton, Ohio (Cleveland).

Barone is co-president of a health education start-up working toward a career in clinical trial project management in the pharmaceutical industry.

What are your goals after graduating the BSPS program?

When I started the BSPS program, I knew that I wanted to go the health care professions route but I wasn’t entirely sure which profession I wanted to pursue. At this point in my studies, I am working toward a career in the pharmaceutical industry within clinical trial operations.

In this profession, I would be planning, leading and executing the entire clinical trial process from phase I to phase III. This is a project management role where I will work with the entire clinical trial team: researchers, patients and so on. I’m excited about the idea of managing the whole process, from overseeing the timeline to making sure patients are safe while being effectively treated in the studies.

This is my plan after graduation but I’m not closing the door on pursuing a professional program. Maybe after a few years I will go back to school to get my Master of Business Administration so I can work on the business side of the industry.

How did you find out about this line of work?

I found out about this career from my aunt. At the time, I was still unsure about what I wanted to do after graduation and bounced some ideas off her. She is a former nurse who worked as a clinical research associate (CRA). She told me a little about the field and how she got into it. It piqued my interest and motivated me to investigate it more. After completing an internship last summer, I knew that this was the right path for me.

As much as I realize that patient contact is important, I knew that I wanted to be behind the scenes and help the masses in a different way than a clinical setting. I see value in the patient interaction but I’m excited to help on a mass scale.

Tell me more about your internship experiences?

This past summer, I worked for a pharmaceutical company called Ultragenyx that specializes in rare diseases. I was especially drawn to this organization because of their mission – they want to help those patient groups that are being overlooked by larger pharmaceutical industries because of their small population.

I helped with their program management services, designed web pages and created educational pieces on their medications and the diseases they treat. I really enjoyed this internship because I was able to learn more about the drug development process and I picked up a few skills outside of project management.

This summer, I plan on working with the pharmaceutical company Merck, where I will do clinical trial operations. I’m super excited to gain more experience working in clinical study management teams.

Why did you choose the BSPS program?

I was a biochemistry major when I first came to the university, but I was always questioning if it was the right path. After learning about the BSPS program and how it was really focused on what I wanted to do in terms of health care and the drug development process, I met with an advisor and switched my major.

What other extracurriculars are you involved in?

I still work as an intern for Ultragenyx while also working as a student assistant in academic affairs in the College of Pharmacy and a teaching assistant for a chemistry class. I am also co-president of the nonprofit SmileChild. 

I play on an indoor soccer team to find a break from all the craziness. It’s super important to prioritize health and wellness and I love doing that by playing soccer. 

Tell me more about the nonprofit SmileChild and how you were selected for the Buckeye Accelerator Program.

SmileChild is a non-profit that is creating an app for parents and caretakers who are at-risk, potentially at-risk or want to learn more information about maternal health as well as pre-natal and infant care. The goal is to reduce infant mortality, which is such a big issue in Columbus and beyond.

The group is super diverse in our skill set. We have two BSPS students, including myself; one public health major; a computer science and engineering major, who has helped build the app; a neuroscience major; a human nutrition major; a biology major; and a biomedical science major.

Something I feel very lucky and excited about is that my group was selected for President Kristina M. Johnson’s Buckeye Accelerator Program. In the program, my group will engage in a six-week bootcamp-style seminar hosted by Dr. Johnson and at the end, we’ll compete with the other groups to receive $50,000 in grants to fund our start-up. We made it to the top 10 and will pitch our start-up again on April 6 to receive the grant.

What advice would you give to incoming students?

I would say to constantly be looking for and open to opportunities. Even if the opportunities aren’t an exact match to what you are looking for, they help you build a strong skill set and you might end up finding something else you’re interested in.