Scholar Spotlight: Certificate Program in Translational Research

While completing the PhD program in Molecular and Systems Pharmacology at Emory University, Chase Bourke, PhD, enrolled in the Atlanta Clinical & Translational Science Institute’s (ACTSI) Certificate Program in Translational Research and earned his certificate in June 2013.  

Post-graduation, Bourke works for Quintiles, the world’s largest provider of biopharmaceutical development and commercial outsourcing services. The company helped develop or commercialize all of the top-50, best-selling drugs on the market today.

Quintiles provides clinical trial sites with materials such as collection tubes, kits, lab manuals and much more, and then analyzes the samples and report findings for the site/pharmaceutical company. Bourke coordinates these different entities, manages the setup process and initiates global clinical trials for various pharmaceutical companies.

“I use my certificate training quite extensively setting up clinical trials for pharmaceutical companies,” said Bourke. “Most of the considerations for clinical trials and trial design itself ties into my training at Emory.” 

Before joining the certificate program, Bourke received a BS in Biochemistry at the University of Maryland and spent time working in academic and biotech labs. He spent a year working at the J. Craig Venter Institute performing genome sequencing before coming to Emory.

UPDATE: As of September 2013, Bourke took a new position at the FDA. He is a Pharmacologist in the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, Office of Scientific Investigations, FDA and is investigating laboratories for scientific accuracy in their drug applications.