Armed with her hard-earned bachelor’s degree, Cheyanne Kocher PhSci’15 recently started her career as a pharmaceutical scientist at Lannett Company, Inc., a Philadelphia-based company that develops, manufactures, and distributes generic prescription pharmaceutical products.

“I transferred to USciences as a second-year student and, as it turns out, that was the best decision I could have made for myself,” said Kocher. “The quality of education I received at USciences prepared me for my future and helped me secure a job in my field as soon as I graduated.”

Kocher said she particularly values the faculty mentorships and research opportunities she was given during her time at USciences. She worked closely with Anil D'mello, PhD, director of the undergraduate program in pharmaceutical science, on various research projects and presented three projects at the University’s annual Research Day in April.

One of Kocher’s most memorable experiences at USciences came last summer, when she was selected to be part of a research team that explored the effects of protein restriction in the offspring of animals.

“My long list of responsibilities that summer included animal handling, such as breeding rats, cross-fostering offspring, recording body weight measurements, food consumption, and loco-motor activity, as well as observing the dissection and processing of tissues,” she said.

Some of her favorite USciences courses were Controlled Release Dosage Forms, Manufacturing Pharmacy, Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics, Research Methods in Pharmaceutics, and Cosmetic Science.

As for now, Kocher said she looks forward to starting her career as a pharmaceutical scientist and applying the skills she gained at USciences to her new role at Lannett.