For the past 10 years, WPI and Pfizer have enjoyed a mutually beneficial and rewarding relationship, one that has helped fill an urgent need for chemists in drug discovery and development and provided real-world education to dozens of young men and women.

Pfizer summer research fellow Kyria Prevost, left, is working in the lab of Kristin Wobbe, professor of chemistry and biochemistry.

By Michael Gelbwasser

Life is our life's work" is the motto of Pfizer, a research-based global pharmaceutical company that develops, manufactures and markets innovative medicines for humans and animals. The company's support for research, projects and programs at WPI is making it possible for many students to expand their educational horizons by engaging in leading-edge research; some even make Pfizer their life's work.

Brian Jones of Coventry, R.I., is one WPI student who has done just that. Jones, who received his B.S. in chemistry in 1997 and his master's in 1998, spent seven months at Pfizer under WPI's Cooperative Education Program. He also worked there during the summers of 1996 and 1997, and did a company-sponsored Major Qualifying Project he titled "LTB-4 Receptor Labeling." Pfizer also supported his graduate research, which expanded on the work he began with that project. Jones is now a process scientist at Pfizer Central Research in Groton, Conn.

"The work I did at and for Pfizer provided me with valuable industry experience that cannot be taught in a college course," Jones says. "My MQP research, as well as such Pfizer scientists as Dr. Lawrence Reiter and Dr. Ralph Robinson, stimulated my interest in pursuing a master's degree. I knew I could continue to work at Pfizer after I received my graduate degree, so it was an easy transition from the university to the workplace."

Since joining the company in 1998, Jones has focused on drug candidates that target diseases related to the central nervous system, with special emphasis on drugs for sleep disorders and alcoholism.

"WPI and Pfizer have enjoyed a rewarding partnership for more than 10 years," says James P. Dittami, head of WPI's Chemistry and Biochemistry Department. Dittami launched the relationship in 1989 when the company agreed to support an undergraduate in his laboratory on a summer research fellowship. "We came together because of our shared interests in medicinal chemistry and drug discovery," he says. "At WPI, we knew that the pharmaceutical industry needed well-trained, motivated employees and we believed Pfizer would benefit from getting to know some of the extraordinary students we educate.

"We saw a lot of students going into such fields as biology, then recognizing too late that they couldn't get the jobs they wanted at drug discovery companies because they lacked appropriate training in chemistry. Our connection to Pfizer makes it possible for us to prepare our students for the exciting and challenging field of medicinal chemistry."

At Pfizer Central Research in Groton, Conn., are, from left, Brooke Clark '00, Douglas Wilson '96 and Brian Jones '97.

Pfizer administrators were receptive to the collaboration from the beginning, according to Dittami. "WPI continues to work with Peter McCarthy, senior executive director and head of chemistry recruitment, who is active in promoting new partnerships between scientists at Pfizer and WPI. The company hopes that by supporting WPI programs and students it will help increase the pool of highly qualified, dedicated scientists entering the field of organic chemistry. Chemists who have training in small-molecule synthesis are in great demand. In fact, WPI has established relationships with several other companies, including Pharmacia & Upjohn, BASF and Astra Pharmaceuticals. As a result, we can guarantee 100 percent placement for WPI graduates with solid backgrounds in this area of chemistry."

Forty-seven WPI alumni are currently employed as scientists, engineers and managers at Pfizer, the majority at the Groton facility. Over the years, the company's support for WPI has expanded to involve a variety of collaborative programs on campus and in Groton. John LaMattina, Pfizer's vice president for world discovery operations, chairs WPI's Chemistry and Biochemistry Advisory Board.

"Our relationship with WPI is a mutually beneficial one," says LaMattina. "It has many aspects. Pfizer scientists often come to WPI as guest lecturers, to give presentations to students, or to present topics in Professor Dittami's graduate-level course in medicinal chemistry. Our company has also donated valuable equipment to the University. We've provided cash donations to support the University's Nuclear Magnetic Resonance facility, and have made grants for education. These contributions are designed to increase the experience and depth of knowledge of WPI students. From our perspective, this provides excellent preparation for joining a major pharmaceutical company like Pfizer."

Here is a description of the programs Pfizer currently sponsors at WPI:

Summer Research Fellowships
Pfizer Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships (SURF) are prestigious, highly competitive awards offered to specific departments at selected colleges and universities nationwide. Robert A. Volkmann, senior research fellow and head of SURF, directs the program and assembles the Pfizer committee that selects the winners. The fellowships include a $3,500 student stipend and up to $1,500 for departmental expenses to support the student's research, which concludes with a poster presentation at Pfizer Central Research.

The program began at WPI when Steven J. Rigatti '91 was named the first Pfizer Summer Research Fellow. The program has since been expanded beyond the University. This year, Pfizer invested $400,000 to support 80 students at 64 colleges and universities; three of them are at WPI.

Rigatti spent the summer of 1989 working with Dittami on a special class of reactions known as photo-rearrangements. The reactions use light to reorganize the atoms in a molecule. The research was aimed at developing ways to apply these reactions to the synthesis of biologically active and medicinally relevant compounds. The work was, in part, the basis for an article in Tetrahedron Letters, an international journal for the rapid communication of results in organic chemistry.

A chemistry major, Rigatti went on to earn an M.D. at the University of Connecticut and is now a physician with Old Saybrook Family Practice on the Connecticut coast. "My Pfizer summer research fellowship was my first exposure to 'real science,'" Rigatti says. "Although I did not choose to pursue a career in chemistry, I feel that the publication of my project report was an important factor in my acceptance to medical school."

Douglas Wilson, who graduated from WPI in 1996 with high distinction in chemistry, was a Pfizer fellow in 1995. Wilson's MQP, "Studies Directed Toward the Mechanism of Photoinitiated Ylide-Alkene Cycloaddition Reaction," won a 1996 Provost's MQP Award. Dittami was his advisor. Wilson now works as an as assistant scientist at Pfizer Central Research.

To date, about 20 WPI students have received these fellowships. The 1999 fellows are Jessica Condon, a junior who is carrying a double major in biotechnology and biochemistry, Karen Hoffman, a junior majoring in chemistry, and Kyria Prevost, a senior majoring in biochemistry.

PREPARE fellowships
Last year, Pfizer committed $100,000 to establish PREPARE (Pfizer Research and Education Program and Recruiting Enterprise) as a pilot program with four schools and about 20 students overall. Open to juniors majoring in chemistry, the program was created by Pfizer scientists Hiroko Masamune and Michael DeNinno as a means of increasing the number of experienced organic chemists to fill positions in drug discovery and development. Each student receives a stipend for summer research, which involves multistep synthesis and provides exposure to diverse synthetic methods. The students continue their research through the academic year by completing major projects.

At WPI, PREPARE fellows work with Dittami and James W. Pavlik, professor of chemistry and biochemistry. Fellows receive training in small-scale synthesis, anhydrous techniques, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, mass spectroscopy and other methods of characterization. They also gain experience in conducting interactive searches using electronic databases and library resources. During the program they give an oral presentation on the progress of their projects to their Pfizer liaison, who provides feedback on the work. The research culminates in a poster presentation delivered at Pfizer Central Research.

In 1998, WPI received $30,000 in PREPARE fellowships, which were awarded to five students. This year, Pfizer increased its commitment to $165,000 and expanded the program to include seven schools and about 30 students. WPI received $20,000, which is supporting the work of seniors Richard Benetti, Bryan Hayes, Erik Kataisto and Alisha Spafford.

Clockwise from left, James Pavlik, professor of chemistry and biochemistry, Pfizer PREPARE fellows Richard Benetti '00, Bryan Hayes '00 and Erik Kataisto '00, James Dittami, head of the Chemistry and Biochemistry Department, and Pfizer summer research fellow Karen Hoffman '01.

Support for MQPs and Graduate Research
Pfizer sponsors Major Qualifying Projects that provide opportunities for WPI seniors to do proprietary research under the direction of a member of the WPI faculty and a Pfizer scientist. While the MQPs are carried out at WPI, students also often visit the Groton facility to do on-site experiments and consult with advisors. Emma Rose Palmacci, a 1997 Pfizer Undergraduate Research Fellow, also completed a company-sponsored MQP. Dittami and Lawrence Reiter, principal research investigator at Pfizer, were her advisors. The project, "MMP-13 Inhibitors Containing a Sulfone as the Zinc Ligand," was one of the winners of the Provost's MQP Award in 1998. Palmacci graduated with high distinction in chemistry with a medicinal chemistry concentration and is currently pursuing a doctorate in chemistry at MIT.

Over the years the company has also provided support for the research of several WPI graduate students. It funded Jones' work in 1997-98 with $40,000, and since August 1996 it has provided $140,390 to support the research of Yi Liu, a Ph.D. candidate in chemistry. Liu is working to uncover new methods for the synthesis of prostaglandins. "Prostaglandins are naturally occurring substances found in humans and animals that play an important regulatory role in many normal cellular functions," explains Dittami.

Our longtime, thriving relationship with Pfizer has had a substantial impact on our educational and research programs," says Provost John F. Carney III. "The research opportunities, the expertise Pfizer scientists so generously share with our students and faculty, and the time Pfizer administrators spend with us as advisory board members, mentors and consultants has contributed greatly to the breadth and quality of the education we offer to students interested in the innovative and exciting world of pharmaceuticals and drug discovery."

"There will be significant advances in drug discovery in the next millennium that will require a cadre of well-trained scientists," adds Dittami. "Our partnership with Pfizer has given us a good start on training the next generation of scientists. I hope this relationship will continue for many years to come. Based on our prior success, we fully expect that it will."

-Michael Gelbwasser is editor of the Foxboro Reporter, a daily newspaper in Foxboro, Mass.