Pfizer Scholarships

Pharma Giant Includes Education in Corporate Ethos

Pfizer has a longstanding history in the development and delivery of pharmaceuticals that help people with an array of health problems. And it’s not just people; Pfizer also has experience with medications and products for animals. The company currently advertises over two dozen "key" products, a number of which have become household names: Zoloft, Viagra, Lipitor, and Celebrex.

Just those few products span the medical books from erectile dysfunction to depression, and high cholesterol to arthritis.

Pfizer and Epilepsy

The Pfizer Epilepsy Scholarship program is designed to assist students who are challenged with the seizure disorder. $3,000 awards are doled out to 25 outstanding students who wish to tackle the further challenge of college. Applicants must provide letters of recommendation from doctors and others who can lucidly validate the candidate’s motivation and triumph over their condition. Applicants are also required to write an essay that concisely explains their goals and plans.

Part of the R&D at Pfizer has been on Epilepsy and other "partial onset seizure" disorders that can severely impair and stigmatize the typical adult life. Products that are often prescribed include Lyrica and Neurontin, both "adjunctive treatment" products. Physicians typically prescribe another major medication for their epilepsy patients, but Neurontin has been shown to be effective when used in concert with certain epilepsy drugs.

Fellowships Provide Opportunities for Biomedical and Pharma Scholars

A company like Pfizer can only thrive with constant nurture in research. To these ends the company markets its fellowship programs in a number of areas:

The Pfizer/University of Puerto Rico Research and Education Alliance provides student researchers with both paid summer internships as well as fellowship opportunities. Candidates for both should be majors in chemistry, biochemistry, chemical engineering or a closely related program. Internships last a summer term and fellowships an academic year. Fellowships pay $6,000 plus $1,000 on top of that to cover travel expenses to an annual conference. Both interns and fellows are expected to consider a career with Pfizer.

The Medical and Academic Partners (MAP) program creates valuable partnerships between Pfizer and leading scholarly researchers. The Pfizer Fellowship in Health Disparities offers a two-year, $130,000 award to an outstanding post-doctoral research student whose specialty is in health disparities.

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