Dr. Jorkasky Findlay’s Fourth Woodrow Wilson Visiting Fellow

Diane Jorkasky, M.D., a nationally recognized medical scientist and researcher in the pharmaceutical industry, was on campus March 16-20, 2014, as The University of Findlay’s fourth Woodrow Wilson Visiting Fellow, sponsored by the Council of Independent Colleges.
Dr. Jorkasky met with students and faculty, visited classes and gave presentations, primarily for the College of Pharmacy. She talked on “The Serendipity of Discovering News Drugs” and “Personal Perspectives in Pharmacy,” among other topics. She also led a session on “Challenges of Being a Woman in Leadership,” spoke on “Health Professions Research and Ethics” for athletic training students and was available for an open forum in the Alumni Memorial Union.
She exhibited a dynamic style in which she actively engaged students in discussion, peppered her presentations with humor and delivered a healthy dose of what to expect in the business of pharmaceuticals and life.
Dr. Jorkasky is president of her own research and development consulting business, which emphasizes translational pharmacology and medicine in the development of drugs. She has served on the boards of directors for Q Therapeutics and Tengion Inc.
Previously, she held vice president-level positions with Endo Pharmaceuticals, Aileron Therapeutics, SmithKline Beecham and Pfizer Global Research & Development, where she led global clinical research operations.
Dr. Jorkasky has served on the medical school faculties of Yale University, University of Pennsylvania and professor of bioengineering and therapeutic sciences at the University of California, San Francisco, and has published more than 100 peer-reviewed articles. She received her bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the College of Wooster and earned her M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania.