Oldest and largest program in the country leverages industry partnerships to advance radiopharmaceutical training in Indianapolis
In 1946, nearly 50 years after the Polish physicist and chemist Marie Curie coined the term radioactivity, Purdue University received the first shipment of radioactive materials for use in the development of medical therapy from Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee.
John E. Christian (BS ’39, PhD HHS ’44), a professor of pharmaceutical chemistry, was conducting pioneering research in the emerging field of bionucleonics, a term that reportedly originated from then Purdue President Frederick Hovde to describe the biological application of nuclear physics. At the time, Christian was one of a handful of people in the country accomplishing meaningful work in peaceful uses of radioactive materials.
“When one thinks about atomic energy, one usually thinks of death and destruction,” Christian wrote in an article that appeared in the October 1950 edition of The Indiana Pharmacist. “We have been educated in this manner through newspaper articles of various types, publicity on the hydrogen bomb, the atom bomb and so on. Actually, the association of atomic energy with death and destruction is far from the truth ... It seems very probable that within the next 15 to 20 years, there will be developed in the health professions a large number of applications of radioactive material in the medicinal fields.”
Christian’s early work paved the way for Stan Shaw (PhD HHS ’62) to initiate undergraduate courses for students to specialize in nuclear pharmacy starting in 1972. The College of Pharmacy is home to the oldest and largest nuclear pharmacy program in the country.
“We really thought our role would be educating pharmacists who would work in hospital,” Shaw said in a 2019 video interview. “Commercially centralized nuclear pharmacies changed that — and for the better. Small hospitals were being serviced and more patients were receiving radiopharmaceuticals. I think that’s the greatest reason for all our effort, patients and patient care.”
Shaw, who retired as head of nuclear pharmacy in 1995, made many major contributions to nuclear pharmacy education, research and professional practice over his 50-year career. Among them, he organized the first meeting of nuclear pharmacists in the American Pharmacists Association in 1974 and championed the recognition of nuclear pharmacy as the first pharmacy specialty established by the Board of Pharmaceutical Specialties in 1978.
Today, there are around 350 board-certified nuclear pharmacists in the U.S. and only five colleges of pharmacy in the nation that offer a professional curriculum in nuclear pharmacy designed to meet the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC) requirement of 200 hours of formal training in basic radioisotope techniques. Purdue is one of only two programs that also includes a dedicated hands-on lab course where students handle radioactive materials.
A Growing Need for Nuclear Pharmacists
The burgeoning field of radiopharmaceuticals — drugs that deliver radiation therapy directly to targeted cancer cells — has exploded in Central Indiana over the past two decades. Because radiopharmaceuticals begin to decay immediately after manufacturing, they cannot be produced in large quantities or stored indefinitely. Products must be shipped on a precise schedule. Indianapolis is centrally located within a 10-hour drive of about 70% of the U.S. population and its airport houses the second-largest FedEx hub in the world, making it a prime location for international radiopharmaceutical companies.
Kara Weatherman (PharmD ’94), clinical professor of pharmacy practice and director of the nuclear pharmacy program at Purdue. Photo by Charles Jischke
“There are several radiopharmaceutical companies that have invested in production facilities in Indiana in recent years,” says Kara Weatherman (PharmD ’94), clinical professor of pharmacy practice and director of the nuclear pharmacy program at Purdue. “In a typical radiopharmaceutical manufacturing facility, it can take six to nine months for onboarding, which creates a large productivity lag. We’re collaborating with manufacturers to develop a series of elective courses that our students could take while in pharmacy school to reduce the amount of onboarding time once they are employed.”
Many of today’s graduating nuclear pharmacists will work in the emerging field of theranostics, a breakthrough approach in precision medicine that fuses diagnosis and therapy to treat a variety of cancers. The technique uses a specific targeting molecule that is radiolabeled to identify malignant cells. Then, once identified, the same molecule is used to deliver targeted radiation to kill those cells.
“Traditionally, nuclear medicine has always been a very small group of practitioners,” Weatherman says. “The theranostics market has been growing by leaps and bounds over the past five years. These are drugs that will compete with or replace chemotherapies. Many more nuclear pharmacists will be needed to manufacture and dispense these medications and Purdue is working to meet that rising demand.”
In addition to the specialization for Purdue students, the College of Pharmacy also offers a post-graduate nuclear pharmacy certificate program for pharmacists, technicians, physicians, scientists and radiation safety officers to meet the didactic requirements to become authorized users on a radioactive materials license from the NRC.
An authorized user is responsible for ensuring that radioactive materials are handled and used safely in accordance with regulations. This certificate program also is offered to students enrolled in other colleges of pharmacy to help meet the nationwide need for nuclear pharmacists.
In 1988, Purdue developed the first nuclear pharmacy certificate program at an academic institution and even offered a distance learning option. “It was a big box of about 35 videotapes and a large binder stuffed with paper,” Weatherman says. “Today, we deliver the required content using technological advances such as virtual and augmented reality to help trainee understanding of concepts when they may not have direct access to hands-on laboratories like our students get to experience on campus.”
She’s now focused on partnering with radiopharmaceutical companies to develop coursework and training in nuclear drug manufacturing in addition to dispensing. With the university’s expanded presence at Purdue University in Indianapolis, the College of Pharmacy plans to establish a radiopharmaceutical training hub in the northwest part of the city to meet the area’s workforce development needs.
“The radiopharmaceutical industry has a need for NRC-certified individuals, not only pharmacists but also radiochemists and nuclear physicists,” says Eric Barker, vice president for health affairs for Purdue University and the Jeannie and Jim Chaney Dean of Pharmacy. “Within these companies, there’s also a business component. Many of them design and build their own equipment, so they need engineers. It’s very interdisciplinary and Purdue has the subject matter expertise with faculty across our various colleges to create these training programs and seize this unique opportunity.”
This story appeared in the 2024 issue of The Purdue Pharmacist magazine.
