Michelle Pernice

Following in the footsteps of her mother, a registered nurse, Michelle Pernice, 4th year student in St. John’s University’s College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, is destined for success in the healthcare industry.

Michelle grew up hearing stories about her mother’s experiences as a nurse. Exposed to the ins and outs of the healthcare industry at young age, Michelle knew she too would one day save lives. “Always hearing these stories about the people my mother helped inspired me to pursue a career in healthcare. I too want to help people.”

Combining her love of the sciences with a growing interest in the legal field, Michelle is taking a more non-traditional route and plans to become a pharmaceutical lawyer. As a pre-law pharmacy student, she is well on her way to accomplishing these goals.

“One of the many reasons why I love St. John’s is because the deans and faculty are really supportive of their students. I am pursuing a less conventional pharmaceutical career and the deans have been 100 percent behind everything I have done.”

Among others, Michelle is the winner of the 2009 Academic Achievement Award, Lisa Carrera Memorial Award and recipient of the Andrew J. Bartilucci Scholarship Award. Her many contributions to the field of pharmacy never go unrecognized by the college.

“Robert A. Mangione, Ph.D., R.Ph. [Dean of the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences] knows me as a student and knows that I have a passion for the field of pharmacy with immense ambition for the future. His ability to identify and encourage his students’ interests has made St. John’s an invaluable choice.”

Michelle has conducted multiple research projects with Dr. Abu Serajuddin as her mentor. One project currently being worked on, she hopes it will uncover the reasons behind the high cost of medicine. Understanding the causes, will help drug companies make the drug approval process more effective and foster innovate ways to make medicine more affordable for everyone.

“The faculty and staff have been extremely supportive of my research and are there to help in any way they can. I’d recommend St. John’s to any student who is interested in exploring career goals that best suit their talents and abilities; this is extremely important for me as a student with diverse goals.”