Skip to Main Content

News Center

Ninth Annual M-CERSI Regulatory Science Competition Goes Virtual

Second-year student pharmacists awarded first place in contest that aims to promote student interest in the field of regulatory science.

Screenshot of Team PrescripChain presenting their idea to the competition's judges.

By Emily Rosenthal
January 19, 2021

Each winter, the University of Maryland Center for Regulatory Science and Innovation (M-CERSI) hosts the “America’s Got Regulatory Science Talent” competition. This competition aims to promote student interest in regulatory science — the science of developing new tools, standards, and approaches to assess the safety, efficacy, quality, and performance of FDA-regulated products.

“This event is an academic highlight for me,” says James Polli, PhD, the Shangraw/Noxell Endowed Chair in Industrial Pharmacy and Pharmaceutics at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy and co-principal investigator for M-CERS. “Although students participate by their own choice, they place a great deal of effort into identifying a problem in regulatory science and a proposed solution. Each team often goes through several iterations of problems and potential solutions, until finally they arrive at something that they think merits doing. It stretches them. But, they are satisfied with their ideas.”

This year, students from the Baltimore and College Park campuses of the University of Maryland presented their innovation ideas to three U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) judges virtually. Nine teams competed in this ninth annual competition on Jan. 15.

The top three teams were selected by a panel of distinguished judges. To view each winning team’s presentation, click or tap on the team name listed below:

The three teams later presented their innovation ideas to the FDA’s Office of the Chief Scientist. Before turning the spotlight over to the students, Polli delivered remarks to introduce each team.

“Participating in the regulatory science talent competition as both mentor and judge has been an energizing and exciting experience for me,” shared Roberta Glass, MD. “The students’ enthusiasm and inspiring motivation have been infectious. All of the teams’ presentations demonstrated a depth of understanding of regulatory science applied to a unique and creative way to solve a real world problem. This is an amazing group of students, all of whom offer great promise for the future.”

More information about current and past CERSI research projects is available online.

Related News Stories