From independent pharmacy operations to oncology research and pharmaceutical strategy, USC Mann undergraduates spent summer 2026 applying their classroom knowledge in a wide range of professional settings.
“USC Mann undergraduates are strong candidates for competitive internships because they combine ambition and broad-based scientific knowledge with practical experience gained through laboratory research, student organizations and community engagement,” says Daryl Davies, associate dean for undergraduate education. “These opportunities allow them to explore the many ways they can contribute to healthcare and the development and delivery of medicines.”
Sumer Hiremath, a pharmacology and drug development student, served as a regulatory affairs intern with Genetix Biotherapeutics in Somerville, Massachusetts. Hiremath, who previously worked in two USC Mann laboratories and interned at life sciences accelerator Nordicus Partners, credits USC connections with helping him explore career opportunities.
“The Trojan network has been instrumental in helping me get a lot of opportunities,” he says.
At Agilent Technologies in Wilmington, Delaware, biopharmaceutical sciences student Ellie Froslan worked as a marketing communications intern focused on biopharma market intelligence.
“It was really exciting to see how the work I was doing could support higher-level business decisions and contribute to the type of market intelligence used in quarterly earnings discussions,” she says.
Two students applied data and analytics skills at MannKind Corporation in Westlake Village, California. Sahara Melinauskas, a pharmacology and drug development student pursuing a progressive master’s degree in biopharmaceutical marketing, developed a dashboard to track patient-service and specialty-pharmacy metrics.
Mei Visconti, a biopharmaceutical sciences student pursuing a progressive master’s degree in healthcare decision analysis, worked with MannKind’s Strategy, Insights and Analytics team. She strengthened her skills in Power BI, DAX and SQL Server while developing a project based on her interests. Both students are continuing their work with MannKind in the fall.
On opposite coasts, Taye McCord-Amasis and Grace Huang explored different areas of Pfizer. Both are pharmacology and drug development students pursuing progressive master’s degrees in biopharmaceutical marketing.
In Bothell, Washington, McCord-Amasis supported a complex project to migrate clinical studies from one payment platform to another. He says the experience strengthened his ability to navigate ambiguity and contribute to an initiative already underway.
At Pfizer’s New York headquarters, Huang served as a portfolio strategy and pipeline operations intern. The role offered what she describes as “a front-row seat” to drug development and affirmed her interest in pharmaceutical research and development strategy.
Camryn Lounsbery participated in the Global Oncology Summer Internship Program at Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine in Spring House, Pennsylvania. Lounsbery, who is pursuing a progressive master’s degree in biopharmaceutical marketing, evaluated factors affecting the efficiency of platform trials in solid-tumor drug development. She also co-led the company’s Summer Intern Research Symposium and will continue with Johnson & Johnson in a co-op position.
Salman Khan and Antonio Ramirez, pharmacology and drug development majors, spent eight weeks interning at Hikal Ltd., a Mumbai-based global life sciences company. Ramirez is now a PharmD student at USC Mann.
Closer to home, Amber Valles, Kayla Lam and Elizabeth Zuniga completed full-time internships at 986 Pharmacy, an independent pharmacy organization owned by USC Mann alumnus Ken Thai, PharmD ’02. The students gained firsthand experience in the day-to-day operations of community pharmacy while sharpening their clinical knowledge and learning how pharmacists respond to patients’ needs. Zuniga has since entered USC Mann’s PharmD program.
Valles says the experience helped bridge the clinical concepts learned in class in a real-world setting. “I was able to be immersed in each position, from processing prescriptions and navigating insurance rejections to filling prescriptions,” she adds. “A key takeaway is the comprehensive and individualized care that pharmacists provide to ensure all patient needs are thoroughly addressed.”
Across these varied experiences, students connected their academic studies with potential career paths and gained a broader understanding of how science, business, data and patient care intersect.
“It has shown me how interconnected the science, data and business sides of the pharmaceutical industry are,” Froslan says. “I hope to build a career where I can bring those ideas together to help advance innovative therapies for patients.”