Alumni
Profiles of Success
Michael E. Stern, PhD.
VP of Inflammation Research
Allergan, Inc
B.S. ’75 Purdue University; Animal Behavior ’77, William Paterson College; M.S. ’81 Medical College of Wisconsin; Ph.D. ’89 Medical College of Wisconsin
Dr. Michael Stern is a researcher at Allergan, Inc., a pharmaceutical company based in Irvine, CA. Allergan is a mid-sized company whose areas of concentration are ophthalmology, neurology, and dermatology. As Vice President of Inflammation Research, Stern leads a laboratory which has focused on immune based inflammation of the ocular surface. His lab played a major role in the elucidation of dry eye (keratoconjunctivitis sicca) as an immune based-inflammation of the ocular surface. From this, including the work of other laboratories, topical cyclosporine A was developed as the first therapeutic for this disease. Currently they are continuing this line of research looking for new therapeutic targets and the next generation therapy.
After graduation from Purdue Stern spent time in a graduate program in his home state of New Jersey where he heard of a Ph.D. program in Physiology (with a research emphasis on ophthalmology) that was being run by Dr. Henry Edelhauser at the Medical College of Wisconsin. It was under Dr. Edelhauser’s tutelage that he learned about the eye and how to be a scientist in general.
Sterns says if one plans to pursue a career in science, the first thing you need is a good education in the basics to serve as a foundation. This will allow you to then build upon it in graduate school. The techniques he uses on a daily basis are primarily ones he learned in graduate school; however, it all goes back to the basic principles of biology learned at Purdue University. Stern stresses the importance of a good mentor, as he had with Dr. Edelhauser who taught him not just techniques and advanced science, but also how to be a good scientist. Things such as scientific ethics, how to communicate effectively to an audience of your peers and how to ask the pivotal questions when planning experiments are valuable and essential things to know.
Spending time in professional laboratories (academic and industrial) will help students to see what the career is on a daily basis. These things also help to get you noticed when applying for graduate school positions or jobs. It is important however to become a well rounded person. Science can become an intense, all consuming, career. One thing Stern learned is that science is like most other professions in that you will be interacting with people having many different types of interests and backgrounds. Your success in science will be based, in no small measure, as to how you can build relationships and friendships which will translate into successful collaborations.
Stern says Purdue is the right place to study biology. The Department is outstanding and students will leave with a very strong (and internationally recognized) undergraduate degree. As an undergraduate at Purdue students have access to an incredible array of things to learn such as art appreciation, music, foreign languages, etc. He urges students to take advantage of these things which will provide balance to their life and make them better scientists. A biology degree at Purdue is a preamble to a number of wonderful careers such as medicine, research, teaching, and many others. They all have in common one thing – they will allow you to be a positive contributor to society. There is no better feeling.