About 12 years ago, the original Purdue regulatory program caught the eye of Sister Zita Ekeocha of the Medical Missionaries of Mary in Africa, who was teaching industrial pharmacy at the Kilimanjaro School of Pharmacy (KSP) in Moshi, Tanzania. “She found our Purdue program online and sent me an email, which started our KSP-Purdue collaboration in developing and launching Sustainable Medicines in Africa, which addresses the lack of access to high-quality medicines in Africa,” says Byrn.
“We want to increase human capacity in the formulation, manufacturing, and distribution areas to enable the manufacture of quality drugs in Africa, by Africans,” says Byrn.
A key focus of the program is quality formulation and manufacturing of medicines under World Health Organization-Prequalification and Food and Drug Administration requirements. Since the KSP/Purdue partnership began, four classes totaling about 100 students from the four-course program have graduated.
“We have had very good reviews,” says Byrn. “Perhaps the best came from the World Health Organization, which recognized the Tanzanian [Food and Drug Authority] (FDA) as the first regulatory agency in Africa with a well-functioning regulatory system, due largely to the more than 15 scientists at the Tanzanian FDA who have gone through our program.”
The Purdue-KSP programs have also been identified by a number of regional African authorities as a key pillar for the build-out of regional pharmaceutical manufacturing capabilities desperately needed in a region struggling with poverty and disease. Further, KSP has been selected as a Center of Excellence for Regulatory and Manufacturing Education by the United Nations African Network for Drugs and Diagnostics Innovation Program.
Servant Leadership
Byrn considers himself to be a servant leader. “I believe much more gets accomplished by encouraging people, rather than criticizing them,” he says. “This approach has worked especially well in Africa, where colonialism existed for so long.”
The servant leader, he continues, leads by example, by serving. “Bill George, in his book True North, talks about authentic leadership as being composed of purpose, values, heart, relationships, and self-discipline,” he says. “George also talks about leadership being a journey, with your life story defining your leadership.”
Byrn’s leadership style has been helpful in establishing productive collaborations, especially with foreign countries that have different cultures and attitudes, where other styles of leadership would be more likely to fail. In addition to leading by example with enthusiasm and hard work, Byrn recommends meeting potential partners wherever they are located, instead of having them come to you.
“In Africa,” says Byrn, “we are always meeting students where they are. In developing countries, each student has a different story because the life situations are so diverse. We want to meet students where they live and help them develop their skills and abilities to be applied in their local regions, where the impacts are more visible, and then expand from there.”
Many of Byrn’s research partnerships and friendships have evolved from his long-time participation in AAPS. He even successfully launched his first business through AAPS.
“My wife and I started our company with only two people,” he states “We purchased the AAPS mailing list and taught short courses, both on our own and through AAPS. After we opened our lab, we rented a 10-foot by 10-foot booth near the posters, and I stood in the walkway and told people why they needed our services since we were a research and information company. We eventually grew to 100 employees and sold the company in 2006. Some of the funds from the sale helped fund our work in Africa, especially in the early days.”
Byrn is passionate about everything he does—teaching, research, and creating opportunities in other parts of the world for high-quality pharmaceutical research and development.
“I am quite thankful to still be working and making a difference,” he states. “I love working with students and enabling students to achieve their dreams—that is my job as a professor. Teaching is still exciting—great students with passion for helping others are still coming into pharma.”
Byrn is now teaching in the BIRS program, providing a second round of Master of Science degrees in Africa, with a current enrollment of 52 students. Over the long term, this and other programs will improve local manufacturing and regulatory capabilities and drive an improvement in regional health, where today diseases like HIV and malaria are ravaging the area. “Further,” he adds, “this particular program focuses on supporting the education of women and others who are unable to travel outside the African continent, due to lack of funds and/or the need to continue working at their present place of employment.”
In 2018, AAPS chose Byrn for its Pharmaceutical Global Health Award. You can watch his acceptance video.
Mark Crawford is a science and technology freelance writer based in Corrales, NM.