Homecoming Pharmaceutical Sciences Career Panel

Pharmaceutical Sciences Career Panel

Part of Our 2026 Homecoming Celebrations

Time: 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Location: Palmer Commons

Event Description

Designed to connect you, our Pharmaceutical Sciences alumni, with current students as they explore future career paths.

Panelists will have the opportunity to speak about their experiences after graduation, discuss what inspires them in their current work, and offer practical tips for students preparing for careers in pharmaceutical sciences and related fields.

Meet Our Panelists

Jay Carter, BSPharm ’81

Dr. Jay Carter followed his U-M degree with an MBA with honors from the University of Notre Dame. He then took an unexpected path into healthcare advertising, where he has spent more than four decades helping pharmaceutical companies bring medicines to market.

Today, Jay serves as Executive Vice President of Business Development at CG Life, an agency specializing in communications for rare and hard-to-treat diseases. Throughout his career, he has chaired the Medical Advertising Hall of Fame and 4A’s Health. In 2018, Michigan Pharmacy honored him with its Distinguished Alumnus Lifetime Achievement Award, bringing his career journey full circle.

Jay resides in Berrien Springs, Michigan, with his wife, Rhonda, and their three dogs.

Susan Ciotti, PhD ‘95

Dr. Susan Ciotti is a pharmaceutical process development and manufacturing leader at the Bill & Melinda Gates Medical Research Institute, where she brings extensive experience in the development and manufacturing of conventional and novel drug formulations.

She earned her MS and PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the University of Michigan College of Pharmacy. Throughout her career, Dr. Ciotti has held roles in pharmaceutical and biotechnology research and development, including positions with Pfizer Global R&D, Johnson & Johnson and NanoBio Corporation. 

Dr. Ciotti has also remained connected to the U-M College of Pharmacy as an educator and mentor, teaching courses in novel drug delivery and nanotechnology.

Nicholas Waltz, PhD ‘20

Dr. Nicholas Waltz is a Senior Lecturer in the Division of Pharmacy Education and Innovation at The Ohio State University College of Pharmacy.

He earned his bachelor’s degree in Microbiology and his PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the University of Michigan College of Pharmacy. His doctoral research focused on developing mathematical models to describe the dissolution behavior of cocrystals and better understand how supersaturation and precipitation may affect in vivo absorption.

Today, Dr. Waltz teaches undergraduate and professional courses in the BSPS and PharmD programs at Ohio State, as well as pharmacology courses in the Colleges of Optometry and Dentistry.