The whole world is my workplace

Ibrahim Kamara, Independent Consultant

Ibrahim Kamara has 15 years of experience in the quality assurance of biological drugs. MIND-training (Master of Industrial Drug Development) has given him insight into the entire drug development process. And academically relevant courses from the University of Copenhagen have set him up for a working life with the whole world as his employer:

Ibrahim is from The Netherlands and has a bachelor’s degree in Medical Biology from Imperial College, London. He now lives in Spain where he works as an independent, advisory consultant for various European companies.

He began the MIND programme in 2007 and has completed the programme: “The MIND programme has given me both insight and an overview of the entire drug development process from molecule to patient. And I have had a chance to meet the leading Danish and international scholars in the field. Unlike many other university based courses, on our course we get information straight from the protagonists themselves, as many of the guest speakers on the programme spend their days working in the pharmaceutical industry.” said Ibrahim Kamara.

He is keen to highlight the network, he has gained on the programme: “I have met Danish and foreign students with very different functions in the pharma industry. On the courses we share our specialised experience in an industry that is known for keeping its cards close to its chest.”

Large molecules with great potential

For fifteen years Ibrahim has been working in quality assurance for medicines, especially biological drugs, which present special challenges in the long and difficult process of developing new drugs.

“The new thing in pharma is to think big. Most of today’s medicines consist of tiny chemical substances, but research increasingly points towards the use of large protein molecules as drugs. These so-called biological drugs, based on proteins or peptides have great processing potential. They are literally made of natural raw material, so they have targeted power - and very few side effects,” says Ibrahim.

“However, proteins are also brittle and expensive to manufacture and store. So quality assurance of the potential super drugs is a real challenge.” “Courses like ‘Quality by Design’ and ‘Biopharmaceuticals - pharmaceutical development and safety assessment’ on MIND have been a really good foundation for me working with challenging biologics,” says Ibrahim.

Having looked all over the world for appropriate training, I had no doubt that MIND was right for me. The great flexibility, the possibility of a full master’s programme and the prosperous Scandinavian pharmaceutical industry next door made all the difference.

Ibrahim Kamara, Indenpendent Consultant

MIND power and your ambitions

The MIND programme is very flexible, a good thing for a man whose job spans Continental Europe: “For someone like me who has lived in several different countries over the years and now has a job that requires a great deal of travel, flexibility is important,” says Ibrahim.

He considered several continuing professional development options in 2006 - but quickly realised that the MIND programme at the University of Copenhagen was tailor made for his expectations and ambitions: “The pharmaceutical industry in the Øresund Region is widely celebrated - and University of Copenhagen connects to some of the strongest players in the medical field,” says Ibrahim, who worked for several years for Novo Nordisk Engineering in the Copenhagen area.