Next Up: A Promising New Career

When Shuntina Harper learned that Brightpoint and CCWA were teaming up with industry partners to build a regional hub for pharmaceutical manufacturing, she seized her chance to prepare for new jobs coming to the area. In less than nine months, Shuntina earned a career studies certificate in pharmaceutical manufacturing with no tuition costs.

After graduation, she worked as a sample coordinator, processing up to 350 clinical samples a day at a bioanalytical lab services company. Now, she’s moved to Civica, where she plans to work in formulation and will be invoved in making medicines for Americans. 

“I wanted to pursue something that this country and people need,” Shuntina said. “When I saw the rise of pharmaceutical companies coming to Virginia, I considered pharmaceutical manufacturing as a promising career path and as a way to stay current.”

The pharmaceutical manufacturing program is a state- and federally funded initiative to help regional partners in business, education, government and the nonprofit sector restore America’s pharmaceutical stockpile and scale up production of affordable essential medicines.

“At first, I thought I would need to use some of my savings for tuition, which I would have done,” Shuntina said. “But the governor invested in the people of Virginia, and I took advantage of it.”

With previous experience in healthcare administration, Shuntina was determined to expand her knowledge in a related field. During her studies, she gained a newfound admiration for the precise techniques used in laboratory work, such as accurately pipetting solutes and creating medications. She also received valuable training from industry experts in managing large-scale chemical reactions, phase separations, and fill/finish procedures.

In Dr. Cornelia Kavungo-Johnson’s lab at Brightpoint, Shuntina learned how to create a liquid-based aspirin using industry-standard equipment, including a centrifuge, which spins and separates mixtures into their various components.

“It looks easy, but there’s a certain process you need to follow to keep everything in order,” Shuntina said. “You have to learn the craft of it, drawing out the fluid, putting it in the tube, labeling it, and making certain that there isn’t cross-contamination or something that gets lost.”

Recording every detail has been a crucial aspect of all of Shuntina’s work after graduation.

“Dr. Johnson taught us good documentation practices,” Shuntina said. “She made learning easy because of her passion for the subject and years of experience in the field."