Pharmacy Student Makes Global Impact Through Rare Internship Opportunity

By: Erik Pedersen, Senior Communications Manager

BALTIMORE – A rare internship opportunity is providing one Notre Dame of Maryland University pharmacy student with invaluable experience working for an organization dedicated to improving the availability of high-quality healthcare across the world.

Funmi Olateru-Olagbegi D’26 was one of 20 students across the country, and the only pharmacy student, selected for a summer internship supporting the United States Pharmacopeia’s Promoting the Quality of Medicines Plus (PQM+) Program. The initiative, which is funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development, works to improve systems that assure the quality of essential medical products in low- and middle-income countries to help prevent maternal and child deaths, control the HIV epidemic, and combat infectious diseases through high-performing health systems.

“This is a huge passion of mine,” Olateru-Olagbegi said. “I am Nigerian by heritage, and many people in countries like Nigeria tend to lack access to basic medications. The labs in those countries do produce these medications, but the quality is often reduced due to low laboratory standards. PQM+ is working to improve those standards, so that they can produce quality medications for the general public.”

Olateru-Olagbegi has already played a direct role in those efforts. One of her first tasks involved supporting an African National Quality Control Laboratory Continental Mapping project, collecting and analyzing data on the current vaccine testing capabilities for several countries which will be used to help raise regulatory standards in the future. She also supported the development of a standard operating procedure (SOP) for a tool which will aid countries in their push for global accreditation.

“The tool is called SATTA, which stands for the Stepwise Assessment Tool Towards Accreditation,” Olateru-Olagbegi said. “It’s a framework which is sent to countries who are trying to meet ISO (International Organization for Standardization) or WHO (World Health Organization) standards. The countries then do their own internal assessment of their laboratories to determine what needs to be improved. Creating an SOP for that was a huge project which needed to be completed in a timely manner.”

Olateru-Olagbegi initially considered several potential healthcare career paths after earning undergraduate degrees in sociology and biology. Learning about the wide range of job opportunities, including the chance to make a global impact working for organizations like the United States Pharmacopeia, inspired her to become a pharmacist, and she knew early on that NDMU’s School of Pharmacy was the perfect place to begin that journey.

“My first in-person interview for pharmacy school was at Notre Dame, and I knew right away that it was where I wanted to be,” Olateru-Olagbegi said. “It was clear that they were truly invested in each and every student. I’ve never felt like a number – they have an individually structured care plan for everyone, and they make us feel like we’re part of the profession from the second we arrive on campus. I couldn’t see myself anywhere else.”

Olateru-Olagbegi is actively involved with several student organizations at NDMU, serving as Vice President for the Class of 2026 and NDMU’s Christian Pharmacist Fellowship International (CPFI) chapter, President-elect for NDMU’s Student National Pharmaceutical Association (SNPhA) chapter, and treasurer for the Phi Lambda Sigma leadership honor society. An already busy schedule will also include the opportunity to continue her relationship with the United States Pharmacopeia, as she was invited to remain with the organization as an as-needed intern during the upcoming academic year.

“I’m hoping to bring some people from the PQM+ program to NDMU as guest speakers,” Olateru-Olagbegi said. “To show students that pharmacists can work in a lot of different areas that they might not have realized. My internship has been an eye-opening experience for me in that regard, and I am looking forward to continuing my relationship with USP throughout my professional career.”

Established in 1895, Notre Dame of Maryland University (NDMU) is a private, Catholic institution in Baltimore, Maryland, with the mission to educate leaders to transform the world. Notre Dame has been named one of the best "Regional Universities North" by U.S. News & World Report.