Jacob Brown

Encouraging His Students to Push the Boundaries 

Jacob Brown loves being active outdoors and taking trips to the Boundary Waters. His role as an assistant professor at the University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy, Duluth, keeps him in close proximity to those activities and allows him to pursue his other passions of teaching and pharmacy. 

Brown, who has been and assistant professor since fall 2014, grew up just outside of Kansas City, Missouri. He has always been fascinated with the fact that someone could take a pill and it could have such a wide range of effects. This fascination and some exposure to pharmacy he had in high school, fueled his desire to become a pharmacist. 

When asked about how he became an assistant professor, Brown said he took an unorthodox approach. 

Brown attended Creighton University where he completed his undergraduate coursework and Doctor of Pharmacy. He then completed a post-graduate Year 1 Pharmacy Residency at Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City. Brown stayed on for fellowship training in pediatric clinical pharmacology. He also received a Master of Science in Clinical Research from the University of Kansas School of Medicine. These experiences prepared him for his current position as an assistant professor. 

“Teaching at the College of Pharmacy for me has been a lot of fun,” Brown said. “Each class has a unique personality, and our students are always asking questions that push the boundaries of what is known.”

Brown has enjoyed his time at the College of Pharmacy due in part to the people he gets to work with and the flexibility it allows for him to conduct his research. When he isn’t in the classroom teaching, Brown is researching pharmacogenetic testing. 

“Early in my career, I spent a bit of time in the pediatric intensive care unit,” Brown said. “My current work involves mainly providing insight to clinicians regarding clinical pharmacogenetic testing. My research has focused on pharmacogenetic testing, including how medications used for ADHD are broken down differently in children, as well as leading implementation projects in collaboration with clinical pharmacists.”

Brown plans to continue to research pharmacogenetic testing to improve medication safety and efficacy for children. He intends to do this while providing students with the necessary tools to be successfully practicing pharmacists. He believes one of these tools is simply experience and advises students to try and get as much of it as possible.

“I would recommend looking for as many different experiences within pharmacy as you can,” Brown said. “Most people think of pharmacy as simply filling medications in pill bottles, but the breadth of pharmacy practice is much larger than most people realize.”