The American University of Iraq-Baghdad (AUIB) signed a Memorandum of Cooperation with Al-Mansour Company for Pharmaceutical Industry (MPI), serving to “foster strategic education and research cooperation,” based on a “conviction that collaboration between academia and industry is essential for the advancement of research and the development of innovative healthcare solutions.”
At a signing ceremony held on AUIB campus, AUIB President, Dr. Michael Mulnix, and MPI’s CEO, Dr. Ali Khalil, inked the memorandum that outlined the provision by MPI of trainings and site visits to AUIB students, and the collaboration of the two parties on organizing conferences, seminars, lectures, and workshops in industrial-pharmacy-related domains, as well as jointly engaging in research and development projects and the sharing of technology, equipment, and materials.
“Healthcare colleges are a distinctive feature of this university,” highlighted President Mulnix, announcing that the main collaborator institution at AUIB in the budding partnership with MPI, AUIB’s College of Pharmacy, is close to securing full accreditation, and “will be a highly selective institution” in its admission criteria in the near future, due to the large demand for enrollment in its programs. “Partnerships are key to the success of this university… (and) this partnership with Al-Mansour Pharmaceutical Industry, one of the leading pharmaceutical industries in Iraq, is important to us,” added President Mulnix, expressing his hope that AUIB and MPI “will (continue to) work and succeed together.”
“We as Arabs and Muslims are aware of the importance of science and its coupling with work” as necessary conditions for “the rise of nations,” said Dr. Ali Khalil in his speech at the signing ceremony, citing the development of cooperation between his institution, on one hand, and both public and private universities in Iraq, on the other, serving to develop the curricula of the colleges of pharmacy at these universities, and at the same time making available to students the opportunity of practically applying at MPI what they learn at their universities. He noted that this approach is aligned with “a big policy of nationalizing pharmaceutical industries in Iraq,” drawing upon what Arab and foreign expertise is available to develop the competencies of Iraqi pharmacy researchers and professionals. Dr. Ali Khalil seized the opportunity to commend AUIB’s College of Pharmacy, speaking of its Dean, Dr. Achraf Al-Faraj, and his “outstanding” role in developing the college and its curricula. He also spoke highly of the college’s students, saying that MPI is “keen to receive the college’s graduates.”