Workforce Development Month brings you the stories of people and organizations opening doors into the life sciences for the next generation of talent. Next up: Dr. Mina Izadjoo, founder of Integrated Pharma Services, whose company in the BioHealth Capital Region is hosting 23 interns this semester, with demand so strong that roughly 60 more students have applied to join.
For Mina, mentoring young scientists has always been a passion. “I always enjoyed mentorship,” she says. That passion, and a belief that every intern should leave with more than they came in with, sits at the center of the program she has built.
From Military Medicine to a Company Built to Solve Problems
BioBuzz caught up with Dr. Izadjoo in a recent conversation, where she traced her path into science back to a single class. She had planned to become a physician. “But the first microbiology class that I took, I fell in love with it,” she recalled.
She went on to earn a PhD in microbiology from Louisiana State University, followed by six years of postdoctoral training, including a postdoc at NIH. The Armed Forces Institute of Pathology then hired her to develop a vaccine for brucellosis. She rose to division chief, leading work on infectious diseases and biowarfare agents, and later wound infection and antibiotic resistance — more than 20 years in military medicine in all.
“That part of my career made me realize that you have to solve a problem under limited time and with limited resources,” she said. “You have limited time, and at the same time you have to be compliant.”
She carried that mindset into Integrated Pharma, which she founded in 2018. The company does no basic research. Every project, whether a medical device, a topical wound gel or a new formulation, targets a current gap in care and aims for commercialization. “I always wanted to engage in things that I can see brought to market and in patients’ hands in my lifetime,” she said.
That discipline shows in how the lab runs. Visitors often remark on how structured Integrated Pharma is, and that is by design. “We don’t do science just because we want to do science,” Mina says. For her, science is about purpose: every project starts with a real problem to solve, and every process is built to the same high standards the wider industry relies on. That combination of purpose and rigor is what makes the lab such a strong place to learn.
Small as it is, the company holds itself to standards usually associated with much larger organizations. It is ISO certified and GLP compliant, which means the FDA accepts the testing it performs. In 2025 it became a DEA-registered analytical laboratory, certified through the Department of Justice to work with all classes of controlled substances, including fentanyl. Many of these certifications are voluntary, and the team plans to build on them this year.
An Internship Program Years in the Making
Mentoring has been part of Mina’s work since graduate school. For years, Integrated Pharma invested its own staff time, supplies and lab reagents to keep its internship and workforce development program going, because she believed in what it could do for students and the next generation of our biotech professionals.
Her long-held wish was to pay the interns, too. That became possible when Integrated Pharma was funded for 13 paid positions through the Lighthouse internship program. “The stories that come out of that Lighthouse internship are simply unbelievable,” she said. “The changes, the impact on their career path and the unique ecosystem created at Integrated Pharma for training the next generation”.
Every intern starts with safety and regulatory training before moving gradually into the lab. “Our training is as structured as the way we operate every day,” Mina says. Interns work on active projects and present their own data, and several have become co-authors on scientific presentations and published manuscripts. Because the program is so structured, local universities award four to six credit hours for it, including master’s thesis credit; five master’s students are working with the team right now.
The program is open by design. Interns have ranged from 16-year-old high schoolers to people in their late twenties. The lab has also welcomed interns with physical and mental disabilities, because, as Mina puts it, “everybody deserves to be provided with training.”
Many interns stay connected long after their placement ends. Some have joined the Integrated Pharma team full-time, and Mina hopes to welcome more as new projects arrive.
Why Soft Skills Are the Real Differentiator
Many interns arrive believing technical skill is what will carry them. Mina encourages them to think bigger. “Technique you can learn,” she said. “If you repeat it 200 times, you’re going to be proficient.” What sets people apart, she argues, is how they communicate, solve problems and handle conflict.”
Above all, she wants interns to see their own potential. Many arrive a little nervous about presenting, so the team builds in meetings where they share their own data. “If you want to be successful, especially in science, communication is everything,” she said. “They’re better than what they think they are.”
Her message to young students, especially girls, is simple: “Sky is the limit. You define what you can do with that.” Girls are often drawn to work with a clear social purpose, and science is full of it. Mina takes that message into middle and high schools, and her own interns prove it. Two girls joined her lab at just 16, and today both are studying at the University of Maryland.
Her Advice: Lead With Passion
For any company thinking about starting an internship program, Mina’s advice begins with the why. “The intern has to benefit,” she says. Her own rule of thumb: “For us, it’s always about the intern.” That means real guidance, not busywork. An internship should give young people a strong foundation they can carry into any career.
It also means making interns feel heard. Mina encourages companies to welcome fresh perspectives and to see young people as contributors from day one. “They think differently than us,” she says. “I welcome their opinion. I enjoy interacting with them.”
Her message to any organization ready to open its doors: “You have to be a believer in internship. You must be equally passionate about the internship.”
About Integrated Pharma
Founded in 2018 by Dr. Mina Izadjoo, Integrated Pharma develops solutions to current gaps in patient care, from medical devices to topical antimicrobial formulations, with a focus on taking technologies all the way to commercialization. The company is ISO certified, GLP compliant and, since 2025, a DEA-registered analytical laboratory authorized to work with all classes of controlled substances. Its structured internship program offers local university students academic credit, including master’s thesis credit, and includes paid positions funded through the Lighthouse internship program. Integrated Pharma is also one of three finalists for Emerging Business of the Year for 2026.
