Our School

When Adam Quicquaro ’12 walked the halls of Holy Cross High School, he was already a leader. A National Honor Society member, Junior and Senior Class President, and a dedicated member of Student Government, Cross Country, and Track & Field, Adam’s time on Oronoke Road helped shape his path toward a career in healthcare.

“Student Government taught me so much about leadership—how meetings are structured, how decisions are made. Those skills carried over into college and my professional life,” Adam recalls. However, it was Holy Cross’s science department that truly sparked his passion for the pharmaceutical field. Courses like George Kozlow’s Chemistry, Erik Lanese’s Neuroscience, and Chris Tanner’s Anatomy gave him a fascination for the human body and health.

“I have a lot of nurses in my family, so I always knew I wanted to be in healthcare, but with a less hands-on approach. Pharmacy felt like the perfect fit— a blend of patient care and the art of medicine.”

With encouragement from (then-guidance counselor) Sister Pat Jamele, C.N.D., Adam was accepted into the accelerated six-year Doctor of Pharmacy program at the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences in Boston. While there, he interned at Alexion Pharmaceuticals in New Haven, then the company’s headquarters, where he was introduced to the world of rare diseases and the pharmaceutical/biotech industry. “That internship solidified my path,” he says. He later gained additional experience in Global Medical Affairs at BD Medical before returning to Alexion as a Postdoctoral Fellow in 2018.

In his fellowship, Adam worked in the Global Medical Affairs Department. The program was still new—he was only the third fellow—so, Adam had to carve his own path. That adaptability served him well as he transitioned into Clinical Development, the team responsible for designing and running clinical trials to bring new drugs to market.

By September 2019, Adam was serving as an Associate Director of Clinical Development, managing four to five different Phase II and Phase III trials at a time. In the rare disease space, where timelines are accelerated to help patients with life-threatening conditions, Adam’s work was especially impactful. “That ten-year drug development process can be drastically reduced when patients are seeing real benefit,” he explains.

In May 2025, Adam was promoted to Director of Clinical Development. Today, he works with a global, cross-functional team—scientists in New Haven’s labs, clinical site managers in Europe, and regulatory experts around the world—all united by one mission: to ensure a drug is safe, effective, and ready for approval. “It takes a village,” Adam says. “The average person might not realize how many different experts—from various scientific backgrounds—come together to bring a treatment to patients.”

His advice to Holy Cross students interested in healthcare? “Pursue your passions and keep an open mind. Find what intrigues you, and be willing to explore different paths to get there.”

Adam credits Holy Cross’s science offerings with giving him a head start. “I’d be in college or grad school, and other students would be amazed I already knew certain concepts—things I learned in Mr. Lanese’s Neuroscience class. Holy Cross’s science department is truly unique.”

Today, Adam lives in Boston with his wife, Cassandra, and their two sons, Carmine and Salvatore.