Combined degree student Tien Truong named Express Scripts Scholar
VCU School of Pharmacy Pharm.D./Ph.D. student Tien Truong has been named an Express Scripts Scholar by the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy. She is one of four dual-degree pharmacy students nationwide to receive a $10,000 scholarship furnished by the Express Scripts Foundation.
Truong has been in the School of Pharmacy’s Pharm.D./Ph.D. degree program since 2009. She is entering her second year as a full-time Ph.D. student with the Department of Pharmaceutics, working with advisor Masahiro Sakagami. Her research focus is novel drug development for inhaled delivery.
The Express Scripts Foundation notes that it appreciates the financial challenges faced by dual-degree students and supports the efforts of academic pharmacy to educate students with diverse interests. Applicants were evaluated based on career statements and goals, evidence of professional involvement and resumes.
According to AACP, more than 100 applications were submitted and reviewed extensively to determine the recipients. Katie Owings, AACP manager of student affairs, wrote, “There were so many qualified and deserving applicants, it was very difficult to select only four recipients. However, your applications stood out above the rest.”
The scholarships are administered over four consecutive semesters. In addition to VCU’s Truong, recipients included a Pharm.D./M.B.A. candidate at the Roseman University of Health Sciences as well as two students — one Pharm.D./Ph.D. and one Pharm.D./M.S. — at Campbell University.
Truong received a VCU School of Pharmacy Summer Research Fellowship in 2010. That fall, the poster she submitted for the school’s Research and Career Day received an honorable mention. She is a past winner of the A.D. Williams Scholarship and served as Student Executive Council vice president in 2011-12. She also was a writer for the School of Pharmacy’s student newsletter, The Capsule.
Categories Graduate students, Student news