Class of 2015 Pharm.D. and graduate students garner end-of-year awards

May 28, 2015 by Cynthia McMullen

Shelby Evans delivered the class president’s address at the Hooding and Diploma Ceremony. Later that evening at the Senior Awards Banquet, she was presented the Dean’s Award, which was created in honor of Dean Emeritus John Ruggiero.

SENIOR BANQUET

Members of the VCU School of Pharmacy Pharm.D. class of 2015 were honored during the annual Senior Banquet, which took place May 8 at the Hilton Richmond Hotel & Spa at Short Pump. Awards were presented by Dean Joseph T. DiPiro and Tom Reinders, associate dean for admissions and student services, with the assistance of Ron Ballentine, assistant director of admissions and student services. SOP alumna Tana Kaefer (Pharm.D. ’04), welcomed class members as the school’s newest alumni. Kaefer is vice president of the MCV Alumni Association’s Pharmacy Division.

The following class of 2015 members of academic honor societies were recognized:

Rho Chi: Linda Barstow, Kelsey Billups, Elizabeth Bower, Erich Brechtelsbauer, Nicole Bui, Brian Case, Stacy Chen, Kaitlin Cho, Kathryn Dane, Mary Diehl, Lien Do, Melinda Ellis, Travis Henschel, Jennifer Patterson, Uzma Khan, Megan Kincer, Andrea Irby, Erika Lambert, Samson Lee, Julie Lim, Mi Jung Lim, Lindsay Martin, Tiffany Morris, Juli Jones Moseley, Kristen Nuckles, Sarah Park, Holland Whitt and Cortney Wren
Phi Lambda Sigma: Sarah Barden, Erich Brechtelsbauer, Karen Breitenbach, Brian Case, Melinda Ellis, Shelby Evans, Lauren Flynt, Lauren Grecheck, Brianna Hughes, Nellie Jafari, Erika Lambert, Samson Lee, Mi Jung Lim, Tina Lowe, Markus Miller, Kristen Nuckles, Margaret Robinson and Ryan Templeton
Phi Kappa Phi: Linda Barstow, Brian Case, Kathryn Dane, Samson Lee, Tiffany Morris, Sarah Park and Holland Whitt

Faculty awards went to:

Preceptor of the Year: Rebeccah Collins, pharmacy practice residency director, Bon Secours Memorial Regional Medical Center (she’s also an SOP alum, class of 2000, and a former affiliate faculty member)
Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching: Benjamin Van Tassell, assistant professor, SOP Department of Pharmacotherapy and Outcomes Science.

Student awards were as follows:

Outstanding Patient Care: Thomas Madden
Patient Counseling: Travis Henschel
Excellence in Pharmacy Communications: Lauren Flynt
Research: Kelsey Billups
Academic Excellence: Kathryn Dane and Juli Jones Moseley
Excellence in Pharmacy: Samson Lee • Emswiller Award for Leadership Achievement: Ryan Templeton
Outstanding Leadership: Lauren Grecheck
Community Practice Achievement: Margaret Robinson
Technology Excellence: Jonathan Liou
Distinguished Service: Nellie Jafari
Outstanding Student: Malone McGinn
Phi Lambda Sigma Student Leadership: Lauren Flynt
VASP Senior Recognition: Sarah Barden
Senior Recognition: Lauren Grecheck
Professionalism: Melinda Ellis
Excellence in Advocacy and Health Policy: Sarah Barden
MCV Alumni Association Award: Erich Brechtelsbauer
Excellence in the Promotion of Pharmacy: Rebecca Saunders
Excellence in Public Health: Max Stinehour
Community Engagement Excellence: Erika Lambert
Interprofessional Practice and Collaborative Care Excellence: Cortney Wren
Academic Excellence in Pharmacotherapy: Kathryn Dane
Academic Excellence in Pharmacoeconomics and Health Outcomes: Margaret Robinson
Academic Excellence in Pharmaceutics: Juli Jones Moseley
Academic Excellence in Medicinal Chemistry: Brian Case
Pharmacy Practice: Erika Lambert
Dean’s Award in honor of Dean Emeritus John S. Ruggiero: Shelby Evans

GRADUATE AWARDS LUNCHEON

Bassem Mohammed (left), who won the Charles T. Rector and Thomas W. Rorrer Jr. Dean's Award for Excellence in Graduate Study, will remain at the SOP as a postdoctoral fellow. He is pictured with the dean, Joseph T. DiPiro. — Bassem Mohammed (left), who won the Charles T. Rector and Thomas W. Rorrer Jr. Dean’s Award for Excellence in Graduate Study, will remain at the SOP as a postdoctoral fellow. He is pictured with the dean, Joseph T. DiPiro.

The school’s annual Pharmaceutical Sciences Graduate Awards Luncheon took place May 22 at Omni Richmond Hotel. Douglas Boudinot, dean of the VCU Graduate School and professor of pharmaceutics, spoke discussed “Opportunities.”

Susanna Wu-Pong, director of the Pharmaceutical Sciences Graduate Programs, presented the awards:

J. Doyle Smith Award: Farhana Sakloth (advisor: Richard A. Glennon)
John Wood Award: Xiaolei Pan (advisor: Doug Sweet)
V.A. Yanchick Award: Toni Coe (advisor: Leticia Moczygemba)
Charles T. Rector and Thomas W. Rorrer Jr. Dean’s Award for Excellence in Graduate Study: Bassem Mohammad (advisor: Don Brophy)
Pfizer Consumer Healthcare R&D Leading for Innovation Award: Mengyao Li (advisor: Jurgen Venitz)
Lowenthal Award: Hebing Liu (advisor: Doug Sweet); runner-up: Bethany Falls (advisor: Yan Zhang)
Graduate Training/Travel Fund: Batul Electricwala (advisor: Norm Carroll), Mengyao Li (advisor: Jurgen Venitz), Anisha Patel (advisor: Norm Carroll), John Saathoff (advisor: Shijun Zhang) and Xiangyin Wei (advisor: Peter Byron)
PCEU GSA-AAPS Graduate Student Travel Award: Hebing Liu (advisor: Doug Sweet) and Sneha Dhapare (advisor: Masahiro Sakagami)

The following graduate student members of academic honor societies were recognized:

Alpha Phi Chapter of Alpha Epsilon Lambda: Neha Maharao and Xiaolei Pan
Phi Kappa Phi Scholarships: Mengyao Li, Samantha Marks and Piyusha Pagare
Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society: students Bashayer Althufairi, Sneha Dhapare, Neha Maharao and Mandana Azimi; and alumna Susan Learned (Pharm.D./Ph.D. ’97)

Click here to see more photos from the 2015 Graduate Awards Luncheon.

Categories Alumni news, Faculty news, Graduate students, Preceptors, Student news, Student organizations