Pharm.D. and graduate students earn a plethora of year-end awards
SENIOR AWARDS BANQUET
Members of the VCU School of Pharmacy Pharm.D. class of 2017 were honored during the annual Senior Awards Banquet, which took place May 12 at the Hilton Richmond Hotel & Spa at Short Pump.
Awards were presented by Dean Joseph T. DiPiro and K.C. Ogbonna, associate dean for admissions and student services, with the assistance of Ron Ballentine, assistant director of admissions and student services. SOP alumnus Ken Kolb (Pharm.D. ’82), welcomed class members as the school’s newest alumni.
Class of 2017 members of academic honor societies Rho Chi and Phi Lambda Sigma were recognized as well as class and student body leaders.
Preceptor, faculty and staff awards went to:
- Preceptor of the Year: Neil Davis, Sentara Virginia Beach General Hospital
- Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching: Krista Donohoe, assistant professor, SOP Department of Pharmacotherapy and Outcomes Science. (She is also an SOP alumna, Pharm.D. ’10.)
- Outstanding Employee Recognition Award: Gioia Casso, contract and grant administrator, SOP Office of Research and Graduate Studies
Student awards were as follows:
- Patient Care: Apryl Anderson
- Patient Counseling: Dhania Molina
- Pharmacy Communications: Michelle Edwards
- Research Excellence: Omar Hassan
- Academic Excellence: Kassim Rahawi
- Excellence in Pharmacy: Katie Taylor
- Emswiller Award for Leadership Achievement: Heather Savage
- Outstanding Leadership: Phil Jan
- Community Practice Achievement: Samantha Pande
- Technology Excellence: Sung Lee
- Distinguished Service: Dien Tu
- Outstanding Student: Jeff McKenzie
- MCV Alumni Association Award: Phil Jan
- Academic Excellence in Medicinal Chemistry: Kayla Miller
- Academic Excellence in Pharmacotherapy: Chloe Ko
- Academic Excellence in Pharmacoeconomics and Health Outcomes: Julie Patterson
- Academic Excellence in Pharmaceutics: Kassim Rahawi
- Excellence in the Promotion of Pharmacy: Erin Hickey
- Community Engagement Excellence: Alvin Maraya
- Excellence in Public Health: Arzo Hamidi
- Interprofessional Practice and Collaborative Care Excellence: Ashley Simpson
- Excellence in Advocacy and Health Policy: Kalyann Kauv
- Professionalism: Kathryn Mundi
- Excellence in Public Health Pharmacy Practice: Kalyann Kauv
- Dean’s Award: Skylar White
GRADUATE AWARDS LUNCHEON
The school’s annual Pharmaceutical Sciences Graduate Awards Luncheon took place May 25 at Omni Richmond Hotel. SOP alumna Kellie Schoolar Reynolds (Pharm.D. ’92) addressed “Decision Points on Your Career Path.” She is deputy director of the Division of Clinical Pharmacology IV in the Office of Clinical Pharmacology, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, FDA.
Aron Lichtman, associate dean for research and graduate students, presented the awards:
- Doyle Smith Award: Daniel Afosah
- John Wood Award: Neha Maharao
- V.A. Yanchick Award: Julie Patterson
- Charles T. Rector and Thomas W. Rorrer Jr. Dean’s Award for Excellence in Graduate Study: Daniel Afosah and Julie Patterson
- Pfizer Consumer Healthcare R&D Leading for Innovation Award: Mandana Azimi
- Blake Putney Award: Daniel Afosah, Hrishikesh Kale and Crystal Leibrand
- Lowenthal Award: Liwei (David) Wang
- PCEU GSA-AAPS Graduate Student Travel Award: Crystal Leibrand and Zaneera Hassan
- Peter Byron Travel Award: Deblina Biswas, Emmanuel Cudjoe, Hebing Liu, Nicole Luzi, Neha Maharao, Piyusha Pagare and Yoshita Paliwal
- Rector and Rorrer Travel Award: Bethany Falls, Zaneera Hassan and Crystal Leibrand