10 minute read
STUDENTS
Four College of Pharmacy students joined student health colleagues from the Academic Health Collaborative in learning about traditional Eastern medicine and educating locals about such conditions as hypertension, stroke and heart disease during a January J-Term trip to Indonesia.
Stephanie Katartzis, Melissa Menditto, Hannah Bedard and Madelyn Hallisey joined 17 other students from the Colleges of Nursing and Health Science on the global health trip. The students partnered with their counterparts at Universitas Islam Indonesia in Yogyakarta to prepare public presentations in the Indonesia language on hypertension and stroke prevention, the leading causes of death in the country. The students met with local villagers, toured the Ministry of Health, and got an extensive lesson on traditional medicines in the ministry’s herbal garden, which contains more than 30,000 herbs and botanicals used in medication. “A lot of Western medicines have their origins in traditional herbs and botanicals, so it’s great for pharmacy students to learn about them. It brings up provocative questions about traditional medicines versus Western medications — there may be fewer side effects, but what is their efficacy,” said Assistant Professor Matthew Bertin, who directed the trip. “It was a powerful, unique experience for the students that will stay with them for a long time.”
The students also toured cultural sites around Indonesia, visiting several temples, snorkeling over coral reefs and visiting with villagers and Indonesian students, with whom they made lasting relationships.
Tomorrow’s Leaders Impacting Today
Four URI Pharmacy students joined others from the Colleges of Nursing and Health Sciences on a J-Term trip to Indonesia.
Eight pharmacy students were awarded academic scholarships during the College’s annual Heber W. Youngken Jr. Pharmacy Clinic in November.
Pharm.D. Student Scholarship Awards
Eight URI College of Pharmacy students were awarded scholarships during the college’s 62nd annual Heber W. Youngken Jr. Pharmacy Clinic.
The conference brought together practicing pharmacists and pharmacy educators for a continuing education summit — “Who’s Calling the Shots? Vaccine Hesitancy and Patient Safety Initiatives” — focused on the importance of vaccinations to individual patients and the larger community.
The URI Pharm.D student winners include:
Kailen Carvalho, 2022 Eleanor Cifrino, 2022 Kaitlin Pothier, 2022 Victoria DaSilva, 2020 Megan Wilks, 2020 Courtney Grant, 2021 Jason Darmanin, 2021 Mazen Taman, 2023
Making a Difference for URI Learning Experience
Learning is not limited to the classroom, but professional growth often requires prohibitively expensive travel.
Thanks to support from the Annual Fund and endowments like the Potter Family Scholarship for Professional Development, life-changing experiences like J-terms and attendance at national pharmacy meetings are available to all students.
—Robert (Bob) W. Potter, Jr. ’83, Head of Global Sales Excellence, Mylan Pharmaceuticals Inc.
Graduate Emily Murray Thinks Big in Research, Pharmacy Service
Living up to the University of Rhode Island’s “Think Big. We Do” motto, Emily Murray, part of the newest class of graduates from the URI College of Pharmacy, has proven she is capable of thinking big herself by leaving a lasting impact on the URI community.
Murray’s achievements during her six-year college career include traveling to Jamaica to work with disabled children, and serving as a Resident Academic Mentor. She also served as a student representative on campus and competed in the Pepto Bowl, a Jeopardy-style pharmacy competition. She was honored this year with the prestigious College of Pharmacy Service Award.
One of Murray’s favorite experiences of her college career was completing her Honors project, for which she contributed Native American medicinal plants to the medicinal garden outside Avedisian Hall.
The next step for Murray is to become a pharmacist at a top-ranked hospital and medical clinic in Massachusetts. She said the education and experience she has received at URI has prepared her well for her career. “I love URI,” Murray said. “I think that they have given me so much in terms of where I am today and how I’ve been able to progress as both a student and an individual.”
To read Murray’s full story, visit cutt.ly/EmilyMurray
Students Host APhA Conference
Students from the URI College of Pharmacy hosted the northeast regional conference of the American Pharmacists Association in Providence last winter, advancing the region’s proposed policy changes to the national organization.
Third-year Pharm.D. student Angela Dansereau, along with a dozen fellow College students, coordinated the regional meeting of more than 200 attendees from 16 colleges of pharmacy from around the northeast. The conference featured networking events, leadership training, and presentations on pharmaceutical issues, including sessions by URI Pharmacy Professor Anita Jacobson and Professor Emeritus Norman Campbell.
The northeast chapter also identified key pharmaceutical issues and proposed policy changes it will advance to the national organization. The chapter aims to encourage legislation that would allow pharmacists to prescribe and dispense birth control and HIV prophylaxis. The chapter also encourages greater LGBTQ inclusion in pharmacy education.
“We voted on the issues in the industry that we feel need change,” Dansereau said. “We will move them to the national committee, which adopts policies it feels pharmacists should be following. This is something pharmacists should be doing. When a large organization like this makes a statement, it can impact policy at the state and federal level.”
While students were stuck sheltering at home during the COVID-19 pandemic, they continued to attend classes virtually and were able to complete requirements toward their degree.
The hard work of graduating seniors throughout the coronavirus crisis, and during more familiar times in the classroom before the outbreak, has not gone unnoticed. The College of Pharmacy has announced the following end-of-year senior awards. Congratulations to all winning students.
Academic Excellence — Rachel Diatonio Research Excellence — Victoria Johnson Mylan Excellence in Pharmacy — Elena Beauregard Rho Chi Award — Katherine Harte Rho Chi Service Award — Colin Dimond Merk Award — Sydney Esser, Hannah Ketch and Janine Short Eli Lilly Award — Taylor DeRocha Facts and Comparison Award — Robert Rocchio Natural Medicines Award — Olivia Huber University Excellence Award — Justin Culshaw and Qiwen Chen Academic Excellence Awards — Kyle Adams,
Bridget Cange, Patrick Lee, Shannon
MacLeon, Matthew Unruh and Victoria Urban Pharmacy Practice Award — Caroline Kruszecki Pharmacy Practice Teaching Award — Hannah Ritchie Pharmacy Practice Research Award — Brian Bishop and Emily Uebbing Pharmacy Practice Self-care Award — Emily Murray and Megan Wilks BPS Achievement Award — Rachel Carley APhA-ASP Award — Anthony DeAngelis PLS Award — Jennifer Weiss SNPhA Award — Noelle Cordova ASCP Award — Amanda Loomis NCPA Award — Joshua Hayden Kappa Psi Award — Patrick Lee LKS Award — Paige Kennedy College of Pharmacy Service Award — Emily Murray ASHP Award – Justin Culshaw
Aiming to ‘bridge the gap’ of health disparities in developing nations
While growing up in Senegal, student N’Deye Dabo saw firsthand the health disparities people face in the African country. The experience solidified her desire to enter the medical field, ultimately choosing pharmacy, with a goal of eventually working in international medicine. “In Senegal, they don’t have the funds to have the best hospitals and equipment. Medicine is in really short supply there,” said Dabo, who moved to the west Africa country at age 2 to live with family members and learn about her native culture. “If you’re really sick and you have few funds, you really need to leave Senegal for care. My grandma had a heart issue and had to go to Paris for treatment. A lot of serious health conditions just cannot be taken care of there.” When Dabo moved back to the United States at age 10, her career goals were taking shape. She focused on pharmaceutical sciences, and applied to the URI College of Pharmacy, where she is completing her P4 year. “My goal has always been medicine. I didn’t know which branch I wanted to go into, but I knew my path has to be something that can help the people I was raised with,” Dabo said. “I really wanted to come back and get a great education, and that’s why I chose URI.” Dabo has made it a point to help others at URI, serving as a Resident Advisor from her first year. She was passionate about advocating for the students in her care, “making sure each and every student is able to have their voices heard and feel the support they need.” For her extraordinary efforts, Dabo received the Rainville Student Leadership Award in 2019. Dabo also helped mentor incoming students, and participated in the College’s Walgreen’s Program, which allows minority students to get a taste of the work done in the labs of Avedisian Hall. She is also a founding member of the pharmacy academic fraternity Alpha Zeta Omega’s Rhode Island branch. Beyond being a leader on campus, Dabo has proven to be a conscientious student. She completed a rotation with CVS Pharmacy and is about to begin one with the state Department of
URI President David Dooley presents pharmacy student N’Deye Dabo with the Rainville Student Leadership Award.
Corrections. The variety fits with her career goals after graduation. “I’ve worked in hospitals, but I also have worked in community pharmacy, thanks to the experience URI has provided me,” Dabo said. “I am looking to do community pharmacy full-time and hospital part-time. They both give me things I really love, but community provides me with the opportunity to really talk to the patient. You have the opportunity to sit down with the patient and really make sure that they are getting the best treatment.” Ultimately, Dabo plans to move into international medicine, and has added French as a double-major. She also speaks Wolof, a local dialect in Senegal, where she hopes to one day bring her skills to help erase the health disparities residents face. “My ultimate goal is international medicine, so finding a way that I can bridge the gap and help bring supplies and medical attention to Senegal,” Dabo said. “Any way we can fund raise and help give them the support and education they need will make a huge difference. I plan to bring what I’ve learned and help bridge the gap of knowledge they really need.”
BS CANDIDATES Abigail Agreda Roger Al Kabout Yaslin Alicea-Hidrovo Sarah Aubin * Jasmine Ayala * Jacqueline Biasetti* Kevin Blewitt * Joshua Breggia Hazel Brown Qiwen Chen Ethan Dasilva Rachel Diantonio Nhi Doan Alexandra Gamarra Cassandra Gaudio Peter Goretoy Madelyn Hallisey Mohamad Jamal Aldine Victoria Johnson Daniel Kelly Amir Khairalla Hyunjoo Lee Daniel Leonard
PHARM.D. CANDIDATES Kyle Adams Ashley Ayotte Moyra Aziz Alexandra Barton Casey Bates Elena Beauregard Angelica Bevinetto Brian Bishop Jennifer Blazy Courtney Cameron Dominic Campione Bridget Cange Quyen Cao Rachel Carley Sabrina Carter Sydney Cassell Yujin Cha Nicole Chen Yu-Ton Chen Giovanna Codispodo Erin Connolly Noelle Cordova Cecilia Costello Justin Culshaw Dylan D’Aguanno Victoria DaSilva Haley Dacyczyn Gabrielle Davis Anthony DeAngelis III Dominic DeFilipi Lauren Della Grotta Taylor Derocha Caroline Dicristo Colin Dimond Lauren Dodd Julia Eisenstein Sydney Esser John Fares Angela Ferlo Elizabeth Gleeson Matthew Griffin Andrew Guu James Haggerty Sarah Hale Katherine Harte Joshua Hayden Olivia Huber Hongseok Jang Yoosoo Jang ** Alexandria Jarvais Frisca Kang Haeyun Kang Peter Keenan Paige Kennedy Hannah Ketch Maria Khasminsky Yeon Kim Anastasiya Kreshchuk Caroline Kruszecki Danielle Kubicsko Samuel Lachapelle Kelynn Laliberte Patrick Lee Matthew Lefebvre Amanda Lefemine Sophy Levine Nicholas Linehan Matthew Listro Connor Longo Justin Leslie Jie Hao Li Yingqi Lin Sheyna Medina * Andreysi Ortiz Estevez Zoe Perkins * Eric Pfeiffer * Christine Plant Erika Poissant Jillian Poulin * Eftim Ristov Olga Skende *
Amanda Loomis Shannon MacLean Steffi Marasigan Lina Masalaitis Steven Matthews * Megan McMahon Gavin McQuate Meagan Medeiros Janelle Mercer Seah Min Samantha Morganelli Meghan Morrissey Emily Murray Mihir Murthi Marissa Norberto Tyler Noury Nicole O’Brien Emerald O’Rourke Andy Ok Anton Orlov Avery Pacheco Kayla Pelletier Rachel Pereira Morgan Perich Olivia Ramey Hannah Ritchie Robert Rocchio Adam Saluccio Julia Schwechheimer Janine Short Steven Sica Daniel Silva Matthew Solarczyk Kyler Solomon Victoria Souza Rachel Smilansky Noah Steinberg Liza Tabshey * Giuseppe Tarantola * Ryan Thomas * Kara Torrey Justin Trickett Chelsea Sorelle Washington * Alex Wharton * Austin White Matthew Wilcox
Kristen St. Jean Tyler Stevens Joshua Tiang Michelle To Leanne Trischitta Jennifer Tudino Adam Turenne Emily Uebbing Matthew Unruh Victoria Urban Jordan Villella Samantha Webb Jennifer Weiss Megan Wilks Bradford Williamson Tayllor Wright Christian Zitelli
M.S.CANDIDATES
Abdullah Alharbi Veronica Basaly Ashley Hanks Craig Hessler Tyler Mantaian Benjamin Skov
Ph.D.CANDIDATES
Benjamin Barlock Nicholas Belviso Emily Marques Marisa Pfohl Hilary Ranson Anitha Saravanakumar
