AAPS STUDENT CHAPTER CELEBRATES START OF SEMESTER

Written By: Luke Brewer, PSC Graduate Student and Vice President for Membership


The American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS) student chapter at the School of Pharmacy welcomes incoming and returning students to the 2017 fall semester! Our organization provides students with an opportunity to learn and engage with fellow academics, and to interact with leaders who are at the forefront of pharmaceutical sciences. To kick off this semester, we partnered with the Pharmacy Graduate Student Association (PGSA) for a joint AAPS/PGSA Welcome Back Social on Sept. 15 in Health Sciences Facility II.  Students had an opportunity to socialize over food and drinks, and learn about upcoming AAPS events and leadership opportunities.

Opportunities for Involvement

Throughout the year, the AAPS student chapter organizes and sponsors a variety of events, ranging from academic conferences to community outreach. In addition to our recent Welcome Back Social, we participated in the second annual AAPS/Drug Discovery and Development Interface (DDDI) Regional Meeting held at the School of Pharmacy on Aug. 4.

The theme for this year’s meeting was “Evolving Strategies for Drug Candidate Optimization in a Changing Pharmaceutical Landscape.” The event featured informative presentations from leaders in the field of pharmaceutical research spanning government, industry, and academia. Among the distinguished speakers delivering presentations were Mike Hageman, PhD, former executive director at Bristol-Meyers Squibb;  Capt. Edward D. Bashaw, PharmD, director for the Division of Clinical Pharmacology at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA); and Joseph Fortunak, PhD, associate professor at Howard University. You can view a complete list of speakers here.

The meeting attracted attendees from universities and organizations across the region, including AAPS student chapters from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. Attendees were encouraged to participate in “speed-networking,” which randomly matched participants to discuss their research and career goals. These quick one-on-one sessions offered a tremendous opportunity for students to network with established pharmaceutical scientists.

All of the students in attendance were excited to take part in the presentations and the networking events.

“I attended this event for the speakers,” said Brandon Drennen, a graduate student in the PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences (PSC) program at the School of Pharmacy.  “These individuals are all prestigious scientists who have had an indelible impact in the field.”

Elizabeth Robinson, another graduate student in the PhD in PSC program, explained that the event offered “a great opportunity to meet successful scientists and receive constructive and useful advice about achieving my career goals.”

“AAPS and DDDI did a great job bringing together speakers and attendees who have a broad range of research interests,” added PSC graduate student Ivie Conlon.

Learn More About Our Organization

If you are interested in learning more about the AAPS/DDDI Regional Meeting or other AAPS events, be sure to follow us on Facebook or connect with us on LinkedIn (University of Maryland AAPS Student Chapter). We strive to provide all students with informative and constructive events on a regular basis, and we hope to see you at our future AAPS events.

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