School of Pharmacy

The John Wood Award was established in 1990 in an honor of the former Chairman of the Department of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutics, Dr. John Wood, for recognition of excellence in graduate study of Pharmaceutics.

The award is annually given to the Ph.D. student in the Department of Pharmaceutics who has achieved the greatest distinction in the area of scholarship, teaching, leadership and service. This award is recognized as the highest department award in scholarship, and the awardee may receive the departmental nomination for the Dean’s Award competition.

In the Spring semester each year, students are invited to apply for this award upon nomination by the faculty. Guidance for nominated students is provided at the time of the invitation. Applications are evaluated by the Pharmaceutics Awards Committee, with respect to scholarship (GPA, publications, presentations and abstracts), teaching, leadership, service and awards, with an emphasis on scholarship. The awardee is recognized at the VCU School of Pharmacy Graduate Awards Banquet in May.

Recipients:

2022 - 2023 Renjie Zhan

2021 - 2022 Shurong Zhou
2020 - 2021  Tuo (Emma) Meng
2019 - 2020  Zenera Hassan
2018 - 2019 Susan Boc
2017 - 2018 Neha Maharao
2016 - 2017  Mandana Azimi
2015 -2016  Xiaolei Pan

The Pharmaceutics Leading for Innovation Award is given annually to the graduate student in the Department of Pharmaceutics who has best demonstrated distinguished leadership among peers and the community while benefiting the healthcare needs of consumers and patients through innovative solutions in science and technology. This award is recognized as the highest department award in leadership and service alongside teaching, and the awardee may receive the departmental nomination for the Dean’s Award competition.

In the Spring semester each year, students are invited to apply for this award upon nomination by the faculty. Guidance for nominated students is provided at the time of the invitation. Applications are evaluated by the Pharmaceutics Awards Committee, with respect to leadership, service, teaching, scholarship (GPA, publications, presentations and abstracts), and awards, with an emphasis on leadership, service and teaching. The awardee is recognized at the VCU School of Pharmacy Graduate Awards Banquet in May.

Recipients:

2022 - 2023 Nimishraj Panse
2021 - 2022 Yuan Xiao
2020 - 2021 Sarah Aboelela and Serena Bonasera
2019 - 2020 Christopher Jay
2018 - 2019 Zaneera Hassan
2017 - 2018 Mandana Azimi
2016 - 2017 Tien Truong
2015 - 2016 Mengyao Li

The Thakker Award was established in 1999 by a Pharmaceutics graduate alumnus, Dr. Kamlesh Thakker, in memory of his late parents, for recognition of a Ph.D. student in the Department of Pharmaceutics to assist his/her educational needs.

The award is given annually to the full-time Ph.D. student who maintains the highest GPA in the courses taken in the first year. In each year, the awardee is identified by the Pharmaceutics Awards Committee through VCU transcripts and recognized at the VCU School of Pharmacy Graduate Awards Banquet or the School of Pharmacy Research and Career Day.

Recipients:

2022 - 2023 Sagun Poudel and Raneem Aldaqqa

2021 - 2022 Nimishraj Panse
2020 - 2021 Renjie Zhan
2019 - 2020 Tuo Meng
2018 - 2019 Vinit Gholap and Sarah Aboelela 
2017- 2018 Xiomeng Xu
2016 - 2017 Christopher Jay
2015 - 2016  Susan Boc

The Schwartz Award was established in 2009 upon endowment of the Joseph P. Schwartz Graduate Student Travel Fund. The award supports travel for full-time Ph.D. and M.S. students in the Department of Pharmaceutics for presentation of their research at professional or scientific meetings in the areas of basic pharmaceutics or pharmaceutical technology.

The award is given annually to two the full-time Ph.D. or M.S. students who present research posters at the School of Pharmacy Research and Career Day and receive the highest scores by the judges among the Pharmaceutics graduate students in their 2nd (G2) and 3rd (G3) year. The awardee is recognized at the School of Pharmacy Research and Career Day.

The award must be used exclusively for student travel to present research in the subsequent year. The awardee must acknowledge the receipt of this travel award, "The Joseph B Schwartz Graduate Student Pharmaceutics Travel Fund at the Medical College of Virginia Foundation", in presentations and publications, where appropriate.

Recipients:

2022 - 2023 Sagun Poudel and Matthew Fernandez
2021 - 2022 Renjie Zhan and Hadi Sudarjat
2019 - 2020 Sulaiman Alhudaithi and Tuo Meng
2018 - 2019 Vinit Gholap and Serena Bonasera
2017 - 2018 Raymond Lai and Susan Boc
2016 - 2017 Susan Boc
2015 - 2016 Bishoy Hanna and Sneha Dhapare