August 2025

Welcome to the latest Buffalo Pharmacy Bulletin. We examine key issues in health care and how our academicians, practitioners and scientists drive progress, while also sharing updates from UB’s School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences to highlight the outstanding work of our community.

“The best way to ensure we can support and mentor our future pharmacists and research scientists is to make sure we are reviewing and discussing what is currently happening in the dynamic and ever-changing world we live in.”

This week, our school had the distinct pleasure of welcoming its newest cohort of students. For the second straight year, SPPS saw positive year-over-year enrollment growth across our undergraduate, graduate and professional doctoral programs, a reflection of both strong recruitment and retention. Nearly every international candidate who was able to join us this fall has arrived, a development met with a mixture of surprise, relief and profound gratitude given national trends. Considering that overall international enrollment in the U.S. is projected to decrease by 15% this year, with the number of international students arriving on visas in July declining by roughly 30% compared to the same time last year, we indeed are in a fortunate position.

Several factors (other than simple good fortune, of course) contributed to our strong results:

• Continued confidence in the career opportunities afforded by a Doctor of Pharmacy or graduate degree in pharmaceutical sciences.
• The established strength of the UB SPPS brand, both domestically and internationally.
• A sound recruitment and enrollment strategy carried out by a team dedicated to staying connected with candidates across all degree categories.

We cannot, of course, count on these factors alone. Federal policies regarding immigration; student grants-in-aid; investment in scientific research, the arts and humanities; and investment in Medicaid and other forms of health care will continue to create recruitment headwinds across U.S. higher education. Even so, I am confident that our brand, our strategy and our people will allow us to outperform competitor programs regardless of the broader environment around us.

As I emphasized more than once at a recent meeting of our school’s faculty and staff, I remain unabashedly optimistic about the future of our school. Our enrollment success at the start of this academic year is one more reason to feel that optimism is well placed.

Warm regards,
Gary M. Pollack, PhD '84
Dean and Professor

Woodruff named ACCP Fellow, appointed associate dean for professional education

Ashley Woodruff, PharmD, clinical associate professor of pharmacy practice and director of interprofessional education, has been named a Fellow of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP). She has also been appointed associate dean for professional education at SPPS, effective Aug. 1, 2025. In her new role as associate dean for professional education, Woodruff will oversee the PharmD program with a focus on guiding the rollout of the school’s new curriculum.

SPPS joins UB's community outreach at Lighthouse Medical Clinic

Third-year PharmD students recently joined UB's community outreach at the Lighthouse Medical Clinic, which provides free medical care every Friday evening to uninsured and underinsured adults and children in Buffalo. This year-long, professional service-learning opportunity allows our students to collaborate with peers from the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences and the School of Public Health and Health Professions, gaining valuable experience in interprofessional health care while supporting local patients.

SPPS welcomes incoming students and kicks off Fall 2025 Welcome Week

We proudly welcomed our incoming PharmD Class of 2029 and our newest pharmaceutical sciences students during orientation, held at the Pharmacy Building, Aug. 21-22.

To kick off the fall 2025 semester, we hosted a series of Welcome Week events, including multi-day orientation sessions, a school-wide ice cream social and the White Coat Ceremony for first-year PharmD students.

We’re excited to officially welcome all of our new students to the SPPS community!

PharmD students named Top 10 finalists in national NCPA Business Plan Competition

A team of UB PharmD students has been named a top 10 national finalist in the 2025 Good Neighbor Pharmacy National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) Pruitt-Schutte Student Business Plan Competition. Competing against pharmacy schools nationwide, the SPPS team earned a well-deserved spot among the finalists. They received a plaque recognizing their achievement and will be honored at the NCPA National Convention in New Orleans, taking place Oct. 18–21.

Celebrating a decade of inspiring future leaders at Pharmacy Summer Institute

We proudly celebrated a milestone this summer, hosting our tenth annual PSI from July 14-16. This annual program welcomes high school and college students from across the globe to explore engaging topics and discover the wide range of career opportunities within pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences.

SPPS Alumni Reunion Weekend: Sept. 26-27

Join us back on campus next month as we honor our milestone classes ending in 0 or 5, recognize our amazing Gregory Society members and celebrate the Classes of 1975, 2010 and 2015 with unforgettable events!

Whether you graduated from UB decades ago or just framed your diploma, this is your chance to reconnect with classmates, share stories from the field and create new memories together.

Get ready for a weekend full of memories, connections and celebration—you won’t want to miss a moment!

Register by Sept. 18 to reserve your spot!

SPPS alumni are invited to join the Dean's Alumni Ambassadors program and make a lasting impact on the next generation of pharmacists. Mentoring is flexible, rewarding and managed through UB's exclusive Connect-A-Bull platform, allowing you to choose a time commitment that fits your schedule.

Featuring APhA's Pharmacy Based Immunization Delivery — Live Program and our new home study activity, Pharmacist Dispensing of Self-Administered Hormonal Contraceptives Pursuant to the New York State Standing Order, which satisfies the NYS education requirement for pharmacists.

Join UB alumni experts from across the globe as they share professional insights and advice during Webinar Wednesdays. Engage in upcoming webinars along with past sessions.

Show your #UBTrueBlue spirit by sharing UB Pride photos, videos and stories!

Thank you for reading our August 2025 edition of the Buffalo Pharmacy Bulletin. Please stay in touch! Send us updates on your own personal and professional accomplishments by filling out our alumni update form. 

Regards,
Gary Pollack, PhD '84
Dean and Professor