June 2024

Welcome to the next edition of the Buffalo Pharmacy Bulletin (BPB) where we will continue to explore and discuss issues in health care and how we as academicians, practitioners and scientists can lead and support these issues. The BPB will also keep you updated on the latest school news, highlighting the outstanding work of our UB SPPS 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.”

The circulation of this month’s Buffalo Pharmacy Bulletin officially brings the 2023-24 academic year to a close. Despite some of the challenges and uncertainties in the world around us, I cannot recall a more successful year for school-based activities than this one. 

Over the past ten months this Bulletin has chronicled the exceptional progress of our faculty, staff, and students across the full range of our mission: to improve healthcare quality and outcomes through educating the next generation of pharmacists and pharmaceutical scientists in an environment fostering intellectual curiosity, through pursuing impactful basic and applied research, and through developing and evaluating models of clinical practice. 

To summarize ten of the high points of this year, our school and its members achieved the following (in no particular priority order, of course):

The Big 10: 2023-24 Highlights 

• Began rolling out the updated version of our Doctor of Pharmacy curriculum.
• Established a Learning and Engagement Community structure to support student success and well-being.
• For the first time, our P4 students achieved 100% success in attaining residency placement.
• Launched new on-line master’s degree programs along with micro-credential options.
• Continued significant enrollment increases in the Pharmaceutical Sciences PhD program.
• Increased extramural research funding by 26% over the previous year and exceeded $20M for the first time.
• Successfully recruited several amazing faculty colleagues in truly a coast-to-coast manner, launching the UB Drug Discovery, Development, and Evaluation (DDDE) Hub.
• Added extraordinarily talented staff colleagues to facilitate the work of our faculty and the success of our students.
• Enhanced our research infrastructure and expanded our UB footprint. 
• Exceeded our target in concluding the Boldly Buffalo campaign, allowing the school and the university to continue their upward rise in national prominence.

It is abundantly clear that the hard, good, and smart work of our students, staff, and faculty is paying off. It is rewarding and energizing to see the progress being made, and I am grateful each and every day to have the opportunity to serve this wonderful school.

Best wishes for the summer months!

UB's MOU with University of the West Indies will contribute to UN Sustainable Development Goals
UB President Satish K. Tripathi signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with leaders of the University of the West Indies (UWI), on May 20 to help achieve the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. The MOU, which connects UB with the five campuses in the Caribbean university system headquartered in Kingston, Jamaica, will foster collaborations between faculty and students, encourage more research and study abroad opportunities, and create a new shared graduate program.

This MOU further supports previous partnerships between UWI and the State University of New York (SUNY). Gene Morse, PharmD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of pharmacy practice has been a leader in this partnership development. Morse was also instrumental in the creation of the SUNY-UWI Center for Leadership and Sustainable Development (CLSD) to attract future global leaders and catalyze transformative research collaborations across SUNY and UWI campuses relevant to democratic participation, leadership and governance.

Robinson receives SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Professional Service
Sara Robinson, PhD, director, undergraduate advisement and recruitment at SPPS, received a SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Professional Service. This prestigious award recognizes consistently superior professional staff members who strive for excellence and repeatedly seek to improve themselves, their campuses and, the State University of New York (SUNY).

Robinson has positively impacted the lives and advisement path of 400 pre-pharmacy and pre-pharmaceutical sciences students. She has also facilitated many combined-degree agreements, created faculty-student mentor programs and led the organization of numerous open house events. 

Join fellow pharmacy and UB alumni at the nation's second largest free performance of Shakespeare in the Park. Enjoy games, prizes and UB swag!  

We are excited to welcome SPPS reunion classes ending with 4 or 9 back to campus October 17-19 to celebrate reunions and our SPPS alumni award winners. Special recognition will be given to those from the Classes of 1959, 1974, 1999 and 2014 celebrating a 65th, 50th, 25th or 10th reunion. 

Featuring our new UB Compounding Pharmacy Continuing Education Activity, which meets the new three hour NYS pharmacy CE requirement.

View our upcoming SPPS events!

View upcoming events on the UB Events Calendar!

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 June 2024 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