Scholarships for Student Excellence

Pharmaceutical sciences PhD student Mokshada Kumar has been awarded the prestigious J.N. Tata Scholarship, a merit-based award given to select graduate students who perform exceptionally well during their overseas studies. The scholarship is highly competitive and considered one of the most prestigious scholarships in India.

Kumar joined the University at Buffalo pharmaceutical sciences master’s program in January 2019 under the mentorship of Associate Professor Dhaval Shah (PhD ’10), and is currently a PhD student. Her research focus is on yeast surface display projects for antibody engineering. She hopes to one day enter the field of oncology research.

“She is an exemplary student and a hardworking researcher,” Shah says.
 

Michael Danilov, PharmD ’21, and Roksolana Lypska, PharmD ’21, were selected from 60 applicants across the UB health science schools to receive the 2020 ASCEND Trial Healthcare Recruiting Scholarship.

The scholarship, presented by the UB Office of the Vice President for Health Sciences, provides tuition assistance to professional students who are in their final year of pursuing a degree in the health sciences, and who have a desire to contribute in a meaningful way to their community.

Danilov was a 2019 American Society of Consultant Pharmacists (ASCP) Student Scholar Award recipient, and captain of the 2019 first-place team in the Pharmacists Society of the State of New York (PSSNY) Student Business Plan Competition. He was also the 2019-20 president of the National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) UB student chapter.

His future plans include opening a community pharmacy in a socioeconomically disadvantaged neighborhood that provides services beyond traditional pharmacies. “I want to continue clinical research focused on patient education to see which methods can help my patients meet health metrics,” he says.
 

Lypska was the 2019-20 ASCP Student Chapter president, and was first author on the 2019 article “Effect of Pharmacy Referral on Connecting Caregivers with the Alzheimer’s Association in Western New York Region,” published in the ASCP journal, The Senior Care Pharmacist.

Her career goal is to work in community pharmacy, with a focus on geriatric care. She also plans to volunteer in underserved communities to promote education for women. “As a woman who emigrated from Ukraine, I’m so grateful for the opportunities I received to pursue an education,” she says. “It’s incredibly important to me to find ways to help others do the same across the world.”