UB ASCEND scholarship recognizes two PharmD students for community contributions

Michael Danilov, PharmD ’21, and Roksolana Lypska, PharmD ’21, were selected from 60 applicants across the UB health science schools.

The ASCEND Scholarship, presented by the Office of the Vice President for Health Sciences, provides $9,500 in tuition for the final academic year and is available to graduate, doctoral, and professional students pursuing a degree in the health sciences with a desire to contribute in a meaningful way to their community.

Danilov is a fourth-year student at the University at Buffalo School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. He 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 2019-2020 president of the 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, also a fourth-year PharmD student, was the 2019-2020 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 immigrated 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.”