Congratulations to these 2022-2023 graduate student award and scholarship recipients,
who were selected for recognition by the College of Pharmacy Honors and Awards Committee:
- Li Zhang, Outstanding Graduate Student of the Year
- Xiaomo Xiong, Ritedose Corporation Graduate Student Scholarship
- Zach Mack, Ritedose Corporation Graduate Student Scholarship
- Mingming Wang, James Plaxco Jr. Scholarship Award
- Jacob Massey, Charles Yandell Award
- Bernardo Chavez, Daniel Li-Chang Wang Scholarship Award
Zhang, who will graduate this spring, was nominated by Professor Campbell McInnes.
“Li has been exceptionally productive during his graduate studies,” says McInnes. “He is equally skilled in chemistry and biology, a unique skill set that is achieved by very few students in my experience. He has currently published a book chapter review article, and a first author paper in J Med Chem. He has enough results for at least three additional papers that will be published over the next year or two, and he has also contributed to three patents.”
Xiong and Mack, who were both named as Ritedose Corporation Graduate Student Scholarship recipients excelled in their respective fields of study.
Xiong’s mentor, Associate Professor Kevin Lu, nominated Xiong for his academic performance and leadership.
“Xiaomo has published numerous peer-reviewed articles, presented at national and international professional conferences, and has won two national awards,” says Lu. “He serves as president of the UofSC International Society Pharmacoeconomics and Outcome Research (SPOR) student chapter.”
Mack was nominated by Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Studies Doug Pittman, who credits him with rekindling the pharmacy graduate student organization as well as organizing the department’s first graduate retreat since the pandemic.
“He navigated the process to have the organization recognized at the university level and has already held several meetings,” says Pittman. “With this leadership level, I can already see a difference in the energy and enthusiasm of graduate students in our program. Zach also has led research tours for the College of Pharmacy Gamecock Pharmacy Assurance (GPA) students.”
Pittman also nominated Wang for the James Plaxco Jr. Award, describing her as an excellent researcher.
“I always look forward to Mingming’s seminars and presentations because there is always a nugget of information that is creative and demonstrates how brilliant she is.”
In his nomination of Jacob Massey, Pittman noted Massey’s determination to earn a Ph.D. in pharmaceutical sciences.
“Jacob is the most dependable and flexible graduate student in our graduate program. He can do nearly everything from cell culture and molecular biology to moving freezers and teaching new research students,” he says.
Chavez joined the lab of Professor Hippokratis Kiaris as a PREP student, which prepares minority students to become more competitive in academia.
“He is a critical thinker, very innovative, bright and a hard worker," says Kiaris of Chavez. “He can identify questions and develop strategies to address them. He already enjoys high respect among his peers and colleagues.”
Topics: Graduate Programs, Research