UB PharmD students showcase national leadership at APhA Annual Meeting

APhA’s Annual Meeting brings together pharmacists from all practice settings and experience levels, empowering them with new knowledge, the latest clinical updates and research, and practical information they can apply to their work. This year, UB SPPS faculty members and nearly 20 PharmD students attended the meeting.

Over the past year, UB SPPS had the highest level of student representation and national involvement among pharmacy schools in APhA. The UB chapter of the American Pharmacists Association Academy of Student Pharmacists (APhA-ASP) had several members serve on national committees, as national delegates and in national leadership roles.

• Desiree Herman, PharmD ’26, served on the APhA-ASP Membership Engagement Standing Committee
• Nicole Kayrala, PharmD ’26, served on the APhA-ASP Policy Standing Committee
• Ralph Januale, PharmD '27, served on the APhA Policy Reference Committee, as well as the APhA-ASP Membership Engagement Standing Committee 

• Nina Zheng, PharmD ’27, served as the APhA-ASP delegate for the University at Buffalo
• Jackie Ngo, PharmD ’28, served as the APhA delegate for New York State

• Sean Kawa, PharmD ’27, previously elected National President-elect, APhA-ASP (2025-26), began his term as National President, APhA-ASP, serving through 2026-27

One of the standout moments at the meeting was the annual PharmFlix Video Contest, where the UB chapter of APhA‑ASP won the ‘Most Creative’ category.

The contest challenges student pharmacists to showcase their professionalism and creativity by creating short public service announcement videos across a variety of genres, including documentaries, commercials and music videos.

This year’s theme, “Proud to Be Pharmacy,” inspired UB’s winning video, which featured a parody of the Netflix movie “K‑Pop Demon Hunters.” Their video raised awareness about medical misinformation and highlighted the key role student pharmacists play in addressing this important public health challenge.

A poster presentation was another notable highlight of the meeting, showcasing student and faculty collaboration. Edison Lin, PharmD ’27, and Christopher Daly, PharmD, MBA, clinical associate professor of pharmacy practice, authored the poster, which Lin presented. Titled, "Strategies to Address Vaccine Confidence Within Clinically Integrated Urban-Based New York Community Pharmacies: A Cross-sectional Survey," the mixed-methods study examined how urban-based community pharmacists across New York State can build vaccine confidence using trust-based, culturally tailored approaches. Findings showed that collaborative strategies increased patient trust by 63% and vaccine uptake by 54%.