Student group wins 7 national awards

JOHNSON CITY (August, 16, 2018) – East Tennessee State University Bill Gatton College of Pharmacy's chapter of the Student National Pharmaceutical Association (SNPhA) took home seven national awards at the organization’s annual convention earlier this month, including Small Chapter of the Year.

SNPhA is an educational service association of pharmacy students who are concerned about serving the underserved through pharmacy and healthcare related issues, as well as the minority representation in pharmacy and other health-related professions. The purpose of SNPhA is to plan, organize, coordinate and execute programs geared toward the improvement for the health, educational and social environment of the underserved community.

In addition to winning the Small Chapter of the Year award, winners from ETSU were:

Danielle Eskens (Class of 2020), from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, was named Chapter President of the Year. She also was appointed to the National Chair for Chronic Kidney Disease.
Jessica Stringfellow (Class of 2019), from Murphy, North Carolina, received the award for Chronic Kidney Disease Initiative of the Year.
Audrey Ololade Amolegbe (Class of 2019), from Greensboro, North Carolina, received the Operation Immunization Initiative of the Year award.
Sam Ngata (Class of 2020), of Nairobi, Kenya, took home second place overall in poster presentations.
Class of 2020 members Matthew Spence, of Kingsport, and Timothy London Archibald, of Huntington Beach, California, took second place in the Walgreen’s HIV/AIDS Health Outcomes Award. Archibald also was appointed to the position of National Remember the Ribbon chair.
Sarah Ofori (Class of 2019), from Lynchburg, Virginia, earned the Walmart Health and Wellness Endowed Scholarship.

The organization’s House of Delegates also approved a new resolution drafted by Omri Coke (Class of 2020), from Margate, Florida, into the SNPhA bylaws.

“I am so proud of these students’ hard work,” said Dr. Debbie Byrd, pharmacy school dean. “This group competed against over 90 other chapters across the country, from much larger institutions, and demonstrated that Gatton students truly have what it takes not only to compete, but win on the national level.”