Seven URI College of Pharmacy students were awarded scholarships Thursday during the college’s 60th annual Heber W. Youngken Jr. Pharmacy Clinic.

The conference at the Radisson Hotel in Warwick brought together practicing pharmacists and pharmacy educators for a continuing education summit hosted by the College of Pharmacy Continuing Professional Development division. The scholarship awards were presented to the students during a lunchtime ceremony.
The following PharmD students received the awards:

Heber E. Youngken Jr. Scholarship Endowment for PharmacyHeather Dorich is a third-year student who is the fundraising chairwoman for the American Pharmacist Association Academy of Student Pharmacists. She is a member of the Rho Chi Academic Honor Society in Pharmacy, Lambda Kappa Sigma Xi chapter, and the Student Society of Health-System Pharmacy. She recently attended the APhA Institute on Alcoholism and Drug Dependencies in Utah, and is engaged in research that focuses on the prevalence of depression in palliative care patients. Dorich works at Rite Aid pharmacy, focusing on medication management therapy.

Arnold M. Sidel Memorial Scholarship in Pharmacy

• Emily Murray serves as the College of Pharmacy class of 2020 student representative and was recently appointed the College of Pharmacy liaison to the URI Student Senate. She has served as an academic mentor for the College of Pharmacy for three years. Murray is a licensed pharmacy intern in both Massachusetts and Rhode Island, and is employed by CVS Health.
• Jack Handshaw is a fifth-year pharmacy student preparing for his upcoming rotations. He is a member of the Kappa Psi pharmaceutical professional fraternity. Handshaw works at CVS Pharmacy, where he focuses on mentoring patients.

Rhode Island Pharmacy Foundation Scholarship

• Kendra Walsh is a class of 2021 PharmD candidate. She has received the Most Valued Committee Member award for Lambda Kappa Sigma fraternity, is the vice president of administration and finance for the Student Alumni Association, and is a member of the American Pharmacists Association, all while maintaining a 4.0 GPA. Walsh works for CVS Pharmacy in Wakefield.
• Michael Nadeau is a 2019 PharmD candidate who has been on the Dean’s List, and has received numerous awards, including the URI Centennial and Thomas Ryan Scholarships. He belongs to Kappa Psi and is also a member of the American Society for Clinical Pathology and the Rhode Island Pharmacists Foundation. Nadeau works at CVS in Coventry, where a typical day results in more than 1,000

  

  prescriptions filled.

• Alyssa Capuano is a 2019 PharmD candidate who completed the CVS Business Leadership Development Program in Washington, D.C. last summer. She is vice president of the URI American Society of Consultant Pharmacists and belongs to the American Pharmacists Association, the Student Society of Health-System Pharmacists and Lambda Kappa Sigma. Capuano has received several awards, including the Thomas Ryan, Davol Company and URI Centennial Scholarships, and the President’s Education Award for Outstanding Academic Excellence. She works as an intern at CVS.

Spaziano Scholarship Award

• Solyris Vega is a 2018 PharmD candidate. Her eyes were opened to pharmacy at the age of 16, when she worked as a volunteer transporter at Miriam Hospital. She was inspired by how mach the pharmacist contributed to the medical care team during rounds. She sees pharmacists as the “last line of defense” before patients get their medicines. “It’s my job to ensure that the patient as well as the physician have peace of mind that the therapy tailored to each patient is appropriate and the patient is aware of not only how to take their medication but also what to expect from their therapies,” Vega wrote in her essay for the award. Other awards she has received include the Leonard Matthew and Jean Marie Endowment, and the Dimaio Scholarship.