About AAPS @SJU
American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists or AAPS is a professional, scientific organization of approximately 7,000 individual members and over 10,000 actively participating stakeholders employed in academia, industry, government, and other pharmaceutical science related research institutes worldwide. AAPS believes in advancing the capacity of pharmaceutical scientists to develop products and therapies that improve global health.
AAPS Student chapter, since its founding in 2006, has grown exponentially with a greater number of annual events which are focused on student development, social outreach and career advancements. We now have students from all disciplines, i.e. industrial pharmacy, medicinal chemistry, pharmacology and toxicology along with pharmaceutical administration who are a part of the AAPS student chapter. This diversity makes our student chapter stand out from the rest.
Over the years, student chapter committee members have been very proactive which has led to us being one of the best student chapters for the previous academic year. This success can be attributed to the constant support from the college of pharmacy and health sciences with the dean’s office and the chair’s office actively involved in co-organizing multifaceted events for the students, helping in their overall development.
AAPS student chapter focuses on overall development of students with the main focus being getting the students involved in multifaceted events which include but are not limited to scientific seminars, to keep the students up-to-date with current trends in research and technology, annual symposiums, where students get to present their work and interact with distinguished personnel from the industry and academia, social awareness drives which is our contribution towards the community, industrial visits for the students to get up close with the industrial setting which helps them prepare better for their graduation etc. Recent speakers include Dr. Samir Mitragotri, Dr. Ajaz Hussain etc who came and shared their knowledge and expertise with students. Another event that is co-organized by the student chapter is the 5-minute thesis competition, which is an adaptation of the popular 3-MT. 10 students were selected to present their thesis work in 5 minutes time and eminent scientists from the industry and academia were invited as judges. It was a fruitful experience for everyone present.
Winning the best student chapter award is an exceptional achievement for the team as it not only motivates the students to participate and engage more but also in turn aides their overall development as pharmaceutical scientists.
AAPS Student chapter, since its founding in 2006, has grown exponentially with a greater number of annual events which are focused on student development, social outreach and career advancements. We now have students from all disciplines, i.e. industrial pharmacy, medicinal chemistry, pharmacology and toxicology along with pharmaceutical administration who are a part of the AAPS student chapter. This diversity makes our student chapter stand out from the rest.
Over the years, student chapter committee members have been very proactive which has led to us being one of the best student chapters for the previous academic year. This success can be attributed to the constant support from the college of pharmacy and health sciences with the dean’s office and the chair’s office actively involved in co-organizing multifaceted events for the students, helping in their overall development.
AAPS student chapter focuses on overall development of students with the main focus being getting the students involved in multifaceted events which include but are not limited to scientific seminars, to keep the students up-to-date with current trends in research and technology, annual symposiums, where students get to present their work and interact with distinguished personnel from the industry and academia, social awareness drives which is our contribution towards the community, industrial visits for the students to get up close with the industrial setting which helps them prepare better for their graduation etc. Recent speakers include Dr. Samir Mitragotri, Dr. Ajaz Hussain etc who came and shared their knowledge and expertise with students. Another event that is co-organized by the student chapter is the 5-minute thesis competition, which is an adaptation of the popular 3-MT. 10 students were selected to present their thesis work in 5 minutes time and eminent scientists from the industry and academia were invited as judges. It was a fruitful experience for everyone present.
Winning the best student chapter award is an exceptional achievement for the team as it not only motivates the students to participate and engage more but also in turn aides their overall development as pharmaceutical scientists.
Dr. Vivek Gupta is the faculty advisor for the AAPS student chapter at SJU since 2016, continually indulged in the events and activities listed below:
University Service Day
On 21st September 2019, SJU AAPS student chapter sent out their team to join other teams from the university for a clean-up drive in queens as a part of the university service day. It was an amazing initiative by the university, and we showed our support as a major student organization representing the graduate community. The team comprised of graduate students as well as faculty members who all cleaned up debris clean up along Joe Michael's Mile, a greenway along Little Neck Bay. The clean-up drive lasted for 3 hours where all students managed to significantly beautify the greenway and serve the community. As a student chapter from the pharmaceutical sciences background, we strongly believe in community service and giving back to the community, as our entire profession is based on betterment of community healthcare. University service day was just another opportunity for us to give back to the community we are a part of and contribute in some way towards the betterment of the environment.
On 21st September 2019, SJU AAPS student chapter sent out their team to join other teams from the university for a clean-up drive in queens as a part of the university service day. It was an amazing initiative by the university, and we showed our support as a major student organization representing the graduate community. The team comprised of graduate students as well as faculty members who all cleaned up debris clean up along Joe Michael's Mile, a greenway along Little Neck Bay. The clean-up drive lasted for 3 hours where all students managed to significantly beautify the greenway and serve the community. As a student chapter from the pharmaceutical sciences background, we strongly believe in community service and giving back to the community, as our entire profession is based on betterment of community healthcare. University service day was just another opportunity for us to give back to the community we are a part of and contribute in some way towards the betterment of the environment.
Stress Buster- Hawaiian theme party
Aloha everyone! All students from the graduate community were deep into the semester and were about to start their preparation for their finals. Along with that, multiple students were about to defend their thesis and graduate. So, the overall mood among the CPHS graduate community was stressful. To relieve this stress and anxiety, AAPS student chapter at SJU organized a Stress-buster event with Hawaiian themed party on 22nd Nov 2019. It was a night filled with great food, games and dance along with the celebrations for winning the best student chapter award for the previous academic year. It was a night to remember as this was a first of its kind party in the PHS department. “The food was brilliant and so was the organization of games and dance. We thoroughly enjoyed the night and it helped us focus better on our finals” said a graduate student. I encourage the graduate community to actively participate in all the events organized by the student chapter and the chapter thanks them for their support.
Aloha everyone! All students from the graduate community were deep into the semester and were about to start their preparation for their finals. Along with that, multiple students were about to defend their thesis and graduate. So, the overall mood among the CPHS graduate community was stressful. To relieve this stress and anxiety, AAPS student chapter at SJU organized a Stress-buster event with Hawaiian themed party on 22nd Nov 2019. It was a night filled with great food, games and dance along with the celebrations for winning the best student chapter award for the previous academic year. It was a night to remember as this was a first of its kind party in the PHS department. “The food was brilliant and so was the organization of games and dance. We thoroughly enjoyed the night and it helped us focus better on our finals” said a graduate student. I encourage the graduate community to actively participate in all the events organized by the student chapter and the chapter thanks them for their support.
Dean’s hour event: “Career Paths for Graduate Students”
We thank these young panelists for sharing their knowledge and experience with us and paving a way for networking opportunities: James Ormes,MS (Merck); Nitin Swarnakar, PhD (BASF); Prathap Shastri, PhD (Janssen Pharmaceutical); Mohammed Sabir Aqueel, PhD(FDA); Sharad Sharma, PhD (Boehringer Ingelheim); Ajay Saxena, PhD (Bristol Meyers Squibb).
We thank these young panelists for sharing their knowledge and experience with us and paving a way for networking opportunities: James Ormes,MS (Merck); Nitin Swarnakar, PhD (BASF); Prathap Shastri, PhD (Janssen Pharmaceutical); Mohammed Sabir Aqueel, PhD(FDA); Sharad Sharma, PhD (Boehringer Ingelheim); Ajay Saxena, PhD (Bristol Meyers Squibb).
SJU AAPS Diwali party!
Diwali is an Indian festival also called “the festival of lights”. It is a holiday celebrated around the world. It’s a harvest festival, but also is an important religious celebration for Hindus, Jains, and Sikhs. Even people who don’t belong to those three religions celebrate Diwali in India and other places in south Asia – it’s like thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve combined. A night fun-filled with music, games, and activities. It was a stress buster for the students. There were performances from students including singing and dancing.
Diwali is an Indian festival also called “the festival of lights”. It is a holiday celebrated around the world. It’s a harvest festival, but also is an important religious celebration for Hindus, Jains, and Sikhs. Even people who don’t belong to those three religions celebrate Diwali in India and other places in south Asia – it’s like thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve combined. A night fun-filled with music, games, and activities. It was a stress buster for the students. There were performances from students including singing and dancing.
Awards & Recognition
- Best AAPS Student Chapter in USA for 2018-2019.
- Best Abstracts at AAPS PharmSci360 2019: Vineela Parvathaneni and Richa Vartak
- Travelship awards: Hemanth Mamidi (2019), Prachi Jirwankar (2018), Siddhant Palekar (2017)
- IPEC Excipient graduate student award sponsored by International Pharmaceutical Excipient Council (IPEC) of the Americas Foundation: Dr. Pavan kumar Nukala
- NJPhAST Best Poster Award: Vineela Parvathaneni (2017) and Pavan kumar Nukala (2019)