SNPhA National Chapter of the Year

Second Title in Three Years for UHCOP Chapter; 3 Students Elected or Appointed to National Leadership Posts

For the second time in the past three years, the UH College of Pharmacy chapter of the Student National Pharmaceutical Association (SNPhA) won the coveted national "Chapter of the Year" title at the 44th NPhA/SNPhA National Meeting in Las Vegas, Nev., July 28-31. 

In addition, three UHCOP Pharm.D. students — Gifty Gyebi, Vivian Lieu and Chidi Iroegbu — were elected or appointed to national leadership positions in the organization. Gyebi was elected 2017-18 National Vice President, while Lieu and Iroegbu were appointed 2017-18 Region 4 Facilitator and Bridging the Gap Chair, respectively.

The UHCOP chapter's 2016-17 President Sara Mirjamali was one of five recipients nationwide to receive the Rite Aid Community Leader of the Year Award, which includes a $2,500 scholarship. Also receiving scholarships were Johnny Hoang, who was one of five students nationwide to be awarded a Kroger Endowed Scholarship of $1,000, and Darian Allen, who received the Attorney Sybil Richard Book Award.

Under the leadership of initiative co-chairs Samantha Sangabi and Julia Roh, the chapter also was recognized Power to End Stroke Initiative Award and a $500 cash award from the American Heart Association. The chapter also brought home the National Convention Registration Award for having the highest attendance at the national meeting among all chapters in the Large Chapter Category.

Officially named the SNPhA/Rite Aid Chauncey I. Cooper Chapter Excellence Award, the "Chapter of the Year" award is presented to local organizations in the small, medium and large categories, with one being crowned the overall winner.

Each chapter receives points based on submitted reports of its activities throughout the year and those with the highest point totals are invited to make a presentation to a panel of judges to determine the winners of each category and an overall winner. The UHCOP presentation team comprised Mirjamali, Hoang, Allen, Iroegbu and Rohan Dwivedi. In addition to the recognition for its activities and presentation, the chapter netted a total of $6,500 in monetary prizes for the two awards.

"These achievements are a testament to all the hard work our officers and members put in this past year and the passion they have for the organization and its mission of serving the underserved," Mirjamali said. "We were able to significantly increase membership, our total number of events, and patient lives impacted this year.

"Through the various events and programs our officers set up this year, we were able to impact the lives of over 8,000 patients. This is the biggest impact we’ve had on our community to date. It was a phenomenal feeling to hear our school’s name called many times throughout the award ceremony and to be able to have such a large presence at the conference. SNPhA is truly a family organization and none of this would have been possible without the teamwork of all our members, officers, and incredible advisor, Dr. Louis Williams, throughout the year."