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Earlier this year, the ������Ƶ School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences graduated its fourth cohort of students. With nearly 300 pharmacy alumni and counting, staying connected with them after they graduate is a big priority for the school.

With that in mind, SOPPS recently created a new group they’re hoping can help them with this goal.

The Pharmacy Alumni Leaders, or PALs, group was recently created by the school’s Dean and SUNY Distinguished Professor Kanneboyina Nagaraju. Its goals are to strengthen alumni relations after the students graduate so they feel engaged with the school.

“I am excited to see the formation of the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences’ inaugural Pharmacy Alumni Leaders group,” Nagaraju said. “I want PALs to actively participate in school activities and serve as ambassadors to make our young school a national leader in training the best pharmacists and pharmaceutical scientists.”

Lamiyah Kamal, PharmD ’21, is the first president of PALs, laying the groundwork for this new organization alongside her fellow members and working together toward their goals.

“As we reflect the school, and the school reflects us,” Kamal said. “We aim to represent the school in various avenues of pharmacy, as we all know that pharmacy is a small world, and give back to the school in the form of guidance for future generations of pharmacists.”

Staying engaged with alumni can be a tough task after the students leave campus. Amanda Padwa, the school’s administrative coordinator of student affairs, shared several of the ideas and plans they have to help PALs accomplish this task.

“We want to offer them networking and recreational events with current students, as well as other alumni,” Padwa said. “Our plans are also to maintain a database of employment and research opportunities for them. Alumni also will be taking part in our events: the White Coat Ceremony, Commencement, our Awards Ceremony and similar activities. We think there is so much our alumni can offer us and vice versa that it just made sense for us to form an official group of representatives to lead those efforts.”

Director of Student Affairs James “JJ” Brice gave some more insight into the long-term goals of the group.

“As the years progress and our alumni population grows, the PALs will maintain their own group membership by inviting additional members,” Brice said. “Currently, membership is almost 30 individuals, and their purpose is to give back to SOPPS through their time, talents, and testimonies. The group is still new, but we hope to have PALs represented as mentors at more student events, assisting with admissions efforts and engaging with SOPPS to provide critical feedback and support necessary to always improve our school.”

Kamal believes the School of Pharmacy and its alumni will benefit from PALs.

“It’s great to have a set group of alumni to reach out to for things such as mentorship for students, as well as having representation from the school in different avenues of pharmacy,” she said. “With the help of alumni, SOPPS will continue to be a strong school that’s continuously improving and reinventing pharmacy education, as is our mission.”