All Articles: Alumni

Produce at one of the farms visited during AgrAbility training.

Occupational therapy students at the University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy continually demonstrate the critical role that OT can play in the health of rural Minnesotans. 

Dr. Daniel Aistrope

During his time as a pharmacy student, Dr. Daniel Aistrope’s search for a residency that would expose him to as many opportunities as possible brought him to the College of Pharmacy’s Combined PGY1 Residency & Practice Advancement Fellowship. 

A collage of the medicinal chemistry department graduates in the news story

Three of our students received their degrees in the latter half of this year.

Dr. Kyle Coryell

Dr. Kyle Coryell always wanted to be an agent of change. Confident that residency at the College of Pharmacy would prepare her to be an incredible practitioner, she was influenced to pursue the Combined PGY1 Residency & Practice Advancement Fellowship specifically by a desire to share a legacy with faculty she respected who had graduated from the program. 

Dr. Athena Cannon

With ambulatory care at the heart of her reason for attending pharmacy school, Dr. Athena Cannon was drawn toward the strong pillars of ambulatory care and practice management at the University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy’s postgraduate pharmacy residency program.

Dr. Holly Drone and Dr. Kummer, Assistant Medical Director at Hennepin EMS and Co-Lead of the Bridge Team.

PharmD alumna Dr. Holly Drone is tackling the opioid crisis systemically. As a clinical pharmacist in emergency medicine and in Hennepin Emergency Medical Services, she co-leads a team of six paramedics specially trained in caring for patients who have overdosed or live with opioid use disorder.

Julia Wood

When alumna Julia Wood told her supervisor during a clinical rotation that she aspired to work as an OT in the realm of Parkinson’s disease, they told her that role didn’t exist. Wood’s first thought— “then I’ll make one.” That’s the mentality she’s brought to every stage of her career, along with the belief that “the needs of the patient are the only needs that matter.”

Dr. Gloria Chen presenting her dissertation, which used data sponsored by AbbVie, at the American Association for Cancer Research annual meeting in 2024..

Unique to the college, these traineeships offer graduate students an extended period of immersion at an organization to more fully participate in research projects and experience a realistic post-graduate work environment. 

David pictured at an event where he was recognized as a fellow of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists in 1991..

Alumnus Dr. David Gangeness remembers the room he was in when he learned about the PharmD program at the University of Minnesota, a “perfect fit” for his pursuit of “knowledge, science and patient care.”

GRC / APS / IPS

Department members attended both the Bioorganic Chemistry Gordon Research Conference and the joint American / International Peptide Symposiums.