Press Releases


ACPHS Celebrates Graduation For Residents And Fellows

Members of the campus community gather to honor resident and fellow grads
June 8, 2023

Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (ACPHS) celebrated the accomplishments of 22 residents from seven program serving medical and health care sites across the Capital Region as well as two graduating fellows from the College’s burgeoning fellowship program.

Out of the 22 residents,19 completed the ACPHS Teaching and Learning Program (TLP) where they were mentored by one of our pharmacy practice faculty on how to teach in the classroom. Dr. Gina Garrison, the TLP Director presided over the ceremony and recognized the following residents and fellows:

Albany Medical Center: PGY1 Pharmacy Residents

  • Cameron Abbey-Mott, PharmD                    
  • Cassandra Lopane, PharmD
  • Preston Mayo PharmD          
  • Victoria Russell, PharmD

Program Director: Erica Maceira, PharmD, BCPS, CACP

Albany Stratton Veterans Affairs Medical Center: PGY1 Pharmacy Residents

  • Katrina Dean, PharmD          
  • Allie McMillen, PharmD
  • Lindsey Parese, PharmD

Program Director: Amy Murdico, PharmD, BCPS

Capital District Physicians’ Health Plan: PGY1 Pharmacy Residents

  • Zachary Alessi, PharmD       
  • Kate Kennelly, PharmD

Program Director: Tara Thomas RPh, MBA, BCPS

St. Peter’s Hospital: PGY1 Pharmacy Residents

  • Amanda Pawlikowski, PharmD        
  • Sanu Pillai PharmD
  • Liliana Tenorio, PharmD

Program Director: Daniella Rodrigues, PharmD, BCPS

University of Vermont Medical Center:  PGY1 Pharmacy Residents

  • Sidra Iqbal PharmD
  • Sidra Khan, PharmD
  • Andrew Rosenblum, PharmD
  • Bhupinderjit Singh, PharmD

Program Director: Jeffrey Endicott, PharmD, BCCCP

Rutland Regional Medical Center: PGY1 Pharmacy Residency

  • Patricia Romano, PharmD

Program Director: Saisha Branchaud, PharmD, BCPS

Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences

PGY2 Capital Cardiology Resident

  • Erin Tersegno, PharmD

Program Director: Kate Cabral, PharmD, BCPS, BCCP, AACC

PGY2 Ambulatory Care Residents

  • Mariam Gawdat, PharmD
  • Kara Olstad, PharmD
  • Gurminder Sanghera, PharmD

Program Director: Katie Cardone, PharmD, BCACP, FNKF, FASN, FCCP

PGY2 Community Care Ambulatory Care Resident

  • Courtney Dudla, PharmD

Program Director: Alexandra Watson, PharmD, BCACP

Why Pursue a Residency?

The American Society of Health-system Pharmacists (ASHP) defines residencies as providing the knowledge and experience needed to face challenges in today's complex health-care environment as well as the essential skills to meet the practice demands of the future. There are two types of pharmacy residencies: a post-graduate year 1 (PGY1) and a post-graduate year 2 (PGY2). Students may choose to do a broader PGY1 residency and then enter the workforce, while others may pursue a PGY2 residency to specialize in an area such as ambulatory care, cardiology, emergency medicine, endocrinology, infectious diseases, and oncology.

ACPHS has a Residency and Fellowship Committee that serves as an essential resource for students interested in pursuing residency. The team educates and prepares students for post-graduate opportunities, offering critical programming such as an annual symposium, CV review sessions, panel discussions and a residency preparation elective for students.




FELLOWS HONORED

Additionally, ACPHS honored two students who concluded a two-year fellowship with corporate partners, BeiGene and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Sabrina Hayden, PharmD and Vincent Wysocki, PharmD participated in the post‐graduate training program, Innovate in Pharmacovigilance Fellowship, designed to train pharmacists in pharmacovigilance, with research and field‐based medication safety learning opportunities. ACPHS Program Director, Patrick Meek, PharmD, MSPH, served as mentor to the fellows.

Vincent Wysocki, PharmD and Sabrina Hayden, PharmD were honored for the completion of a two-year fellowship

A new approach to pharmacovigilance training, it launched in 2021 as a collaboration between pharmacists, safety scientists and data scientists from academia, industry and the FDA. The fellowship distributes training activities over a two‐year period including 12 months at a life sciences company; four months at ACPHS; and eight months at the FDA.

The program, designed to serve as an industry pipeline, focuses on pharmacovigilance, medication safety and data science. Typical activities include safety surveillance and adverse event reporting, monitoring safety and quality of patient care and medication use systems, and analysis of the FDA’s adverse event reporting system (FAERS) data.

Why Pursue a Fellowship?

ACPHS fellowships are a talent pipeline for organizations and individuals because they offer opportunities and mentorship to talented PharmD and PhD graduates transitioning into the biopharmaceutical, life science and biotechnology space. A fellowship provides skills that help individuals gain a competitive advantage to launch a lucrative and fulfilling career. 

ACPHS currently partners with some of the world’s top pharmaceutical and health science organizations such as BeiGene, FDA, Crinetics and Curia Global to prepare the next generation of leaders. Whether you are a company seeking talented professionals or an individual looking for the next step, learn more about ACPHS fellowships. 

About Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences

Founded in 1881, Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (ACPHS) is a private, independent college dedicated to educating the next generation of leaders to improve the health of society. ACPHS offers 17 undergraduate, graduate and doctorate programs including online Master of Biomedical Sciences and Master of Biotechnology programs. Students have myriad opportunities to extend what they are learning in the classroom at The Stack Family Center for Biopharmaceutical Education and Training (CBET), at student-supported pharmacies in underserved communities, and at The Collaboratory, a public health resource designed to alleviate community health disparities in Albany’s South End neighborhood. ACPHS ranks #1 in New York State for best return on investment by Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce and was graded an A+ for value by Niche.