As the USF Health Taneja College of Pharmacy celebrates its 10^th anniversary, its latest group of pharmacy students were welcomed into training on Friday, Sept. 16.

The annual White Coat Ceremony—during which faculty present the students with the coats and pins they will wear for the next four years— was held at USF’s Marshall Student Center for the 69 members of the class of 2026.

Kevin Sneed, PharmD, the dean of the Taneja College of Pharmacy and USF Health Senior Associate Vice President, welcomed the students and their families.

“The Taneja College of Pharmacy is not only forging a path to innovative discoveries and products, but with the full intention of transforming lives for the better,” Dr. Sneed said.

Kevin Sneed, PharmD, USF Health senior associate Vice President and Dean of the Taneja College of Pharmacy, gives the opening remarks.

Dr. Sneed later announced that the college was renaming its Entrepreneurial Academy, a two-year-old program that provides pharmacy students with advanced education and training in innovation and business development. It will now be called the ITEHC (Innovation, Technology, and Entrepreneurship in Health Care) Academy.

“Let us not be limited in our courage to be bold, innovative and transformative,” he said.

As part of the ceremony, Dr. Sneed was honored with the college’s first chain of office. The chain will traditionally be worn by the college’s leader during ceremonial events and will be engraved with the names of Dr. Sneed and future deans.

Angela Hill, PharmD, smiled after the Taneja College of Pharmacy class of 2026 students finish their “Oath of Professionalism” during the White Coat Ceremony.

David Medvedeff, PharmD, gave the keynote address during the Taneja College of Pharmacy class of 2026 White Coat Ceremony 

The ceremony also featured a keynote address by David Medvedeff, PharmD, CEO and co-founder of Aspen RxHealth. Dr. Medvedeff emphasized the rewards of difficult careers.

“If the work we’re doing was easy, everyone would do it,” Dr. Medvedeff said. “Being a pharmacist, from my perspective, is hard, but it doesn’t mean it’s not fun or rewarding. It’s just really hard because it matters.”

A procession of Taneja College of Pharmacy students heads to their seats during the class of 2026 White Coat Ceremony.

The Taneja College of Pharmacy’s class of 2026 is almost three-quarters women and ethnically diverse, with 60 percent identifying as Hispanic, African American or Asian. The class is also strong academically—44.5 percent of the students have completed a bachelor’s or master’s degree.

More than 90 percent of the students hail from Florida, but there are also students from Illinois, New York, South Carolina and Puerto Rico.

Dean of the Taneja College of Pharmacy and USF Health Senior Associate Vice Presiden. Kevin Sneed, PharmD,  greets Executive Vice President of USF Health and Dean of USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, Charles Lockwood, MD, during the annual White Coat Ceremony for USF Health’s Taneja College of Pharmacy, held at the Marshall Student Center. The ceremony, during which pharmacy students receive their distinctive white coats, marks the beginning of their four years of training.

Photos, videos and story by: Allison Long/USF Health

The emerging science represented at this year’s USF Health Research Day is astounding.

But only by attending yourself will you see array of science and fully appreciate the strength of research taking place at USF Health.

Here are the details:

• Keynote speaker Howard McLeod at 1 p.m. will be Live Streamed via USF Health Facebook page.

• Nearly 340 presenters are slated to present their work this year at the Marshall Center.

• Second year for presentations from the new College of Pharmacy students.

• Charter school students from The Villages are returning for a second year to showcase their own award-winning posters.

About the 23nd Annual USF Health Research Day:
USF Health Research Day is an annual event that showcases the work of graduate and postgraduate students and residents from throughout USF Health, as well as across campus. Judges make their rounds to each poster presentation, asking the lead researchers to further explain their methods, results and conclusions before deciding on the award-worthy entrants. In addition, a leading national researcher provides the Roy H. Behnke, MD, Distinguished Lectureship.

The day-long event is a prime opportunity for collaboration, since it bridges several colleges, schools and disciplines, and acts as a perfect “practice run” for many of the presenters whose work may garner spots at national research meetings.

Location:
Researchers participating this year will display their work in the second-floor ballroom of the Marshall Center and the annual keynote address will take place in the Marshall Center’s Oval Theatre.

Getting there:
You can ride to the Marshall Center on regularly scheduled USF Bull Runner shuttle buses (free with a USF ID). Shuttle B’s route picks up in front of the College of Public Health and near the loading dock area of USF Health. Shuttle D’s route picks up near the crosswalk on Holly Drive at USF Health.

Keynote Speaker: 17th Annual Roy H. Behnke, MD, Distinguished Lectureship
Presented at 1:00 pm in the Marshall Center’s Oval Theatre.
Howard McLeod, PharmD
Professor of pharmacogenomics and director of the Institute for Pharmacogenomics and Individualized Therapy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Title of talk: “Using the Genome to Guide Therapy”

Dr. Howard McLeod is the principal investigator for the CREATE Pharmacogenetics Research Network, a member of the NIH funded Pharmacogenetics Research Network, and is a member of the FDA Committee on Clinical Pharmacology. He directs the Pharmacogenetics for Every Nation Initiative that aims to help developing countries use genetic information to improve National Drug Formulary decisions.

With more than has published more than 350 peer-reviewed papers on pharmacogenomics, applied therapeutics, or clinical pharmacology, much of Dr. McLeod’s aims to integrate genetics principles into clinical practice to advance individualized medicine.

Dr. McLeod is the Fred Eshelman Distinguished Professor of Pharmacogenomics and Individualized Therapy at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the director of the UNC Institute for Pharmacogenomics and Individualized Therapy. He holds additional appointments in the UNC School of Medicine and the Lineberger Cancer Center.
Need more info?
About USF Health Research Day: www.health.usf.edu/research
About the USF Bull Runner shuttle service: www.usf.edu/parking_services