Category: Profile

Eliza Asherian, PharmD student

Eliza Asherian just graduated from USC as an undergraduate in May, but she’s already well on her way to having a successful pharmacy career. Asherian participated in USC School of Pharmacy’s Trojan Admission Pre-Pharmacy (TAP) program, which provides talented  undergraduates with priority admission to the School’s four-year Doctor of Pharmacy program. As a transfer student […]

Jordanna Jayne, PhD student

Jordanna Jayne has always liked reaching for new heights – both academically and physically. Her passion has led her to pursue a PhD in USC Mann’s Clinical and Experimental Therapeutics program, and is taking her on an epic mountain climb later this year. Jayne’s academic pursuits were spurred by her interest in translational research. “I […]

Jordan Despanie, PhD student

Jordan Despanie hopes to one day found a biotech start-up to bring lifesaving therapeutics to the public – and with years of laboratory experience and a new grant under his belt, he’s certainly on the right track to do just that. “I’ve always been interested in virology, especially gene therapy – using a virus to […]

Zhen Meng, PhD student

Working in the lab of her mentor, Professor Sarah Hamm-Alvarez, PhD candidate Zhen Meng studies the mechanisms that cause Sjögren’s Syndrome-associated dry eye problems. The surface of the eye, known as the tear film, is structurally complex, and multiple factors are involved in keeping it clean and wet in order to provide clear vision as […]

Martha Pastuszka

After graduating from USC Mann in 2014 with a PhD in molecular pharmacology and toxicology, Martha Pastuszka began a fellowship in pharmaceutical development at Irvine-based Allergan as part of the School’s Fellowship Program that partners with industry to train clinical scientists. At Allergan, Pastuszka is working on the development of biodegradable polymer implants for intravitreal […]

Vivian Lee, PharmD ’98

Vivian Lee relocated to Hong Kong to become a professor after graduating from USC Mann, but that didn’t mean she was leaving her Trojan ties behind. Lee has been named the recipient of the 2014 Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) University Education Award, one of the highest accolades for teaching excellence at the school. […]

Zoe Folchman-Wagner, PhD student

“Becoming a teaching assistant was an aspect of graduate school that I most looked forward to when I started the PhD program in Pharmaceutical Sciences,” says Zoë Folchman-Wagner, who is now in her second year as a doctoral student. Folchman-Wagner spent her last year working as a TA for Dr. Ian Haworth in some of […]

Alick Tan, PhD student

While pursuing a doctorate degree at the school, Alick Tan discovered a surprising passion outside of what he was working on in the lab: teaching. “As a graduate student, I assisted with teaching courses in the Doctor of Pharmacy program as part of my degree requirement,” says Tan, who is currently a 3rd year student […]

Ruth Madievsky, Future Pharmacist/Poet

Growing up the daughter of a physician and a pharmacist, Ruth Madievsky always saw herself going into a health care profession. “In my household, helping people was part of my family life,” said Madievsky, a native of Moldova who moved to the United States when she was 2 years old. “My parents were very big […]

Victoria Cho, PharmD Student

Victoria Cho is once again taking her passion for public health and education abroad. The fourth-year PharmD candidate is the first ever USC School of Pharmacy student to earn a prestigious International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) Internship, and is spending her summer in The Hague, Netherlands. She is one of only two interns invited to work […]

Reyna Raya

When Reyna Raya was 11 she decided she wanted to be a pharmacist. On May 15, 2015, the 51-year-old mother and cancer survivor achieved her goal, donning her cap and gown and walking proudly across the stage at USC Mann commencement ceremony, marking the culmination of a decades-long academic and personal journey. Born in Mexico, […]

Julie Dopheide, PharmD

Students who work in clinical psychiatric pharmacy today have a totally different experience than Julie Dopheide did when she began working at LAC+USC Medical Center back in the late 1980’s. “Technology, such as smart phones and electronic health records, has made it easier for students to find information but in psychiatry, students quickly learn that […]

Kevin Forrester, PharmD

Kevin Forrester’s childhood in Jamaica gave him a pretty open mind about the possibilities of pharmacy. While his mother worked as a pharmacist at a major university hospital, his father – also a pharmacist – ran a small rural clinic where health care was scarce and he often had to compound a variety of drug […]