{"id":213380,"date":"2024-04-29T11:16:14","date_gmt":"2024-04-29T15:16:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=213380"},"modified":"2025-09-09T15:10:06","modified_gmt":"2025-09-09T19:10:06","slug":"school-of-pharmacy-2024-commencement-speakers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2024\/04\/school-of-pharmacy-2024-commencement-speakers\/","title":{"rendered":"School of Pharmacy 2024 Commencement Speakers"},"content":{"rendered":"

The School of Pharmacy is pleased to announce Lauren Aleksunes as the commencement speaker for this year’s Pharm.D. ceremony. Aleksunes joined UConn as a Presidential Scholar and later earned her B.S. degree in Pharmacy Studies (\u201900) and Pharm.D. degree as a University Scholar with a focus on Biochemical Toxicology (\u201902). Her dedication to research led her to complete a Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Sciences under the guidance of Dr. Jos\u00e9 Manautou (\u201907), followed by postdoctoral training at the University of Kansas Medical Center.<\/p>\n

Currently a Professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology at Rutgers University’s Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, Aleksunes is deeply committed to providing research training to students. She oversees various programs, including the Toxicology summer undergraduate, graduate, and postdoc training initiatives. Under her leadership, a vibrant Toxicology Pharm.D.\/Ph.D. program has flourished, producing scientists and nurturing the growth of aspiring scholars.<\/p>\n

\"Headshot
Lauren Aleksunes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Funded by the National Institutes of Health, Aleksunes\u2019 research lab explores groundbreaking avenues in translational research. Her work delves into understanding how drugs and chemicals traverse the placenta, impacting pregnancy health, and uncovering the mechanisms through which anticancer drugs may affect kidney function.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe look forward to Dr. Aleksunes sharing her insights and experiences with our graduating class,\u201d says School of Pharmacy dean, Philip Hritcko. \u201cI know she will inspire them as they embark on their own journeys of discovery and contribution to the world of pharmacy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sarah Thompson, the B.S. ceremony commencement speaker, is the Head of Clinical Operations, Programs & Strategy for Verily.\u00a0 She is responsible for clinical program design and development, program service and delivery, care management, pharmacy strategy and all virtual care operations.\u00a0 Thompson focuses on developing Verily\u2019s approach to care- including Medication Management strategies and use of devices to make care accessible, convenient, and engaging for patients.\u00a0 Sarah is a strong proponent of team-based healthcare, leveraging technology and using a population health-based approach to achieve better health outcomes and reduce healthcare costs for patients.<\/p>\n

Prior to joining Verily, Thompson served as a Vice President of Clinical Operations and Pharmacy for an Accountable Care Organization in Rhode Island where she was responsible for the organization\u2019s population health strategy, multiple clinical programs and clinical operations.\u00a0 While there, she integrated remote patient monitoring into clinical practice and introduced several technology platforms to enhance care.<\/p>\n

\"Headshot
Sarah Thompson<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Thompson received her Pharm.D. degree from UConn, completed a drug development fellowship with the University of Buffalo, and earned her MBA and MS in Healthcare Leadership at Cornell University.\u00a0 She is also the current UConn School of Pharmacy Advisory Board Chair.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope Dr. Thompson\u2019s dedication to patient-centered care will inspire our graduates,\u201d says Dean Hritcko. \u201cShe embodies the spirit of innovation and leadership that we strive to instill in all of our students.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Esteemed alumni, Lauren Aleksunes \u201907 (PHARM) and Sarah Thompson \u201906 (PHARM) set to speak at graduation on May 5th. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":187,"featured_media":213387,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1864],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[2449],"class_list":["post-213380","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pharm"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-07-04 11:56:29","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213380","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/187"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=213380"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213380\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":235132,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213380\/revisions\/235132"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/213387"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=213380"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=213380"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=213380"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=213380"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=213380"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}