{"id":238450,"date":"2025-11-25T15:59:40","date_gmt":"2025-11-25T20:59:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=238450"},"modified":"2025-11-25T15:59:40","modified_gmt":"2025-11-25T20:59:40","slug":"uconn-pharmacy-student-wins-big-at-national-convention","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2025\/11\/uconn-pharmacy-student-wins-big-at-national-convention\/","title":{"rendered":"UConn Pharmacy Student Wins Big at National Convention"},"content":{"rendered":"

A pharmacy student in his final year as a Husky, Lahar\u00a0<\/span>Miriyap<\/span>a<\/span>lli<\/span>\u00a0grew up outside of New York<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>City. Passionate about the pharmaceutical field after\u00a0<\/span>growing up with medical conditions that changed his viewpoint on\u00a0<\/span>medic<\/span>ine<\/span>, Lahar chose UConn’s School of Pharmacy for its\u00a0<\/span>s<\/span>trong reputation<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>and\u00a0<\/span>his love for the Northeast. As an avid basketball fan, Lahar\u00a0<\/span>also wanted to experience the spirit of game days in\u00a0<\/span>G<\/span>ampel<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Pavilion.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Headshot
Headshot of Lahar Miriyapalli (UConn Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

During his time at the School, Lahar\u00a0<\/span>has\u00a0<\/span>demonstrated<\/span>\u00a0his deep-rooted passion for pharmacy<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>through<\/span>\u00a0his involvement. As Vice<\/span>-President of the Industry Pharmacists Organization,<\/span>\u00a0he\u00a0<\/span>has<\/span>\u00a0directed Clinical Development teams in the annual mock drug develop<\/span>ment<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>competition (VIP Case Competition)<\/span>, receiving 6<\/span><\/span>th<\/span><\/span>\u00a0place last year.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>As Co-Chair\u00a0<\/span>and Quality Assurance Lead <\/span>of the Immunization\u00a0<\/span>Committee, Lahar has expanded immunization opportunities for pharmacy students and support for community vaccination efforts while le<\/span>ading a team<\/span>\u00a0to understand the impact of the clinics.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition to his involvement, Lahar<\/span>\u00a0has worked on<\/span>\u00a0ot<\/span>her<\/span>\u00a0research projects and\u00a0<\/span>credits<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>School<\/span>\u00a0of Pharmacy faculty,\u00a0<\/span>Craig\u00a0<\/span>Coleman<\/span>\u00a0and Adrian Hernandez<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0as his mentors in these experiences<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>It was\u00a0<\/span>his research opportunities<\/span>, relying on communication and teamwork,\u00a0<\/span>where he developed his\u00a0<\/span>medical writing skills\u00a0<\/span>and his overall\u00a0<\/span>passion<\/span>\u00a0for<\/span>\u00a0analyzing data and science.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cUConn Pharmacy has been instrumental in teaching me how to communicate professionally.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

He has since taken this\u00a0<\/span>passion<\/span>\u00a0and turned it into success.<\/span>\u00a0As President\u00a0<\/span>of\u00a0<\/span>SNPhA<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Lahar has led programs\u00a0<\/span>to support h<\/span>ealth\u00a0<\/span>organizations, including the Kidney Association, Connecticut Harm Reduction Alliance, and the American Diabetes Association.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>His latest success came this past August at the 2025 Student National Pharmaceutical Association<\/span>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0<\/span>As<\/span>traZeneca\u00a0<\/span>MSL Simulation Competition by presenting a breast cancer trial to AstraZeneca\u2019s oncology field team.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Lahar
Lahar proudly holds his award (contributed photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At the convention,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Lahar attended sessions to learn\u00a0<\/span>how to best serve underrepresented populations and networked with pharmacists in the medical science liaison (MSL) field to learn more about this position in the pharmaceutical industry<\/span>. MSLs serve as representatives between pharmaceutical companies and the public in educating people on new drugs and advancements. In the first round of the AstraZeneca MSL Simulation Competition, Lahar\u00a0<\/span>created a written report along with a video presentation about the impact of MSLs. After this round, Lahar\u00a0<\/span>moved on<\/span>\u00a0to the con<\/span>vention\u00a0<\/span>p<\/span>ortion<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0where he simulated being an MSL and presented a clinical trial in front of a team of<\/span>\u00a0AstraZeneca MSLs.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Winning first place in this competition, Lahar thinks of the connections he made with the\u00a0<\/span>MSLs<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>as\u00a0<\/span>equally\u00a0<\/span>as\u00a0<\/span>important to\u00a0<\/span>his\u00a0<\/span>award<\/span>. In a full-circle moment,\u00a0<\/span>Lahar<\/span>\u00a0applied\u00a0<\/span>the<\/span>\u00a0skills\u00a0<\/span>he\u2019s<\/span>\u00a0learned in\u00a0<\/span>the\u00a0<\/span>classroom,<\/span>\u00a0his<\/span>\u00a0internship<\/span>s<\/span>, and extracurricular settings during his time at\u00a0<\/span>the\u00a0<\/span>School<\/span>\u00a0to remain confident.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Currently interviewing for\u00a0<\/span>fellowship\u00a0<\/span>programs, Lahar is thankful for all that UConn Pharmacy has taught him. From learning how to read scientific literature and\u00a0<\/span>conduct r<\/span>e<\/span>search to putting his skills to the test in the VIP Case Competition and the AstraZeneca MSL Simulation Competition, Lahar has shown his dedication to the field of pharmacy.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI love UConn and all the opportunities they<\/span>\u2019ve<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>give<\/span>n<\/span>\u00a0me to participate in.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

When reminiscing about his favorite moments as a Husky, Lahar\u00a0shared memories from\u00a0his\u00a0exciting\u00a0trip\u00a0to\u00a0Arizona to\u00a0watch the\u00a02024 College Basketball Championship,\u00a0which was nothing short of surreal for him and his\u00a0friends.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Combining his skill in scientific communication with his competitive nature, Lahar has excelled in the classroom, lab, and\u00a0on\u00a0the competition floor, earning well-received recognition for his hard work and determination.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In his final year at the School, Lahar Miriyapalli put his pharmaceutical knowledge and application skills to the test at the National Pharmaceutical Association\/Student National Pharmaceutical Association (NPhA\/SNPhA) National Convention. Putting himself in the shoes of a medical science liaison and presenting to employees of AstraZeneca, Lahar presented one of their clinical trials professionally and passionately, earning him the first-place award in this skill competition. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":221,"featured_media":238459,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1864],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[2644],"class_list":["post-238450","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":"2026-05-07 04:42:13","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\/238450","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\/221"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=238450"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238450\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":238476,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238450\/revisions\/238476"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/238459"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=238450"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=238450"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=238450"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=238450"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=238450"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}