Medal and course winners
These medals and prizes are awarded to the overall top performing student from each course.
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These medals and prizes are awarded to the overall top performing student from each course.
This medal is awarded to students across the University who have fulfilled the requirements of the Doctor of Philosophy, met an overall level of excellence, and whose work has been judged as the doctoral thesis for that year. This award is proudly supported by Monash University.
Dr Allah Bukhsh earned his Doctor of Philosophy degree in Clinical Pharmacy. Dr Bukhsh is currently serving as a lecturer and Program coordinator (Pharmacy Practice) in a public sector university of Pakistan. He is also an adjunct lecturer at School of Pharmacy, Monash University Malaysia.
His current research interests include self-care in chronic disease management, drug utilization review and pharmacotherapeutics. He has published more than 45 research articles in ISI-Web of Science journals with a cumulative impact factor of above 85, h-index 12 and total citations around 500. He was a recipient of Postgraduate Publication Award from Monash University for publishing his PhD research in JCR Q1 journals in 2018 and 2019.
Dr Bukhsh presented his research in many national and international conferences and won best oral and poster presentation awards. During his PhD candidature, Dr Bukhsh won the People’s Choice Award and First Runner-up Award in the Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition held at Monash University Malaysia in 2019, and represented Monash Malaysia campus in 3MT Wild Card round in Australia.
Dr Bukhsh served as President of Monash University Postgraduate Association (MUPA) for a one-year term in 2018. In his capacity as President, he represented MUPA in the Campus-level committees and was instrumental in implementing and executing initiatives to improve student welfare and experience on campus.
"It’s a great honour for me, my family and my country Pakistan to be the recipient of the prestigious Mollie Holman Award. It reflects the quality of supervision I received from Dr Tahir Mehmood Khan, Dr Goh Bey Hing and the great research environment that I had at the Malaysian Campus of Monash University."
This medal recognises the student who has achieved the highest score across all units of their pharmacy degree. The Pharmacy Gold Medal winner also receives the Neil Naismith Award. These awards are proudly supported by the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (Victorian Branch) and Therapeutic Guidelines Limited.
Having graduated from Monash University in 2020, Ethan Kreutzer is currently undertaking his internship with Alfred Health, one of Melbourne's major metropolitan hospital services.
Despite the hospital environment being challenging at times given the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the experience has provided Ethan with opportunities to build upon existing skills and develop new ones. A key example of this was his involvement in the hospital's COVID-19 vaccine rollout, where pharmacy interns were instrumental in the initial phases of this program through vaccine preparation. He also had the opportunity to give a presentation on "COVID-19 Vaccines; A Pharmacist's Guide" to the hospital pharmacy department earlier this year.
Ethan is the immediate past President of the National Australian Pharmacy Students' Association (NAPSA), having served for 12 months since July last year. This position opened Ethan's eyes to the inner workings of the pharmacy industry and its major organisations, as well as the passion of pharmacy students across the country for their chosen profession. Ethan is proud to share this passion and is keen to continue utilising this in order to improve patient outcomes.
"It's an honour to receive this award, but I would like to take the opportunity to recognise that it is a culmination of effort. Thank you to my family, teachers and friends, who all supported me toward this achievement. I hope to honour their support through the next phase of my career."
This medal recognises the student who has achieved the highest score across all units of their pharmaceutical science degree. This award is proudly supported by GlaxoSmithKline Australia.
Linghui Liu is a recent graduate from the Bachelor of Pharmaceutical Science degree majoring in Medicinal Chemistry. She chose this course because she always wanted to do something that can improve health care.
During the course work, she developed hands-on experience in the lab and various employability skills, such as critical thinking. She has a strong motivation and enthusiasm in applying the knowledge learned to tackle real world problems in her future career.
"The pharmaceutical science course gives me valuable opportunities to dive into the world of research very early on under the supervision of highly experienced scientists."
This prize is awarded to the pharmaceutical sciences student with the highest honours mark. This award is proudly supported by Shimadzu.
Danijela Zukancic completed a Bachelor of Pharmaceutical Science Advanced, majoring in Formulation Science. From a very young age she showed strong interests in the scientific inquiry, thus decided to pursue a career in the pharmaceutical science field.
Her honours project focused on gene delivery using novel lipid nanoparticles. During this time, she sought to understand the importance of lipid structure on the particle’s characteristics, as well as the plasmid DNA entrapment. She evaluated her newly synthesised particles in vivo following intramuscular injections to adult mice. The outcome of her study represents an innovative technology for targeted gene delivery to the lymph nodes. Her findings offer a novel, simple, and practical technology that might advance the field of gene delivery for the preparation of safe and effective vaccines against viruses or tumours.
Despite the difficult circumstances caused by the global pandemic, Danijela’s hard work and dedication led her to publish her own academic paper. In her spare time, she contributed to writing a review paper on the mRNA vaccines along with her supervisors and other researchers. In the future, Danijela hopes to continue with her outstanding achievements.
"Honours year felt like a fast forward movie with lots of distractions, good and bad scenes in which it was very important to stay positive and focused throughout."
This prize recognises outstanding performance in the Monash Intern Training Program. This award is proudly supported by Pharmaceutical Defence Limited.
Before becoming part of the Monash alumni community, Lara’s experiences with the pharmacy profession included roles such as dispensary technician and pharmacy assistant. Her experience with a diverse population of patients equipped her with skills in communication and customer service, ultimately leading her to pursue pharmacy as a profession.
She completed her Bachelor of Pharmacy (Honours) with Monash University via the graduate entry pathway, having previously completed a Bachelor of Biomedicine (Honours). She completed her internship at Ballarat Health Services, undertaking both the Monash Intern Training Program (ITP) and Intern Foundation Program. Working at Ballarat Health Services allowed her to utilise her competencies as part of a multidisciplinary hospital team and enhance her clinical knowledge. With the help of her preceptor, research supervisor and a supportive team, she completed both programs and was granted general registration in December 2020.
Participating in the ITP helped to bridge the gap between theory and practice, equipping her with the necessary skills both to pass the examinations and establish a solid grounding for a future in the profession.
Lara now works with UFS Dispensaries and intends to expand her scope of practice within community pharmacy, focussing on patient engagement and professional services.
"Empathy is the foundation for satisfaction in the pharmacy profession. Respect and trust are earned by listening and caring. Patients are people – you can’t climb the ladder of success by treating them as anything less."
This prize recognises the student with the highest marks across all units of the Master of Clinical Pharmacy. This award is proudly supported by Pharmacy Guild of Australia.
Caitlin Mulqueen is a Senior Clinical Pharmacist at Alfred Health, where she has worked since 2012, predominately in Surgical and Perioperative Services. In her current position as Senior Clinical Pharmacist for Perioperative Services, she manages the delivery and development of the pharmacy service provided to the Operating Theatres and the Pre-Admission Clinic. Caitlin has a keen interest in medication management in the perioperative period as well as in extending the role of clinical pharmacists to optimise patient care.
Caitlin completed a Master of Clinical Pharmacy with Monash University in 2020. This included the completion of a research project, which evaluated the impact of a novel pharmacist-led intervention on opioid-induced constipation management in trauma and orthopaedic inpatients.
Following the completion of her Master’s, Caitlin has returned to Monash University as a Teaching Associate for Experiential Development and Graduate Education. She is also an industry mentor for Monash University’s Student Ambassador Program for undergraduate pharmacy students. Caitlin’s ongoing engagement with Monash University allows her to contribute to the education and development of fellow and future pharmacists.
"Completing a Master of Clinical Pharmacy has advanced my specialist knowledge and research skills; complimenting my daily practice as a clinical pharmacist and supporting my ongoing career progression."
This prize recognises the student with the highest marks across all units of the Master of Wound Care. This award is proudly supported by The Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.
After completing her high school education in Queensland, Robyn Hammond achieved her lifelong ambition to become a Registered Nurse. She later completed a post graduate certificate in Critical Care Nursing at RMIT. She began her nursing career working as a generalist nurse before moving into specialist areas, including Intensive care, Cardio thoracic and Radiation oncology. Robyn also spent time working with student nurses as part of their degree program as a Clinical Nurse Facilitator, where she spent time passing on her years of experience as a nursing clinician and importantly patient care.
In 2014, Robyn took a role in an outpatient/inpatient nurse led wound clinic at the Sydney Adventist Hospital in Sydney. It became quickly apparent that Robyn had a strong passion for working with clients, some of whom had complex, long standing wounds, to help improve both their wound and help return them to a more fulfilling life. To build her knowledge, Robyn began her studies in the Master of Wound Care through Monash University. Over the next six years Robyn balanced work in the Wound Clinic, her studies, and a busy household with her husband and three wonderful boys. Robyn is now an accomplished wound clinician who loves her specialty area and relishes the opportunity to work with clients to improve their quality of life.
"I have thoroughly enjoyed improving my knowledge in wound care, which has enabled me to provide an evidenced based, high level of care to improve the client’s quality of life."