This year, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy students Tazche Turner and Ashley Addison will serve as the president and vice president of the Student National Pharmaceutical Association.
Founded in 1972 at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, SNPhA aims to improve minority representation in pharmaceutical sphere as well as promote well-being in underrepresented communities.
“When I saw SNPhA’s mission of increasing access to care, especially within underserved communities, I knew I really wanted to be a part of it,” Turner said.
Though Turner and Addison will now be leading SNPhA on the national level, they have been members of the UNC chapter since their first year at the pharmacy school. Addison said that having a local chapter is great because it allows UNC students to place more focus on underserved communities within North Carolina.
“With UNC being a school that serves the state, we take on that mission within our individual chapter," Addison said. "We've been able to go out into various communities within North Carolina that are deemed underserved to really drive the impact and create opportunities for those patients that they typically aren't able to receive."
Kimberly Sanders, an assistant professor at the pharmacy school and current UNC SNPhA faculty advisor, wrote in an email statement that Turner and Addison are hard-working, passionate students.
“They are both very proactive and authentically seek to improve the environments they’re in,” Sanders said. “A significant strength is how forward-thinking they are as they have strived to make improvements and advocate for support for the students who come after them.”
Ever since meeting in their first year of pharmacy school, Turner and Addison have been working together on various initiatives and projects.
“Ashley and I are continuing all of the collaborative work that we have been doing for the past four years, so I'm super excited to work alongside her on a national level and continue to make large-scale change in our communities.” Turner said. “It's always great leading along a friend.”