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University of Wisconsin-Madison

Organ Donor Awareness Group Receives Award

2nd year pharmacy students Noah Budi (left) and Collin Dean (right) stand together in Rennebohm Hall
2nd year pharmacy students Noah Budi (left) and Collin Dean

School of Pharmacy students participating in the Organ Donation Awareness (ODA) group, one of the community outreach efforts of the Wisconsin Society of Pharmacy Students (WSPS) is the recipient of a Veloxis Pharmaceuticals Organ Donation Awareness Challenge grant.

Noah Budi and Collin Dean, DPH-2 students and co-chairs of the group, submitted a proposal to educate high school students about organ donation. Jillian Fose, PharmD, and Dan Felix, PharmD, transplant pharmacists at the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics, served as mentors for the proposal. Mary Hayney, professor (CHS) in the Pharmacy Practice Division, is faculty advisor.

“With the grant money, Organ Donation Awareness is reaching out to high school students in Madison to educate them about organ donation, said Dean. Students will also have an opportunity to sign-up for both the Wisconsin Donor Registry and national bone marrow registry.

Presented by The American Society of Transplantation (AST) Transplant Pharmacy Community of Practice (CoP) the annual national event relies on collaboration with pharmacy schools and student chapters of pharmacy professional organizations. Teams are challenged with designing and conducting events to ultimately spread awareness about the importance of organ and tissue donation. ODA members work toward raising awareness and increasing the number of people registered for the Wisconsin Donor Registry.

The WSPS group was one of four schools of pharmacy selected to receive the $125 grant. Recipients will be formally recognized at the American Society of Transplantation meeting in April in Chicago, Ill.