School of Pharmacy

The Amy Pakyz Memorial Scholarship Fund was established in 2020 to support outstanding Doctor of Pharmacy students (P1 - P4) with an interest in infectious diseases and/or antimicrobial stewardship.

The scholarship was endowed with gifts from her family, friends and colleagues.

Dr. Amy Pakyz died on January 4, 2020, at age 52. She is remembered professionally for her work in the field of infectious disease epidemiology and as a role model to the students that she mentored.

A double graduate (B.Sc.,1993 and Pharm.D.,1996) of the School of Pharmacy, Amy completed a Fellowship in Infectious Diseases with Ron Polk at VCU before joining UVA Health System as a Clinical Pharmacy Specialist. She returned to Richmond in 2004 joining the Faculty at VCU School of Pharmacy. Amy was an expert on the pharmacoepidemiology of antimicrobial drug use and relationships to antibiotic resistance and was a national leader on the impact of stewardship programs on drug resistance development. Amy especially enjoyed mentoring students in their research projects leading to many of them choosing careers in infectious diseases. She was recently awarded a posthumous Fellowship in the Society of Infectious Disease Pharmacists. Outside of work, Amy had a passion for travel with family and friends and said that she may not have seen the whole world, but she had visited everywhere on her wish list.

This scholarship is presented annually to a student who demonstrates academic merit. Preference shall be given to applicants with an interest in infectious diseases or antimicrobial stewardship.