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Clinical Research Challenge

2022 Clinical Research Challenge Winners – Oregon State University College of Pharmacy


Pictured from left to right: Jason Srey, Trisha Villanueva, and Bryan Le

Clinical Research Challenge

2021 Clinical Research Challenge Winners – University of Minnesota, College of Pharmacy

Written by: Kristine Yee, PharmD Candidate 2022, University of Colorado Skaggs School of Pharmacy


Minjong Kim


Loan Tran


Rachel Moniz

    This year, Minjong Kim, Loan Tran and Rachel Moniz of the University of Minnesota, College of Pharmacy earned the title of ACCP’s 2021 Clinical Research Challenge (CRC) champions. Under the guidance of Dr. Ann Philbrick, PharmD, their proposal was titled “Pharmacist Intervention in Oral Chemotherapy: Minimizing Toxicity with Telemonitoring and Patient-reported Outcomes.” Rachel’s professional interests is to pursue a residency and become a clinical pharmacist specializing in oncology. She would like to continue to incorporate research focusing on oral chemotherapy toxicity. Loan would like to pursue either a residency or fellowship that would help her further develop patient care and research skills. She would ultimately like to become an academic pharmacist and continue doing clinical research. After their victory, ACCP National Student Network Advisory Committee reached out to some of the competitors to ask a few questions:

How did you choose to work together on this team?
    Our ACCP chapter hosts the local competition, and the three top scorers were selected to compete in the national rounds. Little did we know that it turned out to be the dream team!
What did you do to prepare?
    We reviewed past journal club articles and utilized literature searches to study the design of similarly structured trials. This was essential to our preparation for each round. Additionally, reaching out to other professors, advisors and mentors were great resources to provide invaluable insight and guidance to make sure our proposal could be implemented in clinical practice.
What tips or tricks do you have for future competitors?
    We would recommend being familiar with the competition schedule ahead of time and having a clear plan for the team at the beginning to help balance schoolwork and the competition demands. Also, to not feel too stressed about last-minute things that might arise from the competition. Things were constantly changing but we were able to take pieces of research that has already been done and put it together in an innovative way.
In hindsight, is there anything you would have done differently to prepare?
    We would have communicated earlier in the rounds to decide on our research topic sooner, ideally two or three days after the release of the research question. Having a plan would have avoided some of the last-minute work that needed to be done before the deadline.
What motivated you to compete in the CRC? What motivations did you have throughout your preparation?
    We heard about the meaningful impact the CRC has on pharmacy students and decided to it was a great opportunity to expand our current knowledge. Our interest in clinical research and applying clinical knowledge to help improve healthcare motivated us to continue the process to see how our topic could potentially help cancer patients in the future.
Who was your most influential mentor?
    Rachel: This competition has shown me that so many pharmacists are willing to help you grow within the field. However, my most influential mentor was Dr. David Stenehjem. His expertise on our topic and willingness to support us throughout the process was instrumental in our success and learning.

    Loan: My most influential mentor was my research advisor. He has taught me about the importance of lifelong learning, and the value of hard work. I admire his great knowledge and expertise in pharmacogenomics and oncology.

    We would like to thank every who has competed in the CRC and congratulate the University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy for their first-place victory. We wish Minjong, Loan and Rachel the best of luck on their future endeavors, and we hope their tips and tricks can help competitors in future competitions.