AAPS' New Awards Program

AAPS has revised its awards program to increase their prestige and coordinate with AAPS' mission and  vision.

By Christopher R. McCurdy, Ph.D., FAAPS, President, and Kevin Litwiler, Ph.D., Chair, Awards Committee

The AAPS Awards Program has recognized the achievements of pharmaceutical scientists for three decades. But after growing organically through the years, it needed a little pruning. Therefore, the board of directors directed the AAPS Awards Committee to evaluate and revise the awards program.

Now, after two years of work, the program has been revised and refocused to increase the prestige and recognition it brings to our scientists and their science each year. The number of awards has been reduced, and each new award is carefully detailed with information about ideal recipients, qualifications for consideration, criteria for judging, who selects the winner, etc. The awards committee developed a new program framework after studying AAPS’ mission and vision in our strategic plan and the goals for and performance of each award AAPS offered through 2016.  The new program recognizes achievements in three primary areas: science, leadership, and service. In total, there are eight awards that are being implemented for 2018. 

The greatest AAPS honors will be awarded to three individuals who represent the peak of our membership. They exemplify who we are and who we want to be: 

The well-known and respected Distinguished Pharmaceutical Scientist Award: “A lifetime achievement award intended to recognize an individual who has made substantial contributions to the pharmaceutical sciences that have had a lasting impact. The focus of those achievements is research and advancement of science.”

The new Global Leader Award “recognizes a leader working in pharmaceutical science, technology, engineering, or education whose contributions to the pharmaceutical sciences community have resulted in an outstanding positive impact on pharmaceutical education and/or public health. AAPS recognizes these leaders both as a means to support their work and to encourage pharmaceutical scientists around the world to keep driving toward treatments and cures that improve life for all global citizens.”

Finally, the new AAPS Distinguished Service Award “brings recognition and public appreciation to an AAPS member for a lifetime of service to the organization. Distinguished Service Award recipients have demonstrated the inclusive, collaborative volunteer leadership that AAPS values and depends on.”

AAPS will also continue to recognize the top manuscripts published in AAPS’ journals, as defined by citations and downloads, with the Outstanding Manuscript Awards. The remainder of the new awards are shown in the table below. You can find more information about each award in the new AAPS Awards Guide. All awards will be presented during AAPS PharmSci 360 in November.

We want to acknowledge and honor the most impactful members of our organization, so please consider nominating those in your work life who deserve recognition. Several awards allow for nomination by colleagues, and we hope you will speak up for someone you know who is too modest—or busy—to speak for themselves! We also hope to see more participation from industry and regulatory scientists who belong to AAPS. The awards committee discussed at length the effects of qualification requirements and judging criteria on members who work outside of academia—it is a frequent topic for the AAPS Board of Directors too. We strongly recommend that our best role models apply, regardless of geographic region, area of science, or work sector.

THE FUTURE

Going forward, the AAPS Awards Committee will administer the AAPS Awards Program. The committee will track the performance of each award and make recommendations to the board of directors for retiring outdated awards and creating new ones. The board of directors will oversee the committee’s work and approve any action.

The awards committee is already considering new awards that may be introduced in 2019 to recognize service in the new AAPS Communities and strategies for selecting award-winning posters during AAPS PharmSci 360. You can submit a proposal for a new award to the AAPS Awards Committee for consideration by following the directions at the end of the 2018 Awards Guide.

You most likely will not see a revision of the AAPS Awards Program on this scale again for decades. Implementation of these awards expands and refines the enduring tradition of the AAPS Awards Program. We expect these awards to stand the test of time. Over time, the new program should increase the impact and recognition of AAPS’ awards to the benefit of recipients and our organization’s reputation.  The recipients, while significant contributors to the scientific community at the time of recognition, will be joining a long line of scientists, leaders, and volunteers who have shaped, and who will continue to shape, the pharmaceutical sciences and AAPS. We are grateful to the awards committee for their hard work on this once-in-a-lifetime project.