Announcements & Recognitions
NIPTE Drug Substance or Drug Product Process Development Design Competition Award Winners (Summer 2026)
This first-ever NIPTE student competition challenged participants to develop a draft Chemistry, Manufacturing, and Controls (CMC) development package for a small-molecule drug substance—demonstrating the scientific rigor, process understanding, & regulatory thinking expected of a pharmaceutical process development team.
Congratulations to the first-round award winners
Ajay Lale, University of Connecticut, School of Pharmacy
Bhanu Prakash Dongala, Texas A&M University, Irma Lerma Rangel College of Pharmacy
Ruchi Ruchi, University of Connecticut, School of Pharmacy
Leila Sharifi, University of Connecticut, School of Pharmacy
TEAM Award (submitted by Luke Burroughs):
Luke Burroughs, Saurabh Bhorkade, Pawan Kumar Pandey, and Ashwin Abhang are all PhD candidates in the Dr. Diane Burgess Lab, Pharmaceutics, School of Pharmacy, University of Connecticut