Anika Patel has been bestowed the 2025  James L. Doti Outstanding Graduate Student Award, the highest honor for graduate students at Chapman University. The Doti Awards recognize distinguished academic achievement, scholarly or creative activity, and service and are granted to one graduating master’s and one graduating doctoral student..

Anika joined Chapman University as a PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences candidate after finishing her PharmD in 2021. From the start, Anika demonstrated a strong talent and passion for translational cancer research, which influenced her excellence in pre-clinical and health outcomes research. Her achievements include multiple first-author publications in Tier 1 journals, several conference presentations, and founding our American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS) student organization. Her dissertation, Development of Pharmaceutical Inhibitors Targeting nNOS for Melanoma Treatment, was successfully defended in April.

Anika’s advisor, Dr. Sun “Coco” Yang, praised Anika for her intellect, dedication to research, and drive to advance pharmaceutical science knowledge. Anika’s name will be engraved on the Doti Award trophy in the Argyros Forum, and she will be formally recognized at CUSP’s commencement ceremony on May 23.