Juan Hincapie Castillo received an unexpected letter in the mail earlier this month.
The graduate student in pharmaceutical outcomes and policy was the first UF student to receive a Graduate Student Fellowship from the American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education.
The fellowship is only awarded to 20 Hispanic students every year in the U.S.
Castillo, who received his pharmacy degree from the UF College of Pharmacy in 2013, is now pursuing a doctorate degree in pharmaceutical outcomes and policy.
“I am interested in a career in academia, and I feel this fellowship will open a lot of doors,” the 24-year-old said.
The fellowship will fund his attendance to the association’s Graduate Student Fellows Program national conference, he said.
The association chose recipients for the fellowship based on qualifications, including Hispanic origin, enrollment in a doctoral program, academic potential and aspirations for a career in academia.
Castillo will present his research on the safety of opioid analgesics in adolescents with chronic pain at the conference. Opioid analgesics are a type of drug used to reduce moderate to severe pain, he said. He also studies the risk for development of substance abuse in adolescents.
He said the conference will allow him to get feedback on his research and gather new ideas.
He became interested in these topics during his doctorate training, where he took elective courses about the topics, he said.
His adviser, Almut Winterstein, encouraged him to pursue his research in pharmacoepidemiology, which is the study of drug effects on a specific population, he said.
Winterstein said Castillo is a role model for students from South American countries who come to the U.S. for academics.
“He takes any opportunity for personal and professional growth (and) is highly motivated to both advance his career and contribute to society and science,” she said.
[A version of this story ran on page 4 on 12/1/2014]
