2017 George F. Archambault Scholarship Recipient

Axel Vazquez-Deida

University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy

 

Axel Vazquez-Deida is a third-year student pharmacist at the University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy. He was born and raised in the small town of Quebradillas in the north-western side of the island of Puerto Rico. Prior to pursuing his Doctor of Pharmacy degree, Axel graduated from the University of Puerto Rico with a Bachelor of Science degree in Medical Microbiology.

Currently, Axel serves as the American Pharmacists Association – Academy of Student Pharmacists (APhA-ASP) President for the Duluth chapter. Axel has worked along students, healthcare professionals, and faculty in developing a tobacco cessation workgroup to help those who want to quit, and is a volunteer at the HOPE Clinic, a student-run interprofessional clinic that serves the homeless population. In 2015 he served as a co-coordinator in a student-run project to provide chronic disease state monitoring and care to geographically isolated communities in the Sierra Norte region of Puebla, Mexico. In addition, he has been an active member in the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP), American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP), Student Commissioned Officers Association (COA), Phi Lambda Sigma, Rho Chi, and Kappa Psi. Axel has completed two JrCOSTEP assignments with the U.S. Public Health Service (USPHS) and has been stationed with the Indian Health Service in Red Lake, MN and Fort Defiance, AZ.

Axel’s passion for addressing healthcare disparities and public health challenges while advancing pharmaceutical care has led him to pursue a career in public health pharmacy. Upon graduation, he hopes to pursue a combined general pharmacy practice/ambulatory care residency and commission as an officer in the USPHS.