Double joy for ‘exceptional’ university student
An “exceptional” pharmacy student has double reason to celebrate after being awarded a prestigious prize.
Four years ago Jo Xuan Tan made the life-changing decision to leave her home in South East Asia and travel thousands of miles to begin a pharmacy degree at the University of Sunderland.
And that decision has paid off, for not only has Jo achieved First Class Honours but she has also picked up an annual prize for her outstanding performance throughout the MPharm degree.
Academics chose Jo as this year’s recipient of the Roz Anderson Memorial Award, honouring the memory of an inspirational scientist dedicated to improving the treatment of patients with a rare life-threatening genetic disease.
Professor Anderson, who sadly lost her battle with cancer in 2018, was a Professor of Pharmaceutical Chemistry at Sunderland.
In her 31-year career as a researcher at the university she worked on the treatment of Alzheimer's disease, diagnosis of bacterial infections, psoriasis and cancer, but her particular passion was the battle against the rare genetic disorder cystinosis.
Before her death she organised with her family and university staff an annual prize dedicated in her memory to an outstanding pharmacy student.
Jo, 24, from Malaysia, is the second student to be chosen for the award.
Jo said: “I felt really grateful, but was surprised at the same time as it came unexpectedly. I chose to study pharmacy because I like the subject and have always wanted to show my care for others in one way or another.
“My family have been so proud of my achievements.”