2T6 valedictorian Julia Ioannou reflects on personal and professional growth during PharmD program

Julia Ioannou says that being chosen as the valedictorian for the 2T6 Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) class in as honour that validates her academic growth and leadership skills that she gained at the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy.

“Being chosen as valedictorian really ties together my entire pharmacy school experience where I was really striving to be a better student, leader, clinician, and person,” says Ioannou. “It was such an honour to be chosen among all the incredible candidates, and I’m immensely grateful for the opportunity to represent such a remarkable class.”

“Being chosen as valedictorian really ties together my entire pharmacy school experience where I was really striving to be a better student, leader, clinician, and person.”

As an undergraduate student at Queen’s University, Ioannou knew she wanted to pursue a career in health care. She specialized her Life Sciences degree in drug development and human toxicology, and became interested in pursuing a PharmD at the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy.

From the beginning of the program, Ioannou was very intentional about building confidence in leadership roles and gaining more leadership experience. From her first year in the program, she became involved with student government, clubs and intramural sports.

“It was very scary at first, but gradually, I found myself becoming more comfortable with doing things outside of my comfort zone,” she says. “My confidence and communication skills improved, and every year I continued to pursue bigger roles within the student community.”

Ioannou held key roles in the Faculty’s athletics, first serving as the Athletics Representative for the 2T6 class, then as the Junior and Senior Athletics Director on the Undergraduate Pharmacy Society. In these roles, she organized all of the pharmacy intramural teams and saw the athletic accomplishments of her classmates – a highlight of her time at the Faculty. In her fourth year, she was president of the 2T6 class, where she worked closely with other students on the council and organized initiatives including class socials to keep her class connected to each other.

In addition to student government, Ioannou also participated in student groups, including Pharmacy Students for Cancer Awareness, Pharmacy Students for Women’s Health, and PharmaPride. She also co-founded Student Pharmacists for Aerospace and Cosmic Exploration, which allowed her to explore her interests in space and how pharmacists might be involved in future space exploration.

Ioannou received the U of T Student Leadership Award earlier in 2026 in recognition of her leadership.

Experiential courses helped Ioannou discover new paths in pharmacy

While Ioannou was busy with extracurricular activities, she was also focused on building her pharmacy knowledge and clinical skills through the PharmD program. In addition to her courses, she was able to complete the advanced experiential courses that allowed her to experience the breadth of the pharmacy profession, from direct patient care in community and hospitals, to non-direct patient care in a research unit and technology company.

These experiences helped her learn how to be adaptable to different situations and become an independent learner.

“My rotations opened up my eyes to the different areas that pharmacists can add value and use our clinical knowledge in different ways,” she says. “The Faculty does a good job of teaching us how to learn and be adaptable to these different types of roles. Regardless of the role you have, medications, guidelines, and technology will always change, and you need to be able to think critically and be a lifelong learner.”

“My rotations opened up my eyes to the different areas that pharmacists can add value and use our clinical knowledge in different ways.”

Ioannou initially entered the PharmD program with an eye toward a career in hospital pharmacy, but her experiences in non-direct patient care influenced her to think about other types of careers and areas to explore. This fall, she will start an industry residency in medical affairs and medical information at Amgen.

As Ioannou reflects on her time at the Faculty, she says that she is immensely proud to be among the graduates of the PharmD program and is inspired by her classmates’ achievements over the last four years.

“Every single person in my class is incredibly hardworking, resilient, and intelligent, and they have accomplished so much in academics, athletics and leadership. They are exceptionally well-rounded, and I know that they’re all going to do amazing things in their careers,” she says.

“There is no doubt in my mind that there will be graduates from this class who shape the future of health care and become leaders in whatever field they choose to pursue.”