Member Highlights

Division for Pharmacology Education Inducts Two New Fellows into the Academy of Pharmacology Educators

The Academy of Pharmacology Educators was established in 2010 to recognize individuals who have made exemplary contributions to pharmacology education in one or more of the following areas: student-teacher interaction, innovative contributions, scholarly endeavors, professional development, and service. ASPET congratulates the two new Fellows inducted into the Academy this year by the Division for Pharmacology Education.

Sandeep Bansal, MBBS, MD, MBA, FAAPE is a medical educator and pharmacologist with over two decades of global experience in curriculum innovation, learner-centered education, program evaluation, and academic leadership. He has taught upwards of 10,000 medical students worldwide and has served at both new and established medical schools. Dr. Bansal has been a member of ASPET since 2006 and is also a member of AMSPC. He currently serves on the executive committee of ASPET’s Division for Pharmacology Education and on the Society’s Science Policy Committee. He chairs AMSPC/ASPET’s Pharmacology Learning Objectives project, leading a national effort to revise and align pharmacology learning objectives with contemporary competency-based educational standards. He is also co-founder and director of ASPET’s PRIME-Educator Certificate Program, a national faculty development initiative dedicated to advancing excellence in pharmacology education. Dr. Bansal has led and supported major curricular innovations at multiple medical schools, including the transition from a discipline-based curriculum to a spirally integrated, organ systems–based model, the design and implementation of a fully flipped pharmacology curriculum within a compressed pre-clerkship program, and contributions to an engineering-based medical curriculum as founding faculty and course director. His scholarly work focuses on active learning, learning approaches, motivation, and academic performance. He is a co-author of Learning Pharmacology through Clinical Cases. His career reflects a sustained commitment to educational innovation, mentorship, and the preparation of future physicians and educators.

Shantanu Rao, PhD, FAAPE is an associate professor of pharmaceutical science at the University of Findlay (Ohio). Dr. Rao received his PhD from the University of Toledo in 2011. Subsequently, he completed his postdoctoral training at the University of Toledo and the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. Dr. Rao joined the University of Findlay’s College of Pharmacy in 2016 and, since then, has been a pharmacology educator in the college’s Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) program. He teaches both foundational and advanced material to first- and second-year professional students, demonstrating a strong combination of depth and breadth in his expertise. Dr. Rao’s excellence in teaching has been repeatedly recognized through formal awards and evaluations. He teaches across multiple core pharmacology and therapeutics courses, and his impact on students is unmistakable. He has been repeatedly recognized with Teacher of the Year awards by multiple professional cohorts, including both first- and second-professional year classes. He was also the recipient of the ASPET Pharmacology Educators Award and our College of Pharmacy Faculty Excellence Award. These honors affirm that his teaching excellence is recognized by students, peers, and national organizations alike. Additionally, Dr. Rao has built a robust and nationally visible SoTL portfolio. His work spans three particularly important domains: gamification in pharmacology, artificial intelligence integration in pharmacy education, and assessment-driven approaches to student success. Beyond his own classroom and scholarship, Dr. Rao contributes meaningfully to the broader academy. He serves in leadership roles within ASPET Division of Pharmacology Education and AACP’s Biological Sciences Section.

The Division for Pharmacology Education considers it a privilege to add these scholar-educators as Fellows of the Academy of Pharmacology Educators and appreciates their many contributions to the discipline.