The American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy, or AACP, has selected Lihui Yuan, Pharm.D., Ph.D., R.Ph., a clinical associate professor in the University of Florida College of Pharmacy, as the recipient of the 2025-26 Biological Sciences Section Innovation in Teaching Award. The award recognizes her efforts to design an innovative teaching technique to improve student learning.
To address challenges in the first-year Pharm.D. pathophysiology course, Yuan developed a modified supplemental instruction program that leverages peer teaching. Upperclass Pharm.D. students are trained to lead review sessions and help classmates navigate difficult concepts, all under direct faculty supervision. Delivered synchronously online, the program ensures access for students across the UF College of Pharmacy’s three campuses. The results have been substantial, with average scores on the most challenging exam increasing by more than 10% for three consecutive years and far fewer students requiring remediation.
“Receiving this award is deeply meaningful because it affirms a sustained effort to improve student learning in one of the most challenging courses in the Pharm.D. curriculum,” Yuan said. “It is especially rewarding to see an innovation that began in a single course expand to influence teaching practices across the entire core curriculum. This recognition also highlights the value of evidence-based, student-centered teaching approaches within professional education.”
Yuan joined the AACP in 2017, and she has served as the secretary of knowledge management for the AACP Biological Sciences Section since August 2023. In her 10 years with the UF College of Pharmacy, she has won more than a dozen teaching awards, including the college’s Teacher of the Year award in 2019-20.