NEWS
OKLAHOMA CITY – Analisa Kester, a first-year University of Oklahoma College of Pharmacy student, has been accepted into the highly competitive Nuclear Pharmacy Internship program at RLS Radiopharmacies for summer 2025. RLS specializes in sterile compounding and dispensing radioactive pharmaceuticals that radiologists use for diagnostics and treatment.
“We are so proud of Analisa as she receives this well-deserved recognition,” said Melissa Medina, dean of the College of Pharmacy. “It is a testament to the superior instruction she has received through the nuclear pharmacy program as well as her nuclear pharmacy knowledge, skills, and potential as a future nuclear pharmacist. We can’t wait to see what Analisa accomplishes with this incredible opportunity.”
As an intern, Kester will work as a core team member and participate in hands-on training, including kit preparation, dose drawing, and quality control. She will expand her nuclear pharmacy knowledge, allowing her to share these techniques with her peers.
“When I was introduced to RLS and heard they were offering an internship, I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to combine my love for chemistry and medicine and see the wonderful things they can create,” said Kester. “I think being able to have the experience with this type of medicine will open doors for me that I could not even imagine.”
After she graduates, Kester would like to pursue a career in Indian Health Services. She is a member of the Comanche Tribe and wants to help those in her community. She received her Bachelor of Forensic Science and Bachelor of Chemistry degrees from the University of Central Oklahoma.
About the University of Oklahoma
Founded in 1890, the University of Oklahoma is a public research university located in Norman, Oklahoma. As the state’s flagship university, OU serves the educational, cultural, economic and health care needs of the state, region and nation. For more information about the university, visit www.ou.edu.
Three University of Oklahoma graduate students have been named winners of the 2025 Three Minute Thesis competition, which challenges participants to explain their research in three minutes to a non-specialist audience.
Sarah Sharif, a researcher with the University of Oklahoma, has been awarded funding from the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) to create innovative light detectors that pick up mid-wave and long-wave infrared signals at higher temperatures than previously considered achievable.
A team from OU and WVU recently earned a five-year, $3.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to study how concept cigarillos influence the potential for addiction. The results will be used to inform the FDA’s impending flavor ban on cigar products and could have wider-reaching implications for other tobacco products that come in flavors, such as e-cigarettes and tobacco-free nicotine pouches.
