Supporting Research and Graduate Education in a Troubled Landscape: Report of the 2025-2026 AACP Research and Graduate Affairs Committee.

U.S. colleges and schools of pharmacy face mounting challenges in sustaining robust research programs, supporting early-stage investigators, modernizing graduate education, and integrating emerging technologies into academic practice. Furthermore, shifts in federal funding-particularly within the National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), increased expectations for multidisciplinary collaboration, and rapid technological transformation require coordinated national leadership. This report is intended to identify key research and graduate education challenges across the Academy and propose actionable strategies for the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP or the Association). Recommendations focus on strengthening and diversifying research funding, enhancing infrastructure for multidisciplinary collaboration, supporting early-stage investigators, aligning graduate training with workforce needs, improving domestic recruitment pipelines, and establishing competency frameworks for artificial intelligence (AI) integration. This report also addresses professional identity formation of scientists within pharmacy education and research and what being a scientist means in different settings, including the classroom, the clinic, and the community. Recommendations are given to support scientists in building identity around the competencies and skills that enable scientific problem solving, communication, education, and advocacy in all settings - all consistent with domains that are already included in the AACP Competency Framework for Graduate Education. The report concludes with a call to action for both AACP and member institutions to modernize policies, invest strategically in research ecosystems, and ensure the long-term vitality of pharmacy research and graduate education.