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Calendar of Events


Events that honor and celebrate our community of preeminent alumni, faculty, students, and staff

Welcome to the Profession Ceremony (also known as the “White Coat Ceremony”)

At this annual event, the incoming PharmD students receive their White Coats in a ceremony that marks the first step in their career as professional pharmacists. Held annually in September.

Professional Networking Day

Bringing together our Career Fair and Residency Day events, Professional Networking Day creates an opportunity for our students to meet, network, and interview with prospective employer, internship, and residency sites. Held annually in October.

Homecoming

Put on your Purple and get your game face ready for the biggest alumni event of the year! Join decades of Pharmacy Dawgs as we come together to celebrate the traditions of the University of Washington!

Scholarship and Preceptor Event

The annual scholarship event has expanded to include recognition of our outstanding preceptors – volunteers around the globe who work hard to support and mentor our students. The event gives our scholarship recipients a chance to connect with the donors who made their education possible.

Dean’s Recognition Reception

Hosted by the Dean, the annual Recognition Reception showcases the commitment of our Pharmacy community, while honoring and celebrating the accomplishments of the UW School of Pharmacy, our alumni, students, and faculty. The UW School of Pharmacy honors two alumni for their outstanding work and leadership in the profession.

Phil & Sandra Nudelman Endowed Lecture

The Nudelman Endowed Lecture series is dedicated to celebrating innovation in Pharmacy and features topics related to leadership, management, communication and entrepreneurship in the field of healthcare financing and delivery or in the field of oncology oriented research, discovery and management. Phil and his wife, Sandra, created the endowed lecture in 2016.

Phil Nudelman is a graduate of the School of Pharmacy, University of Washington, who went on to serve as President and CEO of Group Health Cooperative, and President and CEO of the Hope Heart Institute. His achievements over his distinguished career range from developing the first computerized pharmacy systems to serving on several Presidential commissions.

Previous Lectures
2023 Lecture: The Rapid and Radical Transformation of Healthcare
2023 Video

2020 Lecture: The Road To Recovery -Creating and Pricing a COVID-19 Vaccine in the U.S.
Speakers: Deborah Fuller, PhD; Anirban Basu, PhD, MS
Moderator: Sean D. Sullivan, BScPharm, PhD
2020 Video

An examination of current research and development of a COVID-19 vaccine and the multinational financing that will facilitate an effective vaccine distribution. Dr. Deborah Fuller, a vaccinologist and microbiologist from the UW Department of Microbiology, discusses her leading research in the creation of a nucleic acid vaccine to combat COVID-19. Dr. Anirban Basu, Stergachis Family Endowed Director of The CHOICE Institute, UW School of Pharmacy, illustrates the funding lines and pricing structures in place to make a vaccine accessible.

2019 Lecture: Soaring Drug Prices: What Can Be Done?
Speaker: Peter Bach, MD, MAPP
Moderator: Sean D. Sullivan, PhD
2019 Video

The cost of prescription medications in the US healthcare systems is higher than in any other country. What is being done to stem rising medication costs? Dr. Bach joins Sean D. Sullivan, Professor and Dean of the UW School of Pharmacy, for the 2019 Nudelman Endowed Lecture in a moderated discussion examining trends, causes and new models for drug pricing and the real-world impact on patients.

2018 Lecture: How to Change, Reinvent & Re-imagine Health Care
Speakers: Brian Bullock, RPH, MBA; Rhonda Rhyne, RPH, MBA; Jacqueline Cabe
Moderator: Daniel Lessler, MD, MHA
2018 Video

Join us for a facilitated conversation addressing issues in health care leadership and innovation. Our speakers will explore three big questions: how to change, reinvent, and reimagine health care.

2017 Lecture: Transforming Global Health: Social Innovation and Systems of Care
Speaker: Steve Davis
2017 Video

Don B. Katterman Memorial Lecture

The annual Don B. Katterman Memorial Lecture is presented to the community by the UW School of Pharmacy and the Pharmacy Alumni Association. It provides an avenue for pharmacy practitioners to stay abreast of important trends and issues in pharmacy. Continuing-education credits are made available to qualified practitioners through the Washington State Pharmacy Association.

The lecture is made possible by the Katterman family in honor of Don Katterman, ’48. As the owner of Katterman’s Sand Point Pharmacy, a mentor to many UW students, a former president of the UW Pharmacy Alumni Association and a president and active member of the Washington State Pharmacy Association, Don Katterman helped make the practice of pharmacy and the instruction of pharmacy students what they are today. 

Read about previous lectures:

2021: Caring for our Communities
Caring for our Communities – Understanding Medical Distrust
Video

Caring for our Communities – Serving Refugees
Video

2020: Discover, Develop, Disseminate: 125 Years of Women in Pharmacy
Speakers: Dr. Dana Hurley, ’97, ’00, ’04; Bev Schaefer, ’70; Dr. Deborah Atherly, ’89 ’09; Dr. Vandana Slatter, ’90

Join the School of Pharmacy for the 2020 Katterman Memorial Lecture, a conversation with national and global leaders to discuss their impact on pharmacy science, practice and advocacy. Discuss current changes and innovations with the women at the forefront of pharmacy innovation.

2020 Video

2019: Opioid Prescribing and the Abuse Epidemic
Speakers: Dr. Caleb Banta-Green; Jessica Lancaster, ’06

How can today’s pharmacists respond to the opioid crisis? Join Dr. Caleb Banta-Green and Jessica Lancaster, ’06, for a discussion on the opioid challenge, the effect of new prescribing regulations and how pharmacists can identify at-risk patients and provide preventative care.

2019 Video

2018: Measuring Value in Health Care
Speakers: Dr. Peter Neumann

How to measure value in health care has long interested and challenged researchers and health policymakers.  How can one put a proper value on a treatment that reduces pain, relieves symptoms, or extends life?  The lecture will discuss opportunities and barriers for using formal cost-effectiveness analysis to measure value in health care.  The lecture will describe trends in the use of cost-effectiveness analysis, new US methodological guidelines for the field, and the pros and cons of using new value frameworks to inform coverage, reimbursement and pricing issues in the U.S. and abroad.

2018 Video

2017: Think Globally, Act Locally: Antimicrobial Stewardship in Practice and Research
Speakers: Drs. Rupali Jain, Meg Kilcup, and Brian Werth
CE credit available; CE free for Pharmacy Alumni Association Members
May 12, 2016: Community Partnerships: Improving Patient Outcomes Across the Continuum of Care

UW School of Pharmacy, supported by the Institute for Innovative Pharmacy Practice (I2P2) endowment, played an integral role in the recent Washington state legislation that ensured patient access to the excellent care and specialized medication knowledge provided by pharmacists. In the midst of this change, pharmacists in Washington are continuing to articulate, identify and grow their practice as integrated members of the health care team. At this year’s Katterman Lecture, we invited UWSOP Assistant Professor and Kelley-Ross Fellow Jennifer Bacci and Josh Akers, pharmacist at Kelley-Ross, along with collaborators from Virginia Mason and Bellwether Housing, to describe how these partnerships have facilitated innovation in pharmacy practice that increases patient access to care. With the increasing complexity of healthcare and focus on providing team-based care, partnerships across the continuum of care will be imperative to achieving the best possible outcomes for our patients.

The Don B. Katterman Memorial Lecture and Dean’s Recognition Reception event will be held in the Husky Union Building (HUB) on the UW Seattle campus. Immediately following the Katterman Lecture is the annual School of Pharmacy Dean’s Recognition Reception. Dean Sean D. Sullivan will host this event in which we recognize our donors, alumni, and preceptors.

In 2016, the UW School of Pharmacy will honor two alumni for their outstanding work and leadership. In addition, the reception will be an opportunity to honor and celebrate the many accomplishments of the UW School of Pharmacy, our students, and faculty.

2015: Influenza Vaccination and the Hesitant Patient
Over the past six months, mainstream news headlines have been filled with stories of measles outbreaks and an especially severe influenza season. As pharmacists, how do we talk about vaccination to reluctant patients and families? What can we tell them about vaccine benefits when there are known mismatches to influenza strains contained in the vaccine? Please join us at this year’s Katterman Lecture to hear presentations from Seattle Children’s physicians Dr. Janet Englund and Dr. Ed Marcuse on influenza vaccines and vaccine hesitancy.

Dr. Janet Englund is an Infectious Disease specialist at Seattle Children’s. Her research in vaccine preventable diseases and the use of influenza vaccines has taken her around the world educating people about the benefits of vaccination for mothers and children to prevent common viral infections. At Fred Hutch, Dr. Englund is deeply involved in assessment and treatment of viral disease in immune-compromised hosts.

Dr. Ed Marcuse has spent his career focusing on immunizations and their utilization in practice. He has served on the US National Vaccine Advisory Committee, and has helped address issues of vaccine safety, ethics, and policy. Dr. Marcuse’s current research focuses on issues of vaccine hesitancy, immunization mandates, exemptions to those mandates, and access to this preventive care. Dr. Marcuse is Professor Emeritus of Pediatrics at the University of Washington, and has worked as a general pediatrician and administrator at Seattle Children’s for over 40 years.

The Washington State Pharmacy Association will provide one continuing-education credit for the hour-long Katterman lecture. This credit will be free to current UW Pharmacy Alumni Association (PAA) members and will cost $20 for non-members.

The Don B. Katterman Memorial Lecture and Dean’s Recognition Reception event was held May 8, 2015, at Mary Gates Hall on the UW Seattle campus. Immediately following the Katterman Lecture is the annual School of Pharmacy Dean’s Recognition Reception. Dean Sean D. Sullivan will host this event in which we recognize our donors, alumni, and preceptors.

In 2015, the UW School of Pharmacy honored two alumni for their outstanding work and leadership. In addition, the reception was an opportunity to honor and celebrate the many accomplishments of the UW School of Pharmacy, our students, and faculty.

2014: Transform Health Care in 2014: A Call to Action for Pharmacy!
2014 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaOxY0UWBVc
We will again be combining two of our signature events – the Don B. Katterman Memorial Lecture and the Annual Dean’s Recognition Reception – into one special event. Combining these two events gives alumni and other members of our community an engaging opportunity to network and connect with colleagues, fellow practitioners, the School’s faculty and leadership. The event will take place on May 15 from 5:30 to 8:30pm at the Museum of Flight.

The 35th Annual Katterman Lecture, presented by the School of Pharmacy and the Pharmacy Alumni Association, will start off the evening. Our guest speaker this year will be USPHS Commander Dean T. Goroski, PharmD., BCPS.

His talk is entitled Transform Health Care in 2014: A Call to Action for Pharmacy!

Pharmacists are one of the most underutilized health care providers in the nation – changing this will be critical to transforming our overburdened health care system. In 2011, the UW Public Health Service released a landmark report that promoted expanding pharmacy practice, provider status, and broad primary care services delivered by pharmacists in progressive roles.

The following year, a formal letter of support from the US Surgeon General added momentum for provider status efforts nationwide. Commander Goroski will lead a robust discussion about national provider status initiatives and what this trend means for the practice of pharmacy today and in the future.

Commander Goroski started his medical career as a combat medic in the Army National Guard. He graduated with a PharmD from the University of Montana in 2000 and transferred into the United States Public Health Service to continue his career. He has been on active duty with the Indian Health Service serving in a variety of clinical roles.

Since 2008, he has served as an Advanced Practice Clinical Pharmacist with the Yakama Indian Heath Clinic in Toppenish, WA. Commander Goroski clinically assesses and manages heart failure patients on a daily basis through a collaborative practice agreement with the clinic medical staff. Of greater importance, he is a pharmacist: a healthcare provider who cares deeply and goes the extra mile for his patients and his profession.

The Washington State Pharmacy Association will provide one continuing-education credit for the hour-long Katterman lecture. This credit will be free to current UW Pharmacy Alumni Association members and will cost $20 for non-members.

Immediately following the Katterman Lecture is the annual School of Pharmacy Dean’s Recognition Reception. Dean Thomas Baillie and his wife, Kathleen Baillie, will host this event in which we recognizes our donors, alumni and preceptors. The Distinguished Alumni Award will be announced at the event. In addition, the reception will be an opportunity to honor and celebrate the many accomplishments of the UW School of Pharmacy, our students, and faculty.

2013: Better-Informed Patients, Better-Informed Pharmacists: Navigating the Changing

2013 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdEimcb14Ww
This year, the School of Pharmacy is combining two of our signature events — the Dean’s Recognition Reception and the Don B. Katterman Memorial Lecture — into one special event. This new program is intended to encourage our alumni and other members of our community to engage with the School and with fellow practitioners in an even more impactful way. The event will take place on May 8th from 5:30 to 8 p.m. at the Museum of Flight.

The 34th Annual Katterman Lecture, presented by the School of Pharmacy and the Pharmacy Alumni Association, will start the evening. Headlining is Sean Sullivan, UW Stergachis Endowed director and professor of the UW Pharmaceutical Outcomes Research and Policy Program. His talk is entitled “Better-Informed Patients, Better-Informed Pharmacists: Navigating the Changing Medication Information Landscape.”

Sullivan’s lecture will focus on the rapidly evolving and increasingly complex information needs of pharmacists. Rather than relying solely on industry and regulatory bodies for current information about medications and therapeutic technologies, pharmacists must now look to more diverse sources of information — including the information patients are finding through increasingly sophisticated research. What’s more, we are in the midst of a personalized medicine revolution in which an individual’s genetic make-up can be used to inform treatment options.

The Katterman Lecture will talk about what these changes mean for healthcare providers, patients and the healthcare delivery system. Sullivan will provide insight to help pharmacists be successful in their efforts to forge partnerships with patients and health care providers on the appropriate use of drugs and other therapeutic technologies.

Sullivan is a professor of pharmacy and associate dean for research at the UW School of Pharmacy. He has devoted much of his research to medical decision-making and economic evaluation of medical technology. The Washington State Pharmacy Association will provide one continuing-education credit for the hour-long Katterman lecture.

Immediately following the Katterman Lecture is the annual School of Pharmacy Dean’s Recognition Reception. Dean Thomas Baillie and his wife, Kathleen Baillie, will host this event in which the School recognizes our donors, alumni and preceptors. The Distinguished Alumni Award recipient will be announced at the event. In addition, the reception will be an opportunity to honor and celebrate the many accomplishments of the UW School of Pharmacy, our students and faculty. This year, this entire event will be free to all guests. Participants may attend both the lecture and the reception; or they are welcome to attend just one of the events.

2012: Demonstrating Impact: Making the Case for Pharmacy Services
33rd Annual Don B. Katterman Memorial Lecture
“Demonstrating Impact: Making the Case for Pharmacy Services”
May 8, 2012, UW Foege Building
Reception 6 p.m., Lecture 7 p.m.

Presented by the UW School of Pharmacy and the Pharmacy Alumni Association

In the wake of the historic recommendation by U.S. Surgeon General Regina Benjamin to optimize the pharmacist’s expertise on the health care team, the role of the pharmacist is poised to expand and change dramatically. But implementing new services will still require pharmacists to demonstrate the benefits of those services to decision-makers or to make the case for them in their own business plan.

The 2012 Katterman Lecture will be a panel discussion on how to successfully demonstrate the pharmacist’s extensive impact. Representing various branches of the pharmacy profession, the panelists will offer examples of how their business model enables them to improve health outcomes while also increasing revenue. They will share case studies of how they have lobbied for enhanced pharmacy services with positive results. Further, they will offer suggestions for how to follow suit in your own pharmacy. Considerable time will be given to audience questions.

Presenters

Jenny Arnold
Director of Pharmacy Practice Development, Washington State Pharmacy Association (WSPA)
In her role at the WSPA, Arnold, ’06, works to ensure that pharmacists are recognized as providers of patient care. Arnold previously directed patient care services at Kelley-Ross Pharmacy where she supported their vaccination program and started a successful travel clinic. She also cared for patients through home visits where she provided medication education, adherence counseling and communicated with providers.

Daiana Huyen
District Pharmacy Supervisor, Seattle North/Alaska District of Walgreens Co.
Huyen has been with Walgreens since 1994. During her career, she has helped launch flu immunization clinics and establish a Transplant Specialty Pharmacy Center of Excellence. She has earned certification in specialties including immunizations, diabetes, health screening, medication therapy management and transplants. She is licensed as a pharmacist in the states of Washington, Alaska, Arizona and Illinois.

Beverly Schaefer
Co-owner and Pharmacist, Katterman’s Sand Point Pharmacy
Schaefer, ’70, was named the 2007 National Community Pharmacists Association’s Community Pharmacist of the Year. Other honors include the UW School of Pharmacy Distinguished Alumna Award, WSPA Innovative Practice Award and University Rotary Distinguished Service Award. Her pharmacy is continually exploring new ways to increase access to healthcare. She is a clinical professor at the UW School of Pharmacy.

Roger Woolf
Administrative Director of Pharmaceutical Services, Virginia Mason Medical Center
Woolf, ’85, was named 2012 Health System Pharmacist of the Year by the WSPA, for which he serves on the Board of Directors. He is a member of many pharmacy and health care quality organizations, including the Washington State Health Care Forum, Executive Alliance Board and the Puget Sound Health Alliance. He is an affiliate associate professor at the UW School Of Pharmacy, and he is certified in Lean Improvement Principles.

2011: The Future of Pharmacy Communication: Preparing for an Electronic Revolution
In today’s quickly evolving world of health care, advances in communications and technology are making it easier for hospitals and clinics to electronically exchange patient health information with multiple care providers. The goal of these kinds of information exchanges is to provide patients with more efficient — and better — care.

With people’s medication regimens in particular, health information exchanges make it easier for pharmacists to prevent drug-drug interactions, drug-food interactions or other adverse reactions. Such dangerous and potentially costly risks can go unnoticed when a patient has multiple providers and her pharmacist can’t access all of her health information.

This year’s School of Pharmacy Don B. Katterman Memorial Lecture will discuss how pharmacists can keep ahead of the curve in this new world of communications and information. In “The Future of Pharmacy Communication: Preparing for an Electronic Revolution,” presenter Sue Merk will explain how new technologies will improve the pharmacy profession while improving the lives and health of patients. The event will take place Tuesday, May 10.

Merk is a pharmacist and vice president of product management and business development at OneHealthPort — an organization created by a coalition of area health plans, physicians and hospitals to build a community where business and clinical information can be securely shared. Merk has extensive knowledge of the new Statewide Health Information Exchange, a program funded by the Office of the National Coordinator to implement a shared health information technology infrastructure in Washington State.

In “The Future of Pharmacy Communication,” she will explain how pharmacists can use advanced communications in community, ambulatory and institutional settings. She will talk about e-prescribing and the medical home care model (a patient-centered, integrative approach to health care), among other things. Further, she will highlight how use of new technologies and communication channels can open the door for future innovations in pharmacy reimbursement models, treatment and patient care.

Sue Merk is at the forefront of business-development advances being used in health care. As a trained pharmacist herself, she seeks to ensure that others in her field have the knowledge required to thrive in their ever-changing profession and provide the best care possible to their patients. Merk has been a highly sought-after speaker at industry events in the past few years.

This is the School of Pharmacy’s 32nd Annual Katterman Lecture. The late Don B. Katterman, ’48, former owner of Katterman’s Sand Point Pharmacy, was a mentor to many UW pharmacy students and a former president and member of the Washington State Pharmacy Association.

Commencement

After years of hard work, it is time for our students, their friends, family members, and our School community to come together and celebrate all their accomplishments. Held annually in June.

Submit Your Ideas!

If you have topics you would like to see covered in a future Katterman Lecture or if you would like to volunteer for the lecture planning committee, please email rxalumni@uw.edu or call (206) 221-2465.