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Invara: A new kind of rural pharmacy

Alumnus Simeon Roth, ’17, opens a new rural pharmacy based on a business plan he worked on as a student in pharmacy school. Today, his pharmacy is providing much needed services to rural communities with little access to health care.

Nancy Kildahl is allergic to everything that isn’t nailed down.

“And I’m allergic to the nails,” the 82-year-old Sultan woman said.

She has to carefully monitor her medications and use special skin creams to avoid a reaction. Plus, she’s battling chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, COPD, and has thyroid issues. She stopped driving at 80. To get her medications, she used to rely on relatives and friends to shop for her in Monroe, about 20 minutes west on Highway 2.

Not anymore.

In July, University of Washington School of Pharmacy alumnus Simeon Roth opened Invara, a new kind of pharmacy based on a business plan he wrote while at UW. A big feature of the new store: delivery.

“I’m really, really, extremely grateful for this,” Kildahl said the other day after receiving her latest hand-delivered bag of medicines. “For me, it’s a lifesaver. Really.”

The idea for opening an innovative rural pharmacy germinated in the hallways of the UW about six years ago. In the meantime, the UW School of Pharmacy has been involved in working with state lawmakers to change public policy to allow pharmacists like Roth to do much more than dispense pills.

For Roth, the pharmacy is an incubator for an entrepreneurial concept he’s long been brewing.

It’s about pursuing wellness, doing the right thing and filling a tremendous need for the communities that climb the Cascades towards Stevens Pass: Startup, Index, Skykomish, Sultan and Gold Bar.

“There’s no pharmacy east of here until you get to Leavenworth,” some 70 miles up the road, Roth says. Along the way there are thousands of patients like Kildahl who are homebound due to illness or injury. And Washington state has a shortage of healthcare providers, Roth points out. The national average is a ratio of 1 provider per 1,000 people. In Washington, the ratio is closer to 1:1,100. In Snohomish County, it’s almost double the national average: 1:1,900. Roth believes the ratio is closer to 1:3,000 along the Skykomish Valley where he’s opened shop.

At a time when health care companies are avoiding rural communities, Roth is going the opposite direction.

“We’re running into the mess,” the 45-year-old says.

The pharmacy profession overall is having to reinvent itself, said Don Downing, a clinical professor in the School of Pharmacy and the endowed chair of the Institute for Innovative Pharmacy Practice. Roth studied under Downing.

All the revenue has gone from filling prescriptions, Downing said. In fact, 70 % of pharmacies lose money on the prescription side of the business.

“If we’re going to remain relevant and important to a community we have to find another way,” to operate an enterprise, Downing said.

That means starting with two givens: #1. Students, like Roth, need to understand both the clinical and the business side of the pharmacy industry. (“You can’t do one without the other,” Downing said.) And #2. Change health policy in Olympia to allow pharmacists to not only survive, but take better care of patients.

Under the traditional community pharmacy model, pharmacist revenue is tied directly to filling prescriptions. That dependence on prescription sales has contributed to major problems in this country, Downing said. Think of the opioid crisis or the crammed shelves of a grandparent’s medicine cabinet.

“We have historically not been paid for our highly trained and skilled pharmacists actually making sure people are on the best therapies,” he said. “Similar to other health care providers, we need to compensate pharmacists for their health care services, including active collaboration with medical providers to help people get off of inappropriate medicines and not just pay pharmacists to fill more and more medications.”

That’s what Downing and his students from UW have done in Washington state. They worked with the Insurance Commissioner, the State Attorney General and eventually with legislators to align health policy with better patient outcomes rather than sticking with the traditional prescriptions sales only model. Now, pharmacists can be reimbursed for providing wellness care and a variety of clinical services. That’s important because pharmacists like Roth often are plugged into the day-to-day lives of their patients.

“We have the biggest point of contact with patients,” Roth said. “Nobody has more contact in the health care industry than pharmacists.”

What often happens, Roth said, is that patients with complex chronic conditions — think high blood pressure or diabetes or smoking — don’t see their doctors that frequently. They’re often sent back to the community with little education about how to manage their disease. That can lead to several problems, including having trouble with medications.

Clinicians aren’t plugged into the daily lives of patients like a community pharmacist is. So Roth is working on changing the dynamic. He wants to partner with health care providers, doctors and hospitals to take care management — no just filling prescriptions, but providing a continuation of the chain of care to the patient.

“We’re bridging the gap,” Roth said.

As Invara matures Roth hopes to vastly expand the services he offers. In addition to being open seven days a week and offering free next-day delivery, Roth wants to offer patient education, durable medical equipment such as wheelchairs, plus immunizations and vaccinations, and clinical care for common ailments like infections and the flu.

“There’s hundreds or thousands of more people that we can continue to help and really change their lives not only medically but just in the grand scheme of things,” Roth said. “We’re working on just trying to make the world a better place.”

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Professor Larry Bauer retires from UW School of Pharmacy

After 39 years of distinguished service to the students, faculty and staff at the University of Washington School of Pharmacy, Professor Larry Bauer retired June 30, 2019.  Over the course of his academic career, Larry made many notable contributions to the department, school, university and broader community.  Larry is among the most recognized pharmacists in the field of clinical pharmacokinetics.  His body of work has greatly advanced the practice of clinical pharmacy and patient care.

Larry received his Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy from the University of Washington in 1977 and his PharmD from the University of Kentucky in 1980.  During his time in Kentucky, he also completed his Clinical Pharmacy Residency with the UK Clinical Pharmacokinetics Program.  At UK, his academic advisor was Robert A. Blouin, PharmD, and his residency preceptor was Paul F. Parker, ScD.

Larry joined the faculty at UW in 1980 as an Assistant Professor of Pharmacy Practice.  During this time, he also held an adjunct appointment with the UW School of Medicine as Adjunct Assistant Professor of Laboratory Medicine.  In 1986, Larry was promoted to Associate Professor of Pharmacy Practice and Adjunct Associate Professor of Laboratory Medicine.  In 2001, Larry was promoted to Professor of Pharmacy (2001-present) and Adjunct Professor of Laboratory Medicine (2001-2015).  During his tenure at UW, Larry has been extensively involved in the training of future pharmacists in the bachelor’s degree program, post-baccalaureate PharmD program, as well as the entry-level PharmD program.  His role as an educator involved classroom instruction, clinical rotation precepting, and curriculum design.  He has also mentored three post-doctoral fellows in clinical pharmacokinetics who currently work as university faculty or pharmaceutical industry scientists.  Overall, he has had an immense impact on the training of pharmacists, especially for those who received their education in Washington State.

Over the course of his career, Larry received several notable professional honors.  These include:  Fellow, Association of Clinical Scientists (1988), Fellow, American College of Clinical Pharmacology (1989), Fellow, American College of Clinical Pharmacy (1992) and recipient of the Drug Therapy Research Award, American Society of Health-System Pharmacists Research and Education Foundation.  Larry published 75 peer-reviewed manuscripts, 76 abstracts and numerous book chapters. In 2001, he published the book Applied Clinical Pharmacokinetics (now in its third edition), and in 2006 he published a handbook entitled Clinical Pharmacokinetics.  Larry has also made great contributions to the field of Clinical Pharmacokinetics.  Early in his career, he identified the interference of phenytoin oral absorption by the concurrent use of enteral feeding and investigated the influences of obesity on aminoglycoside, vancomycin, and theophylline dosing.  These discoveries changed clinical practice and inspired many clinicians and investigators to conduct many follow-up investigations in the last 3 decades.  His work has helped define and refine the approach for therapeutic drug monitoring of a number of drugs in clinical practice including, aminoglycosides, vancomycin, digoxin, and theophylline.  Recently, Larry’s work involved the development of erythropoietin as a neuroprotective agent for perinatal asphyxia using both animal models and human subjects and the study of drug interactions for various agents. Since 1988, Larry has been the author of the Clinical Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics chapter in Pharmacotherapy (aka DiPiro), the gold standard textbook for pharmacy curricula all over the world, for 11 editions.  His influence in advancing clinical practice and improving patient care has been significant.

Since joining the University of Washington, Larry has served the Department, School and University in a variety of capacities.  This includes member of the DOP Instructional Workload Committee and member of the DOP Pharmacotherapy Coordination Committee. Larry has also participated in the Curricular Innovations Clinical and Population Therapeutics Committee, SOP Curriculum Committee, SOP Clinical Affiliate Faculty Committee and reviewer for the UW Research Royalty Fund. His professional service has included membership on the Editorial Boards for both Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy and Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics. In addition, he has been a reviewer for numerous professional and scientific publications including: American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy, Clinical Pharmacokinetics, Therapeutic Drug Monitoring, Pharmacotherapy, Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Annals of Pharmacotherapy. Larry has also served as Regent, American College of Clinical Pharmacology, Chair, American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP) Research Affairs Committee, Vice-chair, ACCP Awards Committee and was a Member of several other association committees including ACCP Research Affairs Committee, ACCP Fellowship Review Committee, and ACCP Nominations Committee.

We congratulate Larry on the impact he has made at the School, University and greater community level as an educator, scholar and colleague.

 

Professor Gail Anderson retires from UW School of Pharmacy

After 31 years of distinguished service to the students, faculty and staff at the University of Washington School of Pharmacy, Professor Gail Anderson retired Spring 2019.  Over the course of her academic career, Gail made many notable contributions to the Department, School, University and epilepsy community.

Gail received her Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy, Master of Science in Pharmacy Practice and her Doctor of Philosophy in Pharmaceutics from the University of Washington in 1978, 1981 and 1987, respectively. 

Gail joined the faculty at UW in 1988 as an Assistant Professor of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutics and Adjunct Assistant Professor of Neurological Surgery.  She served in this role until 1994 when she was promoted to Associate Professor of Pharmaceutics and Pharmacy and Adjunct Associate Professor of Neurological Surgery.  In 2000, Gailwas promoted to Professor of Pharmacy and Adjunct Professor of Neurological Surgery and Pharmaceutics, positions she held until her retirement in May, 2019. 

Gail has been a distinguished epilepsy investigator for over 30 years.  During this time, she conducted innovative translational and clinical research on traumatic brain injuries and led clinical studies focused on the pharmacokinetics and drug interactions of antiepileptic drugs and natural products with an emphasis on special populations. Collectively, her work has contributed to a greater understanding of anti-seizure drug metabolism and propensity for drug-drug interactions.  Over the course of her tenure at the University of Washington, Gail has enjoyed substantial extramural research funding including a prestigious $3.3 million National Institutes of Health (NIH) Research Grant in 2009 to study the impact of poly-drug therapy for traumatic brain injury. Her research findings have been published in over 110 highly cited peer-reviewed manuscripts and she has been an invited author for 19 book chapters.  In addition, Gail has delivered over 80 invited regional, national and international presentations focused on her research findings.

Gail’s passion for epilepsy research and therapeutics followed her into the classroom. She has taught clinical pharmacokinetics of antiepileptic drugs to students across a number of professional health programs, including pharmacy, nursing, and physician assistants for several years. Gail also developed an interest in alternative therapies and taught a highly subscribed, clinically based, online alternative medicine course.  In addition to her many teaching commitments in the Doctor of Pharmacy Curriculum, Gail served as the faculty advisor for numerous graduate and post-doctoral fellows. 

Gail served the Department, School, University and scientific community with distinction by way of her involvement on numerous committees – including:  School of Pharmacy Faculty Council, School of Pharmacy Curriculum Committee; Plein Endowed Research Committee; and Steering Committee for the Health Science Interdisciplinary Education Project. Gail served as a Member of the Scientific Advisory Committee for the General Clinical Research Center (converted to ITHS) and Grant Reviewer for ITHS. She also served the scientific community as a grant reviewer for several governmental and non-governmental agencies including NIH, NINDS, NIAMS, NIGMS and NCCAM. Gail has been an active contributor to the service mission of many professional organizations including the Epilepsy Foundation NW where she has been a member of the Professional Advisory Board since 1993.  Gail has also served the American Epilepsy Society in many different capacities for the last 25 years.  In addition, she served as a member of the Data Safety/ Monitoring Board NINDS Neurological Treatment Network for three antiepileptic drug clinical trials between 2008 and 2013.  She was also an Editorial Board Member for numerous professional journals including Journal of Epilepsy, Epilepsy Research  and Clinical Pharmacokinetics.

Over the course of her academic career, Gail has received many accolades including the 2005 School of Pharmacy Gibaldi Excellence in Teaching Award and the 2010 University of Washington School of Pharmacy Distinguished Alumnus for Excellence in Pharmaceutical Science and Research Award.  In 2017, Gail was elected as a Fellow of the American Epilepsy Society. 

We are pleased that Professor Anderson will return part-time to the School of Pharmacy in Fall 2019 where she will teach in our current curriculum (GOLD) and aid in the transition to our revised (PURPLE) curriculum.

Please join all of us at the University of Washington as we congratulate Gail on the tremendous impact that she has had on the Department, School and University and help us celebrate her legacy as an honored researcher, distinguished educator, dedicated professional and valued colleague. Congratulations Gail!

Associate Professor Stan Weber retires from UW School of Pharmacy

After 22 years of distinguished service to the students, faculty and staff at the University of Washington School of Pharmacy, Associate Professor Stan Weber retired July 5, 2019.  Over the course of his academic career, Stan made many notable contributions to the department, school, university and broader community.  Stan received his Bachelor of Pharmacy from Washington State University in 1973 and his PharmD from the University of Cincinnati in 1975.  During his time in Cincinnati, he also completed his Hospital Pharmacy Residency with the Veteran’s Administration Hospital. Stan was also Board Certified in Psychiatric Pharmacotherapy in 1997 and then recertified in 2005, 2010 and 2015.

Stan joined the faculty at UW in 1996 as an Associate Professor and Director of the School of Pharmacy External Doctor of Pharmacy Degree Program and held this position until 2013. In January of 1999, Stan also took on the role of Chief Assessment Officer for the School of Pharmacy, a capacity in which he led the school as Associate Dean for Assessment and Accreditation.  During his tenure at UW, Stan was deeply involved in the didactic education of future pharmacists in the PharmD program and for those pharmacists returning to complete their Doctor of Pharmacy degree through the external PharmD program. In his role as educator, Stan taught at many levels.  He was actively involved in the education of the professional, graduate and post-graduate students.

In his service as Associate Dean for Assessment and Accreditation, Stan made a tremendous impact on the assessment of educational outcomes and quality control in the professional degree program including accreditation. Over the course of his career, Stan made numerous outstanding contributions to the experiential education component of the professional curriculum in the areas of implementation and quality control for the Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experience and the Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experience. Stan’s research and scholarly work focused largely on mental health issues and the therapeutic use of psychoactive therapies for the treatment of schizophrenia and depression.  Earlier in his career Stan served as the Principal Investigator (PI) or co-PI for several program development projects to improve psychiatric pharmaceutical care and services.  In 1987, Professor Weber served as the PI for an American Society of Hospital Pharmacists Research and Education Foundation Grant to develop a Psychiatric Pharmacotherapy Fellow Program. Stan has published over forty peer-reviewed manuscripts and presented over 70 oral presentations and/or posters at various professional meetings during his academic career. Stan has also made numerous significant contributions to the design, development, implementation, and maintenance of software for the Office of Professional Pharmacy Education (OPPE) Course Inventory and Curriculum Maps, the OPPE Experiential Programs Database and the UW School of Pharmacy online Graduation Exit and Employment Surveys.  Other software design and development work has included the development and maintenance of the Academic Practice Partnership Initiative website and database, WSPA-APhA Smoking Cessation website and database, and the Obesity Pharmaceutical Care Project website and database.

Stan received several notable professional honors over the course of his career. These include Recipient of the Judith J. Saklad Memorial Lecture Award (CPNP) in 2009 and election as Fellow of the American Society of Health System Pharmacists in 1996.  In addition, Stan is a Phi Kappa Phi National Scholastic Honorary, Rho Chi Pharmacy Scholastic Honorary and Omicron Delta Kappa Society National Leadership Honorary. Between 2001 and 2004, Stanwas recognized by his peers in the College of Psychiatric and Neurologic Pharmacists when selected as President-Elect in 2001. Between 2002 and 2003, Stan served as President of the College of Psychiatric and Neurologic Pharmacists. 

Since joining the University of Washington, Stan has served the Department, School, University and greater community with distinction.  Among his many service responsibilities, Stan has served as a Chair and member of the School of Pharmacy (SOP) Assessment Committee, member of the SOP Curriculum Committee and Chair of the SOP Academic and Professional Standard Progress Committee. Other SOP committee responsibilities include membership on the SOP Clinical Affiliate Faculty Committee, Senior Leadership Committee and Admissions Committee. He served in Chair roles for both the SOP Recruitment Committee and Accreditation Self-Study Steering Committee. His professional service has included membership on the Past-Presidents’ Council for College of Psychiatric and Neurologic Pharmacists, member of the NW Pharmacy Experiential Consortium and member on the Specialty Council on Psychiatric Pharmacy, Board of Pharmacy Specialties (Chair in 2016). Additional professional memberships and participation include member of the AAMS Advisory Committee, AACP Professional Affairs Committee, AACP Academic Affairs Committee, and College of Psychiatric and Neurologic Pharmacists (CPNP) Advisory Committee. In addition, he has been a guest editor for professional and scientific publications such as Journal of Pharmacy Practice and The Communiqué (ASHP). Stan also served as Co-Chair of the Pharmacy Council on Tobacco Dependence, Chair of the Communications Committee for CPNP and member of the selection panel for the ASHP Foundation Psychiatric Drug Therapy Fellowship Program.

We congratulate Stan on the impact he has made at the School, University and greater community level as an educator, scholar and valued colleague.

 

Promoted UWSOP faculty tackling tough problems facing population health with novel approaches

Recently promoted faculty are finding news ways to solve significant population health problems from Alzheimer’s and related dementias to kidney disease to cancer to MRSA. These preeminent researchers were all recently awarded promotions. Learn more about their research and read stories about their innovative research below.

Abhinav Nath, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Medicinal Chemistry

Abhi and his group are developing new and powerful methods to characterize and control protein dynamics, building on recent advances in biophysics, biochemistry and pharmacology from groups around the world. They focus on proteins involved in degenerative disorders (such as Alzheimer’s disease), the oxidative stress response, and drug metabolism. Read more.

Ed Kelly spoke at NASA a few days before the launch happened, explaining why the team is sending Kidney on a Chip to the International Space Station.

Ed Kelly, PhD, Department of Pharmaceutics Associate Professor, awarded tenure

In the broadest sense, the Kelly lab research interests are within the realm of preclinical biology. In particular, we are interested in applying novel technology platforms to address the 3 Rs of toxicology in animal testing, reduce, refine and replace. Active areas of research in the Kelly lab focus on ex vivo modeling of human organ physiology and toxicological responses to drug/xenobiotic challenge. These project makes use of “organs on chips” or microphysiological systems (MPS) populated with primary and stem-cell derived cell types to recapitulate two key ADME organs, the liver and kidney as alternatives to preclinical animal toxicology studies. Recent work is extending MPS technologies to model select human diseases as well as how organs respond to the extreme environment of microgravity on the International Space Station. Read more about Kidney Chips in space.

Assitant Professor Aasthaa Bansal’s team will look at care for colorectal cancer, prostate cancer, and chronic myeloid leukemia. Their approach will extend to other diseases, including pediatric cancers.

Aasthaa Bansal, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Pharmacy

Aasthaa’s research focuses on sequential decision-making using longitudinal data, prediction modeling, decision theoretic methods including value of information analysis, and comparative effectiveness and outcomes research using large healthcare claims databases and EHR data. She is the PI of a study to develop methods for cost-effective personalized risk-adaptive surveillance in cancer and leads the team of investigators that received a prestigious NIH MERIT Award. Read more.

Brian Werth, PharmD, Associate Professor, Department of Pharmacy

Brian’sresearch interest is in antimicrobial resistance and the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of antimicrobials. His interdisciplinary translational research program is primarily focused on understanding the mechanisms of cross-resistance among glycopeptides, lipopeptides, and lipoglycopeptides in Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Read more.

Cathy Yeung, PharmD, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmacy

Cathy’s research includes both basic science and translational studies, and spans from the determination of molecular mechanisms of altered drug metabolism using 3-dimensional cell culture techniques to the evaluation of the effect of drugs and nutritional supplements on health outcomes in patients receiving hemodialysis. She is a key investigator in the development of a “kidney on a chip” microphysiological system that can be used in preclinical drug development. Read more about Kidney Chips in space.

Congratulations to all!

 

To study with researchers like these, click on the links for more information about our Graduate Programs in Medicinal Chemistry, Pharmaceutics, Pharmaceutical Outcomes Research and Policy, and Biomedical Regulatory Affairs.

Want to earn your PharmD professional degree at the UW? Start here to learn more.

 

 

 

Using Data and Economics to Transform Health | Celebrating 25 Years

CHOICE faculty and students at the 2019 retreat
CHOICE faculty and students at the 2019 retreat

Celebrating 25 years, The CHOICE Institute continues to grow and transform, expanding its impact on population health.

“At CHOICE, we work to advance the study of health economics, pharmaceutical outcomes research, and policy to improve population health in the U.S. and around the world.”—Anirban Basu, Stergachis Endowed Director, Choice Institute

The Comparative Health Outcomes, Policy & Economics (CHOICE) Institute at UWSOP began largely out of a response to a student and workforce needs. In 1989, Andy Stergachis, now Associate Dean at UWSOP, was advising David H. Smith, ’90, ’98, who wanted to earn a PhD studying the impact of healthcare policies on population health.

At that time UW did not offer a Pharmacy PhD, so David created his own interdisciplinary program of study. Andy and Dean Milo Gibaldi, decided to create a doctoral program in Pharmacy. In 1990, Andy was awarded the Burroughs Wellcome/American College of Preventive Medicine Scholar in Pharmacoepidemiology Award, which provided much-needed seed funding for the program, including support for visiting faculty, such as epidemiologist Jackie Gardner, PhD, and a newly-minted PhD from UC Berkeley named Sean D. Sullivan.

When Sean and Andy first met, Sean was looking forward to his new position at Wolfson College at Oxford University. But fate (and Andy) had a different plan. Andy presented Sean with the vision of a world-class program in pharmaceutical outcomes research. Sean was intrigued. When Andy showed up—in person—at Berkeley a few weeks later, Sean said yes to Andy and then, “I had to write the most difficult letter of my professional career. After all, who says ‘no’ to Oxford? But it changed my life.”

Sean and Jackie joined the faculty team with Dale Christensen and Bill Fassett, ’69. The development of the new Pharmacy PhD program began in earnest. About 25 years ago, the team had attracted top scholars and built enough support to be officially designated the Pharmaceutical Outcomes Research and Policy Program (PORPP) at the UW.

In 2014, Sean became Dean of UWSOP, which meant finding a new Director, now named the Stergachis Family Endowed Director, thanks to a generous gift from Andy and JoAnn Stergachis. Anirban Basu, Ph.D, was selected and in 2017, he announced the launch of The Comparative Health Outcomes, Policy & Economics (CHOICE) Institute, an expansion of PORPP that organizes research and training activities and resources in the fields of health economics, policy analysis/big data sciences, economics of precision medicine, drug and vaccine safety, and global medicines issues.

CHOICE continues to thrive with world-class researchers and leaders in health economics like Professor Emeritus Lou Garrison, Professor Dave Veenstra, Professor Beth Devine, Associate Professor Josh Carlson, Associate Professor Aasthaa Bansal, who earned a prestigious 7-year NIH MERIT Award, 2011 PAA Distinguished Alumni Award recipient Ryan Hansen, ’03, ’12, Research Assistant Professor Doug Barthold, Shelly Gray and Zach Marcum from the UW Plein Center, and many more affiliates and leaders in outcomes and health economics research.

CHOICE Alumni have become leaders in academia, industry, and government, such as Jonathan Watanabe, ’98, ’08, ’12, faculty member at UC San Diego and the first pharmacist named to the National Academy of Medicine Emerging Leaders in Health and Medicine Scholars Program, and Mitch Higashi, ’01, who established the Health Tech Fund, and now is an industry leader.

 

To study with UWSOP’s top faculty in health economics and outcomes, medicinal chemistry, and pharmaceutics, click here for more information about our Graduate Programs in Medicinal Chemistry, Pharmaceutics, Pharmaceutical Outcomes Research and Policy, and Biomedical Regulatory Affairs.

Want to earn your PharmD professional degree at the UW? Start here to learn more.

A Tradition of Reinventing Pharmacy

UW School of Pharmacy Research Assistant Professor Ryan Hansen, PhD, PharmD
UW School of Pharmacy Assistant Professor Ryan Hansen, PhD, PharmD, and principal/Chief Technology Officer at Kelley-Ross Pharmacy.

Never doubt the profound impact that our faculty and alumni have had on health care nationwide through decades of advocacy for increased access to patient care.

“Pharmacists are the medication experts on the health care team and in the community. Thanks to our work, in addition to improved care at hospitals and clinics, busy people can just pop into their local pharmacy to get the care they need.”—Don Downing, ’75, I2P2 Endowed Clinical Associate Professor

Increasingly, deadly illnesses are becoming chronic illnesses thanks to advances in drug development and improved medical care. This change calls for increased interprofessional expertise on the health care team—which is where pharmacists come in.

The movement to increase the role of the pharmacist on the health care team began in earnest forty years ago. In 1979 Washington became one of the first states in the country to enact legislation to allow pharmacists to participate in collaborative drug therapy agreements (CDTA) with physicians. UWSOP alumnus Tim Fuller, ’69, was instrumental in the process to create these agreements.

As noted in Sean D. Sullivan’s article, “Pharmacists as health care providers” in the Journal of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy, “In addition to granting pharmacists dependent prescriptive authority, the revised Practice Act allowed for the direct administration of drugs, drug use monitoring and management, and the ability of pharmacists to order, review, and use laboratory tests to modify drug therapy.” Most importantly, these services were extended to all licensed pharmacists in the state, as long as they had a CDTA.

The 1990s saw big changes in pharmacy practice in Washington state. Recognizing that pharmacists were both underutilized and
the most accessible health care providers, Jackie Gardner and Don Downing, ’75, worked together to expand what a pharmacist could do. They began with advocating for and training pharmacists to administer vaccinations—now a nationwide and growing global practice.

Don and Jackie went on from that success to develop the nation’s first pharmacist-provided emergency contraception program and the first pharmacist-initiated ongoing hormonal contraception services. In 1995, the “Every Category of Health Care Provider Law,” was passed, stating that private insurance companies could not exclude licensed providers from their networks, so long as the services provided were within the scope of their license. Initially not considered eligible under this Act, Don advocated for pharmacist inclusion. In 2013, he petitioned the Washington State Insurance Commissioner and the Attorney General to issue legal opinions that Pharmacists had to be included. He followed those supportive opinions with advocating for legislation that required insurers to compensate pharmacists for their clinical work, not just drug dispensing.

That legislation passed successfully in 2015.

The increased access to care provided by pharmacists has been supported by the alumni-supported Institute for Innovation in Pharmacy Practice (I2P2) Endowment.

 

Jackie Gardner | Epidemiologist & Legendary Advocate for Increased Access to Care

Jackie was co-director of the Retail Pharmacy Management Program and led the Institute for Innovation in Pharmacy Practice (I2P2)—the I2P2 fund was later named after her—in addition to being an early PORPP faculty member. She worked as a pharmacy technician, which inspired her strong advocacy for expanding pharmacy services to include immunization, contraception, and other value-added care. “Jackie changed the profession of pharmacy and the way individual pharmacists embraced patient care,” said Don Downing.

 

Tim Fuller, ’69 | Father Of Pharmacist Collaborative Drug Therapy

Tim was instrumental in the process to create collaborative drug therapy agreements. He began with a study of the 60 prescriptive authority protocols that were filed in the Board of Pharmacy office, showing an overwhelmingly positive response by physicians and pharmacists to pharmacists prescribing in collaboration with physicians. He worked with pharmacists to expand this practice. His book, The Handbook of Collaborative Drug Therapy, provided templates for pharmacists to use. He is the 2018 PAA Distinguished Alum.

 

Don Downing, ’75 | Advocate for Pharmacy and Women’s Reproductive Health

After graduating from UWSOP, Don was asked by the Puyallup Tribe to help them open up a tribal health clinic – a clinic where he remained for the next 10 years. He developed the nation’s first pharmacist-provided emergency contraception program and the first pharmacist-initiated ongoing hormonal contraception services. He also helped lead the effort in the 1990s to educate and certify pharmacists in Washington state and numerous other states to provide flu shots and other vaccines.

 

Jennifer Bacci | Assistant Professor & Community Pharmacy Researcher

Jennifer’s primary research interest focuses on the application of implementation science to evaluate and advance the adoption and reach of innovative patient care models in community pharmacy practice, including being co-investigator on PROJECT VACCINATE with Peggy Odegard. The team saw a 14% increase in the number of influenza, pneumococcal, herpes zoster, and pertussis vaccinations in just one year as a direct result of their work, which was supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS).

 

To study with UWSOP’s top faculty in health economics and outcomes, medicinal chemistry, and pharmaceutics, click here for more information about our Graduate Programs in Medicinal Chemistry, Pharmaceutics, Pharmaceutical Outcomes Research and Policy, and Biomedical Regulatory Affairs.

Want to earn your PharmD professional degree at the UW? Start here to learn more.

 

Inventing Blistex

A chance meeting on a train between a Seattle pharmacist and Chicago businessman turned an ointment created in L.D. Bracken’s pharmacy into an international brand.

“Many people don’t realize how inventive pharmacists have been throughout history. L.D. Bracken’s story is a great example of the kinds of transformative products and entrepreneurial spirit that often begin in the local, community pharmacy.”—Andy Stergachis, Associate Dean for Research, Graduate Programs, and New Initiatives

The Bracken family has made significant contributions to pharmacy practice—initially through a compounding invention, and decades later through their investment in creating a state-of-the-art pharmacy learning lab here at the UW School of Pharmacy.

Born in Nebraska in 1892—the same year as UWSOP alumna Alice Ball—Louis D. (L.D.) Brackenattended the UW School of Pharmacy from 1912-1913. He went on to found the L.D. Bracken Pharmacy in 1921, ultimately with locations in downtown Seattle in the Cobb Building and on First Hill. In the great tradition of compounding pharmacists, L.D. was an inventor, in addition to being an entrepreneur and health care provider.

Not long after graduating from UWSOP, he created a formula for cold sores that he called Blistex. L.D. was a gifted pharmacist and businessman who needed a partner who could help him with marketing and business expansion. But with Shark Tank 90 or so years in the future, where would he find that kind of business partner?

It was in 1925 when L.D. met Charles Arch while the two were traveling the U.S. by train. Charles was a sales man working for a company that made collapsible metal tubes (like toothpaste tubes), The two struck up a conversation and later agreed for Charles to purchase the rights to make and distribute L.D.’s product.

L.D. kept the trademark and earned royalties on the sales—while continuing his vital pharmacy business in Seattle. His son, Jim L. Bracken, followed in his father’s footsteps, graduating from UWSOP in 1945 and then joining his father’s pharmacy business.

Interestingly, alumna Pat Tanac, ’45, also worked for L.D. Bracken Pharmacy when she graduated. She was one of 2 co-founders of Chi Collegiate Chapter of Lambda Kappa Sigma, the professional fraternity for women in pharmacy Pat and her husband Robert Tanac, ’45, are founding members of and the Dean’s Club and Pharmacy Alumni Association.

When L.D. died in 1954, Jim became president of the company. L.D. and Jim were beloved leaders in the profession, serving as presidents of the Washington State Pharmacists Association and as founding members of the American College of Apothecaries.

Bracken Pharmacy Learning Center opened up a more fluid pedagogical space

Jim was also named Pharmacist of the Year for King County. He passed away in 1984. Jim’s wife, Sharon M. Bracken, and their children, Laura Bracken Clough, Carol Bracken Clemency, and John L. Bracken, continue to value and honor the contributions that L.D. and Jim made to the profession of pharmacy.

Sharon established the Bracken Endowment in memory of Jim and L.D. In 2012, UWSOP opened the Bracken Pharmacy Learning Center, which continues as a hub of training excellence for the next generation of Husky Pharmacists.

 

To study with UWSOP’s top faculty in health economics and outcomes, medicinal chemistry, and pharmaceutics, click here for more information about our Graduate Programs in Medicinal Chemistry, Pharmaceutics, Pharmaceutical Outcomes Research and Policy, and Biomedical Regulatory Affairs.

Want to earn your PharmD professional degree at the UW? Start here to learn more.

A Commitment to the End of HIV/AIDS

Shiu-Lok Hu’s work began decades ago in utter frustration with a powerful and unknown virus and continues today…with promising new leads and a novel approach to creating an HIV vaccine.

“I began this work 30 years ago and have seen the diagnosis of AIDS change from a certain death sentence to a manageable chronic condition. My dream is to see it disappear.”—Shiu-Lok Hu, Milo Gibaldi Endowed Professor of Pharmaceutics

Vaccines save lives. When the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) was identified, there soon followed calls to create a vaccine. If we can have vaccines for influenza, mumps, measles and other viruses, it seems logical that we could have one for HIV as well.

But HIV presents a significant challenge to creating a vaccine. HIV is a highly lethal virus that continues to evolve in the body, making it difficult for the infected person to clear the infection. Without effective therapeutic intervention, there are few survivors after contracting HIV. “If you get mumps and recover from it, you develop a lifetime immunity,” explains Pharmaceutics Professor Shiu-Lok Hu. “This has been the paradigm for classical vaccine development: to mimic natural infection without causing the disease. But, to make a HIV vaccine, we may have to look for a new paradigm. HIV leaves few survivors. Unfortunately, HIV has evolved many mechanisms to evade the immune system and ultimately destroy it. Even today, with effective treatments, if you stop taking drugs, the virus comes back.”

About 30 years ago, Shiu-Lok had a breakthrough to create a prime-boost immunization to help the body fight the virus, similar to other vaccine protocols with booster shots. That breakthrough began decades of Shiu-Lok’s research funded by the National Institutes of Health and more recently by the Gates Foundation.

So far, the only vaccine that has shown a modest (~30%) efficacy is the one tested on >16,000 volunteers in Thailand (the Thai trial), that uses the “prime-boost” strategy. Although the Thai trial has shown the feasibility of vaccination against HIV, further improvements are needed to make it an effective preventive measure.

Shiu-Lok has joined forces with Associate Professor of Medicinal Chemistry Kelly Lee to continue the research to find a reliable vaccine and booster. They are using a genetically engineered smallpox vaccine to prime the immune system, followed by recombinant HIV proteins as a boost. In this new grant, Shiu-Lok and Kelly hope to improve the efficacy of the “prime-boost” approach by designing a more effective vaccine. Kelly has studied the influenza virus, which utilizes mechanisms similar to those used by HIV to “dock” onto the host cell, pry it open, transfer the viral genes into the cell, thereby taking it over and causing the infection.

The team seeks to create a vaccine that could better expose the part of HIV it uses to dock onto the cell, thus making it easier for the body to mount immune responses to block infection. If successful, these approaches are likely to result in greater efficacy than that achieved in the Thai trial.

This project highlights the unique capacity of the UW School of Pharmacy in pharmaceutical sciences, as Shiu-Lok and Kelly each bring different expertise in virology, immunology, and structural biochemistry to tackle problems such as HIV vaccine. Their partnership could well lead to a breakthrough to find a safe and efficacious vaccine to help make the world free of AIDS.

The five-year, $4.5M grant was funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health (R01AI129673).

 

To study with UWSOP’s top faculty in health economics and outcomes, medicinal chemistry, and pharmaceutics, click here for more information about our Graduate Programs in Medicinal Chemistry, Pharmaceutics, Pharmaceutical Outcomes Research and Policy, and Biomedical Regulatory Affairs.

Improving Care for Alaska Native People

One of the University of Washington’s significant population health projects began ten years ago with a collaboration led by Pharmaceutics Professor Ken Thummel and Wylie Burke, professor of Bioethics and Humanities in the UW School of Medicine. The multidisciplinary research group with faculty from the Departments of Bioethics and Humanities, Epidemiology, Biostatistics, Genome Sciences, Medicinal Chemistry, Laboratory Medicine, and Pharmacy, joined a nationwide network of scientists through the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to study how genes affect individual response to medicines.

The mission of the National Institute of Health’s Pharmacogenomics Research Network (PGRN) is to catalyze and lead research in precision medicine for the discovery and translation of genomic variation influencing therapeutic and adverse drug effects. The NIH grant was one of 14 nationwide— totaling $166.3 million.

Ken and Wylie have used their NIH funding ($18 million over 10 years) to create a center to study pharmacogenomics in American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) and rural Pacific Northwest populations. Their goal is to reduce barriers that limit the inclusion of American Indian and Alaska Native people in pharmacogenomic research, and to expand the knowledge base of pharmacogenomic variation, so that these traditionally underserved communities, and their healthcare providers, have increased opportunities to evaluate the merits of prospective pharmacogenetic testing and introduce advances into clinical practice.

Tribal communities have historically been overlooked in health-related research, or research was often conducted without their input or oversight, and with little data sharing afterward. “Given this history, a major component of our work is to restore trust between research communities and tribal communities,” said Ken. “We are doing this not only by working with tribal elders and members and their healthcare providers, and seeking their input on procedures, but also by being as transparent as possible.”

The center’s research initially focused on genetic variables influencing drug therapy with the blood thinner warfarin, the anti-estrogen tamoxifen, and the immunosuppressant tacrolimus. Through additional grant support from NIH, NWA-PGRN center post doc researcher and Navajo Tribe member Katrina Claw focused on nicotine metabolism to support smoking cessation and the metabolism of Vitamin D.

Vitamin D deficiency is a public health problem, particularly for northern latitude indigenous populations. Limited sunlight exposure and a shift to Western diets and lifestyles may be some of the driving causes of insufficiency, but gene variation modifies individual risk. As more Alaska Native and American Indian people suffer from vitamin D insufficiency, there may be increases in pathologies like cancer, heart disease, and bone disease.

In their latest round of NIH funding, NWA-PGRN investigators continue to partner with AI/AN communities in Alaska and Montana to conduct research on different pharmacogenes, including those that affect anticoagulation and antiplatelet therapies for the treatment of cardiovascular disease. They are also examining diet, as an additional modifier of anticoagulation and antiplatelet drug responses.

Katrina Claw, PhD | Post Doc & MLK Service Award Winner

Ken Thummel, Milo Gibaldi Endowed Chair of the Department of Pharmaceutics, with Katrina Claw who was honored for her service to the community at the 2019 Martin Luther King Tribute
Ken Thummel, Milo Gibaldi Endowed Chair of the Department of Pharmaceutics, with Katrina Claw who was honored for her service to the community at the 2019 Martin Luther King Tribute

Katrina’s research has focused on pharmacogenomics and the ethical implications of genomic research in Indigenous communities. Her projects focus on hepatic variation, tobacco pharmacogenomics, and perceptions of genetic research in American Indian communities. Working with tribal partners in the Northwest-Alaska Pharmacogenetic Research Network (NWA-PGRN), Katrina’s NIH fellowship research seeks to identify and functionally characterize variation in genes related to vitamin D metabolism. One of her projects is qualitative and has focused on examining the perspectives of American Indian tribes regarding genetic/genomic research. There is a history of research misconduct with Indigenous populations, and her work has examined attitudes and perspectives of tribal members with the eventual goals of developing community-driven genetic research projects and policies.

 

A Tradition of Innovation and Impact

UW School of Pharmacy has always been ahead of its time—right back to our founding in 1894 as the first school of health sciences at the University of Washington.

“The University of Washington School of Pharmacy is absolutely and resolutely dedicated to improving population health here in Seattle and around the world. Everyone talks about innovation and impact, but we live it every day.” –Sean D. Sullivan, Professor and Dean, UW School of Pharmacy

The UW College of Pharmacy 1894

The University of Washington School of Pharmacy community has been asking and answering those questions for 125 years. From our founding downtown on Denny’s Knoll (now the site of the Fairmont Olympic Hotel) in 1894 to sending scientific experiments to the International Space Station to conduct novel experiments, our faculty, students, and alumni are always finding new ways to improve population health.

A new drug safety law passed in 1891 required drug dispensing or compounding be done by a registered pharmacist. At the time, Washington state had no school of pharmacy and the closest was in San Francisco. Through a collaboration between Canadian pharmacistA.B. Stewartand UW President Edmond S. Meany, the Board of Regents established the College of Pharmacy on July 10, 1894, joining what were then the Colleges of Literature, Science, and Arts, the College of Pedagogy, and the (now defunct) School of Mines and Mining. The first class of eleven pharmacy students in the state of Washington graduated in 1896. Notably that class included three women, Helen May Anthony, Eva Maude Campbell, and Virginia Mackey Elder.

It would be decades before the establishment of other Schools of Health Sciences at the UW. Starting with a School of Pharmacy reflects the health care system at the time and which, in some rural and underserved communities, is still true to this day. In many communities, then and now, the only health provider for hundreds of miles has often been the pharmacist.

As a public university, our mission is to serve all of the people of our state. We take the responsibility to improve population health seriously. As we celebrate 125 years of impact and innovation, we do so by honoring our roots and mission to inspire education, discover solutions, and serve the people and communities here in Washington and around the world.

 

To study with UWSOP’s top faculty in health economics and outcomes, medicinal chemistry, and pharmaceutics, click here for more information about our Graduate Programs in Medicinal Chemistry, Pharmaceutics, Pharmaceutical Outcomes Research and Policy, and Biomedical Regulatory Affairs. Want to earn your PharmD professional degree at the UW? Start here to learn more.

Training to practice at the top of their license

UWSOP implements the Purple Curriculum with new Wednesdays in Practice, Provider Readiness Training and more

UW School of Pharmacy’s PharmD program trains pharmacists to think critically and be prepared for a future of health care that requires the advanced skills and knowledge of the Husky Pharmacist.

“The UW School of Pharmacy is one of the first pharmacy schools in the U.S. to offer hands-on experiential training to student pharmacists from the start through the transformative Wednesdays in Practice and Provider Readiness series.”—Peggy Odegard, Associate Dean and Lynn and Geraldine Brady Endowed Professor of Pharmacy

As the UWSOP Strategic plan comes into its fifth year, we are launching the new Husky Pharmacist curriculum. This approach to pharmacy training makes the UW one of the few schools of pharmacy nationwide that offers experiential training from the start of our student pharmacists’ first year. Not only that, but our students won’t just be observing as is the case in some other first year experiential programs, they will be working directly with patients, learning to interview, gathering information, considering the patient’s holistic needs, and gaining critical continuity in their learning with application to practice from the classroom.

Our student pharmacists train in the Bracken Pharmacy Learning Center
Our student pharmacists train in the Bracken Pharmacy Learning Center

This novel approach to training prepares our student pharmacists to be active members of the health care team in the new age of Pharmacist Provider Status here in Washington state. Over the past several years, the Curricular Innovation team, led by Associate Dean Peggy Odegard, ’85, ’90, developed a plan to prepare our student pharmacists for a future that calls for more leadership, entrepreneurial skills, even community-building and advocacy—in addition to the excellent training they already receive in medicinal chemistry, pharmacology, clinical pharmacy, and patient care. Whether it’s to be full members of the health care team or to pitch a new approach to patient care, to manage an independent pharmacy, or to lead a health system, our student pharmacists’ professional and interprofessional skills need to be as strong as their scientific knowledge.

Research shows that learning gained through direct experience is the most powerful for health providers’ training experience. As more people take medications to manage their health, Washington state recognized the vital role of the pharmacist in improving patient care and health outcomes. Chronic health conditions, such as diabetes and hypertension, are primarily treated with medications—and viruses like HIV and Hepatitis C are now chronic or curable illnesses, rather than terminal diseases, thanks to advancements in medications.

In addition, the new curriculum places high value on the learning that occurs both inside and outside the classroom—formalizing training in leadership and professional development, advocacy, and innovation and valuing the extensive experience and perspective our students gain through student organizations, at health fairs, and by stepping into the community through events and engagement.

Being a leader is different from being a manager, Peggy emphasized. “When our Husky Pharmacists see gaps and opportunities, we want them to step up and advocate for the benefit of the patient.”

Advance your career as a pharmacist at the University of Washington. Learn more about our nationally and globally top-ranked PharmD Program.

Link to Department of Pharmacy archived news

The Future of Pharmacy


Celebrating 125 Years of Impact & Innovation

Our mission is to develop exceptional pharmacy leaders and researchers, discover solutions to improve population health, and serve the health and well-being of the public, locally and globally…even in space.

“We aren’t waiting for the future to happen. We are proactively accounting for what these changes mean and preparing our student pharmacists and researchers to think critically and be able to adapt to whatever policies, innovations, or technologies are to come.”.—Sean D. Sullivan, Professor and Dean, UW School of Pharmacy

At the University of Washington School of Pharmacy, we embrace diverse perspectives, beliefs and cultures and work to serve the greater good of society.

When pharmacists are open and educated on how to support their patients, the quality of care improves. Through our training, research, and outreach, we make sure we are taking care of people–whatever their needs are. Our work matters and we make a difference.

In 2009, then student, now alumna, Joanna Preker, ’12, worked with I2P2 Endowed Clinical Professor Don Downing, ’75, to advocate for improved patient access to sexual and reproductive health services. Founded and named by Joanna, Pharmacy for Reproductive Education and Sexual Health (PhRESH) was a first-of-its-kind pharmacy student organization. Her novel efforts were successful, resulting in increased access to health care for women and families in Washington and elsewhere.

Sam Miller and his poster presentation at the 2019 AACP Conference
Sam Miller and his poster presentation at the 2019 AACP Conference

Sam Miller, PharmD candidate, class of 2020, an active PhRESH member, is leading the way in supporting transgender patients. He has created a toolkit and resources to train pharmacists in how to communicate they are a welcoming pharmacy—from asking for preferred pronouns to wearing pronoun buttons on lab coats. Sam’s programs include the technical aspects of supporting transgender patients including training them on injecting hormones, helping with insurance coverage questions, and more. Sam won an award at the WSPA Northwest Pharmacy Conference for his research poster on training pharmacists to support transgender patients and recently did a rotation at the Human Rights Campaign.

The team reconvened Saturday, May the 4th, 2019...ever hopeful that this time the launch would be successful.
The team reconvened Saturday, May the 4th, 2019…ever hopeful that this time the launch would be successful.

We are boundless in our efforts to improve health care. In 2019, faculty members Ed Kelly, Cathy Yeung, ’05, ’13, and their team, along with collaborators at UW Medicine and Kidney Research Institute, watched live at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral as the Kidney on a Chip project launched to outer space. The project aims to help people on Earth and future astronauts on missions to Mars. One of the challenges of spending years in microgravity is that there is a high increase in kidney-related health problems, including osteoporosis and kidney stones. The team hopes to gain insight into that rapid aging process through the microphysiological chips.

Thanks to donors like Richard, ’54, and Susan Coar, we continue to support forward-looking research projects like those supported by UWSOP Faculty Innovation Awards. Pharmacy’s Brian Werth and Medicinal Chemistry’s Libin Xu received funds to support their novel research into antibiotic resistance mechanisms in the superbug, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), which has led to a $1.86M NIH grant.

Medicinal Chemistry Assistant Professor Libin Xu (left), Pharmacy Assistant Professor Brian Werth (right), are pictured in conversation with Medicinal Chemistry’s Senior Fellow, Kelly Hines (center). Their research earned them the inaugural award from the UWSOP Faculty Innovation Fund, which provides financial support for one to two awards of up to $20,000 each for high-risk, innovative research projects.
Medicinal Chemistry Assistant Professor Libin Xu (left), Pharmacy Assistant Professor Brian Werth (right), are pictured in conversation with Medicinal Chemistry’s Senior Fellow, Kelly Hines (center). Their research earned them the
inaugural award from the UWSOP Faculty Innovation Fund, which provides financial support for one to two awards of up to $20,000 each for high-risk, innovative research projects. Photo: Alex Levine

An interdisciplinary team led by CHOICE Professor Beth Devine, with Pharmaceutics’ Isabelle Ragueneau-Majlessi, ’10, and Pharmacy’s Shelly Gray and Jennifer Wilson Norton, ’93, earned the Faculty Innovation Award funds for their research on using pharmacogenetic testing on clinical outcomes in retirement communities. UWSOP’s Jennifer Bacci, and Basia Belza, from the UW School of Nursing, are serving as advisors. Abhi Nath is looking for new ways to predict how the body metabolizes biologics, also known as “large-molecule” drugs or protein-based therapeutics. These drugs display immense potential in the treatment of many challenging forms of cancer, autoimmune disorders, and infectious and degenerative diseases, but little is known about the factors that govern their pharmacokinetics and disposition. Professor Allan Rettie’s team seeking new personalized ways to slow the progression of the development of breast cancer by focusing in on an enzyme, CYP4Z1, that can go rogue, which may lead improved therapies that are custom for a patient’s particular type of breast cancer.

These interdisciplinary approaches to training are indicative
of the multi-disciplinary approach to solving problems of population health. We are proud of the tradition of alumni who are both pharmacists and researchers, including Dave Veenstra, Beth Devine, Jean Dinh, ’05, ’09, ’14, Ryan Hansen,’03, ’12, Jonathan Watanabe, ’98, ’08, ’12, Cara McDermott, ’11, ’12, ’16, Cathy Yeung, Cate Lockhart, ’04, ’13, ’16, ’16, Todd Lee,’01, Kai Yeung, ’15, and Lindsay Henderson. The problems of health and the health care system are intertwined and complex. It will take leaders like our alumni to create a world where all people can live healthier and more fulfilling lives.

Advance your career as a pharmacist at the University of Washington. Learn more about our nationally and globally top-ranked PharmD Program.

Link to Department of Pharmacy archived news

Nina Isoherranen named Chair of Pharmaceutics Department

On July 1, 2019, UW School of Pharmacy Professor and Dean Sean D. Sullivan appointed Professor Nina Isoherranen to the Milo Gibaldi Endowed Chair of Pharmaceutics. Her appointment makes her the first woman to chair the department.

“From her first days here as a post-doctoral fellow, Dr. Isoherranen demonstrated the standard of excellence and innovative research that are the hallmarks of our faculty. I am looking forward to working with her as we continue to grow the outstanding international reputation of the UW Department of Pharmaceutics.”—Sean D. Sullivan, Professor and Dean, UW School of Pharmacy

Dr. Isoherranen assumes the role of chair from Professor Kenneth Thummel, who led the growth of the department to over 100 personnel and annual research funding of $13.6M. This growth is one of the key reasons why the UWSOP is ranked #3 nationally among Schools of Pharmacy in NIH grant awards. Ken will return to the faculty to continue his research program and teach in the graduate and professional degree programs.

Dr. Isoherranen earned her bachelor’s degree in chemistry and her master’s degree in Analytical Chemistry in 1998 from the University of Helsinki, Finland. She obtained a PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 2003.

She began her career in the UW Pharmaceutics department in 2003 as a post-doctoral fellow with Dr. Thummel then became Acting Assistant Professor in November 2004 and Assistant Professor in 2006. In 2012 Dr. Isoherranen was promoted to Associate Professor and in 2017, she was named Professor of Pharmaceutics.

The Department of Pharmaceutics has long been recognized for its expertise in drug metabolism and transport kinetics. Its faculty are innovators in targeted drug delivery, physiologically-based pharmacokinetic modeling and microphysiologic human organ systems.

Dr. Isoherranen and her team are actively involved in collaborations with scientists at the University of Washington and with investigators in other US institutions. Her lab’s research projects are highly translational and extend out basic research findings to clinical importance.

The three main research areas in the lab entail characterization of vitamin A metabolism and the processes that regulate cell and tissue concentrations of retinoic acid the active metabolite of vitamin A, evaluation of drug disposition during pregnancy and fetal exposure and effects of xenobiotics, and methods of in vitro to in vivoprediction, simulation and rationalization of drug-drug and drug-disease interactions.

Dr. Isoherranen has mentored many accomplished alumni and students, including these recent projects we reported on:

  • John Amory MD, MS, and graduate student Faith Stevison find breakthrough treatment for male infertility Story
  • Sara Shum and collaborators unveil new maternal and fetal health risks associated with shellfish toxin Story

In 2013, Dr. Isoherranen was presented the Richard Okita Early Career Award in Drug Metabolism and Disposition from the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics and in 2014, she was awarded the International Society for the Study of Xenobiotics (ISSX) Young Investigator Award.

The Department of Pharmaceutics has long been recognized for its expertise in drug metabolism and transport kinetics. Its faculty are innovators in targeted drug delivery, physiologically-based pharmacokinetic modeling and microphysiologic human organ systems. To ensure the continued outstanding research and training in the Department of Pharmaceutics, we invite you to support the Pharmaceutics Fund for Excellence.

 

To study with researchers like Pharmaceutics’ Professors Nina Isoherranen and Kenneth Thummel, click on the links for more information about our Graduate Programs in Medicinal Chemistry, Pharmaceutics, Pharmaceutical Outcomes Research and Policy, and Biomedical Regulatory Affairs.

Link to Pharmaceutics archived news

Ken Thummel returns to faculty after 13 years of success as Chair

After thirteen years leading the Department of Pharmaceutics to international success, Professor Kenneth Thummel will return to faculty full time and Professor Nina Isoherranen will become the Milo Gibaldi Endowed Chair of Pharmaceutics.

Dr. Thummel was appointed Chair of the Pharmaceutics Department in 2006. He assumed that role from the Department’s founding Chair, Dr. Rene’ Levy and was the first Milo Gibaldi Endowed Chair of Pharmaceutics.

In his leadership role as chair, Dr. Thummel made substantial scientific and administrative contributions to the department and the field of Pharmaceutics.

“I am grateful to Ken for his leadership and collaboration over the years. His impact on the School, our students, and alumni is profound. His mentorship and life-changing research have had a profound impact on the School, the Northwest, and around the world—and even outer space.”—Sean D. Sullivan, Professor and Dean, UW School of Pharmacy

At the time of his appointment, the Department consisted of 7 full time faculty, 5 temporary or part-time faculty, 16 post-doctoral fellows, 20 graduate students and a limited number of research and instructional support staff.  Its annual extramural funding totaled approximately $2.7 million.

As he steps down as Chair, the Department’s annual research funding stands at $13.6 million (2018), with over 100 departmental personnel working collectively to meet instructional, research and service missions. These successes are a key reason why the UWSOP is ranked #3 nationally among Schools of Pharmacy in NIH grant awards

The Department of Pharmaceutics also is recognized as a leader in drug-drug interaction science and the faculty are innovators in targeted drug delivery, physiologically-based pharmacokinetic modeling and microphysiologic human organ systems. Under the leadership of Dr. Isabelle Ragueneau, the Drug Interaction Solutions (formerly Drug Interactions Database) database team produces a commercialized software product licensed by the University to pharmaceutical companies and other academic and clinical programs worldwide. The database produces annual revenue in excess of $1.0 million and supports graduate student training in the pharmaceutical sciences arena.

 

To ensure the continued outstanding research and training in the Department of Pharmaceutics, we invite you to support the Pharmaceutics Fund for Excellence.

 

To study with researchers like Pharmaceutics’ Professors Nina Isoherranen and Kenneth Thummel, click on the links for more information about our Graduate Programs in Medicinal Chemistry, Pharmaceutics, Pharmaceutical Outcomes Research and Policy, and Biomedical Regulatory Affairs.

Link to Pharmaceutics archived news

Congratulations to all awarded a Certificate of Merit in Precepting!

UWSOP PharmD students train to be full members of the health care team in our Bracken Lab

Certificates of Merit in Precepting

Our Experiential Education team recently completed our annual preceptor review process as part of our quality assurance program. This review process allowed us to identify preceptors who have demonstrated excellence in the following major areas:

  1. Active participation, as measured by the number of students precepted
  2. Quality of precepting based on student evaluations of the preceptor
  3. Progression in self-development
  4. Sustained and significant contributions to the School and profession

Click  here to see the full list of exemplary preceptors who have been awarded the Certificate of Merit in Precepting this year in recognition of their dedication to the School of Pharmacy and commitment to the education of student pharmacists.

 

Advance your career as a pharmacist at the University of Washington. Learn more about our nationally and globally top-ranked PharmD Program.

Link to Department of Pharmacy archived news

Wong named Introduction to Pharmacy Practice Experience (IPPE) Preceptor of the Year

Candice Wong, Introduction to Pharmacy Practice Experience (IPPE) Preceptor of the Year

The Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experiences (IPPE) Preceptor of the Year Award is given annually to one outstanding IPPE preceptor. For 2019, Candice Wong, PharmD, ’02, Inpatient Pharmacist Educator at Harborview Medical Center and UWSOP alumna, was named the honoree. She has been in practice for over 16 years and has served as a UWSOP preceptor since 2004.

Candice has received consistently high scores for her teaching abilities and students’ positive learning experience. She has also served on the UWSOP Student Preceptor Experiential Advisory Committee (SPEAC) for the last few years and offered thoughtful guidance to our Experiential Education team to improve and shape our program.

One student wrote, “This preceptor obviously cares about her students and has repeatedly gone out of her way to ensure that students learn all that they want while on rotation at HMC.” Another student shared, “Candice has had a huge impact on my “career” as a pharmacy school student. I feel more invigorated than ever before to pursue a career as a clinical pharmacist!”

As an IPPE Preceptor, she loves that “Aha!” moment when a student fully understands something and always works to set clear expectations and have regular check-ins to make sure the IPPE experience goes smoothly.

‘My favorite thing to do is turn a question around on a student and ask them, “What do you think?” Then I listen to their thoughts before providing mine. It’s my way of gently prodding them towards problem-solving on their own.’ – Candice Wong

Aligning expectations for both student and preceptor is key and something she would share with new preceptors.

Thank you, Candice, for inspiring our students and modeling professional and positive leadership and excellent patient care.

Click  here to see the full list of exemplary preceptors who have been awarded the Certificate of Merit in Precepting this year in recognition of their dedication to the School of Pharmacy and commitment to the education of student pharmacists.

 

Advance your career as a pharmacist at the University of Washington. Learn more about our nationally and globally top-ranked PharmD Program.

Link to Department of Pharmacy archived news

Casanova named 2019 Wayne A. Kradjan Excellence in Clinical Teaching Award Recipient

Tony Casanova: 2019 Wayne A. Kradjan Excellence in Clinical Teaching Award Recipient

The Wayne A. Kradjan Excellence in Clinical Teaching Award is presented annually to one outstanding UWSOP Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences (APPE) preceptor. Congratulations to Tony Casanova, Emergency Department Pharmacist Specialist at CHI Franciscan St. Joseph Medical Center, who was honored for 2019. Tony started serving as a UWSOP preceptor in 2008 and all the students have acknowledged him for his ability to teach and challenge them.

Good preceptors are good facilitators. They set up a learning environment that allows students to build independent practice skills, exemplified by what this student said: “At the beginning of this rotation, I was immediately thrown into full participation in all aspect of patient care. Tony challenged me to rise to the standards he had for himself and students, and brought me quickly up to speed. I was a participating and useful member of the team by the end of my fourth day.”

Another student shared that “Tony managed to be a full-time teacher during our days together, all while performing his daily tasks with mechanical efficiency. He did not sacrifice patient care to teach me things, and yet he did not sacrifice my education to ‘do his job’ either. I am grateful to have had him as a preceptor.”

Tony loves seeing the excitement in the students’ face when they recognize the difference they have made.

“Pharmacists truly can impact a life in so many ways. The excitement and joy that we all have, including students, when we recognize that our many years of schooling have allowed us to have a lasting impact on another person’s life is truly rewarding.” –Tony Casanova

His tip for new preceptors is to have the willingness to adapt – having an open attitude to adapting to personalities, learning styles and changing landscape is a necessity as a preceptor. When asked about ways to motivate and engage students, he shares that his most successful approach is to lead by example. He stresses hard work and independence to our students and recognizes that in order for students to become independent, they need a good role model and a good efficient process.

Given that the emergency department is a new environment to many and can be quite overwhelming, showing students which patients they should be involved with is key. From there, students need to develop their own efficient process that works for their learning and practice style. Tony’s precepting philosophy is to recognize and support people’s differences and lead by example.

Congratulations Tony and thank you for all you do to train our Husky Pharmacists!

Click  here to see the full list of exemplary preceptors who have been awarded the Certificate of Merit in Precepting this year in recognition of their dedication to the School of Pharmacy and commitment to the education of student pharmacists.

 

Advance your career as a pharmacist at the University of Washington. Learn more about our nationally and globally top-ranked PharmD Program.

Link to Department of Pharmacy archived news

Class of 2018 scores 98.8% initial pass rate on NAPLEX exam

Congratulations to the UWSOP PharmD class of 2018!
Congratulations to the UWSOP PharmD class of 2018!

Congratulations to the UW School of Pharmacy’s PharmD class of 2018 for distinguishing themselves with a 98.8% initial pass rate–putting our alumni in the Top 5 for initial pass rates in the United States.

The NAPLEX, or North American Pharmacist Licensure Examination, measures a candidate’s knowledge of the practice of pharmacy. It is just one component of the licensure process and is used by the boards of pharmacy as part of their assessment of a candidate’s competence to practice as a pharmacist.

The NAPLEX, or North American Pharmacist Licensure Examination, measures a candidate’s knowledge of the practice of pharmacy. It is just one component of the licensure process and is used by the boards of pharmacy as part of their assessment of a candidate’s competence to practice as a pharmacist, according to the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy.

Advance your career as a pharmacist at the University of Washington. Learn more about our nationally and globally top-ranked PharmD Program.

Link to Department of Pharmacy archived news

Dean Sullivan named OSU Icon of Pharmacy

On the evening of May 4th, 2019, Oregon State University College of Pharmacy alumni and friends gathered at Portland City Grill to honor the recipients of the 2019 Icons of Pharmacy Award including Sean D. Sullivan, a truly dedicated leader in the pharmacy profession.

Sean was recognized for his leadership at the UW School of Pharmacy where his engagement has helped transform the profession. When asked about his experience leading a college of pharmacy and being Dean, he responded, “This is a job none of us are trained for. Most days, it’s challenging. Some days, it’s extremely difficult. And on a few occasions, it is glorious.”

After completing his pharmacy degree at OSU College of Pharmacy in 1983, Sean practiced pharmacy in his hometown of Hollister, CA, where he obtained a deeper understanding of his profession. He then obtained a master’s degree in administrative and economic sciences at the University of Texas and a PhD in health economics and policy at the University of California, Berkeley.

Coming to University of Washington in 1992 as a Research Associate, Sean co-founded the UW School of Pharmacy’s Pharmaceutical Outcomes Research and Policy Program (PORPP), now known as The CHOICE Institute. Under Sean’s leadership, the program grew to become the premier outcomes research and policy program, with its faculty and students regularly receiving national and international recognition for excellence.

He has since become Dean and Chief Academic Officer at University of Washington School of Pharmacy. He is also joint Professor in the Schools of Pharmacy and Public Health, University of Washington, while also holding adjunct appointments in the School of Medicine, the Public Health Sciences Division at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, and at the Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute. Sean served as President of ISPOR, the leading global professional society for health economics and outcomes research and has been nationally recognized for his research and leadership with the 2014 Stephen G. Avey Lifetime Achievement Award from the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy and the 2015 American Pharmacists Association (APhA) Academy of Pharmaceutical Research Sciences (APRS) Research Achievement Award.

A stalwart believer in the pursuit of higher learning, he acknowledges that there were many individuals that inspired him and shaped his path. Specifically, former OSU College of Pharmacy Dean, Richard Ohvall had a huge impact on Sean’s work ethic in the way he balanced his professional role with an approachable, open door policy. To this day, it is a model and practice that he adheres to for his own students. It was Dr. Lee Strandberg who impressed upon Sean that he should think of pharmacy, not just as a clinical profession, but about its broader impacts. It was these two standout individuals, among many others, that had a lasting impact on Sean’s career.

It was in understanding his own professional trajectory that he could focus on what he is proudest of, the success of the students that he has had the opportunity to train. That group includes his first grad student, Joe Ness, who is now Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of OHSU Healthcare, as well as PharmD students, many of whom are in very successful positions up and down the west coast. Over his career, Sean has also mentored over 100 PhD graduates and post doc fellows, now in academic and leadership roles around the world. Sean truly believes that public universities such as Oregon State University and University of Washington are engines of social and economic mobility with the main purpose of lifting people up. He attests that the impact of these universities on him in particular was transformational, “I would not trade it for anything.”

Sean lives in Seattle with his wife, Catrena (Howlett) Sullivan, also an OSU College of Pharmacy graduate (Class of 1990), whom he holds great admiration and appreciation for in her support and partnership in raising their two children, Kiera and Aidan, before returning to work as a practicing pharmacist.

Recognition as an OSU College of Pharmacy Icon of Pharmacy is an honor reserved for those who have demonstrated dedication to the College of Pharmacy and distinguished themselves through sustained, meritorious contributions to pharmacy throughout their careers. Sean’s  influences on the profession are meritorious and inspirational.

Congratulations, Dean Sullivan!

Advance your career in pharmacy practice, scientific and outcomes research at the University of Washington School of Pharmacy. Learn more about our Graduate (PhD and MS) degree programs and click here for more information about the UW PharmDprogram.

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Kidney on a Chip has gone to outer space..and returned to Earth!

Ed Kelly spoke at NASA a few days before the launch happened, explaining why the team is sending Kidney on a Chip to the International Space Station.
Ed Kelly spoke at NASA a few days before the launch happened, explaining why the team is sending Kidney on a Chip to the International Space Station.

What did it take to send delicate kidney cells into space to be studied by astronauts wearing big, clunky gloves who may, or may not, have a background in biochemistry? We popped into the lab to talk to Ed Kelly and Cathy Yeung to find out.

Dawg Scripts: Why did you put kidney cells on a chip?

Associate Professor Ed Kelly: As a Toxicologist, we talk about the “Three Rs” when it comes to our research: reduce, refine, and replace. That means we are looking for ways to reduce animal testing, refine processes, and—where we can—replace animal testing. With Kidney on a Chip, we have a better model than testing kidney cells on plates under the microscope, in petri dishes, or with animals. The tubules—about the size of a human hair—housing the cells in the chip mirror the tubules in the kidney in the body and, like the kidney in the body, we can move fluid through the tubules and have more information than we would otherwise. For example, we did some testing using a powerful antibiotic. We knew the antibiotic was toxic but we didn’t know why. By using Kidney on a Chip, we were able to identify the biomarkers of toxicity, showing that the antibiotic was indeed toxic to renal tubular cells.

“We are planning for failure, even though that’s not an option.”—Ed Kelly, Associate Professor of Pharmaceutics

DS: So then why send chips to space?

Research Assistant Professor Cathy Yeung, ’05: Kidney disease can take years to develop. Microgravity accelerates kidney disease or dysfunction, and other conditions in astronauts, so the goal is to see the impact low gravity will have on the cells in the microphysiological chips. We anticipate learning more about how kidney stones, osteoporosis, and proteinuria (an abnormally high amount of protein in urine which indicates kidney damage) begins and develops. There aren’t many effective treatments for kidney stones currently. Last year, the main “recommendation” for treatment was to ride a roller coaster in hopes of dislodging the stone (we don’t recommend this course of treatment). Instead, we hope to gain some insights into how they develop that may lead to improved therapies. 

DS: What can you tell us about the cell samples you are using? 

CY: The kidney cells used come from two men and two women so we will be able to see gender differences, which is important for diseases like osteoporosis which has a higher incidence among women. All of this research is important for people on Earth, as well as the future of missions to Mars when people will be in microgravity for years. We have questions about how kidneys process Vitamin D and hope to gain insight about osteoporosis and how to prevent it from this research.  

Cathy Yeung and Ed Kelly were asked when the launch would happen after the third launch delay. They responded in a precise scientific way.
Cathy Yeung and Ed Kelly were asked when the launch would happen after the third launch delay. They responded in a precise and scientific way.

DS: What are some of the challenges of sending the chips to space?

EK: We’ve had a lot of logistical challenges. First of all, we have to make the level of science very easy for
astronauts who will be working with large gloves. Some of the astronauts have advanced degrees in science, but we had to make sure that whoever is running the experiment that day could do the work needed. Another challenge was taking the 50 cubic feet of space we use to run the experiments in our lab down to a box about the size of a microwave to fit in the rocket and space station, which is why we partnered with BioServe Space Technologies at University of Colorado Boulder.

DS: Will there be a lab in space? 

Very early Friday morning May 3, 2019, the team gathered to watch the launch...which was scrubbed 15 minutes before go time. It was rescheduled for very early in the morning Saturday, May the 4th.
Very early Friday morning May 3, 2019, the team gathered to watch the launch…which was scrubbed 15 minutes before go time. It was rescheduled for very early in the morning Saturday, May the 4th.

CY: There will be experiments running at precisely the same time on the ground as in the Space Station while the Chips are in space. Our team of faculty and graduate students will be on site at Kennedy Space Center in Florida running the experiments on Earth. So we have to create labs that will go to space and also recreate our lab in Florida. The box going to space with the chips has to be specially designed to handle the stressors of coming in and out of atmosphere, the vibrations in breaking the sound barrier, and dropping to Earth on its return. The kidney cells have to be kept at a constant 37 degree C temperature, which requires three different power sources from the time the chips are built on the lab on Earth, transferred to the rocket, and launched into space. We don’t know what will happen and we are doing our best, working with our BioServe partners, to anticipate as many obstacles as possible. 

DS: What’s special about this project?

EK: We are proud that the University of Washington is the only university with two projects launching to the International Space Station as part of this nationwide Organ on a Chip project funded by the NIH and CASIS. Our project will be the first to launch and the Heart on a Chip by Deok-Ho Kim in Bioengineering will be the second. 

Below are scenes from the Launch that happened on May 4, 2019. May the Fourth Be With You, was the rally cry of the day after multiple delays.

To watch the launch video, click here for a link to the SpaceX YouTube page.

See NASA’s photos of the Kidney on a Chip experiment in space!

The team reconvened Saturday, May the 4th, 2019...ever hopeful that this time the launch would be successful.
The team reconvened Saturday, May the 4th, 2019…ever hopeful that this time the launch would be successful.
AND WE HAVE LIFT OFF!!!
AND WE HAVE LIFT OFF!!! Photo: Sarah C.B. Guthrie/NASA TV

Read more about the Kidney on a Chip project

To study with researchers like Pharmaceutics’ Associate Professor Ed Kelly and Pharmacy’s Research Assistant Professor Cathy Yeung, click on the links for more information about our Graduate Programs in Medicinal Chemistry, Pharmaceutics, Pharmaceutical Outcomes Research and Policy, and Biomedical Regulatory Affairs.

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Fuller named PAA Distinguished Alumni Award for Pharmacy Practice recipient

Tim Fuller, 2018 Distinguished Alumni Award for Pharmacy Practice recipient
Tim Fuller, 2018 Distinguished Alumni Award for Pharmacy Practice recipient Photo: Alex Levine

Fuller has been instrumental in establishing collaborative practice agreements that enable pharmacists to practice to the top of their license in Washington state

Congratulations to University of Washington School of Pharmacy alumnus, Tim Fuller, ’69, who has been named this year’s UW Pharmacy Alumni Association Distinguished Alumni Award Pharmacy Practice recipient.

After graduating from the UWSOP in 1969, Tim spent three years in the U.S. Public Health Service (USPHS) completing a residency at the USPHS Hospital in San Francisco and two years in the Indian Health Service (IHS). In his USPHS Hospital residency he implemented a hospital IV admixture service and in the IHS by implementing a pharmacist prescribing of prescription refills program and by training a Native American pharmacy technician.

In his Master’s degree program and residency at The Ohio State University, Tim administered medications to patients, served as primary instructor for an undergraduate pharmacy class at the College of Pharmacy, and conducted a novel “Comparison of Pharmacist and Physician Antibiotic” thesis for which he received two national grants. Tim went on to serve as an Infectious Disease Clinical Pharmacist and an Assistant Professor of Clinical Pharmacy at the University of Maryland. He taught undergraduate pharmacy students at Maryland and was recognized as the Clinical Teacher of the Year by the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy.

In 1975, Tim returned to the University of Washington School of Pharmacy as an Assistant Professor of Clinical Pharmacy and a year later he became the Coordinator for Clinical Pharmacy at the University of Washington Medical Center Pharmacy. He taught undergraduate courses, supervised student clerkships, developed new courses with other faculty, chaired faculty committees (for example, the hiring of John Horn and Dale Christensen), chaired the Master’s theses for five graduate students, regularly made presentations in the community, and drafted the first Doctor of Pharmacy proposal.

In 1980 Tim left the UW faculty to become the Director of Pharmacy and Administrative Director for the Seattle Poison Center at Children’s Hospital and Medical Center. While there, he developed and implemented a pediatric pharmacy computer system, implemented an Operating Room Pharmacy and a children’s pediatric drug formulary, decentralized the pharmacy staff to patient care areas, established a pharmacy internship program whose graduates were highly sought after, and much more.

In 1992, Tim became the first Pharmacist Consultant for the Washington State Board of Pharmacy. The position provided him the opportunity to make many contributions to the practice of pharmacy, notably providing regulatory advice and guidance to hundreds of pharmacists, many other health professionals, organizations, industry, and associations. He worked with Board of Pharmacy members to establish a process to develop regulations for pharmacy technicians, automated drug development devices (Pyxis), and electronic prescriptions.

Very importantly, Tim was instrumental in the process to create collaborative drug therapy agreements and has been recognized as the “Father of Pharmacist Collaborative Drug Therapy.” He began with a study of the 60 prescriptive authority protocols that were filed in the Board of Pharmacy office, showing an overwhelmingly positive response by physicians and pharmacists to pharmacist prescribing in collaboration with physicians. Tim worked with pharmacists to expand this practice and renamed the activity collaborative drug therapy agreements.

In 1995, he worked with Rod Shafer, Executive Director of the Washington State Pharmacy Association, to develop a program for pharmacists to prescribe and administer immunizations—a step that would revolutionize pharmacy practice in the United States. His book, The Handbook of Collaborative Drug Therapy, provided templates for pharmacists to develop several different collaborative drug therapy agreements. As a result, the number of collaborative practice agreements on file with the Board of Pharmacy grew substantially.

In 1997, Tim was approached by a representative of the Program for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH) about pharmacists prescribing emergency contraception (EC) to prevent unwanted pregnancies. He worked with PATH on a successful $500,000 grant request and then with WSPA to train pharmacists and an interdisciplinary committee to develop a standardized collaborative EC agreement.  A second group of community leaders, including current Governor Jay Inslee, assisted with public education about EC and the pharmacist prescribing project. The Puget Sound program that was developed was the first U.S. effort by PATH, an international organization.

Tim formed Timothy S. Fuller & Associates to respond to the demand in pharmacy practice for information about collaborative drug therapy. Washington state was the only state where pharmacists could prescribe a wide range of medications, including controlled substances. Tim and his colleagues received a Plein Endowed Research Fund Grant for compiling collaborative drug therapy agreement teaching materials.

Recently, Washington, D.C. joined the forty-nine states that have legally authorized prescribing for pharmacists. The American Medical Association has endorsed a policy supporting pharmacist collaborative agreements. In 2017 the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published an extensive clinical practice guide that promotes collaborative drug therapy management called Creating Community-Clinical Linkages Between Community Pharmacists and Physicians. The CDC and the American Pharmaceutical Association (APhA) have produced a continuing education program on collaborative practice agreements.

In addition, Tim worked with Department of Health Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Response team to establish statewide drug caches, to develop a pandemic influenza collaborative drug therapy agreement, and to educate emergency health personnel across Washington state on distributing medications in during a bioterrorism event. He also worked with Seattle King County Public Health and the King County Healthcare Coalition “Methadone Group” on the emergency preparedness for medication distribution.

Tim’s leadership was recognized nationally when he was elected a Fellow of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacist for his contributions of pharmacy practice. His publications have been cited over 500 times according to ResearchGate. In Washington state, Tim was recognized by state pharmacy professional organizations with two leadership awards, a distinguished service award, and as Pharmacist of the Year.  He served as President of the Washington State Society of Health-System Pharmacists (WSSHP) and he led the successful effort to combine WSSHP and the Washington State Pharmacy Association to provide more resources for the state pharmacy professional association.

 Tim has served as a member of the UW Pharmacy Alumni Association Board and for many years assisted with pharmacy alumni functions, as well as serving on the School of Pharmacy Admissions Committee. At the Washington State Board of Pharmacy, he established a pharmacy externship program that precepted students, UW and WSU, for 15 years. He has served as a Joint Course Instructor and as a lab leader, for many years and provides guest lectures in the Law & Ethics class.

 Congratulations, Tim!

 

Advance your career in pharmacy practice at the University of Washington School of Pharmacy. Learn more about our  PharmD program.

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Watanabe named PAA Distinguished Alumni Award for Pharmaceutical Science & Research recipient

Jonathan Watanabe 2018 DAA Award Winner
Jonathan Watanabe 2018 Distinguished Alumni Award for Pharmaceutical Science and Research recipient

Recently named the first pharmacist to the National Academy of Medicine (former Institute of Medicine) Emerging Leaders in Health and Medicine Scholars Program, Jonathan continues his national-level leadership in pharmaceutical research

Congratulations to University of Washington School of Pharmacy alumnus, Jonathan H. Watanabe, PharmD, PhD, ’98, ’08, ’12, who has been named this year’s UW Pharmacy Alumni Association Distinguished Alumni Award Pharmaceutical Science and Research recipient.

As a UW undergraduate, Jonathan majored in Zoology before going to University of Southern California to earn his PharmD degree. He returned to the UW to earn a master’s and doctoral degree at The CHOICE Institute at the UW School of Pharmacy (then known as the Pharmaceutical Outcomes Research and Policy Program).

Jonathan was the original recipient of the prestigious UW/Allergan Post-doctoral Fellowship in Health Economics and Outcomes Research. His major research areas include: value of pharmacist services, affordability and access to medications, older adult medicine research and policy, high-risk medications and opioid use disorder.

In 2016, Jonathan was selected as the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) Anniversary Pharmacy Fellow.  NAM fellows are chosen based on their professional qualifications, reputations as scholars, professional accomplishments, and relevance of current field expertise to the work of the Health and Medicine Division of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM).

Nationally recognized for his leadership and research, Jonathan’s research on cost of non-optimized medication regimens and policy recommendations on comprehensive medication management has been cited in successful legislation granting provider status for pharmacists.  He collaborates with senior leadership of the Get The Medications Right Institute to improve patient care via clinical pharmacists nationally.  In 2018, he was recognized as an NAM Emerging Leader in Health and Medicine.   He serves the NASEM Forum on Drug Discovery and Translation:  Examining the Impact of Real-World Evidence and was a contributor to the Making Medicines Affordable: A National Imperative report.

A board-certified geriatric pharmacist, Jonathan has been developing programs to improve clinical training for geriatric practice and research as an investigator for the San Diego geriatric workforce enhancement program (SD GWEP). As SD GWEP fellowship director, this includes training to improve whole-person older adult care with a real emphasis on pharmacists, with a mandate to disseminate research nationally. His research on increasing prices of Medicare Part D drugs was recently published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. This interdisciplinary program trains clinicians to get education in elder care facilities, emphasizing the important role pharmacists can play on the health care team, given the increasing role of medication in geriatric care. In addition, he has received Platinum, Gold, and multiple Bronze Awards from the Academy of Managed Care in Pharmacy (AMCP) for his research.

Jonathan stays active in the UW School of Pharmacy community, staying connected with clinicians, including at Mercury Pharmacy where he worked as a long-term care pharmacist, as well as serving as a preceptor for a recent CHOICE student, who recently graduated with his PhD.

Congratulations, Jonathan!

 

Advance your career in patient-centered outcomes research at the University of Washington. Learn more about our Graduate Programs in Pharmaceutical Outcomes Research and Policy.


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UWSOP team wins the AMCP 2019 National Pharmacy & Therapeutics (P&T) Competition

(Front Row) Hanna Kleiboeker, ‘20, Eunice Kim, ‘20, Michael Sporck, ‘20, and Erin Ichinotsubo, ‘21, won first place at the National AMCP P&T competition
(Front Row) Hanna Kleiboeker, ‘20, Eunice Kim, ‘20, Michael Sporck, ‘20, and Erin Ichinotsubo, ‘21, won first place at the National AMCP P&T competition

Congratulations to our PharmD students, Michael Sporck, ‘20, Eunice Kim, ‘20, Hanna Kleiboeker, ‘20 and Erin Ichinotsubo, ‘21, who won first place at the highly competitive Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy (AMCP) Foundation 19th Annual National Student Pharmacist Pharmacy & Therapeutics (P&T) Competition. The team’s advisors were UWSOP faculty David Veenstra and Pete Fullerton. John Watkins of Premera served as their external advisor.

“We are extraordinarily proud of Erin, Eunice, Hanna, and Michael for their win at this year’s National AMCP P&T competition. The National P&T is one of the toughest competitions student pharmacists can go through. After months of studying and hard work, the team emerged at the top of a record number of competitors. Congratulations to the team on their outstanding achievement and our thanks to their advisors, Dave, Pete, and John for supporting the team.”—Sean D. Sullivan, Professor and Dean, UWSOP

The Competition is an annual team event that provides an immersive experience in effective formulary review and management. The awards were presented March 28 at the AMCP Foundation Awards Ceremony, held during the AMCP Managed Care & Specialty Pharmacy Annual Meeting in San Diego, California.

This year the competition was exceptional with a record 67 schools of pharmacy nationwide participated in the Competition. Eight national finalists advanced to the live finals, where a panel of judges simulated a P&T Committee on March 26 at the AMCP Annual Meeting.

“The effort and energy invested by all of our competitors was evident in the depth of reasoning and professionalism displayed locally and at the national finals,” said Paula J. Eichenbrenner, MBA, CAE, AMCP Foundation Executive Director. “Competitors were supported in this rigorous journey by many dedicated faculty advisors, Competition coordinators, AMCP student chapter leaders, and volunteer judges.”

P&T Competition teams work through a case study using a product dossier in the AMCP Format for Formulary Submissions. Students evaluate the body of evidence on the study drug and comparators, assess value, and develop a monograph as they determine a recommendation for formulary placement and prepare an oral summary.

The study drug for the 2019 P&T Competition was TYMLOS® (abaloparatide) injection, indicated for the treatment of postmenopausal women with osteoporosis at high risk for fracture. The AMCP Foundation thanked manufacturer Radius Health, Inc., for facilitating use of this dossier and Dymaxium for hosting the Competition platform on AMCP eDossier.

 

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Alumnus Jeff Rochon named APhA-APPM Fellow

Jeff Rochon, PharmD | WSPA Liaison
Jeff Rochon, PharmD, ’99

The American Pharmacists Association announced this week that it has selected Washington State Pharmacy Association (WSPA) CEO Jeff Rochon, PharmD, ’99, as one of the 2019 APhA-Academy of Pharmacy Practice and Management’s (APhA-APPM) fellows.

The APhA Fellow Award was established to honor APhA members for exemplary professional achievements in professional practice and outstanding service to the profession up to that period of time through activities in APhA and other organizations. Recipients of the APhA Fellow Award may continue to utilize the designation, FAPhA, as long as their professional license, if a licensed pharmacist, is in good standing, and they maintain their APhA membership.

Jeff will be officially recognized at the APhA Annual Meeting and Exposition in Seattle, WA this spring.

Congratulations Jeff!

 

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CHOICE PhD student Landaas studies PupilScreen app in Thailand

Erik Landaas, current CHOICE PhD student pictured with CHOICE alumnus, Nathorn Chaiyakunapruk, PhD, in Thailand
Erik Landaas, current CHOICE PhD student pictured with CHOICE alumnus, Nathorn Chaiyakunapruk, PhD, in Thailand

CHOICE PhD student Erik Landaas received funding to conduct a mobile health validation study in Thailand. The study is funded by Washington Research Foundation (WRF) and his primary co-investigators include two UW School of Nursing PhD candidates.

PupilScreen a newly developed smartphone app that screens for traumatic brain injuries (TBI) and concussions was developed in collaboration with graduate students from UW Computer Sciences, and UW Neurosurgery.

Erik and his co-investigators will be in Thailand in December 2018 to train nurse research assistants, and co-develop the clinical protocol with the two hospitals in Phitsanulok; and is partnering with Naresuan University.

 

Advance your career in patient-centered outcomes research at the University of Washington. Learn more about studying Pharmaceutical Outcomes Research and Policy at The CHOICE Institute at UWSOP.

Link to CHOICE Institute archived news

Kai Yeung receives grant for project looking at value in prescription drug benefit design

Kai Young, PhD, '15
Kai Young, PhD, ’15

Congratulations to CHOICE Institute alumnus and Affiliate Assistant Professor, Kai Yeung, PharmD PhD, `15, who received a research grant from the Patrick and Catherine Weldon Donaghue Medical Research Foundation’s Greater Value Portfolio program.

Kai’s project is entitled, “Value-based Formulary-Essentials: Testing and Expanding on Value in Prescription Drug Benefit Design.”

 

Advance your career in patient-centered outcomes research at the University of Washington. Learn more about studying Pharmaceutical Outcomes Research and Policy at The CHOICE Institute at UWSOP.

Link to CHOICE Institute archived news

Anirban Basu awarded Mid-Career Excellence Award by HPSS

PORPP Dir & Prof Anirban Basu
CHOICE Institute Director & Prof Anirban Basu

At the 2018 International Conference on Health Policy Statistics (ICHPS) held in Charleston, South Carolina, Anirban Basu was awarded the Mid-Career Excellence Award from the American Statistical Association Section on Health Policy Statistics (HPSS). Anirban was exceptionally and uniquely qualified for this award. Highlights include his providing outstanding service to the HPSS, advancing statistical methodology, advancing methodology in other domains of health policy, and performing extensive and highly impactful applied work in medicine and health care. In this interview, we trace Anirban’s upbringing, schooling, early career, and mid-career phases to gain insights into his success. We also sought his opinions on salient topics or issues.

The Mid-Career Excellence Award is eligible to persons who are within 15 years of their most significant degree. Having obtained his Ph.D. in 2004, Anirban met the eligibility criteria for the 2018 award. Anirban transitioned from Ph.D. student in 2004 to full professor in 2014, subsequently receiving a named and endowed full professorship in 2015. His is currently the Professor and Stergachis Family Endowed Director of The Comparative Health Outcomes, Policy, and Economics (CHOICE) Institute at UWSOP.

 

Read more about his nomination and his career development in “A conversation including 39 questions with Anirban Basu” published by Health Services and Outcomes Research Methodology.

Advance your career in patient-centered outcomes research at the University of Washington. Learn more about studying Pharmaceutical Outcomes Research and Policy at The CHOICE Institute at UWSOP.

Link to CHOICE Institute archived news

Meet our Plein Center for Geriatric Pharmacy Preceptors: Neris Palunas

Neris Palunas, PharmD, BCPG
Neris Palunas, PharmD, BCGP

Neris M. Palunas, PharmD, BCGP, is a Consultant Pharmacist with Consonus Pharmacy, serving people in the Seattle area. Neris consults as a clinical pharmacist to senior living communities at all levels of care.  “I love teaching and have been a preceptor in all my roles as a pharmacist, specifically as a Geriatric Pharmacy Preceptor for 4 years,” she told us.

She chose to specialize in geriatric pharmacy to, “honor the wisdom of our elders, advocate and bring comfort to the lives of older adults, optimize the use of medications in geriatric practice, and collaborate with the interdisciplinary health care team at transitions of care, pain management, rehabilitation and end of life.”Her research interests are in transitions of care and palliative care.

Previously, Neris worked in Global Health/Pharmacy Service in Central America, as Director of Professional Affairs for the WSPA, and in Professional Services and Drug Information for biotech giant Immunex Corporation.

Neris is a proud Husky alumna having earned her PharmD at UWSOP. For her undergrad degree, a BS in Pharmacy from the University of Illinois at Chicago, she focused on Pharmacy Administration. Additionally, Neris has piloted an airplane, is an outstanding cook and Lithuanian dancer. She enjoys annual backpacking trips with her son Kovas and daughter Vaiva. As for her coffee, she likes extra hot, triple shot venti lattes.

 

Are you interested in working with the top-rated faculty and preceptors while studying geriatric pharmacy with preeminent student peers?

Click here for more information about the Plein Geriatric Pharmacy Certificate or click these links to learn about the UW PharmD program.

Meet our Plein Center for Geriatric Pharmacy Alumni: Cara McDermott

Alumna Cara McDermott, '11, '12, '16
Alumna Cara McDermott, ’11, ’12, ’16

Alumna Cara McDermott, PharmD, PhD, MSc, ’11, ’12, 16, is a K12 Scholar in the UW Implementation Sciences Training Program and Acting Instructor, Cambia Palliative Care Center of Excellence, UW School of Medicine.

A three-time alumna of the UW School of Pharmacy, Cara said she chose to pursue the Plein Certificate in Geriatric Pharmacy in 2011 because she liked working with older adults and geriatric pharmacy combined her primary research interests in oncology and palliative care.

During the certificate program, “I learned a great deal about providing high-quality care as the result of working in various healthcare settings and completing research during the certificate,” she said. “My rotations in critical care, oncology and palliative care led me to my research today.”(Read more about her research project, “Care Coordination and Low-Value Care at End-of-Life Among Patients with Advanced Cancer,” here.)

The holistic approach to training Cara received during the certificate helped her think beyond the physical aspects of illness to consider social and environmental factors that may impact the health of older adults, such as insufficient caregiver support or needing access to supplemental insurance.

A little fun fact about Cara–she is originally from New Jersey and has hugged Bruce Springsteen! As for her coffee, she likes a tall triple shot skim latte.

 

Are you interested in working with the top-rated faculty and studying geriatric pharmacy with preeminent student peers?

Click here for more information about the Plein Geriatric Pharmacy Certificate or click these links to learn about the UW PharmD program.

 

 

 

Meet our Plein Center for Geriatric Pharmacy Faculty: Leigh Ann Mike

Leigh Ann Mike, Plein Center Assistant Director for Outreach and Clinical Associate Professor
Leigh Ann Mike, Plein Center Assistant Director for Outreach and Clinical Associate Professor

Learn the latest about the deprescribing education and outreach UWSOP faculty member Leigh Ann Mike provides to older adults and providers.

Leigh Ann Mike, PharmD, is Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Pharmacy and Assistant Director for Education, Plein Center for Geriatric Pharmacy Research, Education and Outreach at the UW School of Pharmacy.

“I did not follow a traditional pathway to geriatrics. For many years I worked in a critical care unit in a hospital, but did not at that time consider myself a geriatrics pharmacist. One day, when I was completing a continuing education course with a focus on geriatrics, I realized that I was already incorporating the knowledge, skills, and principles of geriatric pharmacy in my everyday work. That really changed my perspective. It really brings home the fact that no matter what setting you work (with the exception of pediatrics), you are, and should think of yourself, as a geriatrics pharmacist.”–Leigh Ann Mike, Plein Center Assistant Director for Outreach and Clinical Associate Professor at UW School of Pharmacy

We asked her about her work with deprescribing and its impact on patient care. While the term deprescribing is relatively new, pharmacists, particularly those who work in geriatric pharmacy, have had this approach as part of their practice for many years. And word of the benefits of this form of patient care is starting to spread. This past summer, for example, Leigh Ann delivered a presentation at the American Diabetes Association on deprescribing for older adults with diabetes.

Additionally, Leigh Ann conducts educational sessions for audiences of older adults about deprescribing to give them some tools to advocate for themselves and encourage them to ask their prescribers about simplifying their medication regimens. “In my daily practice as a consultant pharmacist working with individual patients, I routinely and intentionally think about how to simplify each person’s medication regimen, sometimes referred to as decreasing medication burden,” Leigh Ann. Through these educational efforts, she works with nurses and older adults who regularly seek out her professional opinion and advice on how to talk to prescribers about simplifying medication regimens. As she works with more providers and older adults, she hopes these grass roots efforts will spread so more people will enjoy the beneficial impact of deprescribing on their overall health.

A fun fact about Leigh Ann is that she lived in Europe twice during her elementary school years and still retains a little bit of her German language skills. Her coffee preference to jump-start the day: dark roast, very strong, with just a touch of sugar.

 

Are you interested in working with the top-rated faculty and studying geriatric pharmacy with preeminent student peers?

Click here for more information about the Plein Geriatric Pharmacy Certificate or click these links to learn about the UW PharmD program.

Marcum takes a multi-prong approach toward developing a dementia prevention strategy

Zach Marcum, Plein Center Assistant Director of Research and Bailey Faculty Fellow and Assistant Professor of Pharmacy
Zach Marcum, Plein Center Assistant Director of Research and Bailey Faculty Fellow and Assistant Professor of Pharmacy Photo: Alex Levine

The prospect of developing dementia is terrifying for most people, particularly for those with family members who have had the disease. Many wonder what they can do to prevent the onset of dementia—which is where the research of the Plein Center for Geriatric Pharmacy has some answers.

Experts know there are healthy habits that will make a difference—exercising regularly, managing heart health, staying intellectually challenged and being connected socially, are among those habits.

Zach Marcum surveyed Kaiser Permanente Washington (KPW) members (1661 total) to learn more about their attitudes and beliefs toward health habits and what they could do to ward off the onset of dementia. Of the survey respondents, most believed that it is possible to improve brain health and reduce their risk of dementia, but one-third lacked confidence that they could take action to reduce their risk. Health habits like managing mid-life hypertension, socializing, and keeping the mind sharp with learning, new activities, and exercise make a difference.

“Dementia is not an inevitable part of the aging process. There are steps people can take right now to reduce the risk of the disease—and it’s never too late to start. We are investigating repurposing medications as a dementia prevention strategy.” —Zach Marcum, Plein Center Assistant Director of Research and Bailey Faculty Fellow and Assistant Professor of Pharmacy

Zach’s study is looking at what the experts say and what the public knows to understand what the gaps are between public and expert knowledge. By understanding the gaps, he anticipates being able to improve public health communications and care recommendations. Additionally, it’s been shown that the earlier Alzheimer’s Disease and related dementias (ADRD) are diagnosed, the better the outcomes are for the patient, making it important to find new ways to detect undiagnosed dementia.

Using the KPWHRI data, he looked at the historic patterns of chronic medication use in patients who are later diagnosed with dementia, prior to that diagnosis. He found that patients with sub-optimal adherence to taking anti-hypertensives were more likely to develop dementia.

Moreover, one of the most promising areas for dementia prevention is managing mid-life cardiovascular risk. One such risk factor is cholesterol. Zach is using the KPW data to examine how cholesterol levels from mid-life onward are associated with late-life dementia. He found both low and high levels of non-HDL (“bad cholesterol”) were associated with an increased risk of future dementia. “It makes sense that high levels of bad cholesterol would increase the risk of dementia,” notes Zach, “but it’s not as clear why the low levels of bad cholesterol do.”

In addition, Zach is looking at medications that might be repurposed to ward off or delay the onset of dementia. This approach aims to investigate the repurposing of blood pressure medications as a dementia prevention strategy.

“Like so many people, I’ve seen first-hand the effect Alzheimer’s disease has on patients and their family members—and that motivates me to find solutions,” said Zach.

 

Are you interested in working with the top-rated faculty and studying geriatric pharmacy with preeminent student peers?

Click here for more information about the Plein Geriatric Pharmacy Certificate or click these links to learn about the UW PharmD program.

Plein Center students and faculty research highlighted at ASCP’s annual meeting

Plein Certificate students Julia Yunkyung and Jina Yun, pictured with Julia's ASCP poster
Plein Certificate students Julia Yunkyung and Jina Yun, pictured with Julia’s ASCP poster

Our School’s faculty and students presented two posters at the ASCP Annual Meeting, and the abstracts are in the October issue of The Consultant Pharmacist.

Julia Yunkyung, Laura Hart, and Shelly Gray presented a poster titled, “Definition of fall risk-increasing drugs in the literature: Challenges and implications.” We know falls in older adults can be extremely dangerous, resulting in serious injuries, even death. The team looked at nine studies that evaluated fall risk-increasing drugs (FRID) use in older adults with a recent fall and categorized them by subcategories, such as central nervous system (CNS)-active, cardiovascular, and other.   The number of subclasses included in FRID definitions ranged considerably from 6 to 15. The authors found, “inconsistent definitions of FRIDs have implications for evaluating prevalence of FRID use and identifying or prioritizing medications to target for interventions.”

Jina Yun and Leigh Ann Mike presented a poster titled, “Student-pharmacist-led fall risk outreach event in older Korean adults: Summary of participants’ experience and satisfaction,” at the conference. Working with a community of older Korean adults, student pharmacists planned an event to screen and educate attendees on fall risks and osteoporosis. They developed a questionnaire and performed osteoporosis screening by measuring bone density at the ankle. Of those who participated, about a quarter had a fall and half had discussed fall risk with their physician prior to the event. Many of the participants were illiterate in English, Korean, or both languages. The team found that, overall attendees “had a positive experience at the student-pharmacist led event and would benefit from ongoing outreach events that identify and meet their health needs.”

 

Are you interested in working with the top-rated faculty and studying geriatric pharmacy with preeminent student peers?

Click here for more information about the Plein Geriatric Pharmacy Certificate or click these links to learn about the UW PharmD program.

Barker-Haliski’s novel research looks at the under-studied problem of epilepsy in patients with Alzheimer’s

Melissa is a neuropharmacologist with a passion for understanding how drugs work in the body. Her research is supported by the UW Royalty Research Fund and the UWSOP Plein Fund Endowment. She and her team will present findings in December 2018 at the American Epilepsy Society meeting. Melissa works in collaboration with Suman Jayadev, associate professor of neurology at UW Medicine and the clinical core director of UW’s Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center.
Melissa is a neuropharmacologist with a passion for understanding how drugs work in the body. Her research is supported by the UW Royalty Research Fund and the UWSOP Plein Fund Endowment. She works in collaboration with Suman Jayadev, associate professor of neurology at UW Medicine and the clinical core director of UW’s Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center.

People with Alzheimer’s disease can have up to an 87-fold increased risk of seizures. Patients with early-onset Alzheimer’s have the highest risk for seizures, but even patients with  late onset Alzheimer’s disease  are at high risk.

Despite the risks, little is known about how genes associated with Alzheimer’s disease may affect a person’s susceptibility to seizure across their lifespan. Even less is known about whether anticonvulsant drugs, which, historically, have been tested in young-adult animal models, are effective and well-tolerated in older populations, including those with Alzheimer’s.

Plein Center researcher Melissa Barker-Haliskihopes to answer this question using preclinical mouse models with Alzheimer’s disease-associated genetic risk factors. Melissa is a neuropharmacologist with expertise in preclinical epilepsy models for anticonvulsant drug discovery. In collaboration with neurogeneticist and UW School of Medicine’s Suman Jayadev, MD, Melissa and her team are investigating how seizures in these preclinical Alzheimer’s disease models age-dependently affect disease trajectory and cognitive outcomes, as well as how anticonvulsant drugs affect seizure control in mice with these Alzheimer’s disease-associated risk genes. Using a mouse model with a mutation in one of the most common early-onset Alzheimer’s disease-associated risk genes (presenilin 2 [PSEN2]), they see how age affects the mice’s susceptibility to seizures and whether those seizures age-dependently respond to available anticonvulsant medications.

Melissa Barker-Haliski's findings suggest that if a patient is having seizures and has an Alzheimer’s diagnosis, anticonvulsant therapies may effectively stop their seizures.
Melissa Barker-Haliski’s findings suggest that if a patient is having seizures and has an Alzheimer’s diagnosis, anticonvulsant therapies may effectively stop their seizures.

Melissa and her former undergraduate student, Megan Beckman (BS ’18), will present this research at the Investigator’s Workshop of the 2018 American Epilepsy Society Annual Meeting. Megan received one of 20 highly competitive Young Investigator’s Award from the American Epilepsy Society to offset the costs to present this research work in December in New Orleans, LA. Melissa and Megan’s research shows that many of the approved anticonvulsant medications reduce seizures in aged mice that carry the PSEN2 mutation.

However, clinical studies in Alzheimer’s disease patients are still needed. This work points to the potential positive impact anticonvulsants have on seizures in adults with Alzheimer’s disease, and also may inform anticonvulsant medication usage in the general population of older adults. As older adults represent the fastest growing patient demographic with epilepsy diagnosis, preclinical and clinical studies of anticonvulsant drugs in these individuals is clearly warranted.

“An implication of our findings is that patients with Alzheimer’s disease could benefit if clinicians and neurologists examined their patients early in the disease course to determine if they are experiencing seizures.” —Melissa Barker-Haliski, Research Assistant Professor, Pharmacy

From a clinical perspective, the good news is Melissa’s preclinical research aligns with the few clinical studies demonstrating that anticonvulsant drugs often work well in older adults, which may indicate their seizures can be controlled. People with Alzheimer’s disease commonly present with seizures that are not the “grand mal” type with generalized tonic-clonic convulsions. Seizures in older adults are often focal or what’s historically called complex partial seizures—which can seem like a mild stroke or may be called a “spell”—and patients may be disoriented afterward. These seizures can be difficult to distinguish from common symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease, making it challenging for clinicians, patients, and their families to recognize when and if seizures occur, further delaying anticonvulsant use.

Some anticonvulsant drugs can even impair cognitive function in patients with epilepsy, so their use in people with Alzheimer’s disease is a decision clinicians, patients, and their families should weigh carefully, given their promise to help. Melissa’s work provides preclinical evidence that will inform the clinical studies of seizure control in patients with Alzheimer’s disease. Her ongoing studies within the Plein center support growing recognition in the neurology community that seizures in patients with AD are a common, potentially detrimental, and often under-diagnosed component of the disease.

Are you interested in working with the top-rated faculty and studying geriatric pharmacy with preeminent student peers?

Click here for more information about the Plein Geriatric Pharmacy Certificate or click these links to learn about the UW PharmD program.

UW Researchers Gray and Phelan to study the impact of deprescribing to reduce falls in older adults

Older adult hands holding medication

UW Pharmacy’s Shelly Gray and UW Medicine’s Elizabeth Phelan are teaming up to identify ways to prevent falls in older adults. Their study, “Reducing Central Nervous System (CNS)-active Medications to Prevent Falls and Injuries in Older Adults (STOP-FALLS),” will identify medication safety improvements to reduce fall-related injuries and other adverse health outcomes.

“Falls in older adults are a significant public health issue, and many older adults are on risky medications that may cause falling because they cause side effects such as dizziness, drowsiness and impaired cognitive abilities. This study will help health care providers and patients reduce use of these risky medications, including opioids and benzodiazepines, to prevent falls. Finding ways to optimize medication use and safety in older adults is the major mission of the Plein Center.”—Shelly Gray, Director, Plein Center for Geriatric Pharmacy and Shirley & Herb Bridge Endowed Professor at UWSOP

Shelly Gray, Director, Plein Center for Geriatric Pharmacy and Shirley & Herb Bridge Endowed Professor at UWSOP
Shelly Gray, Director, Plein Center for Geriatric Pharmacy and Shirley & Herb Bridge Endowed Professor at UWSOP

Gray and Phelan received a $3M grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to study the effect of reducing the use of medications, such as benzodiazepines and opioids, on preventing falls and other unintentional injuries in older adults. These medications are prescribed for conditions such as pain, anxiety and sleep disorders. The team will study the impact that deprescribing can have on people’s safety and reducing the risk of falling, particularly given the impact multiple medications can have on a person’s physical and cognitive functioning.

Deprescribing is a process whereby the pharmacist and physician review a person’s medications to see if any medications may be causing harm or may no longer be helping the patient. Sometimes a medication that was safe when the person was younger now may pose a risk as they age because the body changes. By going through this review and making adjustments, some patients experience reduced side effects.

“There has been surprisingly little attention as yet to addressing the role of medications in falls and injuries by the practice community. We need practical, patient-centered, and health-system-relevant approaches to curtail unnecessary use of CNS-active medications, and prevent their future use, if we are to ever see sustained reductions in fall-related injury rates and avert the adverse, life-changing consequences that result when an older person is seriously injured from a fall,” —Dr. Elizabeth Phelan, geriatrician and medical director, Fall Prevention Clinic, Harborview Medical Center, and an Associate Professor of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine.

Dr. Elizabeth Phelan, geriatrician and medical director, Fall Prevention Clinic, Harborview Medical Center, and an Associate Professor of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine
Dr. Elizabeth Phelan, geriatrician and medical director, Fall Prevention Clinic, Harborview Medical Center, and an Associate Professor of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine

Reducing fall rates is important. In just ten years, from 2007 to 2016, the death rate caused by falls for older adults has increased 30% in the U.S. If rates continue to rise, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says we can expect seven fall deaths every hour by 2030. One in five falls causes a serious injury such as broken bones or head injury and sends about three million older adults to the emergency room every year at a cost of about $50 billion dollars, most of which is shouldered by Medicare and Medicaid.

The grant is one of three funded by the CDC’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (Injury Center) that will focus on medication management of opioids and benzodiazepines to reduce falls among adults aged 65 years and older. The research will be conducted at Kaiser Permanente Washington with Dr. Karen Sherman serving as the site lead.

This award is one of three extramural research cooperative agreements funded (RFA-CE18-004) to focus on medication management of opioids and benzodiazepines to reduce falls among adults 65 and older.

 

Are you interested in working with the top-rated faculty and studying geriatric pharmacy with preeminent student peers?

Click here for more information about the Plein Geriatric Pharmacy Certificate or click these links to learn about the UW PharmD program.

UW Husky Pharmacists receive awards for leadership in practice

Congratulations to our Plein Certificate, BSPharm, and PharmD alumni and affiliate faculty who were recognized by the Washington State Pharmacy Association!

Plein Center alumna Holly Whitcomb Henry

Holly Henry, Plein Certificate alumna, received the Distinguished Leadership Service Award that pays tribute to a member who has, over his or her career been instrumental in the development and growth of the profession, and who demonstrates a high level of influence and direction with respect to their workplace, the entire health profession, the community, and/or the profession of pharmacy as a whole.

Clinical affiliate faculty member Ken KenyonClinical affiliate faculty member, Ken Kenyon, Valley Medical VP of Pharmacy Services, for being WSPA’s Health System Pharmacist of the Year. This award recognizes outstanding health systems pharmacists and their services to the profession in cooperation with the entire health team as well as to the community.

 

UWSOP Alumnus Ryan Oftebro, '03

Ryan Oftebro, ’03, received the Pharmacist of the Year Award that honors a pharmacist who possesses qualities of excellence in routine practice and association activities, is an exemplary role model, and who has contributed in service and skill to the WSPA during the past year.

 

UWSOP Alumna Bev Schaefer, '70

Bev Schaefer, ’70, received the Innovative Pharmacy Practice Award that recognizes a practicing pharmacist or pharmacy technician using innovative pharmacy practice to improve patient care and outcomes.

 

UWSOP Alumnus Steve Singer, '81

Steve Singer, ’81, received the David Almquist Award, which recognizes a member for outstanding work in the endeavors of WSPA promotion and pharmacy enrichment.

 

UWSOP Alumna Ann Wittkowsky, '88

Ann Wittkowsky, ’88, received the Rodney D. Shafer Award that recognizes a pharmacy professional who has made pioneering and sustaining contributions to the profession of pharmacy.

 

Additionally, WSPA shared the new board members at this weekend’s Annual Awards of Distinction Ceremony. Megan McIntyre, UWSOP clinical affiliate faculty, will serve as the new President Elect and Jennifer Wilson-Norton has been re-elected Pharmacist Director.

Congratulations to the 2019 WSPA Board Members from UW School of Pharmacy: Assistant Professor of Pharmacy Jennifer Bacci, faculty representative, and student board members, Erin Williams, PY3, Senior Liaison, and Kyessa Hudson, PY2, Junior Liaison.

 

To study with leaders in pharmacy practice,

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Link to Department of Pharmacy archived news

Lou Garrison named 2018 Value Assessment Challenge Award recipient

UWSOP Professor Emeritus Lou Garrison
UWSOP Professor Emeritus Lou Garrison
The PhRMA Foundation and the Personalized Medicine Coalition (PMC) announced that Lou Garrison is one of the first place recipients of the 2018 Value Assessment Challenge Awards. These awards are designed to encourage innovative approaches in defining and measuring value in health care. Lou and the other award recipients were recognized for submitting research proposals that focus specifically on novel methods for assessing the value of personalized medicine.
A total of $85,000 in funding was provided for the researchers, who answered the question: What are potentially transformative strategies and methods to define and measure value at all levels of decision making that are aligned with personalized/precision medicine?
Louis serves as faculty emeritus at University of Washington School of Pharmacy and Visiting Senior Fellow at the Office of Health Economics and collaborated with Adrian Towse, MPhil, MA, Office of Health Economics, London, England on the Research Proposal that garnered the $50,000 first place award.
“Adrian and I are really pleased and honored to receive this award.  Our proposed strategy weaves together various threads of our joint research over the past ten years—much of it in collaboration with others in our field.  We recognize the new challenges for health technology assessment and financing stemming from the exciting recent developments in precision medicine, and we call for greater focus on rewarding value creation to support optimal long-term innovation.”
—Lou Garrison, Faculty Emeritus, UWSOP
In their research proposal, “A Strategy to Support the Efficient Development and Use of innovations in Personalized and Precision Medicine,” Garrison and Towse call for a broadening of the concepts of value in personalized/precision medicine, laying out six basic policy principles as pathways to help determine value. These range from the need for flexible, value-based pricing to real-world evidence generation in personalized/precision medicine and the challenging implications for assessing and rewarding value.
The Challenge Awards, first offered in 2017, are one component of the PhRMA Foundation’s multi-faceted Value Assessment Initiative, which supports a variety of research and innovation projects to help the United States make a successful transition to a value-based health care system.
Concern over rising U.S. health care costs in recent years has increased interest in promoting high-quality care while avoiding low-value or inefficient care. In response, various efforts aimed at driving value in health care have emerged, but few have offered transformative solutions that reflect patient preferences and real-world clinical practice.
Recipients of Challenge Awards will be acknowledged during PMC’s 14th Annual Personalized Medicine Conference at Harvard Medical School on Thursday, November 15th. They will be asked to present their winning papers at a public forum, to be announced later, where they will be honored for their work.
Award recipients will also become part of the Value Assessment Research Network, which has been established to encourage collaboration and dissemination of findings that emerge from various projects the Foundation is supporting through its Value Assessment Initiative.
“Working with PMC, the PhRMA Foundation is delighted to recognize and reward the innovative approaches to value assessment demonstrated in these outstanding research proposals,” said PhRMA Foundation President Eileen Cannon. “The work of these outstanding researchers will make a significant contribution to the effort to create truly value-based health care in the United States.”
To learn more about these awards, go to the PhRMA Foundation site.
Advance your career in patient-centered outcomes research at the University of Washington. Learn more about studying Pharmaceutical Outcomes Research and Policy at The CHOICE Institute at UWSOP.

Link to CHOICE Institute archived news

UW ranks 4th world wide for pharmacology and toxicology

The UW ranks 4th worldwide in Pharmacology and Toxicology, a subject that includes pharmacy, pharmacology, substance abuse, and toxicology, according to National Taiwan University’s criteria.

The list provides overall rankings; rankings by six fields; and by 14 selected subjects, including Pharmacology and Toxicology. Overall the UW is No. 4 in the United States, No. 6 in the world.

The NTU Ranking is a reliable ranking for universities like the UW that are devoted to scientific research. The ranking is entirely based on scientific papers, reflecting scientific performance from three perspectives — research productivity, research impact and research excellence.

 

Read more at UW News.

To study with UWSOP’s top faculty in health economics and outcomes, medicinal chemistry, and pharmaceutics, click here for more information about our Graduate Programs in Medicinal Chemistry, Pharmaceutics, Pharmaceutical Outcomes Research and Policy, and Biomedical Regulatory Affairs.

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King County offered naloxone kits and training at health fair organized by UW Pharmacy students

UW Pharmacy students discuss health matters with an attendee at last year’s UPPOW Health Fair

Students at the University of Washington School of Pharmacy have partnered with King County Department of Community and Health Services to offer free naloxone kits and training at the May 22, 2018,health fair on UW’s Seattle campus.

Naloxone is an antidote for opioid and heroin overdose. With the use of opioids and heroin on the rise, more and more people are getting trained in the safe use of naloxone. “Addiction is a disease and people shouldn’t die from a treatable disease. Nalaxone can save their life and give them a chance to seek treatment for their addiction,” said pharmacy student and co-organizer Hanna Kleiboeker.

Sean was interviewed by Fox Q13 at the health fair. Watch video.

The pharmacy students reached out to student organizations to invite student leaders from across campus to come to the training. “We’ve heard of cases when people have died because those around them either didn’t have naloxone or were afraid to report that someone had overdosed. People coming to our Health Fair will be able to get a kit, get trained in how to use it, and learn from King County reps and UW School of Pharmacy students about Good Samaritan laws that protect people reporting,” added pharmacy student Sean Linn, co-organizer for the event.

The May 22nd health fair organized by UW School of Pharmacy students touched on a vast array of health issues and screenings–from HIV PrEP, Hepatitis C, to blood pressure, suicide prevention, healthy eating, and much more. Most of the UW Health Sciences schools were on Red Square helping people with screenings and education.

 

For more information call Sarah Guthrie at the UW School of Pharmacy at 703-298-6687 or email gu3@uw.edu. Both organizers, pharmacy students Sean Linn and Hanna Kleiboeker, are available for interviews on camera in advance and on the day of the event.

Health Fair Flyer in English

Health Fair Flyer en español

 

Update: See photos from the event in our Facebook album!

UW/KRI Kidney-on-a-chip will travel to International Space Station

NASA astronaut Jack Fischer tweeted this photograph from the International Space Station on June 3, 2017
NASA astronaut Jack Fischer tweeted this photograph from the International Space Station on June 3, 2017. Photo: NASA

UW Pharmacy and UW Medicine team to study how weightlessness accelerates kidney damage

In 2019, a rocket carrying a payload that includes 24 microfluidic chips about the size of credit cards will transport an extraordinary University of Washington kidney research project to the International Space Station.

Researchers from UW School of Pharmacy and UW Medicine collaborate to advance kidney care (from left to right: Dr. Phavan Bhatraju, Pulmonary Fellow; Ranita Patel, Pediatric Nephrology Fellow; Elijah Weber, newly-minted PhD, Pharmaceutics; Kirk Van Ness, Research Scientist, Pharmaceutics; Christina Kim, Undergraduate Researcher; and Ed Kelly, Associate Professor of Pharmaceutics and Kidney Research Institute Investigator)
Researchers from UW School of Pharmacy and UW Medicine collaborate to advance kidney care (from left to right: Dr. Phavan Bhatraju, Pulmonary Fellow; Ranita Patel, Pediatric Nephrology Fellow; Elijah Weber, graduate student, Pharmaceutics; Kirk Van Ness, Research Scientist, Pharmaceutics; Christina Kim, Undergraduate Researcher; and Ed Kelly, Associate Professor of Pharmaceutics and Kidney Research Institute Investigator) Photo: Alex Levine

University of Washington School of Pharmacy and UW Medicine researchers, in collaboration with the Seattle-based organ-on-a-chip company, Nortis, have been developing the “kidney-on-a chip” as a laboratory model for understanding how this organ is affected by drugs, toxins and environmental exposures. The chips contain a central chamber lined with live kidney cells.

This novel space medicine project is an attempt to understand how microgravity and other factors worsen kidney health. Researchers hope to use these discoveries to design better treatments for proteinuria (the presence of protein in the urine that signals possible kidney problems), osteoporosis (bone loss) and kidney stones on Earth.

“Weightlessness is an accelerator,” said UW School of Pharmacy faculty member and Kidney Research Institute investigator Ed Kelly. “In the microgravity environment on the International Space Station, kidney problems are more common and develop in weeks or months, instead of decades. By studying the kidney on a chip after a few weeks in space, we expect to learn more about how osteoporosis, kidney stones and other kidney conditions develop, which may lead to breakthroughs in treatment and prevention.”

The first phase of the project will be to launch chips that measure the effect weightlessness has on healthy kidney cells. The second phase will launch about 18 months later and will measure the effect of weightlessness on diseased kidney cells. Astronauts on the space station will monitor and maintain the chips and then return them to Earth after several weeks for the UW team to examine.

A collaboration between UW School of Pharmacy, UW Medicine, Kidney Research Institute, and Nortis led to this advanced kidney-on-a-chip model designed for research on the International Space Station.
A collaboration between UW School of Pharmacy, UW Medicine, Kidney Research Institute, and Nortis led to this advanced kidney-on-a-chip model specifically designed for research on the International Space Station.

Jonathan Himmelfarb, of UW Medicine and director of the Kidney Research Institute, a collaboration between Northwest Kidney Centers and UW Medicine, along with researchers from the UW School of Pharmacy: Ken Thummel, Ed Kelly, and Cathy Yeung, have developed the kidney-on-a-chip system using technology developed by Nortis. The kidney chips contain a small sample of live human kidney cells to test how drugs will affect those cells. The system offers a safer, more accurate, less invasive means of testing drugs before they are tried in patients. Importantly, it will reduce the need for animal testing in drug discovery research.

“Use of the human kidney on a chip here on Earth has already taught us a lot about kidney function and kidney diseases,” said Himmelfarb. “The opportunity to study how physical cues emanating from loss of gravitational forces affect kidney cellular function has the potential to improve the health of people living on Earth as well as prevent medical complications that astronauts experience from weightlessness.”

The kidney is a critical organ in drug clearance. When healthy, your two kidneys work together to filter about 110 to 140 liters of blood and produce about 1 to 2 liters of urine every day. Dehydration or diseases like diabetes and high blood pressure impair kidney function and result in serious medical conditions including protein in the urine and kidney stones. The kidney also plays a critical role in the body’s ability to use Vitamin D to maintain strong bones; a decline in this function can result in a loss of bone health.

Eli Weber and Ed Kelly discuss the Kidney on a Chip project (chip can be seen on the microscope).
Eli Weber and Ed Kelly discuss the Kidney on a Chip project (Chip can be seen on the microscope). Photo: Alex Levine

A better understanding of the mechanics of basic kidney function could lead to improved treatments for patients fighting kidney conditions. Pharmaceutical scientists from the UW School of Pharmacy have significant knowledge on how drugs affect and are processed by the body. Their work in this area enhances the research done by UW Medicine and Kidney Research Institute clinicians.

The Kidney on a Chip in Space Project will study effects of microgravity on the structure and function of the proximal and distal tubule microphysiological system. This model is used in laboratory studies to understand how the kidney clears drugs and how medications damage the kidney. In people, the kidney proximal and distal tubules are located in the nephron, which is the basic functional part of the kidney. They are both convoluted, but have different structures. The new chip project extends previous work on modeling a proximal tubule by adding a distal tubule.

The UW School of Pharmacy, UW Medicine and Kidney Research Institute team have partnered with BioServe Space Technologies at the University of Colorado to work with engineers who specialize in developing scientific testing equipment for space launch. The four-year, $3 million grant (1 UG3 TR002178-01) was awarded by National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS), the organization tasked by NASA to manage the International Space Station U.S. National Laboratory, will contribute the space flight, time in station, and Space Station crew costs, for an in-kind total of $8 million.

The official project kick off will be in late September at Cape Canaveral in Florida.

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About UW School of Pharmacy: UWSOP is comprised of three departments: Medicinal Chemistry, Pharmaceutics, and Pharmacy, offering Ph.D., M.S., and PharmD degrees, post docs and certificate programs. The UW School of Pharmacy is a global leader in pharmacy education, research and service, committed to providing a transformative learning experience in a collaborative and diverse environment focused on improving the health and well-being of the communities we serve.

About UW Medicine: UW Medicine is one of the top-rated academic medical systems in the world. With a mission to improve the health of the public, UW Medicine educates the next generation of physicians and scientists, leads one of the world’s largest and most comprehensive medical research programs, and provides outstanding care to patients from across the globe. UW Medicine’s four hospitals – Harborview Medical Center, Northwest Hospital & Medical Center, University of WashingtonMedical Center and Valley Medical Center – admit more than 63,000 patients each year. A network of hospital-based and outpatient clinics, including 12 UW Neighborhood Clinics, provides care for more than 1.3 million patients each year. For more information, visit uwmedicine.org.

About the Kidney Research Institute: The Kidney Research Institute supports the prevention, early detection and treatment of kidney disease and its complications. Founded in 2008 by Northwest Kidney Centers and UW Medicine, its mission is to conduct research that can improve the lives of those with kidney disease. Based at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, the Kidney Research Institute uses findings from patient treatments to inform scientific investigations in the lab, and vice versa. Find out more at kri.washington.edu.

About Nortis: Nortis, Inc. is a company developing organ-on-chip technologies as alternatives for animal testing in academic research, pharmaceutical industry, environmental health and safety, and other areas. Nortis partners with leading researchers world wide to develop living models of human organs, like the kidney, in microfluidic chips that better predict outcome in humans.

About CASIS:  The Center for Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS) is the non-profit organization selected to manage the ISS National Laboratory with a focus on enabling a new era of space research to improve life on Earth. In this innovative role, CASIS promotes and brokers a diverse range of research in life sciences, physical sciences, remote sensing, technology development, and education. Since 2011, the ISS National Lab portfolio has included hundreds of novel research projects spanning multiple scientific disciplines, all with the intention of benefitting life on Earth. Working together with NASA, CASIS aims to advance the nation’s leadership in commercial space, pursue groundbreaking science not possible on Earth, and leverage the space station to inspire the next generation.

About the ISS National Laboratory: In 2005, Congress designated the U.S. portion of the International Space Station as the nation’s newest national laboratory to maximize its use for improving life on Earth, promoting collaboration among diverse users, and advancing STEM education. This unique laboratory environment is available for use by other U.S. government agencies and by academic and private institutions, providing access to the permanent microgravity setting, vantage point in low Earth orbit, and varied environments of space.

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To study with researchers like Drs. Kelly and Yeung, click on the links for more information about our Graduate Programs in Medicinal Chemistry, Pharmaceutics, Pharmaceutical Outcomes Research and Policy, and Biomedical Regulatory Affairs.

Link to Pharmaceutics archived news

Researchers at UW bolster study of how austerity devastated Greece’s health

A new study by dozens of researchers from the University of Washington and around the world has found that Greece’s population health declined markedly and death rates rose sharply after harsh austerity measures were imposed on Greece by the European Union and the International Money Fund in 2010.

“This study is important because it provides a framework for health surveillance on a national level following major socioeconomic changes,” said Dr. Georgios Kotsakis of the UW School of Dentistry, one of the study’s authors.

The study, published in the British journal The Lancet Public Health, reported that government health spending fell sharply and that the causes of death that increased the most were largely those that could have been addressed by health care. The researchers noted that Greece’s reduced health spending, required as part of the austerity measures, had been criticized for omitting measures to protect the country’s National Health System. They said that health policymakers should place a special focus on ensuring that Greece’s health-care system is equipped to meet the needs of the country’s citizens.

The study, which was funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, relies heavily on the UW’s 2016 Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD). The 2016 GBD study, conducted by the UW’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), is an outgrowth of the original 1997 GBD study. This was the world’s largest systematic effort to chart the scope of health loss from all major diseases, injuries, and risk factors by age, sex, and population.

Andy Stergachis, UWSOP Professor & Associate Dean
Andy Stergachis, UWSOP Professor & Associate Dean

Co-authors of the Greece study were Dr. Kotsakis, assistant professor at the School of Dentistry;  Dr. Stefanos Tyrovolas, a visiting scholar at the School of Dentistry; Dr. Andy Stergachis, professor of pharmacy and global health and associate dean at the UW School of Pharmacy; and Dr. Nick Kassebaum, associate professor at IHME and in the Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine at Seattle Children’s Hospital. The four were joined by 43 other GBD collaborators in a number of countries, including 15 at the UW.

“Post-austerity measures, we observed increases in death rates associated with reductions in government health expenditures and increases in an aging population in Greece.”
–Andy Stergachis, Professor and Associate Dean, UW School of Pharmacy

The researchers identified an increase in the pace at which Greece’s population was aging as another important concern and wrote: “The increase in total deaths in children younger than 5 years and older adults with increase in causes sensitive to resource availability (e.g., access to screening and urgent care) suggest that the health system requires substantial restructuring to cope with the effects that the financial crisis has had on resource availability, resource allocation, and population structure.”

They reported that while the country’s overall death rate rose by about 5.6 percent from 2000 to 2010, it jumped by about 17.7 percent in the six years that followed, after austerity measures were imposed. The rate rose three times faster than the rate in Western Europe overall, and came at a time when mortality rates were actually declining worldwide. The largest increase came among people 70 and older, while the very young also saw a disproportionate increase.

The rise in mortality coincided with changes in causes of death, with notable increases in communicable, maternal, neonatal, and nutritional diseases.

Other findings from the study included these:

  • The incidence of tuberculosis increased among native-born Greeks after austerity was imposed.
  • The incidence of HIV nearly doubled from 2010 to 2012, spurring reinstatement of syringe distribution programs. After this was done, HIV rates declined.
  • The period of austerity saw rises in major depression and suicide, as well as a lack of improvement in maternal, infant, and child mortality rates.

“Notably, the number of individuals with unmet health-care needs nearly doubled since 2010, with a considerable fraction reporting health-care cost as the main reason for not receiving the recommended health-care services,” the researchers wrote.

Read the study.

Story by Steve Steinberg, Director of Communications, UW School of Dentistry. Shared with permission.

Preceptors of the Year, Daniel Kim and Kate Atienza, honored by UWSOP

Kim and Atienza were recognized for their excellence in clinical training of our students at the 2018 UWSOP Commencement Ceremony

Preceptors of the Year Daniel Kim and Kate Atienza were recognized at our 2018 Commencement ceremony
Preceptors of the Year Daniel Kim and Kate Atienza were recognized at our 2018 Commencement ceremony Photo: GradImages

Daniel Kim of the Safeway in Pinehurt/Lake City was named Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experiences (IPPE) Preceptor of the Year for 2018 and Kate Atienza of QFC in Kirkland was named Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences (APPE) Preceptor of the Year for 2018 by the UW School of Pharmacy.

Most of us, whether we are pharmacists in practice or in another field, can think back to our education/ professional training and recall a teacher, a mentor, or a preceptor who made a significant impact in our life and helped us become the person we are today. Good preceptors are good role models. They act in a positive manner during interprofessional interations and demonstrate expertise in practice area. They show compassion for patients and advocate for them.

Knowing the impact preceptors can have as role models and mentors to inspire our students to become patient advocates, innovators and future leaders, UW School of Pharmacy established the Preceptors of the Year Awards.

2018 IPPE Preceptor of the Year recipient, Daniel Kim (center)
2018 IPPE Preceptor of the Year recipient, Daniel Kim (center)

Daniel Kim

The Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experiences (IPPE) Preceptor of the Year Award is given annually to one outstanding IPPE preceptor who has consistently gone above and beyond expectations in precepting IPPE students.

For 2018, Daniel Kim of Safeway in Pinehurst/Lake City was named the honoree. Over the past four years, he has been nominated three times for this honor and has received consistently high scores for his teaching abilities and students’ positive learning experience.

One student wrote, “He has inspired me to become a better pharmacist, not just to better myself but also to better the lives of my patients. He did not only tell me how to be a good pharmacist, he showed it to me every day.”

Another said: “Daniel was instrumental to my learning as a student pharmacist. Not only was he well-informed and patient, but he also cared deeply about my education. On many occasions, he would approach me and request me to counsel on medication that I had never seen before; he first had me counsel him on the medication, then filled in any knowledge gaps I may have had about the medication before allowing me to counsel the patient. This took me a bit out of my comfort zone at first, but was instrumental in my continued learning of medication counseling. On many occasions, he would ask me to work on specialized projects that would be used to help me continue to learn about community pharmacy, including completing a site self-inspection, filling an iPLEDGE prescription for Accutane, managing records, and completing book-keeping.”

Another student shared, “Daniel has inspired me to continue to work in a community setting….Daniel has shown me that this setting is one in which I can advocate for patients, protect their health, and ultimately contribute to their well-being.”

Another student shared, “Daniel’s most powerful trait is his kindness. He is also a brilliant pharmacist with a wonderful teaching style, and I appreciated every moment that I was able to learn from him.”

 

2018 Wayne A. Kradjan Excellence in Clinical Teaching Award recipient Kate Atienza (center)
2018 Wayne A. Kradjan Excellence in Clinical Teaching Award recipient Kate Atienza (center)

Kate Atienza

Every year the UWSOP recognizes one Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences (APPE) preceptor who has consistently gone above and beyond expectations in precepting APPE students by awarding them with the Wayne A. Kradjan Excellence in Clinical Teaching Award.

Congratulations to Kate Atienza of QFC in Kirkland who was honored for 2018. We are excited to recognize Kate for her role in precepting APPE students from her students. Over the past 3 years, she has precepted 12 students, all of whom have acknowledged her for her teaching abilities and their positive learning experience. Good preceptors are great coaches that allows students to learn by doing while providing useful feedback.

One student said she admired Kate’s “willingness to do extra work for her patients have gained her great respect and love from both staff and customers. She has taught me the importance of a genuine heart as a healthcare provider.”

Another student shared, “Kate always challenged me with questions and real life scenarios happened at a community pharmacy to stimulate my thoughts and practice what I learned at school.  I really appreciated her calculation worksheet, which allowed me to practice on day supply, dosing, quantity dispensed, etc. for tablets, solutions, or suspensions.”

Another student commented, “Kate ensured I had ample learning opportunities. I love the idea of her list of ‘pearls’ or questions that she encountered early in her pharmacy career.”

One student said, “I…greatly appreciate the fact that she had me make most of the phone calls to doctors’ office so I was able to learn about the different issues we may come across when filling prescriptions. She was always very encouraging and was never afraid to let her student take the driver seat, as she believes the best way to learn and improve is through real work experience.

One student observed, “She is very passionate about her profession as a pharmacist as well as a preceptor in training the future pharmacists. She is loved by patients and highly respected by the staff members because she genuinely cares about her patients and would go the extra mile to ensure her patients are well taken care of.”

Another student aid, “Kate’s willingness to do extra work for her patients gained her great respect and love from both staff and customers. She has taught me the importance of a genuine heart as a healthcare provider.”

Thank you Daniel and Kate for inspiring our students and modeling professional and positive leadership and excellent patient care. We appreciate all you do to train our Husky Pharmacists!

 

Are you interested in training with outstanding preceptors like Daniel Kim and Kate Atienza?

Click here for more information about the UW PharmD program.

Would you like to precept students from the School of Pharmacy ranked in the Top 10 nationally and worldwide?

Learn more about Precepting at the UW School of Pharmacy.

 

Link to Department of Pharmacy archived news

Unadkat, Shoner, and team make drug glow to watch it move in the body

The blue-green (liver) and pink (kidney, above, and bladder) denote different levels of radio-labeled rosuvastatin in two subjects.
The blue-green (liver) and pink (kidney, above, and bladder) denote different levels of radio-labeled rosuvastatin in two subjects. Photo: Department of Radiology, University of Washington School of Medicine

UW Medicine’s radiology team last month created a novel imaging agent and, in an expansive team effort, performed a first-in-human PET/CT imaging study to observe how a statin drug distributes and accumulates in the body.

Spoiler alert: It’s mostly in the liver, kidneys and bladder.

The statin – rosuvastatin (Crestor), a cholesterol-lowering drug – was changed at the atomic level with the addition of carbon 11, a radioactive isotope. The isotope didn’t alter the drug’s action in the body, but it enabled scientists to witness its transport through the organs of human subjects.

“The beauty of the PET scan is that we can follow quantitatively how much of the drug goes in and out of various organs,” said Steve Shoner, the radiology scientist who, with colleagues, made the rosuvastatin doses glow by inducing a sequence of chemical changes.

Professor of Pharmaceutics Jashvant Unadkat, PhD

The experiment was designed by Jash Unadkat, University of Washington professor of pharmaceutics. He and a team have developed an in vitro model, one of several advancing in parallel at the UW, in which human organ-tissue samples are grown in a lab to observe how they respond to drugs.

The impetus, Unadkat said, is to create tools that more accurately inform pharmaceutical companies how new test compounds will move and accumulate and respond to other drugs.

Currently drug manufacturers’ understanding of medications’ effects are mostly based on test-tube lab tests and animal tests. Drug development and testing is hugely expensive and slow. Small-scale models such as Unadkat’s, if they are proven valid, could result in more effective drugs being produced more quickly.

“We’re interested in predicting drugs’ concentration in the tissue,” Unadkat said. He attributed drug companies’ declining success rate in drug trials to two things: a lack of efficacy and unanticipated toxicity among test compounds.

“I think we are unable to predict well the drug concentration at the intended site. Is it enough – efficacy – or too much – toxicity? That’s one of our goals: to better predict drugs’ concentration and duration in tissues.”

The PET/CT experiment was intended to validate the predictability of Unadkat’s in vitro model. It had indicated that rosuvastatin would be transported into and out of the liver – and that the process would be slowed by giving the subjects a second drug, cyclosporine, an immunosuppressant that shuts down the transporters that move rosuvastatin through the liver.

PET/CT involves the use of two technologies, positron emission tomography and computed tomography, to capture sequences of patient scans. It is commonly used to identify cancerous growths and to track how tumors respond to chemotherapies.

With PET/CT, the radioactive element is put inside the person and observed from the outside. Radioactive atoms emit positrons as they decay, and the decaying positrons put off gamma rays, which are visible to the PET scan.

Lead scientist Sarah Billington, PhD

The subjects in the test were not endangered by the rosuvastatin’s radioactivity because carbon 11 disintegrates into harmless material in less than two hours.  Radioactivity is so highly detectable that the physical quantity of carbon 11 in the subjects was 1 or 2 micrograms, or “less than one-thousandth of what you’d take in a 10 or 20 milligram pill,” Shoner said.

He and Unadkat were assisted by David Lewis, Jean Lee, Mark Muzi, Jeremy Iman, Missy Wanner and imaging technologists in radiology; Scott Lee in gastroenterology; Matthew Pennington in anesthesiology and pain medicine; and Sarah Billington and others in Unadkat’s pharmaceutics laboratory.

Written by UW Medicine’s Newsroom. Shared with permission. See original story.

 

To study with researchers in Pharmaceutics like Jash Unadkat and Sarah Billington, click on the link for more information about our PhD Program in Pharmaceutics.

Link to Pharmaceutics archived news

 

 

Baughman investigates a natural defense against Alzheimer’s

Hannah Baughman is a PhD student in Medicinal Chemistry, shown here working in the Nath Lab
Hannah Baughman is a PhD student in Medicinal Chemistry, shown here working in the Nath Lab Photo: Alex Levine

Hannah Baughman, graduate student in Abhi Nath’s lab, is first author on an article looking at molecular chaperones, which may unlock keys in the fight against neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s, which seem to be caused by buildup of the protein tau. Hannah was also selected as the Hope Barnes Fellow this year.

“I am honored to receive the Hope Barnes Fellowship and blown away to learn what an inspiring woman she was. I am grateful for her family’s support for women in science.”—Hannah Baughman

The proteins have been shown to interact with each other and aggregate into fibrillar structures that are damaging to neurons. Hannah focused on ways certain proteins in neurons—molecular chaperones—work to prevent this aggregation from happening, as part of the native defense against these diseases.

Of the two studied, one, HspB1, acted during the early stages of aggregation, and the other, Hsc70, targeted later stages and was able to prevent tau fibril formation efficiently. This suggests that the two chaperones play complementary roles within neurons and shows how different chaperones work to defend against tau fibril formation.

Hannah is co-mentored by Abhi Nath and Rachel Klevit, used multiple biophysical techniques, including fluorescence in the Nath lab and NMR spectroscopy in the Klevit lab. Hannah’s paper “HspB1 and Hsc70 chaperones engage distinct tau species and have different
inhibitory effects on amyloid formation,” was published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry.

 

To study with peer researchers like Hannah Baughman, click here for more information about our Graduate Programs in Medicinal Chemistry, Pharmaceutics, Pharmaceutical Outcomes Research and Policy, and Biomedical Regulatory Affairs.

Meet our Plein Center Faculty: Doug Barthold

Research Assistant Professor Doug comes to The CHOICE Institute at UWSOP from the University of Southern California, where he was a post-doctoral scholar with the Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics. He received his BBA in Management, Economics and Mathematics in 2007 from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and then received his PhD in Economics in 2015 at McGill University in Montreal, Canada.

Doug is a health economist with a broad interest in the relationships between health policies, health care utilization, and health outcomes, especially in the area of geriatric pharmacy. Demographic shifts have increased the importance of this sector of health care activity, and rigorous empirical evaluations of policies in this area provide critical evidence to the policy makers of the future.

In addition to health economics, Doug also has a strong research interest in pharmacoepidemiology, with a focus on the effects of drug therapies used throughout the disease trajectory of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.

Some fun facts about Doug are that he likes to commute by bike, and has been riding the same bicycle since 1999. In his spare time he enjoys exploring mountains, rivers, and other beautiful natural areas. He also likes to study weather data, to understand how a given day’s weather fits in the historical distribution of observed data. As for coffee, he likes it black.

More about Doug on the CHOICE Institute page Read

 

Are you interested in working with the top-rated faculty and studying geriatric pharmacy with preeminent student peers?

Click here for more information about the Plein Geriatric Pharmacy Certificate or click these links to learn about the UW PharmD program.

Meet our Geriatric Pharmacy Preceptors: Judy Mar-Burbidge

Judy Mar-Burbidge
Judy Mar-Burbidge

Being semi-retired does not seem to have slowed down Judy Mar-Burbidge! She earned her BS in Pharmacy in 1982 and returned to earn her PharmD in 2000. She remains a Clinical Assistant Professor at the UW School of Pharmacy, Associate Part Time Faculty at Edmonds Community College in the Allied Health Program for Pharmacy Technicians, Costco Wholesale (special projects) and at Kindred Northgate Acute Long Term Care Hospital. Judy continues to be a very active preceptor in UW pharmacy student outreach events.

“Over the years, I have done many things, different projects, but always with a special interest in geriatrics,” said Judy. “ Whether managing operations or developing new programs, I have always had a focus on senior care.”

She has worked in the majority of the hospitals or managed care organizations in the Seattle area including Group Health Cooperative where she was a clinical pharmacist specializing in women’s health, geriatrics, and psychiatry for fifteen years and for eight years on their Geriatric Multi-Disciplinary Assessment Team. She also worked at Virginia Mason, Hadfield’s Pharmacy, Fairfax Psychiatric Hospital, Providence Everett, Seattle VA Hospital Outpatient/Inpatient Services Genoa Healthcare Everett, and Evergreen Hospital. For eight years, she worked at Costco Corporate as the Pharmacy Manager for their Online/Mail-Order/Assisted Living and Retail Pharmacy, and continues to work there now on special projects, such as their Immunization Program and developing the clinical content for their ACO (Affordable Care Program). Judy spent part of her career in the pharmaceutical industry and Patient-Centered Outcomes Consultant for the AHRQ Effective Care Program in the Pacific Northwest.

Judy has served on the Pharmacy Alumni Association Board since 2007 and been a mentor to many pharmacy students. She served as American Society of Consultant Pharmacists (ASCP) President from 2015 to 2016.

“As a daughter of immigrant parents, I have been very fortunate to have had the opportunity to do so many things in my career and now it is my turn to give back. If I can inspire our PharmD students and alumni to have a similar passion to work with our older adult population and work within the different pharmacy associations to educate and “give-back” to the community than I feel that I have accomplished my true goal in life.”—Judy Mar-Burbidge

For fun, Judy enjoys live theatre, musicals and ballet, holding season tickets for Pacific Northwest Ballet, Seattle Repertory Theatre, ACT, and 5th Avenue Theatre for many years. She loves to travel as well, whether for work or vacation. She loves her coffee black with a “smidge of non-fat milk” to cut the acidity, “almost dark-chocolate brown!”

 

Are you interested in working with the top-rated faculty and preceptors while studying geriatric pharmacy with preeminent student peers?

Click here for more information about the Plein Geriatric Pharmacy Certificate or click these links to learn about the UW PharmD program.

Meet our Geriatric Pharmacy Certificate Alumni: Nancy Lee

Nancy Lee, PharmD, BCPS, CDE
Nancy Lee, PharmD, BCPS, CDE

Nancy J Lee, PharmD, BCPS, CDE is the Lead Clinical Pharmacist for Swedish Medical Group’s clinical pharmacist practitioner program, embedded in the Issaquah Primary Care Clinic.

Seeing that older patients tended to take multiple medications and that the older adult population was growing, Nancy pursued the Plein Certificate in Geriatric Pharmacy and completed it in 2004. She was interested in making sure her older patients took medications that supported their health and wellness and that less effective medications were reduced or discontinued. “I wanted to make sure that older patients had someone, a clinical pharmacist, they could approach to discuss the risks and benefits of their medications and how the meds would affect their quality of life,” she said.

Over time, having the Plein Certificate in Geriatric Pharmacy has had a positive impact on Nancy’s career. Not every school offers a geriatric certificate option as part of their PharmD program. “When providers—especially those that take care of older patients—learn that I have taken the certificate program, they are more open to refer their complex older adult patients to me for assistance,” she shared.

In addition to the geriatrics therapeutics and the geriatric-focused pharmacokinetic/ pharmacodynamics (PK/PD) course, Nancy said she “really valued the interdisciplinary class that I had with social workers in an elective course”. Working with social workers and touring different assisted living and skilled nursing facilities with them expanded her perspective on the social, behavioral, psychological and financial challenges that affect older patients.

“Taking the class helped me appreciate treating the patient as a whole person and taking into consideration all of the bio-psycho-social aspects of health.”—Nancy Lee

For fun, Nancy recently began sea kayaking and is training for her first tri-sprint this summer. As for coffee, she’s become more of a tea drinker over the years, but tells us she does enjoy a tasty cup of iced latte from Vivace, a Viennese mélange, or iced Kona coffee with cream or milk…and of course, peppermint mocha in the winter.

 

Are you interested in working with the top-rated faculty and studying geriatric pharmacy with preeminent student peers?

Click here for more information about the Plein Geriatric Pharmacy Certificate or click these links to learn about the UW PharmD program.

APhA honors Project VACCINATE, led by Bacci and Odegard

Members of the Project VACCINATE team (L to R): Michelle Bonjour, Lara Popovich, James Lin, ’17, Marci Reynolds, ’04, Christina Ree, Jennifer Bacci, Jenny Arnold, ’06, Peggy Odegard, ’85, ’90,
Members of the Project VACCINATE team (L to R): Michelle Bonjour, Lara Popovich, James Lin, ’17, Marci Reynolds, ’04, Christina Ree, Jennifer Bacci, Jenny Arnold, ’06, Peggy Odegard, ’85, ’90,

The American Pharmacists Association (APhA) presented the National APhA Immunization Champion Award (Partnership) to Project VACCINATE at their 2018 Annual Meeting and Exposition in Nashville. Likely the largest partnership effort to improve adult immunization care in Washington state, Project VACCINATE created a real-world immunization neighborhood across western Washington communities through effective collaboration, coordination, and communication among key stakeholders, including patients. Co-led by UWSOP’s Peggy Odegard and Jennifer Bacci, Project VACCINATE brought together Bartell Drugs, and QFC Pharmacy, Washington State Health Care Authority, Washington State Department of Health, Washington State Pharmacy Association, and Scientific Technologies Corporation.

As a community pharmacist, I know the positive impact we, as pharmacists, can have on health in our communities—and Project VACCINATE proves it.” –Jennifer Bacci, Assistant Professor, Pharmacy

The team worked with 70 community pharmacies to identify new ways to improve vaccination rates through: forecasting immunization rates; sharing documentation of immunization data and communication with providers through the state’s immunization registry; training pharmacy teams to improve vaccination rates through value-based incentives; and enhancing pandemic vaccine preparedness and capacity in the region. The team was proud to see a 14% increase in the number of influenza, pneumococcal, herpes zoster, and pertussis vaccinations provided to adults 18 years and older in just a one year time period as a direct result of Project VACCINATE. The demonstration project is supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS).

Jennifer Bacci receiving the NAIIS Award in May 2018
Jennifer Bacci receiving the NAIIS Award in May 2018

In May 2018, Project VACCINATE was named the winner of the Immunization Champion Award at the National Adult and Influenza Immunization Summit in Atlanta, GA. Congratulations to the Project VACCINATE team!

 

Are you interested in training with the top-rated faculty like Professors Odegard and Bacci?

Click here for more information about the UW PharmD program.

Link to Department of Pharmacy archived news

Remembering Dean Emeritus Jack Orr

Dean Emeritus Jack Orr

It is with sadness we report that Dean Emeritus Jack Edward Orr passed away peacefully on Sunday, May 6, 2018, surrounded by his family.

Born in Delphi, Indiana in 1918, Jack’s father and grandfather were both pharmacists. Like so many of our alumni, he began his pharmacy career dusting shelves and sweeping the floor of the family pharmacy. He followed in his father’s and brother’s footsteps, attending Purdue University School of Pharmacy. He was a pharmacist (BS Pharm, Purdue University) and a Medicinal Chemist (PhD, University of Wisconsin). Jack served on the faculty of Pharmacy at Ohio State University and the University of Utah before accepting an offer in 1952 to become Dean of the University of Montana College of Pharmacy.

In 1956, Jack became Dean of the UW School of Pharmacy succeeding Dean Forest Goodrich. At the UW, he served 22 years as our Dean and was succeeded by Milo Gibaldi in 1978. While in service as Dean, Jack led the school’s growth to double the number of faculty and staff and the curriculum shift to include a clinical approach with patient care at its center, along with other changes that laid the groundwork for the Doctor of Pharmacy Program. Support of research grew, along with federal research funding. Pharmacy services started being offered in Hall Health, culminating in the Rubenstein Memorial Pharmacy. In 1976, Jack asked UWSOP alumnus Ted Taniguchi to establish the UW Pharmacy Alumni Association (PAA). The Distinguished Alumni Award was also established while Jack served as Dean.

Outside of his work at the UW, Jack was heavily involved in the American Association of the Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) for 13 years, including as President (1964-1965) and chair of the Executive Committee (1968-1973).

He retired from the School of Pharmacy in 1983 and had lived in the Puget Sound area since his retirement. In 1994, Jack wrote The First Century, A History of The University of Washington School of Pharmacy, 1894-1994, on the 100thanniversary of the founding of the UWSOP. The history brings to life the many storied accomplishments of our faculty, alumni, and students.

UWSOP Deans Emeriti Jack Orr, Tom Baillie, and Sid Nelson
UWSOP Deans Emeriti Jack Orr, Tom Baillie, and Sid Nelson

A number of talented faculty leaders joined the School during his tenure, including: Lynn Brady, Wendell Nelson, Joy Plein, Frank Vincenzi, Dale Christensen, Pharmacy Professor John Horn, Wayne Kradjan, Bill Trager, Rene Levy, Bill Campbell and Sid Nelson. Three of these individuals went on to become Deans, themselves (Kradjan at Oregon State, Campbell at UNC, and Nelson at the UW).  What a phenomenal academic legacy that Dean Orr helped to create.

Jack was married to and preceded in death by Maxine Kennard. They had one daughter, Judy, and two grandsons. Dean Sean D. Sullivan shared, “When I last saw Jack, he mentioned to me his wish to see his 100th birthday. He came very close! Jack requested that no memorial be held, just a big party.”

In honor of his memory, Jack’s family has asked that gifts be made to the Jack Orr Endowed Fund at the UW School of Pharmacy.

 

Huang, ’17, named UWSOP Magnuson Scholar for 2018-2019

Weize Huang, PharmD, '17, and graduate student in Pharmaceutics
Weize Huang, PharmD, ’17, and graduate student in Pharmaceutics

Congratulations to Weize Huang who was named UWSOP’s Magnuson Scholar for 2018-2019! Weize graduated with a Pharm.D. degree from UWSOP in 2017, and is currently a second year PhD student at the Department of Pharmaceutics. He is passionate about the field of pharmacometrics, a discipline that uses mathematics and computer science to illustrate, quantify, and predict the interactions among therapeutic drugs, human physiology, and disease progression.

Weize’s current research project involves the use of pharmacometric concepts and techniques to establish a mechanistic kidney model to predict drug renal clearance and drug disposition inside the kidney. Complications such as drug-induced nephrotoxicity have been shown to be more frequent in diabetic patients than normal subjects. His research is particularly relevant to the Magnuson Scholar Program as Senator Magnuson himself experienced complications from diabetes.

Nina Isoherranen, PhD, Professor and Associate Chair, Department of Pharmaceutics notes that, “From the first months that Weize was in my laboratory it became clear that he is a very highly motivated student, a hard worker and very talented. He also proved himself as a self-learner reading the background literature thoroughly and by solving research problems independently. I was very impressed with his ability to seek out faculty members and assistance in research problems independently. Overall, Weize was a truly outstanding PharmD student to have in the lab.”

Congratulations, Weize!

 

To study with peers like Weize Huang and research leaders in Pharmaceutics like Dr. Isoherranen, click on the link for more information about our PhD Program in Pharmaceutics.

Link to Pharmaceutics archived news

CHOICE alumnus Scott Strassels moves into leadership role at Ohio State U

Scott Strassels, PhD, PharmD, on his new position as assistant professor in the Division of Trauma, Critical Care and Burn and scientific director of the Center for Surgical Health Assessment, Research and Policy (SHARP)
Scott Strassels, PhD, PharmD, Assistant Professor in the Division of Trauma, Critical Care and Burn and Scientific director of the Center for Surgical Health Assessment, Research and Policy (SHARP) at OSU

The University of Washington School of Pharmacy congratulates Scott Strassels, PhD, PharmD, on his new position as assistant professor in the Division of Trauma, Critical Care and Burn and scientific director of the Center for Surgical Health Assessment, Research and Policy (SHARP). He previously served as a clinical pharmacist, providing recommendations for symptom management to   physicians, nurses and hospice patients and conducting cost and drug use analyses.

Scott received his PharmD from the University of Arizona and his PhD in pharmaceutical sciences from UWSOP, where he was a post-doc pharmacoeconomics research fellow. During his time here at the UW, Associate Professor, Tom Hazlet described his research as “important and unique–evaluating the outcomes of various services provided to persons with pain and individuals receiving hospice care.”

His new leadership position as  Center Director for Surgical Outcomes at Ohio State comes as no surprise to CHOICE faculty and alumni who knew him well. Scott graduated with his PhD in 2005 after completing his dissertation: “The association of demographic and clinical characteristics with pain in persons who received hospice care in the United States.”

He completed an acute pain outcomes fellowship at Tufts Medical Center, where he later served as an adjunct instructor in the Department of Anesthesiology. Additionally, Dr. Strassels has held positions in management, education and medicine at Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals, the University of Texas at Austin College of Pharmacy, the New England Medical Center and National Jewish Health.

In his role at Ohio State, Dr. Strassels will help design, supervise and organize research in the field of surgical health services research, as well as oversee SHARP’s initiatives, contribute to research projects and train students and residents. We wish Scott all the best in his new leadership roles!

 

Advance your career in patient-centered outcomes research at the University of Washington. Learn more about our Graduate Programs in Pharmaceutical Outcomes Research and Policy.

Link to Department of Pharmacy archived news

What are our Plein Center faculty researching?: Joanne Wang

Joanne Wang, Professor of PharmaceuticsLearn the latest about the research of Plein Center of Plein Center for Geriatric Pharmacy faculty member, Joanne Wang, Professor in the Department of Pharmaceutics. 

Joanne, along with a postdoctoral trainee previously supported by a Plein Endowed Research grant, published a paper demonstrating a direct effect of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) use on estrogen synthesis and further identified estrogen as a critical factor that contributes to depression treatment-induced metabolic abnormalities as well as other adverse effects of SSRIs.

Joanne commented, “SSRIs are commonly used antidepressants. Long-term use of SSRIs is associated with weight gain and an increased risk of type 2 diabetes, but the causes underlying these associations are unknown.”

In a paper published in Scientific Reports, Dr. Wang’s team described a novel mechanism that explains this and other side effects associated with SSRI use. Using mice with targeted deletion of the serotonin transporter (SERT) gene, they showed that SERT deletion led to abnormal fat accumulation, insulin resistance, and glucose intolerance through suppressing aromatase (Cyp19a1) and estrogen production.”

Gaining a better understanding of the underlying mechanisms of SSRI-related metabolic abnormalities could lead to improved drug development.

Dr. Wang presented this work at the Keystone Symposia on Frontiers of Serotonin beyond the Brain in Park City, Utah, in November 2017.

 

Are you interested in working with the top-rated faculty and studying geriatric pharmacy with preeminent student peers?

Click here for more information about the Plein Geriatric Pharmacy Certificate or click these links to learn about the UW PharmD program.

Meet our Plein Geriatric Pharmacy Certificate Alumni: Annie Lam

Annie Lam photo
Annie Lam, ’95

We like to check in with our Plein Geriatric Certificate Alumni and find out what they are up to now? How did the Certificate make a difference in their career? This issue, we spoke with Annie Lam, ’95.

What is your title? Where do you work/study now?

My title at UW is Clinical Associate Professor. Currently, I am a self-employed consultant pharmacist providing medication consultation services to private pay independent community dwelling older adults.

Why did you choose geriatric pharmacy?

I was attracted to geriatric pharmacy due to the complicated health issues and unique medication needs of this population. It has been most rewarding to apply what I learn in classroom and clinical clerkships into daily practice, and to help patients address identified unmet needs in managing their medication therapy.

When did you earn your Geriatric Pharmacy Certificate?

I earned the Geriatric Pharmacy Certificate at University of Washington School of Pharmacy in 1995.

How has the Geriatric Pharmacy Certificate changed/improved your career/research?

About two years after I graduated from UWSOP with my BS Pharm and PharmD degrees, along with the Geriatric Certificate, I was recruited to return to UW to teach geriatric elective courses. This led to a very rewarding academic career at the School, during which I conducted numerous practice-based research projects and published several research reports on chronic diseases and medication therapy management. The training and learning from the Certification Program also provided a strong foundation that allowed me to develop and acquire expertise in geriatric pharmacy practice with focus on assisted living and community-dwelling elderly population. In addition to teaching several geriatric elective courses, I precepted geriatric certificate students in their clerkships, and exposed them to research activities. I was the clerkship coordinator responsible for the assigning the students in the Geriatric Certificate Program to their geriatric practice sites from 2004 to 2007, and from 2007 to 2009, I was the co-Director of the Geriatric Certificate Program, along with Peggy Odegard.

What stands out for you as you think back on the Certificate?

The case discussion sessions held at The Hearthstone during late afternoon and early evening hours stand out for me. The discussions in these sessions were always so in-depth, interactive, and interesting, which made them so memorable and worthwhile.

What are one or two fun facts about you?

I became a grandmother of two lovely grandchildren, a grandson and a granddaughter, who were born 2 weeks apart in early 2014. We are expecting the arrival of our third grandchild this Christmas. Can’t wait!!

How do you like your coffee?

I like my coffee strong- 1/3 cup very strong coffee diluted with 2/3 cup skim milk.

Are you interested in working with the top-rated faculty and studying geriatric pharmacy with preeminent student peers?

Click here for more information about the Plein Geriatric Pharmacy Certificate or click these links to learn about the UW PharmD program.

Launch of The CHOICE Institute at UWSOP promises leadership in health economics and outcomes research

We are witnessing a period of renaissance, as current advances in medical technology and breakthroughs are unprecedented in human history. There is a cure for Hepatitis C that works in weeks. Polio used to afflict thousands around the world; today, there are only twelve cases in just two countries. We are within years—not decades—of personalized therapies for cancer.

Despite these scientific leaps, every society around the world faces stark challenges in providing equitable access to these innovations, sustaining our pace of innovation, and, at the same time, becoming responsible custodians of our limited resources. While we usher in this era of clinical cures, precision medicine and (really) big data, a continued commitment to the fundamentals of science and academia is important. Such commitment includes the passion for developing and applying state-of-art methods in the disciplines of economics, statistics, and decision sciences for answering the indispensable questions, and for dedicatedly training the next generation of researchers so that they take on these local, national and global challenges head-on.

It is in this global context that Director Anirban Basu announced the launch of The Comparative Health Outcomes, Policy, and Economics (CHOICE) Institute (http://www.uwchoice.org/) at the University of Washington School of Pharmacy in December 2017.

An international hub of excellence in generating knowledge to improve individual and population health, The CHOICE Institute expands our Pharmaceutical Outcomes Research & Policy Program (PORPP) to organize research and training activities and resources to enhance our competitiveness and expand our leadership in the field. Key programmatic areas include health economics, policy analysis/big data sciences, economics of precision medicine, drug and vaccine safety, and global medicines issues. The CHOICE Institute mission is three-fold:

  • Research: Develop innovative methods and generate actionable evidence about the effectiveness, safety, and value of medical products and services that improve decision making in health care and policy.
  • Training: Provide transformative training in health economics, outcomes research, and policy analysis to meet contemporary health care challenges regionally, nationally, and globally.
  • Service: Be a leading resource on the effectiveness, safety, and value of medical products and services by providing expertise and facilitating collaborations at the regional, national, and global level.

The Institute will be an integral part of the Department of Pharmacy and the School of Pharmacy, which will facilitate interactions with clinical faculty in the Department and the School and reinforce the crucial role of medications in shaping patient health and patient-centered healthcare delivery.

Advance your career in patient-centered outcomes research at the University of Washington. Learn more about our Graduate Programs in Pharmaceutical Outcomes Research and Policy in The CHOICE Institute.

Link to Department of Pharmacy archived news

SPECIAL EVENT: A talk with NPR’S Richard Harris

Book cover: Rigor Mortis by Richard HarrisPanel Discussion: “From Rigor to Rigor Mortis–Good Science, Bad Science, and Patient Care”

Noon-1:20pm, Tuesday, January 23, 2018
Health Sciences Building, T-435
Light refreshments will be served

Panel Discussion:

  • Richard Harris, NPR Science Correspondent and author, Rigor Mortis: How Sloppy Science Creates Worthless Cures, Crushes Hope and Wastes Billions
  • Ferric C. Fang, MD, Professor of Laboratory Medicine and Microbiology and Adjunct Professor of Medicine
  • Timothy DeRouen, PhD, Professor Emeritus of Dentistry
  • Nina Isoherranen, PhD, Professor and Vice Chair of Pharmaceutics
  • Daniela Witten, PhD, Associate Professor of Biostatistics
  • MODERATOR: Joanne Silberner, Department of Communications
Richard Harris, NPR Science Correspondent
Richard Harris, NPR Science Correspondent

Richard Harris has covered science, medicine and the environment for National Public Radio since 1986. His award-winning work includes reports in 2010 that revealed the US Government was vastly underestimating the amount of oil spilling from the Macondo blowout in the Gulf of Mexico. He also shared a Peabody award with colleague Rebecca Perl for their 1994 reports about the tobacco industry’s secret documents, which showed that company scientists were well aware of the hazards of smoking. He has traveled the world reporting on climate change, for which the American Geophysical Union honored him with a Presidential Citation for Science and Society. In 2014, he turned his attention back to biomedical research and came to realize how the field was suffering. Too many scientists were chasing too little funding. That led him to take a year-long sabbatical at Arizona State University’s Consortium for Science, Policy & Outcomes to research and write his first book, “Rigor Mortis.”

Sponsored by the UW Health Sciences Schools and the UW Graduate School

Also of interest? UWAA Public Lecture:
“Good Science, Bad Science: Getting Biomedical Research Done Right”
Featuring Richard Harris, NPR Science Correspondent and author, Rigor Mortis: How Sloppy Science Creates Worthless Cures, Crushes Hope and Wastes Billions
January 24, 7:30 PM

UW/Kaiser study finds taking Proton Pump Inhibitors not linked to higher dementia risk

Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) are medicines commonly prescribed to treat acid-related digestive problems, including gastroesophageal reflux disease.  Up to one in five older adults said they used a PPI as of 2011, and recent studies have linked PPIs to greater risk of fractures and kidney disease. Some studies also have linked PPIs to an increased risk for dementia among older adults, though several experts have questioned whether these studies correctly measured the connection.

Research (PDF) published today in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society appears to challenge those earlier findings.

Plein Center Director and Bridge Endowed Professor Shelly Gray opened the Plein Symposium
Plein Center Director and Bridge Endowed Professor Shelly Gray opened the Plein Symposium

University of Washington School of Pharmacy Plein Center for Geriatric Pharmacy Director and Shirley & Herb Bridge Endowed Professor Shelly Gray, along with other researchers at the University of Washington School of Pharmacy and Kaiser Permanente Washington Research Institute, reviewed information from the joint UW-Kaiser Permanente Adult Changes in Thought (ACT) study, which included 3,484 subjects 65 and older. Information from the electronic pharmacy records was used to see how many participants took PPIs, and for how long.

Overall, nearly one in four participants developed dementia, including 670  with possible or probable Alzheimer’s disease.  People with the heaviest use of PPIs – equivalent to five years of daily use at typical doses – did not have a higher risk of developing dementia than those with no PPI use.

“While some other safety concerns with long-term PPI use might be real, results from our study suggest that dementia is not linked to taking a PPI.” –Shelly Gray, corresponding author and UW School of Pharmacy professor

To interview Shelly Gray, email UW Medicine Media Relations: mediarelations@uw.edu.

* * *

This summary is from “Proton Pump Inhibitor Use and Dementia Risk: Prospective Population Based Study.” It appears online ahead of print in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. The study authors are Shelly L. Gray, PharmD, MS; Rod L. Walker, MS; Sascha Dublin, MD, PhD; Onchee Yu, MS; Erin J. Aiello Bowles, MPH; Melissa L. Anderson, MS; Paul K. Crane, MD, MPH; and Eric B. Larson, MD, MPH.

 

Are you interested in working with the top-rated faculty and studying pharmacy with preeminent student peers?

Click here for more information about the Plein Geriatric Pharmacy Certificate or click these links to learn about the UW PharmD program or thePharmaceutical Outcomes Research and Policy Program.

Wallace family presents historic gift to UWSOP

Bette and Bryan Wallace
Bette and Bryan Wallace in their pharmacy, Bryan’s Drug

“We always knew our family was going to make a gift to the University of Washington School of Pharmacy,” said Cheri Ryan. “My Aunt Bette and Uncle Bryan always talked about this gift. It was so important to both of them to give back to his school.”

Bryan and Bette Wallace’s gift is one of the largest in the history of the UW School of Pharmacy and will bolster the School of Pharmacy and support student pharmacists. “It’s hard to overstate the powerful impact the generous gift from the Wallaces will have on our students,” said UWOSP Dean Sean D. Sullivan. “One of my top priorities has been to attract and retain students who epitomize the intellect, innovation, and heart for which the UW School of Pharmacy has always been known.”

Bryan Walker Wallace was born on February 10, 1916, ten miles south of Cornell, Washington. He graduated from Cornell High School in 1934, moving to Seattle to attend the University of Washington. He graduated with a degree in Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy on June 10, 1939, and became board certified by the State of Washington within days. Bryan’s pharmaceutical career began with the Walgreen Drug Company, working his first three years in Everett, Washington, followed by stints in Sacramento and Los Altos, California; Klamath Falls, Oregon; Redwood City, and again Los Altos, California.

I speak for everyone when I say how touched we are at this extremely generous $2 million gift from Bryan and Bette Wallace. Their transformational gift will have a profound effect on the School of Pharmacy for generations to come.

His wife, Elizabeth (Bette) Ruth (Stadler), was born on April 23, 1924 in Taylor Creek, Montana. Her family moved to Alderwood Manor, Washington in 1928. She graduated from Edmonds High School in 1942. Between 1942 and 1949 she worked as a civilian for the United States Army in Seattle, Alaska, and Tokyo, Japan.  Shortly after her return to the States she met Bryan and they were married on June 24, 1950, in San Francisco, California. In 1953, he worked for Bartell Drug in Seattle before moving to Mountain View, California in 1954 where he and Bette opened their own drug store, Bryan’s Drug. Bette worked in the drug store with Bryan. In 1956, they purchased an additional store in Morgan Hill, California. They lived most their married life in Mountain View, California. The Morgan Hill store was sold after a couple of years but the Mountain View store was open until 1974. Their patients were transferred to Los Altos Pharmacy where Bryan continued to work part-time for several years until his retirement.

After almost a fifty-year career as a pharmacist, Bryan passed away on December 28, 1989, in Mountain View, California.  Just prior to Bryan’s passing Bette began working as a travel agent. She owned and managed several travel agencies that allowed her to travel the world until her retirement in the late 1990s. Bette passed away on December 4, 2016, at her home in Mountain View, California. Cheri said, “My Aunt never forgot the impact the School had on my uncle and she wanted to honor his wishes to support the School.” We are very grateful to Bryan, Bette, and their family for their generosity and deep commitment to the UWSOP.

The Wallaces’ niece and family (left to right: Kevin Stadler, Maggie Ryan, and Cheri Ryan) with UWSOP Campaign Co-chair Dana Hurley, ’97, ’00, ’04, and Dean Sean D. Sullivan.
The Wallaces’ niece and family (left to right: Kevin Stadler, Maggie Ryan, and Cheri Ryan) with UWSOP Campaign Co-chair Dana Hurley, ’97, ’00, ’04, and Dean Sean D. Sullivan. Photo: Matt Hagen

 

 

 

Steve Davis, CEO & President of PATH, to give UWSOP Nudelman Lecture on Nov. 9, 2017

Steve Davis, President and CEO of PATH
Steve Davis, President and CEO of PATH Photo: Stuart Isett

The Phil and Sandra Nudelman Lecture will feature Steve Davis, President and CEO of PATH, who will share his approach to changing the global health system. The lecture and reception will take place Thursday, Nov. 9, 2017 at 6 PM in the Lyceum in the Husky Union Building (HUB) on the UW Seattle campus.

Steve Davis, President and CEO of PATH, combines extensive experience as a technology business leader, global health advocate, and social innovator to accelerate great ideas and bring lifesaving solutions to scale.

Mr. Davis is a lecturer on social innovation at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He currently is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, serves on the board of InterAction, Challenge Seattle and sits on several advisory groups, including as a trustee of the World Economic Forum’s Global Health Challenge, on the stakeholder advisory panel for the global insurance and asset management firm AXA, and on the advisory board for Medtronics Labs.

Phil and Sandra Nudelman
Phil and Sandra Nudelman

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.

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.

Roger Woolf receives Distinguished Alumni Award for Pharmacy Practice

Scott Herzog and Gary Harris of PAA present the Distinguished Alumni Award to Roger Woolf
Scott Herzog and Gary Harris of PAA present the Distinguished Alumni Award to Roger Woolf

Roger Woolf, ’85, is passionate about the leadership role pharmacists can have in the U.S. health care system.

Growing up, many of his family members were in healthcare professions, including pharmacy. “My uncle was a pharmacist in Yakima,” he reflected. “Talking with him about his work helped me to see the potential impact pharmacists could have when they can be patient-focused.”

“I am very appreciative of the training I received at the UW and am a strong advocate for the quality of education for which the School of Pharmacy is well known. To be personally recognized in this way is a real honor.”
–Roger Woolf, UWSOP alumnus

In his position at Virginia Mason Medical Center, Roger provides leadership for a broad scope of pharmaceutical services within the Center’s integrated health care system. But he doesn’t stop there.

He works diligently to teach and mentor student pharmacists to become leaders in health care and has been very committed to training UWSOP APPE/IPPE students and interns. “I always encourage students to get involved in leadership opportunities while in school. If we are to continue to advance the practice, we need people who can lead with passion, and not be afraid to try new and innovative ways for pharmacists to impact patient care.”

He has maintained his connection with the UWSOP since completing his PharmD degree in 1985. “From the moment I was accepted to the UWSOP, I knew I was part of something special,” he said. “The faculty challenged us to be innovative and push a progressive practice. It was at UW that I really started my passion for advancing the practice.”

He has collaborated with UW faculty and WSPA leadership for years to educate Washington state legislators on the benefits of having pharmacists as paid providers. “There were so many barriers to getting pharmacists credentialed. Working with Don Downing, Jeff Rochon, and many others, we were able to show the benefits to patients that come from having pharmacists as providers.”

Now the team travels the U.S. sharing with providers and legislators how Washington led the way in advancing patient care by establishing pharmacists as full members of the health care team. 

Lou Garrison was named a Change Agent in the 2017 PharmaVOICE 100 Honorees

UWSOP Professor Emeritus Lou Garrison
UWSOP Professor Emeritus Lou Garrison

UW School of Pharmacy Professor Emeritus Lou Garrison was named a Change Agent in the 2017 PharmaVOICE 100 honorees. A global thought leader and teacher in the field of health economics and outcomes research, Lou is committed to advancing how healthcare decisions are made both in the United States and globally.

Lou retired from full-time teaching for UWSOP’s the Pharmaceutical Outcomes Research and Policy Program in 2016, but has remained very active in the pharmacoeconomics community. After working as an economist in the pharmaceutical industry for 12 years, including as VP and head of health economics and strategic pricing for Roche Pharmaceuticals, he made the transition to academia where he has inspired thousands of individuals.

Since 2004, Dr. Garrison has served as a professor and as a pivotal member of the University of Washington (UW) School of Pharmacy’s Pharmaceutical Outcomes and Research Policy Program (PORPP).

Most recently, Lou served as President for the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR), the leading global, scientific and educational society for the advancement of health economics and outcomes research and their use in decision making to improve health, which he describes as a career highlight. ISPOR’s members promote health economics and outcomes research (HEOR) excellence to improve decision-making for health globally.

One of Lou’s recent efforts has been initiating and co-chairing the association’s initiative on U.S. value assessment frameworks, which is tackling the problem of defining and measuring the value of treatments from a multi-stakeholder perspective in the U.S. healthcare system.

“I feel very fortunate to have traveled the globe to meet with government and industry leaders who are interested in health economics and outcomes research” said Lou, “to have made many presentations at professional meetings, and to have taught thousands in health economics workshops and ISPOR short courses.

He plans to continue to work on a wide range of topics and issues related to global health economics with a focus on trying to improve access to medicines in low- and middle-income countries while creating appropriate incentives for innovation globally.

As part of his commitment to the field of HEOR, Lou and his wife, Fran, have established three funds: the Garrison Family Fund for Global Health Economics Education; the Louis Sr. and Marilyn Garrison Endowed Prize in Health Policy and Economics, honoring Lou’s parents; and the Penny Evans Fund for the UW ISPOR Student Chapter, here at the UWSOP.

“Lou has been a pivotal member of the PORPP faculty and will continue to be a world-class thought leader in health economics as President of ISPOR. Lou is an extraordinary teacher, mentor, colleague and economist and has mentored hundreds of preeminent students over his years on our faculty,” said UWSOP Dean Sean D. Sullivan.

His passionate leadership style and contributions to the field are respected among the many communities in which he is involved, and his impact extends beyond these organizations through those he empowers with the knowledge needed to advance healthcare.

Lou seeks to inspire his colleagues, association members, and students through hard work and a commitment to honest, excellent science. He measures success by the success that the students and colleagues who he has mentored have achieved, many of whom have become lifelong friends and collaborators. He has a special interest in supporting research and development of healthcare systems in Africa and has mentored students and academicians throughout the continent.

While Dr. Garrison has authored more than 100 publications, and considers his students to be his greatest legacy. He would like to be remembered as someone who promoted both efficiency and equity — with the former in service of the latter.

In 2016, the University of Washington School of Pharmacy honored him by hosting a PORPP 20th Anniversary Research Symposium in his name. Pharmacoeconomists from around the world traveled to Seattle to celebrate Dr. Garrison’s lifetime achievements. But this well-respected and inspirational leader is far from done; industry, nonprofit, and academic partners continue to seek his expert insights on the value of new healthcare technologies.

Advance your career in patient-centered outcomes research at the University of Washington. Learn more about our Graduate Programs in Pharmaceutical Outcomes Research and Policy.

Link to Department of Pharmacy archived news

 

Don Downing receives major American College of Apothecaries Award for his contributions to pharmacy practice

Institute for Innovation in Pharmacy Practice (I2P2) Clinical Professor Don Downing
Institute for Innovation in Pharmacy Practice (I2P2) Clinical Professor Don Downing

We are proud to announce that the American College of Apothecaries presented the 2016-17 Albert E. Rosica, Jr. Memorial Award to UWSOP Institute for Innovation in Pharmacy Practice (I2P2) Clinical Professor Don Downing at the College’s 2017 Fall Pharmacy Conference at the Loews Philadelphia Hotel. The award, established in memory of Albert E. Rosica, Jr., a Past President of ACA, is presented each year to a pharmacy practitioner for his or her contributions to pharmacy education through participation in pharmacy clerkship programs, serving on various college committees, teaching, working with the alumni association, and making other contributions to academic programs.

For the past forty years, Don has devoted his career as a professor and practitioner to moving the profession of pharmacy forward. A graduate of the University of Washington with a Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy, Don teaches on topics including legislative advocacy, leadership and ethics and is a prolific advocate for pharmacists, patients and underserved populations.

In 1975, Don helped to start up the Puyallup Tribal Health Authority clinic in Tacoma, Washington and continued there until 1985. While there, he joined the Washington School of Pharmacy faculty and later opened the first pharmacy in Bonney Lake and a community pharmacy in Federal Way. He continues to consult with and develop pharmacy services for various Native American tribes.

Don Downing trains UW PharmD students in the UWSOP Bracken Pharmacy Learning Center

Peggy Soule Odegard, Associate Dean of the School of Pharmacy at the University of Washington, commended Don’s dedication to pharmacy. “Don exemplifies the meaning of teaching by example and is a major contributor to the professional development of our pharmacy graduates…. He embodies a service attitude for his students and peers, kindly nudging each of us to become involved to improve access to services for those who are less fortunate. He reaches out with regular service to communities both locally and throughout the world to help those in need, modeling compassionate care for his students and often facilitating and advocating for necessary change to reduce disparities during his visits.”

Don developed the nation’s first pharmacist-provided emergency contraception program and the first pharmacist-initiated ongoing hormonal contraception services. He also helped lead the effort in the 1990s to educate and certify pharmacists in Washington state and numerous other states to provide flu shots and other vaccines. Don has worked on pharmacy-care legislation in 39 states, devoting much of his energy to changing the public’s perception of pharmacists. In addition, he has conducted extensive research with funding from agencies such as the U.S. Agency for International Development, the National Institutes of Health, Advocates for Youth and the Packard Foundation.

Don has received numerous recognitions from local, state, and national pharmacy organizations, including the American Pharmacists Association’s Academy of Pharmacy Practice and Management Distinguished Achievement Award, the Washington State Pharmacy Association David Almquist Award and Pharmacist of the Year Award, and the UW School of Pharmacy’s Distinguished Alumnus Award and Milo Gilbaldi Excellence in Teaching Award.

We are proud to see the American College of Apothecaries Research and Education Foundation recognize Don for his contributions to the future of pharmacy and global health and impact on his students, peers, and community.

The American College of Apothecaries Research and Education Foundation is a public foundation promotes the public welfare through development of quality services in institutions providing health care, encourages and conducts research to improve health care provided to the public and encourages health care practitioners to improve the quality and availability of services to the public.

 

Are you interested in working with the top-rated faculty like Professor Downing and studying pharmacy with preeminent student peers?

Click here for more information about the UW PharmD program.

Link to Department of Pharmacy archived news

Sager, Bounthavong, Seguin, Weber, & Shen receive inaugural UWSOP Graduate Program Awards

To recognize extraordinary excellence among our graduate students and faculty, UW School of Pharmacy established three new award programs in 2017. This first class of award recipients include Jennifer Sager, Outstanding Dissertation Award; Mark Bounthavong, Ryan Seguin, and Elijah Weber, Graduate Student Leadership Awards; and Danny Shen, Outstanding Faculty Mentor Award.

2017 Outstanding Dissertation Award winner, alumna Jennifer Sager
2017 Outstanding Dissertation Award winner, alumna Jennifer Sager

Now an alumna, Jennifer Sager, PhD, earned the Outstanding Dissertation Award for her dissertation, “Characterizing bupropion metabolism, pharmacokinetics and drug-drug interaction liability.” The UWSOP Outstanding Dissertation Award celebrates a graduate student who has conducted outstanding research at the doctoral (PhD) level. Her PhD advisor, Associate Professor of Pharmaceutics Nina Isoherranen, said “having mentored many outstanding graduate students, Jenny is one of the very best in her dedication, creativity, commitment to science and analytical ability.” Jenny is now a scientist with Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Boston, MA.

The UWSOP Graduate Student Leadership Award honors graduate students who have demonstrated outstanding leadership and service and have had a positive impact on the School of Pharmacy, UW, the Northwest community, scientific and/or professional community. This year, the award goes to three students: Mark Bounthavong, Ryan Seguin, and Elijah Weber.

Mark Bounthavong, PharmD, MPH, is a PhD student in the Pharmaceutical Outcomes, Research and Policy Program (PORPP) in the UWSOP’s Department of Pharmacy. He recently completed service as President of the UW Student Chapter of the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR). Mark’s work with the National Academic Detailing Program in mental health illness demonstrates a strong commitment to caring for Veterans. His academic advisor, Professor and PORPP Associate Director, David Veenstra writes, “As a PORPP student, Mark serves as a role model for other students.” Mark will receive his award at the Welcome Back Graduate Program Reception on September 25, 2017.

Ryan Seguin, PhD, Medicinal Chemistry and UWSOP Graduate Award Recipient
Ryan Seguin, PhD, Medicinal Chemistry and UWSOP Graduate Award Recipient

Ryan Seguin completed his PhD in the Department of Medicinal Chemistry. As an accomplished scientist and student leader, he was the Graduate Student Representative on the School’s Strategic Planning Committee and chaired the School’s American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists Student Chapter. In 2014-2015, on the basis of his outstanding academic performance and potential contributions to research in the health sciences, Ryan was named UWSOP’s Magnuson Scholar. The prestigious award includes $30,000 in funding. His PhD advisor,  Medicinal Chemistry department chair, Kent Kunze, noted, “Ryan is an outstanding individual who has accepted numerous leadership positions and happily devoted many hours to community service.” Ryan is presently a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Libin Xu, Department of Medicinal Chemistry.

Eli Weber and Ed Kelly discuss the Kidney on a Chip project (chip can be seen on the microscope).
Eli Weber and Ed Kelly discuss the Kidney on a Chip project (chip can be seen on the microscope).

Elijah Weber, PhD, is finishing his PhD in the Department of Pharmaceutics. His achievements include his enthusiasm and commitment in mentoring other students along with his many volunteer engagements with our local community, particularly our underrepresented communities. Currently, he is working on the high profile Kidney on a Chip project with his PhD advisor, Associate Professor of Pharmaceutics. Edward Kelly. Ed noted “Eli has been a gracious and unselfish ambassador, representing my lab, our Pharmaceutics department, the School of Pharmacy and the University of Washington in exemplary fashion.”

Professor Emeritus Danny Shen
Professor Emeritus Danny Shen

The Outstanding Mentor Award recognizes and encourages outstanding mentorship of graduate students by UWSOP faculty members. Danny Shen, PhD, is Professor Emeritus of Pharmaceutics and Pharmacy. Danny joined the School of Pharmacy faculty in 1984 and has amassed an outstanding record of graduate training that includes his role as the principal supervisor of 15 PhD recipients and as a member of the supervisory committee of at least 80 PhD and MS graduates within our School. One letter of nomination written by a graduate student says “Asking him to become my advisor was one of the best decisions I have made in graduate school….I can say without hesitation that I could not have had a better teacher in these past four years. He has been a great role model and I can only hope to follow in his footsteps.”  Pharmaceutics Department Chair Ken Thummel wrote, “Danny always placed the needs of his trainees above his own and as a result was beloved by all. But more than that, Danny had a knack for bringing out the very best science from his trainees and imparting to them an unwavering respect for intellectual integrity….Danny’s educational philosophy and record of accomplishment represents something to be emulated and celebrated through awards such as the School of Pharmacy Graduate Mentor Award.”

Congratulations to all of our Graduate Student and Faculty Award recipients!

 

About University of Washington School of Pharmacy

The UW School of Pharmacy is a global leader in pharmacy education, research and service, committed to providing a transformative learning experience in a collaborative and diverse environment focused on improving the health and well-being of the communities we serve. The UW School of Pharmacy is comprised of three departments: Medicinal Chemistry, Pharmaceutics, and Pharmacy, offering Ph.D., M.S., and PharmD degrees, post docs and certificate programs. The Department of Pharmacy leads in pharmacy education, research, professional and outreach initiatives, including the Pharmaceutical Outcomes Research & Policy Program (PORPP), which conducts research in pharmaceutical economics, drug safety and pharmaceutical policy.

 

Link to Archived Pharmaceutics News

 

Inaugural Plein Symposium advances geriatric pharmacy

2017 Plein Symposium audience members begin the day
2017 Plein Symposium audience members begin the day

“Celebrating Today, Planning Tomorrow” brought together a host of disciplines to discuss healthy aging

Decades ago, geriatric pharmacy pioneers Joy and Elmer Plein foresaw the need to research the effects medications have on older adults. The Inaugural Research Symposium for the Plein Center held in February 2017 provided the opportunity to learn more about what interdisciplinary pharmacy practitioners and researchers are doing to help older adults.

Plein Center Director and Bridge Endowed Professor Shelly Gray opened the Plein Symposium and introduced Key note speaker, Holly Holmes MD, MS, Director, Division of Geriatric and Palliative Medicine at University of Texas Houston McGovern Medical School.

Key Note Speaker Holly Weaver and James Lin
Keynote speaker Holly Holmes speaking with UWSOP PharmD alumnus James Lin at a break. In her keynote address, Dr. Holmes reviewed the complexity of treating patients in an era of polypharmacy, and presented solutions–including consultations with pharmacists–that would improve outcomes for patients who are on more than one medication.

Plein Symposium Panel on Alzheimer's and Dementia
Eric Larson, MD, MPH, Clinical Professor, Medicine and Health Services, moderated a panel discussion on Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia that brought together experts in Medicinal Chemistry, Nursing and Pharmacy. Panel, pictured left to right: Tatiana Sadak, PhD, PMHNP, RN, Assistant Professor, Nursing; Abhinav Nath, PhD, Assistant Professor, Medicinal Chemistry; and  Zachary A. Marcum, PharmD, PhD, David and Anita Bailey Endowed Professor, Pharmacy and Assistant Director, Plein Center for Geriatric Pharmacy Research, Education and Outreach. Larson presented results from his research with co-investigator Paul Crane. The team looked at the effects of multimorbidity and resilience on the aging brain, in their talk “Adult Changes in Thought, 1994-2020 and Beyond: A Living Learning Laboratory of Aging and Dementia.”  Abhi Nath showed what happens at a molecular level in cases of Alzheimer’s Disease and dementia. Tatiana Sadak presented on the heavy burden carried by caregivers for patients with Alzheimer’s and dementia and how health system structures might improve support for caregivers. Zach Marcum looked at the impact medication adherence in older adults has on the risk for dementia–finding that interventions related to increasing patient adherence has a far great impact on people’s health, than any improvement in specific medical treatments.

Andy Stergachis, Shelly Gray, Steve White
Andy Stergachis, PhD, MS, Professor of Pharmacy Associate Dean for Research, Graduate Programs and New Initiatives introduced the afternoon’s speakers: Shelly Gray, Joanne Wang, and Rheem Totah. (Pictured here from left to right, Andy Stergachis, Associate Dean for Research, Graduate Programs and New Initiatives at UWSOP; Plein Center Director and Bridge Endowed Professor Shelly Gray; and H. Steve White, Chair of the Department of Pharmacy.)

Plein Center Director and Bridge Endowed Professor Shelly Gray opened the Plein Symposium
Shelly Gray, PharmD, MS, Shirley and Herb Bridge Endowed Professor, Pharmacy, and Laura Hart presented “Focus on Future – Pharmacy,” which looked at medications and falls in older adults. Falls are a significant health problem among older adults and a major contributor to functional decline and older adults with dementia have a 2-3x greater risk of falls than those without dementia. Pharmacist-led interventions have shown promise in alleviating this risk, the team found.

Joanne Wang, Professor of Pharmaceutics

 

 

 

 

 

 

Professor of Pharmaceutics Joanne Wang, PhD, MS, gave a presentation “Focus on Future – Pharmaceutics” looking at Choroid Plexus Function and Relevance to Alzheimer’s Disease.

Rheem Totah Theresa Aliwarga

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rheem A. Totah, PhD, Associate Professor, Medicinal Chemistry, presented: “Focus on Future – Medicinal Chemistry.” Rheem is pictured, left, with Medicinal Chemistry and Totah Lab graduate student Theresa Alimarga who presented, “Investigating EETs as Biomarkers for Ischemia- Associated Cardiac Stress Events.”

Video Tribute to Joy and Elmer Plein

The Plein Center in Geriatric Pharmacy, established in 2016 with the generous support of Joy and Elmer Plein, will allow us to build on our 30-year history of comprehensive and state-of the art training in geriatrics and expand our role as leader in outreach and research to promote healthy aging. This video highlights some of Joy and Elmer’s achievements and the plans for the new Plein Center.

Watch video here

Click here for more information about the Plein Center for Geriatric Pharmacy.

A conversation at the College Inn leads to Faculty Innovation Award, possible breakthrough in combating MRSA

Medicinal Chemistry Assistant Professor Libin Xu (left), Pharmacy Assistant Professor Brian Werth (right), are pictured in conversation with Medicinal Chemistry’s Senior Fellow, Kelly Hines (center). Their research earned them the inaugural award from the UWSOP Faculty Innovation Fund, which provides financial support for one to two awards of up to $20,000 each for high-risk, innovative research projects.
Medicinal Chemistry Assistant Professor Libin Xu (left), Pharmacy Assistant Professor Brian Werth (right), are pictured in conversation with Medicinal Chemistry’s Senior Fellow, Kelly Hines (center). Their research earned them the inaugural award from the UWSOP Faculty Innovation Fund, which provides financial support for one to two awards of up to $20,000 each for high-risk, innovative research projects. Photo: Alex Levine

There is a rich tradition of stories that begin with…“we were sitting in a bar talking, when we got this idea.”

From the Marine Corps, to the Ironman Triathlon, and even Quidditch, all have their roots in legendary stories about beginning in a conversation in a bar. We may one day come to tell stories of the breakthrough in antibiotic resistant bacteria that began at U District’s College Inn.

Last fall, in a tradition that harkens back to Dean Sid Nelson, UWSOP’s junior faculty began a regular outing to share ideas, research, and good spirits. “The event is called MEH,” said Brian Werth. “It stands for Monthly Early-career-investigator Happy hour.” “Brian and I were talking at one of these events,” said Libin Xu, “and we suddenly realized there might be an opportunity for us to work together on some novel research into antibiotic resistance. We saw that my expertise in ion mobility-mass spectrometry (IM-MS) analysis of lipids and Brian’s expertise in antibiotic resistance could help us understand the mechanisms behind this resistance because many of the antibiotics target the bacterial cell membrane and cell wall.”

Brian and Libin were named the first UWSOP Faculty Innovation Fund Award recipients. The new fund encourages high-risk, innovative research projects.

Brian is a specialist in antibiotic resistance and is unusual in that he has a PharmD as well as an acute care residency at Queen’s Medical Center in Hawaii and a two-year infectious disease fellowship at Wayne State University in Detroit.

Libin, a specialist in mass spectrometry, lipid peroxidation and lipid metabolism, completed his Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry at University of Illinois at Chicago and was a Postdoctoral Fellow at Vanderbilt University. “Antibiotics are one of few curative drugs we have,” notes Brian, “and they are the only drug that the more we use them, the less effective they can become.” That diminished return makes antibiotics a shared public health resource—and the recent increases in antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria such as MRSA a grave concern.

Antibiotic resistance affects over two million Americans and results in over 23,000 deaths per year according to U.S. Centers for Disease Control. By looking at bacteria at the molecular level, Brian and Libin are seeing that resistance to different antibiotics leads to characteristic changes in the lipid compositions of the cell membranes of bacteria. The specific changes to the membranes depend on the antibiotic to which the bacteria have been exposed.

This breakthrough could lead to novel intervention strategies such as modifying the lipid components of bacteria’s cellular membranes to make them susceptible to antibiotics again, as well as diagnostic tools that could improve clinicians’ abilities to select the best drugs for certain types of bacterial infections.

Read an update about the Royalty Research Award funding presented to Werth and Xu to support this project.

 

To study with researchers like Drs. Werth and Xu, click on the links for more information about our Graduate Programs in Medicinal Chemistry, Pharmaceutics, Pharmaceutical Outcomes Research and Policy, and Biomedical Regulatory Affairs.

Hu and Lee combine forces to design novel HIV vaccine

Pharmaceutics Professor Shiu-Lok Hu and Kelly Lee, Associate Professor of Medicinal Chemistry
Pharmaceutics Professor Shiu-Lok Hu and Kelly Lee, Associate Professor of Medicinal Chemistry Photo: Alex Levine

Pharmaceutics Professor Shiu-Lok Hu and Kelly Lee, Associate Professor of Medicinal Chemistry, received funding for research to create a vaccine against HIV. This research builds upon decades of research by these investigators funded by the National Institutes of Health and more recently by the Gates Foundation.

HIV is a highly lethal virus that continues to evolve in the body, making it difficult for the infected person to clear the infection. Without effective therapeutic intervention, there are few survivors after contracting HIV. “Unfortunately, HIV has evolved many mechanisms to evade the immune system and ultimately destroying it. Even today, with effective treatments, if you stop taking drugs, the virus comes back.” Thus, a safe and efficacious vaccine capable of preventing HIV infection remains an important goal in the global fight against AIDS. So far, the only vaccine that has shown a modest (30%) efficacy is the one tested on 16,000 volunteers in Thailand (the Thai trial).

“If you get mumps and recover from it, you develop a lifetime immunity. This has been the paradigm for classical vaccine development: to mimic natural infection without causing the disease. But, to make a HIV vaccine, we may have to look for a new paradigm. HIV leaves few survivors.”

–Shiu-Lok Hu, Professor of Pharmaceutics, UWSOP

This HIV vaccine employs the “prime-boost” strategy pioneered by Shiu-Lok in the late 1980s. This strategy uses a genetically engineered smallpox vaccine to prime the immune system, followed by recombinant HIV proteins as a boost. Although the Thai trial has shown the feasibility of vaccination against HIV, further improvements are needed to make it an effective preventive measure. In this new grant, Shiu-Lok and Kelly hope to improve the efficacy of the “prime-boost” approach by designing a more effective vaccine.

Kelly has studied the influenza virus, which utilizes mechanisms similar to those used by HIV to “dock” onto the host cell, pry it open, transfer the viral genes into the cell, thereby taking it over and causing the infection.

The UWSOP team seeks to create a vaccine that could better expose the part of HIV it uses to dock onto the cell, thus making it easier for the body to mount immune responses to block infection. If successful, these approaches are likely to result in greater efficacy than that achieved in the Thai trial.

This project highlights the unique capacity of the UW School of Pharmacy in pharmaceutical sciences, as Shiu-Lok and Kelly each bring different expertise in virology, immunology, and structural biochemistry to tackle problems such as HIV vaccine. Their partnership could well lead to a breakthrough to find a safe and efficacious vaccine to help make the world free of AIDS.

The five-year, $4.5M grant was funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health (R01AI129673). 

To study with researchers like Drs. Hu and Lee, click on the links for more information about our Graduate Programs in Medicinal Chemistry, Pharmaceutics, Pharmaceutical Outcomes Research and Policy, and Biomedical Regulatory Affairs.

Richard Lee’s team takes home grand prize for EpiForAll

Richard Lee, the PharmD member of Team EpiForAll
Richard Lee, the PharmD member of Team EpiForAll

PharmD student Richard Lee’s team, EpiForAll, took home the $15,000 Hollomon Family grand prize at the Hollomon Health Innovation Challenge  (HIC) hosted by UW Foster School’s Buerk Center for Entrepreneurship. The HIC featured 20 student teams seeking to address problems in health, wellness, and healthcare through innovation. This was EpiForAll’s second year of competing with their affordable emergency epinephrine auto injector that utilizes existing ampules.  “I really need to thank UWSOP Associate Professor Tom Hazlet. Without him, I wouldn’t be here today since the value I bring to the team is more than just the clinical pharmacy aspects but also rests upon the lessons I learned from his Biomedical Regulatory Affairs Certificate Program and Clinical Trials Certificate Program. These classes provided a strong foundation to help our team plan out our strategy for seeking FDA approval which is part of our next steps.”

 

Interested in earning your PharmD degree at the UW? Click here to learn more.

Link to Department of Pharmacy archived news

UW bestows Distinguished Retiree Excellence Award to UWSOP Alumna and Professor Emerita Joy Plein

UWSOP Faculty Emerita and 2017 UW-UWRA Distinguished Retiree Excellence in Community Service Award recipient, Joy Plein
UWSOP Faculty Emerita and 2017 UW-UWRA Distinguished Retiree Excellence in Community Service Award recipient, Joy Plein

We are thrilled to announce that our very own Professor Emerita Joy Plein, ’51, ’56, has been named the recipient of the 2017 UW-UWRA Distinguished Retiree Excellence in Community Service Award!

This award is designated to honor a retiree for excellence in service that exemplifies the University’s values with special distinction and is chosen based on the individual’s contributions in service to the community, including the University, locally, regionally, nationally or internationally.

This award celebrates Joy’s lifetime of service and the positive impact she has had on the lives of those in our community by her commitment and unwavering dedication to future pharmacists and continued excellence in Geriatric Pharmacy.

Joy’s devotion to the field of pharmacy and continued commitment to senior care pharmacy is evident in her years of service, multiple honors and awards, and her work in development of the Certificate Program in Geriatric Pharmacy, which she began thirty years ago.

We are forever thankful for the tremendous commitment Joy and her husband Elmer Plein have bestowed to geriatric research and education by the establishment of the Plein Center for Geriatric Pharmacy Research, Education and Outreach. Joy and Elmer, along with other UW faculty colleagues, pioneered the education and training of geriatric pharmacy care specialists, a specialty that is increasingly in high demand. The Plein Center will expand our role as a leader in the field of geriatric pharmacy to encompass the breadth of disciplines within the School of Pharmacy and beyond.

The new research center will promote the discovery and optimal use of medications in older adults through research, education, and outreach. Research will bring together the depth of UWSOP’s practice, outcomes and bench science research in basic biomedical, translational, clinical, and health services studies. The Plein Center will also include training programs in geriatrics for PharmD students and others, building on the existing Plein Certificate Program in Geriatric Pharmacy.

Joy will be presented with her award at the Awards of Excellence ceremony on Thursday, June 8, 2017, with a reception and dinner along with other award recipients.

Please join us in thanking Joy for her ongoing service to the School of Pharmacy, the University and community at large. It’s an exciting and well-deserved recognition!

 

Click here to learn more about the Plein Certificate in Geriatric Pharmacy.

Click here learn more about the unparalleled education offered in our PharmD program.

Link to Department of Pharmacy archived news

Class of 2016 Alumni Rank No. 1 in Initial NAPLEX Pass Rate in the U.S.

The Class of 2016 were tops in initial NAPLEX pass rates in the U.S.
The Class of 2016 were tops in initial NAPLEX pass rates in the U.S.

UW School of Pharmacy’s class of 2016 distinguished themselves by earning the No. 1 spot in the NAPLEX pass rate in the United States. 99% of our alumni passed the exam the first time they took it last year.

UW lead the nation in initial NAPLEX pass rate
UW lead the nation in initial NAPLEX pass rate

The NAPLEX, or North American Pharmacist Licensure Examination, measures a candidate’s knowledge of the practice of pharmacy. It is just one component of the licensure process and is used by the boards of pharmacy as part of their assessment of a candidate’s competence to practice as a pharmacist.

“This accomplishment is a direct testament to our preeminent faculty, staff and our preceptors, who are key partners in the education and training of our students,” remarked Sean D. Sullivan, Professor and Dean of the UW School of Pharmacy. “But most of all, this pass rate is a tribute to the extraordinary caliber of students who work so hard through the program and in preparation for their exams. I am convinced our alumni graduated from the absolute best place to prepare for a career in pharmacy and this pass rate serves as evidence.”

UW School of Pharmacy’s class of 2016 worked hard to earn the No. 1 initial pass rate on the NAPLEX in the U.S.
UWSOP PharmD students, Stephanie Heeney and Jason Hitchcock, both class of 2017, practice taking blood pressure readings with their Preceptor in the Bracken Pharmacy Learning Center. Photo: Alex Levine

In 2016, over 15,500 pharmacy alumni nationwide took the NAPLEX, a forty percent increase over 9,000 first-time takers ten years ago. A story in the Pharmacy Times noted that the initial pass rate has declined at the majority of U.S. Schools of Pharmacy. “Last year we saw possibly the lowest overall pass rate for the NAPLEX (North American Pharmacist Licensure Examination) ever, dropping to 85% overall, with some very large swings depending on the college of pharmacy attended,” notes author, Jason Poquette. Possible reasons include the longer exam (increased from 4.5 to 6 hours) or increased number of questions (185 to 250 questions).

The NAPLEX, or North American Pharmacist Licensure Examination, measures a candidate’s knowledge of the practice of pharmacy. It is just one component of the licensure process and is used by the boards of pharmacy as part of their assessment of a candidate’s competence to practice as a pharmacist, according to the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy.

Advance your career as a pharmacist at the University of Washington. Learn more about our nationally and globally top-ranked PharmD Program.

Link to Department of Pharmacy archived news

Little-known disease has major economic impact

An 1918 illustration showing blood vessels in the head and face. The drawing is from Henry Gray's Anatomy of the Human Body
An 1918 illustration showing blood vessels in the head and face. The drawing is from Henry Gray’s Anatomy of the Human Body Photo: Henry Gray

Giant cell arteritis is estimated to cost U.S. health-care system $1 billion in first year of treatment

PORPP faculty members, Joseph Babigumira, Louis Garrison, Denise Boudreau, Jennie Best, and grad student, Meng Li, published a research paper about the cost impact of giant cell arteritis  in the open-access journal Rheumatology and Therapy.

Health-care system spending on patients in the United States with giant cell arteritis is $16,400 more in the first year after diagnosis compared to similar patients without the disease. This finding comes from a new study from the University of Washington School of Public Health. The little-known, chronic disease of the blood vessels affects 230,000 Americans.

Joseph Babigumira
Joseph Babigumira

“In addition to its significant clinical burden, giant cell arteritis has a substantial economic impact, as it increases costs to both the health care system and patients in the U.S.,” said Joseph Babigumira, lead author of the study. He is an assistant professor of global health and adjunct assistant professor of pharmacy.

Giant cell arteritis most often affects the arteries in the head, especially those in the temples. The condition frequently causes headaches, scalp tenderness, jaw pain and vision problems. If left untreated, it can lead to stroke or blindness.

Read the story in UW Health Sciences NewsBeat: “Little-known disease has major economic impact: Giant cell arteritis is estimated to cost U.S. health-care system $1 billion in first year of treatment

Advance your career in patient-centered outcomes research at the University of Washington. Learn more about our Graduate Programs in Pharmaceutical Outcomes Research and Policy.

Link to Department of Pharmacy archived news

UWSOP alumni legend Alice Ball, Class of 1914, solved leprosy therapy riddle

Alice Ball, UW School of Pharmacy class of 1914
Alice Ball earned two degrees, one in pharmaceutical chemistry and one in pharmacy at the University of Washington from 1910-1914 (pictured here from the 1911-1912 UW Tyee Yearbook). Photo: UW Tyee Yearbook, 1911-1912

Just over 100 years ago, as World War I raged in Europe, a chemistry professor named Alice Ball was demonstrating the use of a gas mask when something went tragically wrong. The brilliant, young chemist died a few months later at age 24, likely from accidentally inhaling chlorine gas.

The riddles she had solved may be different from what our scientists are working on today, but as we look back at the life and work of this extraordinary African-American woman, we see the drive that is a hallmark of the alumni and faculty of the UW School of Pharmacy. Born in Seattle in 1892, Alice grew up both in Washington state and Hawai’i to middle class parents. Her mother and grandfather were well-known photographers who exposed young Alice to the magic of chemistry in developing photos. We can imagine her wide-eyed excitement in the darkroom as her mother dipped plain paper in a bath of chemical developer to reveal the hidden image.

A top student at Seattle High School, Alice began her scientific career at the University of Washington in 1910. She earned her bachelor’s in pharmaceutical chemistry in 1912 and then earned a second degree in pharmacy in 1914, here at the UW School of Pharmacy.

In less than a year, UWSOP alumna Alice was able to isolate the active ingredients in chaulmoogra oil—a discovery that brought relief to people with leprosy until sulfa antibiotics came into use in the 1940s.

After graduation, she co-authored a paper, “Benzoylations in Ether Solution” in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, received a full scholarship, and became the first African-American woman to earn her master’s degree at the College of Hawai‘i (now University of Hawai‘i). Her master’s thesis research involved extracting the active ingredients from the awa (or kava) root.

Hearing of her work, Dr. Harry T. Hollmann, U.S. Public Health Officer for Hawai‘i, asked her to help solve a mystery. As acting director of the Kalihi leprosy clinic, Hollman was trying to find a treatment for the terrifying disease. At this time, there was no cure and no palatable treatment for leprosy. People afflicted with the disease were quarantined.

Over decades in Hawai‘i, 8,000+ children and adults were taken from their homes in the middle of the night and brought to a camp on Molokai island. Chaulmoogra oil had shown promise in treating leprosy in India and China, but it was water insoluble. It burned when injected under the skin and its acrid taste made it very difficult to ingest.

Chaulmooga tree, Hydnocarpus sp. Flacourtiaceae

Hollmann asked Alice if she could extract the active ingredient in chaulmoogra oil, as she did for the awa root. In Headstrong: 52 Women who Changed Science—and the World, author Rachel Swaby writes that Alice ”treated the oil’s fatty acids with an alcohol and a catalyst to kick-start the reaction to create a less viscous chemical compound” (13). Using that process, Alice was able to isolate the ethyl esters from the oil and create an effective therapy.

Her breakthrough was so significant that—at just 23 years old—she became the first woman and first African-American offered an instructor position in chemistry at the College. Her method was used to develop therapies to treat leprosy patients until the 1940s.

Not long after her premature death, college president Arthur L. Dean—without giving credit to Alice for her work—chose to publish what he called the “Dean Method,” for extracting the active ingredient in chaulmoogra oil. In 1922, to right that wrong, Hollmann published an article describing “Ball’s Method,” thus preserving Alice’s leading role in the breakthrough and in pharmaceutical history.

However, even with Hollman’s recognition, Alice’s accomplishments were almost lost in time until Dr. Kathryn Waddell Takara learned about her in the University of Hawai‘i’s archives in 1977, and Stanley Ali, a retired Federal worker, came across her records while doing research on blacks in Hawai‘i.

These historians were essential in ensuring her place as a legend among scientists and UWSOP alumni. We honor Alice Ball, who embodies the spirit of discovery that lives on today in the UW School of Pharmacy students, faculty, and staff.

 

McDermott researches value of insurer-provided care coordination

UW Medicine nurse practitioner, outpatient palliative and supportive medicine services, during home visit to a patient receiving palliative care at end of life. The patient's son is present as well.
UW Medicine nurse practitioner, outpatient palliative and supportive medicine services, during home visit to a patient receiving palliative care at end of life. The patient’s son is present as well.

Pharmacy alumna and UW Medicine post doc receives 2017 AcademyHealth New Investigator Award to study benefits of end-of-life care planning in palliative care

UWSOP alumna Cara McDermott, Pharm.D., Ph.D., M.Sc. 
was named to the 2017 cohort of New Investigators by AcademyHealth. The AcademyHealth New Investigator Small Grant Program is designed to support the early careers of new health services researchers.

UWSOP alumna Cara McDermott, PharmD, Ph.D., M.Sc. and UW Medicine T32 Post Doc
UWSOP alumna Cara McDermott, PharmD, Ph.D., M.Sc. and UW Medicine T32 Post Doc

“Cara is a three-time alumna of our School. She is an extraordinary person doing critical work into a very challenging area to study—palliative care,” lauded Professor and Dean Sean D. Sullivan. “We are so proud of her and her significant potential as a scholar. She embodies all of the characteristics we come to expect of our preeminent students and alumni at the UW School of Pharmacy.”

Cara’s grant will support her research project, “Care Coordination and Low-Value Care at End-of-Life Among Patients with Advanced Cancer.” Following the Affordable Care Act, there is increased focus on improving value in health care and provision of advanced care planning for patients. Value-based cancer care delivery is at the nexus of these priorities, and organizations such as the American Society of Clinical Oncology have noted that additional research is needed to guide value considerations in cancer care delivery.

Low-value care, which is care lacking sufficient evidence of benefit or not in accordance with patient goals, often occurs near death for cancer patients. Hospitalization and emergency department visits at end of life are often for commonly occurring conditions such as dehydration or pain. If these conditions are effectively addressed in the home setting then patients and caregivers could avoid the time, hassle, and expenditures of hospital care. Targeted care coordination, whereby patients are informed of various care options for end-of-life care provision and can plan their care, may allow patients to avoid such low-value care.

Using existing partnerships between the Hutchinson Institute for Cancer Outcomes Research at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and local insurers, Cara will study insurer-provided care coordination for enrollees in Washington State with advanced cancer and the association with patterns of healthcare utilization in the last month of life. Findings from this study will help determine how patients perceive and utilize care coordination services in this setting and inform future interventions to improve care coordination and value-based care delivery for patients facing life-limiting illness.

The 2017 New Investigators were selected through a competitive process that includes evaluation by four individual review committees comprised of AcademyHealth staff, staff at partner organizations, and health services research and policy experts. “I know that this year’s cohort will use this professional development opportunity to contribute critical research on some of the most pressing issues in health care,” said AcademyHealth President and CEO Lisa Simpson.

Currently Cara McDermott is a T32 post-doctoral research fellow with the Cambia Palliative Care Center of Excellence at the University of Washington School of Medicine and an Affiliate Investigator with the Hutchinson Institute for Cancer Outcomes Research at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

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About University of Washington School of Pharmacy
The UW School of Pharmacy is comprised of three departments: Medicinal Chemistry, Pharmaceutics, and Pharmacy, offering Ph.D., M.S., and PharmD degrees, post docs and certificate programs. The Department of Pharmacy leads in pharmacy education, research, professional and outreach initiatives, including the Pharmaceutical Outcomes Research & Policy Program (PORPP), which conducts research in pharmaceutical economics, drug safe and pharmaceutical policy. The UW School of Pharmacy is a global leader in pharmacy education, research and service, committed to providing a transformative learning experience in a collaborative and diverse environment focused on improving the health and well-being of the communities we serve.

About AcademyHealth
AcademyHealth is a leading national organization serving the fields of health services and policy research and the professionals who produce and use this important work. Together with our members, we offer programs and services that support the development and use of rigorous, relevant and timely evidence to increase the quality, accessibility, and value of health care, to reduce disparities, and to improve health. A trusted broker of information, AcademyHealth brings stakeholders together to address the current and future needs of an evolving health system, inform health policy, and translate evidence into action. Learn more at www.academyhealth.org and follow us on Twitter @AcademyHealth.

 

Link to Department of Pharmacy archived news

Pharmacy Professor John Horn raises concerns about drug safety

Chicago Tribune investigation shows problems in drug interaction communications to patients

Outpatient pharmacy at Harborview Medical Center 9th & James Building.
The Chicago Tribune investigation tested 255 pharmacies in the Chicago area to see how often patients were warned of potential serious drug interactions. Photo credit: Photo: UW Medicine

UW School of Pharmacy Professor John Horn and UWSOP alumnus Dan Malone were part of an investigative report, “Pharmacies miss more than half of dangerous drug combinations,” published in the Chicago Tribune on December 15, 2016. The Tribune spent months investigating how often staff at retail and independent pharmacies advised patients about the potential for serious drug interactions. The report found that the interactions were noted to the patients or their physicians in only 48% of the cases.

The Tribune investigation involved 255 pharmacies in the Chicago area. Pharmacies were presented with prescriptions for one of five pairs of drugs known to result in serious drug interactions. The prescriptions were presented by shoppers who were trained to record the pharmacy responses. The primary outcome was whether the pharmacy alerted either the patient or the physician of the potential interaction. The test drug pairs included commonly prescribed drugs such as simvastatin and clarithromycin. This combination can result in severe muscle damage and possibly renal failure in some patients.

The results from the Tribune’s reporting have been shared with the pharmacies and all are taking steps to improve the communication of possible drug interactions.

While the intent was not designed to identify the cause of the poor pharmacy response, it is generally recognized that excessive alerts for all interactions, regardless of severity, cause pharmacists, physicians and other providers to have alert fatigue and potentially missing critical warnings. Horn has worked with institutions throughout the U.S. to customize interaction alerts and avoid irrelevant alerting. Continuing education for pharmacists on drug interaction management and placing more priority on patient counseling may also provide for better patient care.

The investigative report reveals the complexity of U.S. health care delivery in the 21st century. One of the challenges comes down to the realities of the business model for most pharmacies. In almost every state, pharmacists are compensated for dispensing medications, not for the unique medication expertise that they bring to the health care team.

With the priority on dispensing medications over patient consultations, independent and chain pharmacies focus on volume to stay financially sound and are reliant on automatic alert systems. In one case, the investigation team found pharmacists were filling upward of 600 prescriptions a day with just two pharmacists working 10-hour shifts—one prescription every two minutes. With that pressure of time, pharmacists are not as able to research a patient’s health records, contact physicians, and other steps that may improve safety.

A question arises about the Tribune’s findings. Insurance plans also have systems that deny payment if a patient tries to fill a prescription that could cause a harmful drug interaction. “When that denial happens, a pharmacist will normally call the physician to request a different prescription,” notes Sean D. Sullivan, Professor and Dean of the UW School of Pharmacy. “If the Tribune investigators paid cash, then this important failsafe could not be activated.” Sullivan commented that even with that protection, pharmacies still have a vital role in the patient care process, and need to establish processes to confirm drugs are safe to dispense, especially if a patient is not insured.

As a result of decades of advocacy and education by faculty from the UW School of Pharmacy, Washington state is the first state in the U.S. in which pharmacists are compensated for providing care and expertise, not just dispensing medications. The change, which began in 2016, is taking hold in health care systems and will begin in community pharmacies in 2017.

Professor of Pharmacy John Horn
Professor of Pharmacy John Horn

“Pharmacists and their staff have an absolutely vital role in patient care and drug safety,” said Horn. “Based on the pairs tested in this investigation, there is no justifiable reason to not warn a patient about the dangers of interactions. I am glad to see that the pharmacies are responding so well to the report’s findings and taking steps to improve patient safety.”

Horn literally wrote the book on drug interactions. The Top 100 Drug Interactions is a mainstay for any pharmacist in practice or training. Along with co-author Philip Hansten, Horn is the recognized international authority in the field of drug-drug interactions. Together, they have more than 75 years of combined experience in the field. The drug interactions books by Dr. Hansten and Dr. Horn have been translated into 6 languages and have sold more than one million copies worldwide since 1971.

UW School of Pharmacy is a global leader on drug safety and drug interactions. From esteemed faculty like John Horn, research into geriatric, pediatric, and neonatal drug studies to resources like the Drug Interaction Database, UWSOP’s researchers advance the science, development, implementation and outcomes of safe and appropriate treatments.

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The UW School of Pharmacy is comprised of three departments: Medicinal Chemistry, Pharmaceutics, and Pharmacy, offering Ph.D., M.S., and PharmD degrees, post docs and certificate programs.

The UW School of Pharmacy is a global leader in pharmacy education, research and service, committed to providing a transformative learning experience in a collaborative and diverse environment focused on improving the health and well-being of the communities we serve. Our mission is three-fold: inspiring education: developing exceptional, innovative and diverse pharmacy leaders and scientists; discovering solutions: advancing the science, development, implementation, and outcomes of safe and appropriate treatments; and serving people and communities: promoting the health and well-being of the public, locally and globally.

Link to Department of Pharmacy archived news

Drug delivery device invented in UW Ho laboratory receives $36M

Venture funding to support clinical development of the company’s lead compoundsho-hoekman

Impel NeuroPharma, Inc., a Seattle-based clinical stage biotechnology company announced a $36 million Series C round to develop a pipeline of drug-device combination products built upon its Precision Olfactory Delivery™ (POD™) nasal delivery platform.

The POD™ drug delivery device is intended to achieve biodistribution, bioavailability, and decreased dose-to-dose variability in patients by delivering the dose deep into the nasal cavity, thereby delivering a more consistent, higher concentration of the drug to the brain. The device could significantly improve treatments for neurological disorders such as migraine, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.

With the research team led by UW Pharmaceutics Professor Rodney Ho, Rodney and John Hoekman invented the brain drug delivery concept while John was a graduate student. Now that John has graduated, he leads Impel, which has licensed the concept. “Through John’s tireless efforts, he has made significant progress in bringing this critical technology closer to the market,” said Rodney.

“The shortcoming of a lot of drugs isn’t the drug itself,” said Ho. “It’s getting the correct dose to exactly the right place so it’s most effective. Once a drug goes into the body, it’s not unusual for 10 percent or less to actually end up where it needs to go. But if too much is delivered, it can be toxic. So the shortest road to drug safety and effectiveness is to solve that puzzle—in this case, it is to deliver the drug directly to the brain using the POD™ device.”

“The nasal cavity is a vastly underutilized entry point for therapeutics into the circulation,” said John. “Our POD™ nasal delivery may allow for an improvement in biodistribution and consistency compared to current delivery methods. Impel NeuroPharma is striving to use the POD™ system to develop improved drug-device combination products in underserved patient populations.”

“We are especially pleased that our new investors recognized the value in the POD™ technology. Their support allows us to move our lead products closer to FDA approval,” John added.

“The biodistribution data that Impel NeuroPharma has generated with the POD delivery platform demonstrates its potential to improve our approach to treating multiple diseases. We’re excited to use the platform to bring new treatments to patients,” said Aaron Royston of venBIO, one of the investment firms.

John’s affiliation with the UW School of Pharmacy continues as an alumnus. “John is the definition of a good citizen to all of us here at UWSOP,” reflected Rodney. “He continues to teach and help promote the school’s research mission. We appreciate his ongoing collaboration and are inspired by his innovative thinking and commitment to make a difference in the lives of millions of people.”

About UW School of Pharmacy: UWSOP is comprised of three departments: Medicinal Chemistry, Pharmaceutics, and Pharmacy, offering Ph.D., M.S., and PharmD degrees, post docs and certificate programs. The UW School of Pharmacy is a global leader in pharmacy education, research and service, committed to providing a transformative learning experience in a collaborative and diverse environment focused on improving the health and well-being of the communities we serve. Our mission is three-fold: inspiring education: developing exceptional, innovative and diverse pharmacy leaders and scientists; discovering solutions: advancing the science, development, implementation, and outcomes of safe and appropriate treatments; and serving people and communities: promoting the health and well-being of the public, locally and globally.

About POD technology

Impel NeuroPharma’s POD™ nasal drug delivery platform is designed to deliver drugs to the upper nasal cavity for improved biodistribution. By delivering therapeutics to the upper nasal cavity, the POD nasal delivery platform takes advantage of the vascular rich olfactory region for improved bioavailability and has the potential to target the brain via the olfactory and trigeminal nerves. Delivery of therapeutically meaningful levels of drugs may allow for development of more effective drugs and expand the range of treatment options available to patients.

About Impel NeuroPharma

Impel NeuroPharma, Inc. is a Seattle-based company developing intranasal drug treatments for central nervous system (CNS) disorders. Impel NeuroPharma has developed a novel drug delivery platform, the POD™ technology, that administers drug to the deep nasal cavity to improve the biodistribution of many drugs. Impel NeuroPharma’s proprietary (POD) device technology enables entirely new categories of drugs, including biologics, to be administered using a cost-effective, disposable, non- invasive intranasal drug delivery device. To learn more about Impel NeuroPharma please visit our website: www.impelnp.com

Click on the links for more information about our Graduate Programs in Medicinal Chemistry, Pharmaceutics, Pharmaceutical Outcomes Research and Policy, and Biomedical Regulatory Affairs.

Link to Pharmaceutics archived news

Get to know the Plein Geriatric Pharmacy Center leaders

Plein Geriatric Pharmacy Center leadership (L to R): Assistant Director for Research Zach Marcum, Assistant Director for Training Leigh Ann Mike, and Director Shelly Gray
Plein Geriatric Pharmacy Center leadership (L to R): Assistant Director for Research Zach Marcum, Assistant Director for Training Leigh Ann Mike, and Director Shelly Gray Photo: Alex Levine

Over the summer, Dean Sullivan announced the leadership for the Plein Geriatric Pharmacy Center and some of the early planning activities.

Plein Center Director and Shirley and Herb Bridge Endowed Professor for Women in Pharmacy Shelly Gray will assume responsibility for oversight, direction and vision of all aspects of the Center, including the research, training and service missions. Shelly will work with her leadership team to integrate the School’s Geriatric Pharmacy Program activities, including the successful Plein Certificate in Geriatric Pharmacy, as part of the new Plein Center. Shelly earned her PharmD from the University of Michigan, held a geriatric pharmacy fellowship at the University of North Carolina, and earned a master’s in Epidemiology from the UW. Her research focuses on the assessment of benefit and risk of medicines in older adults. She has been an investigator on numerous federally funded research grants and is the author of over eighty peer-reviewed publications. In 2014, Shelly was awarded Fellow status in the AGS.

Assistant Director for Training Leigh Ann Mike will coordinate the Center’s training and educational missions, including the Plein Certificate in Geriatric Pharmacy. Leigh Ann earned her PharmD degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago and completed her residency training at the University of Illinois Medical Center at Chicago. She has extensive experience for caring in older adults in the acute care setting, and more recently in assisted living communities.

Assistant Director for Research Zachary Marcum will work with Plein Center faculty to build out an interdisciplinary research mission for the Center.  Zach joined UWSOP  after completing his PharmD at Butler University and PhD at the University of Pittsburgh. His research focuses on medication use and adherence in the elderly, especially amongst older adults with Alzheimer’s Disease. Zach was recently awarded a three-year, highly competitive AHRQ-sponsored K12 Scholar position in the UW Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institutional Training Program.  This K12 award will complement and extend his work with older adults.

Shelly will convene a Center steering committee, to be chaired by Associate Dean Andy Stergachis, with representatives from all three UWSOP departments, in addition to external stakeholders.

UWSOP, Era Living Partner for Patient-Centered Care

In 2016, we celebrated the the 30th class of UWSOP Plein Certificate in Geriatric Pharmacy graduates!
In 2016, we celebrated the 30th class of UWSOP Plein Certificate in Geriatric Pharmacy graduates! (Sarah Buterbaugh pictured 5th from the left.) Photo: Alex Levine

UW School of Pharmacy offers a novel approach to student training and patient care in Era Living residential communities. The program is a mutually beneficial one: in addition to their regular pharmacy services, residents receive supplemental medication expertise for which UW pharmacy faculty and students are well-known and student pharmacists have opportunities to enrich their training through supervised patient consultations and more. “As integrated members of the health care team, UW faculty practitioners and our registered nurses, social workers, and care staff are able to share valuable information centered around enhancing the health and well-being of our residents,” said Jacob Almo, Vice President of operations at Era Living.

The program benefits UW Pharmacy students by creating opportunities to work alongside faculty pharmacists. On a regular basis, students enhance their training by giving important presentations to residents on a range of topics including drug safety and how to prevent the flu, reduce insomnia, and manage diabetes, osteoporosis and more.

“I learned to see more than the medication list, but to think about how the patients live their lives and the factors that matter to them the most, including medication cost, feasibility, side effects, and tolerability.”  –Sarah Buterbaugh, PharmD, ’16

By being on-site regularly and under faculty supervision, students are available to meet with residents. UW student pharmacist Sarah Buterbaugh helped a resident who had a host of prescriptions, including oral medications, inhalers, and topical products. Working with faculty pharmacist Jennifer Wilson Norton, Sarah helped organize and explain the medications, including what was mandatory, optional, and how best to store them. “The resident to this day, still keeps Sarah’s organization system,” notes Jennifer.

Era Living logoEra Living offers “a unique practice environment and a wonderful experience for students,” said Sarah. “The geriatric population brings both curiosity and concern in the questions they have and each preceptor had time to discuss with me both the therapeutic options as well as to emphasize considering the patient as a whole. I learned just as much from the patients as the information we delivered to them. This rotation emphasized to me that the pharmacy profession is not just about medications but more importantly is about providing patient-centered care.”

Advance your career as a pharmacist at the University of Washington. Learn more about our nationally and globally top-ranked PharmD Program.

Link to Department of Pharmacy archived news

Common genetic disorder linked to increased death rate from cancer drug

Busulfan, a chemotherapy drug commonly used to prepare patients for bone marrow transplantation, is linked to a dramatically increased risk of death in people with a common genetic disorder. Photo by Robert Hood / Fred Hutch News Service
Busulfan, a chemotherapy drug commonly used to prepare patients for bone marrow transplantation, is linked to a dramatically increased risk of death in people with a common genetic disorder. Photo by Robert Hood / Fred Hutch News Service

Researchers recommend ‘caution’ when using the chemotherapy busulfan in patients with Gilbert’s syndrome

By Susan Keown, Staff Writer, Fred Hutch News Service, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center

Research published Thursday shows that a common genetic disorder ― one that many people don’t even know they have ― is linked to a more than twofold increase in death rates among patients treated with a particular cancer drug.

Scientists estimate that between 3 percent and 10 percent of people worldwide have Gilbert’s syndrome, which alters the way the liver processes one of the byproducts that results from the body’s recycling of dead red blood cells. Gilbert’s typically causes no ill effects; in fact, it’s even been linked to long life and good health in the general population.

This study found, however, that what typically seems to be a Dr. Jekyll turns into a Mr. Hyde for patients who receive a chemotherapy drug called busulfan, which is commonly used as part of a chemotherapy regimen prior to bone marrow transplantation. Bone marrow transplantation is a standard therapy for people with serious blood disorders like advanced leukemia.

The research overturns decades of conventional wisdom in the transplant field about the importance of Gilbert’s [“zhil-BARE’s”] syndrome, said Dr. George McDonald, a lead researcher on the study.

“In the medical textbooks, it’s always said to be totally benign, nothing bad ever happens,” said McDonald, a clinical researcher at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. This study’s results “came out the total opposite of what I expected.”

This study is just the latest example of how variations in metabolism from patient to patient can have huge impacts on the toxicity or effectiveness of a drug treatment, McDonald said.

“People are born with certain hair color, certain skin color, certain eye color — and certain metabolizing enzymes. You can tell people’s hair color … But you can’t tell what their enzymes are,” he said. “Right now, we assume every human being is going to metabolize drugs in the exact same way. But we know that that’s not true.”

McDonald’s hope is that this study, an analysis of 20 years of data on several thousand patients who were transplanted at via the Fred Hutch/University of Washington Cancer Consortium, will swiftly be validated and implemented to save lives.

“Like all science, it needs to be replicated,” McDonald said. “If it’s replicated with the same dimensions of risk, it’s something that should be universally applied in practice.”

A surprising and mysterious result

Gilbert’s syndrome typically has no outward signs unless a person is under particular physical stress, when they can develop mild jaundice, tiredness or abdominal pain. It’s detected via a blood test that measures levels of bilirubin, the blood-cell-breakdown byproduct whose processing is affected by the genetic disorder. McDonald estimates that about half of people with Gilbert’s are unaware of it; most people have no reason to be.

This isn’t the first study to show that Gilbert’s syndrome can affect how a drug is processed, or metabolized, by the body. Over the last couple of decades, reports have come out about patients with Gilbert’s syndrome who’ve experienced toxic side effects after taking certain drugs that are metabolized by the same enzymes affected by the syndrome.

These reports began to make McDonald wonder about the chemotherapy drugs that patients receive to prepare their bodies for transplantation.

“I’m a big believer in what’s called evidence-based medicine,” McDonald said on a recent day in his office at Fred Hutch in Seattle, behind a desk thoroughly covered in scientific papers.

McDonald was in the middle of moving offices, and a giant canvas mail cart alongside his desk was two-thirds full with outdated textbooks, now destined for the trash, that he collected over his career, which has spanned more than four decades.

For many of those years, McDonald was one of just a handful of people whose research was focused on gastrointestinal and liver complications of transplantation.

With this study, McDonald said, “I just wanted to see if the advice we’d been giving to patients for 40 years really had a factual basis when it came to people getting very high-dose chemotherapy.”

He felt confident. All available evidence on these drugs indicated that they were not processed by the metabolic mechanisms affected by Gilbert’s syndrome. If anything, McDonald reasoned, patients with Gilbert’s syndrome would experience fewer toxic side effects from these chemotherapy drugs than everyone else: Because of Gilbert’s effects on bilirubin-processing enzymes, these people have a higher blood concentration than normal of the preprocessed form of bilirubin ― which just so happens to be an antioxidant, a substance that protects cells from damage. (This antioxidant effect, researchers suspect, could be the reason why people with Gilbert’s tend to live longer and have lower rates of cardiovascular and lung disease than the rest of us.)

To find the answer to his question, McDonald and colleagues turned to a massive database dubbed Gateway, a compendium of medical data from patients treated by Fred Hutch and its consortium partners over 30 years. (The patients had all previously consented for their information to be used anonymously in research.)

Statistician Dr. Ted Gooley of Fred Hutch crunched the numbers from almost 3,500 transplant patients seen between 1991 and 2011, including more than 200 patients the researchers identified as having Gilbert’s syndrome based on records of their blood test results.

What came out of their analysis is rare in science, McDonald said ― a result that is dramatically different from what the researchers expected going into the study. In the first 200 days after transplant, patients with Gilbert’s syndrome who also received busulfan prior to transplant were more than twice as likely to die of any cause than all other patients, and they were nearly three times as likely to die of a cause not related to disease relapse. Gilbert’s seemed to have no effect on the outcomes when any other type of chemotherapy was used.

McDonald pulled in longtime collaborator Dr. Jeannine McCune of Fred Hutch to help figure out why. For years, McCune has been studying how busulfan and other drugs used in cancer treatment are absorbed, distributed, metabolized and eliminated by the body ― a field known as pharmacokinetics ― with the goal of reducing drugs’ toxic side effects and increasing their effectiveness.

In her lab, she analyzed the pharmacokinetics of the drug between patients with and without Gilbert’s. But she did not see any telltale differences in the way their bodies processed the drug that might have indicated a reason for the differences in death rates. Neither could the research team find any difference in the causes of death between the two groups of patients, which might also provide hints as to how the syndrome was interacting with the drug.

“We’re left with a bit of a mystery as to why the striking finding has occurred. But sometimes you don’t come up with a ribbon on the package, where you tie everything together,” McDonald said.

“When you have findings like this, it always leads to another question.”

Tackling the next question

McCune is initiating more experiments in her lab to try to figure out what they might have missed in this study. Perhaps after the body breaks down busulfan, those breakdown products interact with the bilirubin-processing pathway altered by Gilbert’s, she hypothesizes.

Until the finding is replicated by other bone marrow transplantation groups around the world, the research team recommends that transplant physicians carefully consider the use of busulfan in patients with Gilbert’s syndrome. (About 40 percent of transplant patients at Fred Hutch currently receive the drug.)

“If I have a patient with Gilbert’s and I have a choice of similarly effective drugs, with [a recommendation for] caution, I might use the other regimen,” McDonald said.

Another cancer drug whose metabolism is affected by Gilbert’s is irinotecan, which is commonly used to treat advanced colon cancer. McDonald emphasized that every new cancer patient should already be receiving extensive blood work that will reveal this often-hidden genetic condition. But the presence of Gilbert’s syndrome will not necessarily raise a red flag for many oncologists as they determine a patient’s treatment plan, he warned, given the long-standing conventional wisdom about the condition.

“In the oncology setting, it wouldn’t be unreasonable for patients scheduled to have some form of chemotherapy, who knows they have Gilbert’s syndrome, to ask their oncologist, ‘Are the drugs you’re planning to give me affected by my Gilbert’s syndrome?’” McDonald said.

Patients being treated with busulfan through the Fred Hutch/UW Cancer Consortium already have a system in place to lower the risk of getting dangerously overdosed or underdosed with this drug — a clinical lab established by Fred Hutch researchers years ago that tests patient blood samples early in treatment to learn how the medication is being metabolized, allowing the physician to lower or raise subsequent doses.

McDonald stressed that he doesn’t see any reason why people who are healthy should go out and get tested to see if they have Gilbert’s syndrome — especially considering that its protective effects could result in them living a longer and healthier life. And McCune noted that most people will have had their bilirubin levels tested for one reason or another by adulthood.

“Patients should not be freaked out,” she said. Everyone has different factors that alter the toxicity or efficacy of certain drugs, she explained. “No drug is benign. Not to be fatalistic, but it’s just reality. Medications have done a lot for us over the years; we’re just trying to use them to the best of our ability.”

To this end, McCune stressed the importance of research.

“Really, while it is scary to think that we might all have a genetic factor that puts us at higher risk of a drug toxicity or for the drug to not work as well, the important thing is for patients to participate in research so that we can learn as much as we can from each patient to help the next patient,” McCune said.

Since McDonald started in the field of bone marrow transplantation, at a time when it was an experimental, dangerous and last-ditch procedure, he has seen how studies like this one have added up to dramatic improvements.

“That’s how progress has been made over 40 years. Seldom do you have a moment where it’s an ‘aha’,” McDonald said. “It’s been a series of tiny little dots being connected to one another.”

____________

This story from Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center is shared with permission.

Susan Keown is a staff writer at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Before joining Fred Hutch in 2014, Susan wrote about health and research topics for a variety of research institutions, including the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Reach her at skeown@fredhutch.org or follow her on Twitter at @sejkeown.

Advance your career in research or pharmacy at the University of Washington!

Click on the links for more information about our Graduate Programs in Medicinal Chemistry, Pharmaceutics, Pharmaceutical Outcomes Research and Policy, and Biomedical Regulatory Affairs.


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Sid Nelson’s legacy lives on in science and collaboration

Former SOP First Lady Joan Nelson with Sid Nelson Endowed Professor of Medicinal Chemistry, Bill Atkins
Former SOP First Lady Joan Nelson with Sid Nelson Endowed Professor of Medicinal Chemistry, Bill Atkins Photo: Alex Levine

Busulfan is one of our oldest anticancer drugs. Today, it is often used to prepare a patient’s body for a bone marrow transplant (hematopoietic cell transplant [HCT]) to fight various cancers. Busulfan kills some of the patient’s blood cells to ensure the donor cells will be accepted.

But busulfan is toxic.

The work to mitigate that toxicity has become central in three labs across UWSOP—a collaboration that would have brought cheer to the late Dean Sid Nelson. “Sid was fascinated by the biological and toxicological implications of chemistry,” shared Bill Atkins.

“Busulfan is a ‘goldilocks’ drug. The dosing has to be just right.”
–Jeannine McCune, Professor of Pharmacy

Pharmacy Professor Jeannine McCune
Pharmacy Professor Jeannine McCune

The collaboration began when Pharmacy Professor Jeannine McCune reached out to Bill in Medicinal Chemistry. For twenty years, Jeannine has studied the effects of busulfan on HCT patients to improve its efficacy and lower its toxicity. “ She approached Bill about using metabolomics, a new field that characterizes the small molecule metabolites in biological systems. She asked him to look at the data because of his expertise in the protective molecule glutathione, an antioxidant. (Glutathione is important to busulfan because it is metabolized by the glutathione S-transferases.)

“Sid might have called it ‘strange chemistry.’ Normally when a toxic drug modifies a protein, the drug stays around which makes it toxic—but busulfan modified a protein and then disappeared. It’s really awesome! I kept wondering why no one had studied this before.”
–Bill Atkins, Sid Nelson Endowed Professor of Medicinal Chemistry

Former UWSOP Dean, Sid Nelson
Former UWSOP Dean, Sid Nelson

Bill saw the potential for novel protein modifications. In some classic cases, including examples studied by Sid, drugs or their metabolites are toxic because they stick on to proteins covalently. But with busulfan, it reacts with the proteins, changes them, and then disappears—having changed the chemical nature of the protein. “To my knowledge, it’s unprecedented,” said Bill.

Busulfan converts cysteines in proteins into dehydroalanine. These reactions also may have utility in protein engineering or nanotechnology. “If you could get other things to react with the dehydroalanine, you could expand how proteins are used—including application of functional probes, drugs, or targeting moieties.”

“Busulfan is a legacy drug, with a mechanism of action based on World War I chemical warfare agents, but it’s still a frontline drug in pediatric cancer therapy,”
— Ed Kelly, Associate Professor of Pharmaceutics

Associate Professor of Pharmaceutics Ed Kelly
Associate Professor of Pharmaceutics Ed Kelly

The collaboration has expanded. Understanding the toxicity of busulfan led Jeannine and Bill to Ed Kelly in Pharmaceutics, whose work with the organ on a chip project is making him a leader in Toxicology. Ed is working to create a liver on a chip that integrates vascular cells so they can start identifying pathways, proteomics, metabolomics, and chemistry, specifically for busulfan toxicity in this example.

Jeannine, Bill, and Yvonne Lin (Associate Professor in Pharmaceutics) have an ongoing NIH R01 grant trying to improve the efficacy and lower the toxicity of busulfan. The team is eager to continue this project which embodies the collaborative spirit and science that were hallmarks of Sid’s leadership.

Advance your career in research or pharmacy at the University of Washington!

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Class of 2017 Honors Professor Doug Black

UW School of Pharmacy's PharmD Class of 2017
UW School of Pharmacy’s PharmD Class of 2017 have decided to honor Dr. Doug Black with a gift to his endowment

UW School of Pharmacy’s PharmD class of 2017 announced their class gift this week. They will work together over the coming year to make a P4 Class Giving Fund donation to the Doug Black Endowed PharmD Award, a scholarship that is given each year to a UW School of Pharmacy student who exemplifies an outstanding commitment to learning and the profession of pharmacy.

“Scholarships are a huge benefit to current students as they allow us to participate in conferences and other events like Medical Brigades that we would have difficulty affording otherwise,” they shared in their announcement. “These experiences are invaluable to us and often help shape our future practice.”

The Class wanted to honor Dr. Doug Black who has been an important influence on them, both as a professor and a mentor, and has pushed them to become better students and pharmacists. “Doug has consistently gone above and beyond what is expected of a professor. He has always been happy to take time out of his day to meet with students and help in any way that he can. Last year, as the course master for our infectious disease therapeutics course, Doug would send out emails daily encouraging us in our studies and reminding us that no matter how hard things seemed, we could handle it. Doug’s emails were often what we would wake up to in the morning, as he gets up most mornings at 4 am, much earlier than any of his students.”

Below are a few excerpts from some of those emails that represent what a truly caring and encouraging professor he is:

  • Dr. Doug Black talks with students in the Bracken Lab.
    Dr. Doug Black talks with students in the Bracken Lab.

    “On my walk to my car on Boyer Ave (I hate paying for parking), I was thinking about you and I have to say, I’m proud of you–and I’m very happy with how things are going.”

  • “First and foremost, good luck on your exam today. Luck really shouldn’t be a part of it, but we all know how that goes. Anyway, I wish you logical thought and an unusually responsive memory.”
  • “Sometimes all you can do in times of adversity is soldier on. I know that is what you are doing this week. I wish you all the best in finishing up this hellish week. You’ve earned some downtime. I hope you can get some.”
  • “I don’t want our class to end, by the way.”
  • “Thanks for an unforgettable Spring.”

UWSOP alumni and friends are invited to join the Class of 2017 in honoring Doug’s commitment to students and scholarship by making a gift to the Doug Black Endowed Pharm.D. Award. To contribute toward the class’ gift total, please make your gift to Doug’s fund through the P4 Class Giving Fund today.

“Just as Doug has encouraged us, we look forward to encouraging future Pharm.D. students through our class gift.”

If you have questions about making a gift, please email rxalumni@uw.edu.

Give to the Doug Black Endowed PharmD Award through the P4 Class Giving Fund today.

NACDS Launches Initiative to Improve Immunization Rates through Collaboration between UWSOP, Bartell Drugs, and QFC Pharmacy

Providing patient-centered care is a hallmark of best practices in pharmacy.
Providing patient-centered care is a hallmark of best practices in pharmacy.

Three demonstration projects aim to fulfill goals of $800,000 CDC grant to NACDS

The National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS) announced that the University of Washington School of Pharmacy (UWSOP), Bartell Drugs, and QFC Pharmacy will partner with Washington State Health Care Authority in a unique demonstration project that aims to foster healthcare collaboration across the care continuum to increase pharmacy-based immunizations.

The demonstration project is one of three that aim to fulfill the goals of an $800,000 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) grant to NACDS. The project will examine innovative healthcare collaborations designed to demonstrate increased rates of pharmacy-based immunizations including influenza, pneumococcal, pertussis and herpes zoster. It also focuses on improving pandemic planning among pharmacies and state health departments and improving access to vaccine resources and education for pharmacists.

Principle Investigator and Associate Dean Peggy Odegard
Principle Investigator and Associate Dean Peggy Odegard

The demonstration project is one of three that aim to fulfill the goals of an $800,000 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) grant to NACDS. The project will examine innovative healthcare collaborations designed to increase immunization rates through pharmacies including influenza, pneumococcal, pertussis and herpes zoster vaccines. The UW-based project is aimed to help identify best practices to improve adult immunizations rates, implement innovative methods for sharing immunization information, align incentives across healthcare partners to promote optimal immunization care, and improve pandemic vaccine preparedness.

Increasingly, pharmacists are recognized as the front line of health care in communities. “Legislators and regulators at the federal and state levels often reference pharmacists’ success in promoting the necessity of vaccines and in increasing access to them,” said NACDS President and CEO Steven C. Anderson, IOM, CAE.

Co-Principle Investigator and Assistant Professor Jennifer Bacci
Co-Principle Investigator and Assistant Professor Jennifer Bacci

The state of Washington has lead the way when it comes to pharmacists practicing at the top of their license, thanks to the advocacy of UW pharmacy faculty. Pharmacist-provided vaccines were among the first of many practice innovations begun at the UW. This project brings together faculty researchers and practitioners who will tap into the diverse expertise at the UWSOP, from pandemic health to onsite coaching in patient care best practices, including principal investigator, Associate Dean Peggy Odegard, co-principal investigator, Assistant Professor Jenny Bacci, along with investigators Associate Dean Andy Stergachis, Research Assistant Professor Ryan Hansen, and Research Assistant Professor Aastha Bansal and Washington State Pharmacy Association’s Director of Pharmacy Practice Development, Jenny Arnold as a key consultant

“We are excited about this demonstration project that brings together top community pharmacy providers and faculty from the School of Pharmacy with expertise in implementation science and population health. This project will build on our legacy of improving community access to pharmacist-administered vaccinations and evaluating the impact of these important services on population health outcomes,” said Sean D. Sullivan, professor and dean of UWSOP.

“Bartell Drugs has been a regional leader in promoting and providing convenient, affordable access to immunizations and this project will further our ability to reach more audiences in need of immunization,” says Billy Chow, Bartell Drugs’ Vice President of Pharmacy Operations and Clinical Services.

“We are thrilled to continue to improve the shopping experience and add convenience for our patients through this NACDS project,” said Chuck Paulsen, pharmacy merchandiser for QFC Stores. “The increased awareness and transparency of community based will further our mission of improving the health of our patients and local communities we serve.”

NACDS showed its strong commitment to this $800,000 grant by contributing an additional $300,000 to execute the demonstration projects. The project will take place over a 13-month period beginning in August 2016. More information about NACDS’ engagement on related issues is available through the “vaccinations” and “preparedness” tags on NACDS.org.

# # #

NACDS represents traditional drug stores and supermarkets and mass merchants with pharmacies. Chains operate more than 40,000 pharmacies, and NACDS’ chain member companies include regional chains, with a minimum of four stores, and national companies. Chains employ more than 3.8 million individuals, including 175,000 pharmacists. They fill over 2.7 billion prescriptions yearly, and help patients use medicines correctly and safely, while offering innovative services that improve patient health and healthcare affordability. NACDS members also include more than 800 supplier partners and nearly 40 international members representing 13 countries. For more information, visit www.NACDS.org.

University of Washington School of Pharmacy is a global leader in pharmacy education, research and service, committed to providing a transformative learning experience in a collaborative and diverse environment focused on improving the health and well-being of the communities we serve. Our mission is three-fold: inspiring education: developing exceptional, innovative and diverse pharmacy leaders and scientists; discovering solutions: advancing the science, development, implementation, and outcomes of safe and appropriate treatments; and serving people and communities: promoting the health and well-being of the public, locally and globally. For more information, visit sop.uw.edu.

Bartell Drugs: Family-owned since 1890, Seattle-based Bartell Drugs is proud of its more than 125-year history based here in the Northwest. Four generations of the Bartell family have continuously focused on the future – and how the drugstore chain could better serve its customers. Operating 64 locations in King, Snohomish and Pierce counties, it is the nation’s oldest family-owned drugstore chain. For more information on Bartell Drugs, visit www.bartelldrugs.com.

QFC Stores: Founded in 1954, based out of Bellevue, Washington is a division of the Kroger Company. QFC has 64 stores throughout the Puget Sound, Southwest Washington, and Northwest Oregon. They currently operate pharmacies in 32 of their stores. For more information on QFC, visit https://www.qfc.com

 

Lou Garrison to retire from UW School of Pharmacy

Lou Garrison
Lou Garrison

UWSOP Dean Sean D. Sullivan announced Dr. Lou Garrison’s retirement from the UW School of Pharmacy’s Pharmaceutical Outcomes and Research Policy Program (PORPP) effective July 1, 2016. “Lou has been a pivotal member of the PORPP faculty and will continue to be a world-class thought leader in health economics as President of the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics Outcomes and Research (ISPOR). Lou is an extraordinary teacher, mentor, colleague and economist and we are so grateful for his years of service to the UW. He’s been key to the growth of the program and has mentored hundreds of preeminent students over his years on our faculty,” said Dean Sullivan.

Lou came to UW in 2004 with a joint appointment as Associate Director and Professor in PORPP in the Department of Pharmacy and Adjunct Professor in the Departments of Global Health and Health Services in the School of Public Health. In 2013, he completed a sabbatical as Visiting Senior Research Fellow at the Office of Health Economics in London. In 2014, he graciously served as Interim Director of PORPP while a national search was run to fill the post.

In the 12 years before joining UW, he worked as an economist in the pharmaceutical industry. From 2002 to 2004, he was vice president and head of health economics and strategic pricing at Roche Pharmaceuticals in Basel, Switzerland and oversaw the development of the economic and pricing strategies, and research plans for all Roche compounds. Prior to this, he was director of the Project HOPE Center for Health Affairs, where he worked on a wide variety of health policy issues, including studies of healthcare reform in the U.S. and overseas. Before this, he worked at the Battelle Human Affairs Research Centers in Seattle, where he carried out studies of the adequacy of physician manpower supply and the cost-effectiveness of kidney and heart transplantation.

His research interests include national and international health policy issues related to pharmacogenomics and personalized medicine, regulatory benefit-risk analysis, insurance, pricing, reimbursement, and risk-sharing agreements, as well as the economic evaluation of pharmaceuticals, diagnostics, devices, surgical procedures, and vaccines, particularly as related to organ transplantation, renal disease, influenza, measles, obesity, and cancer.

Lou’s deep commitment to the UW and our students is shown through two funds he and his family have created to support a leading-edge student experience: Pharmaceutical Outcomes Research and Policy Program (PORPP) Endowed Prize in Health Policy and Economics and the newly established Garrison Family Fund for Global Health Economics Education. The Prize in Health Policy and Economics provides financial assistance to inspire PORPP graduate to study and excel in the fields of health policy and economics. To ensure the future of global health economics education, the Garrison Family Fund supports a wide range of global health education activities in the UW School of Pharmacy including: student and faculty travel for global health economics education, workshops and trainings.

We thank Lou for his dedicated service and in wishing him the best in his next evolution as a leader in health care.

Advance your career in health care economics research at the University of Washington. Learn more about our Graduate Programs in Pharmaceutical Outcomes Research and Policy

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UWSOP faculty and alumni elected to ISPOR leadership

UWSOP faculty and alumni past, present and future leaders of ISPOR (From left to right): Past President (2003-2004) Sean D. Sullivan, President Lou Garrison, President-elect Shelby D. Reed, Immediate Past President Daniel Malone, Past President (2010-2011) Scott Ramsey
UWSOP faculty and alumni past, present and future leaders of ISPOR (From left to right): Past President (2003-2004) Sean D. Sullivan, President Lou Garrison, President-elect Shelby D. Reed, Immediate Past President Daniel Malone, Past President (2010-2011) Scott Ramsey

Five UWSOP faculty and alumni have led ISPOR over the past 20 years

UW School of Pharmacy faculty and alumni are again recognized as leaders in health care. The International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR) announced the election of the Society’s 2016-2017 Board of Directors that assumed office on July 1, 2016. Many of the new leadership team are part of the UW School of Pharmacy family. This recent election marks an historic time when UW School of Pharmacy is represented in the past, current and future presidential leadership roster for ISPOR, showcasing our outstanding alumni and preeminent faculty.

Lou Garrison, PhD, assumes the role of President for 2016-17 after most recently serving as the Society’s President-Elect. Lou is a highly-respected Professor in the Pharmaceutical Outcomes Research and Policy Program in UWSOP. “I am honored and privileged to have the opportunity to serve as President of ISPOR this coming year as we enter our third decade.  My priorities will be:  supporting our global network to expand capacity in outcomes research, continuing to improve the science of outcomes research through our task forces and journals, and collaborating with allied organizations, such as ASHEcon, HTAi, AMCP, DIA, SMDM, and AcademyHealth.”

Daniel C. Malone, RPh, PhD, who had completed his post doc work at UWSOP, becomes Immediate Past President. Dan serves as Professor of Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy and Associate Professor in Mel and Enid Zuckerman College, University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona.

ISPOR’s global membership elected Shelby D. Reed, RPh, PhD, who had also completed her post doc work here at UWSOP, to serve as President-Elect for the Society for 2016-17. Shelby is Professor, Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. Shelby’s election With Shelby’s election as ISPOR President-elect, UW School of Pharmacy has five faculty and alumni who have gone on to serve as President of ISPOR.

The new ISPOR Board of Directors also now includes alumnus John Watkins, MPH, PharmD, ’79, ’11, Formulary Manager, Premera Blue Cross in Mountlake Terrace, Washington. John received the UWSOP’s Award for Excellence in Clinical Teaching in 2014 for being an exemplary practitioner, role model, coach, facilitator, and team player for over 20 years.

ISPOR is an organization with tremendous influence in global health economics. In the words of our own Lou Garrison: ISPOR has “over 20,000 members in some 120 countries.   When you absorb that fact, you realize that ISPOR as an organization has tremendous potential to have a positive impact on health globally—and not just by sheer numbers but also by the quality of our science. The medical product and decision processes that ISPOR members study are based on information—about how a molecule affects the body or about how well an health technology assessment process works—and this knowledge is a global public good, potentially benefitting 7 billion people on the planet.”

ISPOR’s Board of Directors are elected by its global membership. The International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR) is a nonprofit, international, educational and scientific organization that promotes health economics and outcomes research excellence to improve decision making for health globally.

 

Lingtak-Neander Chan elected Fellow of the American College of Nutrition

Professor of Pharmacy Lingtak-Neander Chan
Professor of Pharmacy Lingtak-Neander Chan

UW School of Pharmacy congratulates Professor Lingtak-Neander Chan on his election as a Fellow of the American College of Nutrition (ACN) in recognition of his outstanding contributions in the field of nutrition science. Being selected as a Fellow is unusual for pharmacists. “I am  honored to represent UW and the profession of pharmacy in this field, as there are only a handful of pharmacists who have been elected as fellows of the ACN,” said Lingtak.

Lingtak, who was recently promoted to Professor of Pharmacy in the School of Pharmacy, serves as interdisciplinary faculty of nutritional sciences in the Graduate Program in Nutritional Sciences at the University of Washington. He received BS degrees in toxicology and pharmacy, and a post-baccalaureate PharmD degree, followed by residency training in clinical pharmacy.

He was formerly a faculty member of the College of Pharmacy and College of Medicine at the University of Illinois at Chicago. His areas of interest include absorption kinetics in patients with bariatric surgery, and nutritional and antioxidant therapy in critically ill patients. He has been appointed as an Associate Editor of the Journal of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition. He is currently completing his term as Vice Chair for the Specialty Council on Nutrition Support Pharmacy of the Board of Pharmacy Specialties. Beginning June 2016, he has also started his 2-year term as a member of the Board of Directors for the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition. In 2014, Lingtak’s unique blend of pharmacy and nutritional expertise was highlighted in stories appearing in UW Health Sciences NewsBeat, “On-demand intravenous fluids questioned IV products in short supply, yet hangover cure businesses open,” and on KOMO News about teens overdosing on caffeine powder, “Parents lobby against caffeine powder: ‘It’s poison in a jar.’

The American College of Nutrition was founded in 1959 with the mission to enhance nutrition and metabolism knowledge among physicians and professionals from all disciplines with a common interest in nutrition and to promote the application of such knowledge to the maintenance of health and treatment of disease. One of the primary activities of the ACN is to hold annual scientific conferences to help researchers and clinicians alike navigate the cutting edge science and practice of nutrition. The ACN accepts no funding from for-profit companies, and publishes the Journal of the American College of Nutrition.

 

Link to Department of Pharmacy archived news

Marcum named K12 Scholar for research on dementia and cardiac medications

UWSOP researcher will investigate the impact medication adherence has on patient health outcomes

UWSOP Assistant Professor and K12 Scholar Zachary Marcum
UWSOP Assistant Professor and K12 Scholar Zachary Marcum Photo: Matt Hagen

UW School of Pharmacy (UWSOP) Assistant Professor Zachary Marcum was named to the University of Washington Patient Centered Outcomes (PCOR) K12 Career Development Program. This program supports the career development of post-doctoral and junior research and clinical doctorate faculty scholars in comparative effectiveness research methods, applied to patient-centered outcomes.

“For me, this support is the best possible thing to happen as I advance my research in geriatric pharmacy,“ said Zach. “My research interests in geriatrics and dementia are influenced by my grandmother, who had dementia, and my Residency at the VA Hospital in Indianapolis where I came to see the positive impact my work as a pharmacist could have on Veterans.”

The K12 funding enables Zach to go deeper with patient-centered outcome research to support healthy aging processes for older adults. He will look at medication adherence to chronic cardiac medications in older adults. “Dementia is often linked to illnesses that indicate cardiovascular risk, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes. I plan to look at medication adherence to ACE inhibitors, statins, and oral diabetes medications and identify potential areas for improvement.”

Medication adherence is normally measured as an average, but the average doesn’t tell the full story of why a patient is adherent or not. Zach hopes to gain a better understanding of the different long-term patterns of medication use to help improve education and outcomes for patients with more adherence challenges. In the long run, it is hoped that improving adherence to chronic cardiovascular medications will delay the onset of dementia in older adults.

Assistant Professor and K12 Scholar Zach Marcum with Faculty Emerita Joy Plein and alumnus David Bailey
Assistant Professor and K12 Scholar Zach Marcum with Faculty Emerita Joy Plein and alumnus David Bailey Photo: Sarah C.B. Guthrie

Zach joined the UW School of Pharmacy in January 2105, thanks to David and Anita Bailey, long time supporters of UW School of Pharmacy, who provided seed funds for his position. His research will build on collaborations with UWSOP Shirley & Herb Bridge Endowed Professor Shelly Gray and Group Health’s Vice President for Research Eric Larson. The three-year K12 program of support will begin this summer.

Throughout the program, Zach will connect with other faculty, the K12 Scholars, graduate students, and post-doctoral fellows in order to build a network of collaborators at the University of Washington and with our partner organizations – Group Health Research Institute, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, and the Puget Sound VA. In addition, he will regularly participate in the CHASE Alliance Works-in–Progress (WIP) sessions which brings together the K12 scholars from a variety of units to present their ideas to senior, mid-level, and junior researchers across the sciences at UW, Group Health, the VA, and Fred Hutch.

“UW School of Pharmacy faculty have long been know for their talent and innovation in their fields of expertise. Zach is the kind of rising star who embodies this legacy of thought leadership,” said Dean Sean D. Sullivan. “We are so pleased he is part of the team here at the UW and have great confidence in his future in geriatric pharmacy practice and policy.”

Dr. Marcum has been a faculty member in the UW Department of Pharmacy since 2015. He is an investigator on federally funded research grants and is author of more than 50 peer-reviewed publications. He has received an American Geriatrics Society New Investigator Award and a Next-Generation Pharmacist Rising Star of the Year Award. Previously, he completed a two-year fellowship in geriatric pharmacotherapy research at the University of Pittsburgh and a PGY1 pharmacy practice residency at the Indianapolis VA Medical Center.

Advance your career in health care economics research at the University of Washington. Learn more about our Graduate Programs in Pharmaceutical Outcomes Research and Policy

 

Link to Department of Pharmacy archived news

Celebrating Nanci Murphy’s 25+ year career at UWSOP

On behalf of the PharmD 2016 class, Cameron Garner, Linda Blake, and Rory Cavaille presented a special gift to Nanci Murphy
On behalf of the PharmD 2016 class, Cameron Garner, Linda Blake, and Rory Cavaille presented a special gift to Nanci Murphy Photo: Alex Levine Photography

Faculty member Dr. Nanci Murphy will retire from her full time position at UW School of Pharmacy on July 1, 2016. Dean Sean D. Sullivan shared the announcement earlier this spring saying, “Nanci’s personal and supportive style have meant a great deal to students and her influence and effectiveness have been honored nationally with several awards…Her career spans over 25 years with the School.”

Faculty emerita Joy Plein honors Nanci Murphy at the Geriatric Certificate ceremony in June 2016
Faculty emerita Joy Plein honors Nanci Murphy at the Geriatric Certificate ceremony in June 2016 Photo: Alex Levine Photography

At the Geriatric Certificate Commencement Ceremony in June, Nanci was recognized for her years of dedication to the field and to the students of UWSOP. We learned that Nanci had begun her career in pediatric pharmacy, but after spending a little time with Joy Plein, decided to pursue the Plein Geriatric Certificate. At the ceremony, Joy bestowed on Nanci the new title “Director Extraordinaire (DE)” for her years of service to the pharmacy community and UWSOP students.

Later that day, at the UW School of Pharmacy Graduate Recognition Ceremony, students from the class of 2016 presented Nanci with a custom painting, signed by the class, in honor of all her work on their behalf.

In May 2016, Nanci was recognized as the Distinguished Alumni Award winner at this year’s Dean’s Recognition Reception. Here is an excerpt from the citation read for her award: “Nanci has been widely recognized by students and faculty alike as a mentor who encourages, expects, and obtains high commitment and effort from her students. She has directed numerous student research and special projects that have received national awards and recognition, and she has impacted pharmacy practice, pharmacist and interprofessional healthcare education, and patient care both locally and nationally.

PAA President Gary Harris presents the Distinguished Alumni Award to Nanci Murphy in May 2016
PAA President Gary Harris presents the Distinguished Alumni Award to Nanci Murphy in May 2016 Photo: Sarah C.B. Guthrie

One example of this impact is in her founding of ‘Bridges to Health,’ a program focused on improving access to health care, reducing health disparities, raising awareness of important health issues, and participating in health advocacy efforts. The UW Center for Pharmacy Leadership & Professional Excellence, which she also founded and directs, focuses on the development of pharmacy leaders. She has co-authored a number of pharmacy education and leadership development articles. Nationally, among many other commitments, she is currently or has previously been the chair or a member of more than 20 committees or task forces of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy, and she has served as chair of the 800-member AACP Leadership Development Special Interest Group.

Students from across the UW Health Sciences shared information and educated visitors at the Health Fair
Students from across the UW Health Sciences shared information and educated visitors at the Health Fair Photo: Sarah C.B. Guthrie

Her UW career began as a community practice preceptor in 1989, later joining UWSOP as Associate Director of Academic and Student Programs in 1990. She was promoted to Assistant Dean and then served as Associate Dean from 2001-2014, until she became Director of Student Leadership Programs supporting student initiatives such as the PharmD student-run interprofessional New Year’s Health Fair. Nanci has initiated many programs and projects to promote student involvement in the profession and has highly engaged in Interprofessional Education (IPE) at the UW and nationally, through her work with the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP)—including the recent UWSOP student-led interprofessional Health Fair held in early 2016. She has been recognized with the Gibaldi Excellence in Teaching Award, the APhA-ASP Outstanding Advisor of the Year Award, the Rho Chi and Phi Lambda Sigma Alumni of the Year Award, the Washington State Pharmacy Association Bill Mueller Outstanding Mentor Award. Importantly for the School, she has been the faculty advisor for multiple national award-winning student projects.

We thank Nanci for her years of service and dedication to the professional development of our student pharmacists.

New UW dual-campus PharmD-MBA concurrent degree program to launch Fall 2016

UWSOP Professor Jen Danielson, PharmD, MBA
UWSOP Assistant Professor Jen Danielson, PharmD, MBA Photo: Alex Levine Photography

Unique collaboration between UW and UW Bothell brings together the top of executive education value with the top pharmacist training program in the region

Student pharmacists at the University of Washington now have a tremendous opportunity to earn their PharmD and MBA degrees in just five years. The unique partnership between Schools at two different UW campuses allows students to weave MBA courses in with their pharmacy degree coursework, saving time and money.

The UW School of Pharmacy and the UW Bothell School of Business recently announced the new program opportunity, available to first-year students who are already in the PharmD program. “We are so pleased with this partnership between our two schools,” said Sean D. Sullivan, Professor and Dean of the UW School of Pharmacy. “We share a mission to develop leaders in the healthcare profession and together are uniquely positioned to support our students in launching their career as leaders in the field.”

Cap photoThe concurrent degree program goes beyond the business basics. With UW Bothell’s top-ranked educational value, choice of concentration, and the world-renowned faculty at UW School of Pharmacy, this program offers a new approach to health care leadership training. Students choose the Leadership or Technology track for their MBA, making them stand out in the market upon graduation.

Students will benefit in a number of ways, in both the short and long-term. Most immediately, they need only apply for the MBA program, as they are already enrolled in the School of Pharmacy. Given their proven academic credentials as UW PharmD students, UW Bothell School of Business is waiving the GMAT and GRE exam requirement.

Over the long term, they will gain the skills needed to manage community pharmacies, direct pharmacy operations in health systems or agencies, or step into other leadership roles. According to studies from the University of Buffalo and this one from South Carolina School of Pharmacy and The Citadel, PharmD-MBA graduates earn about 25% more, on average, than graduates with a PharmD degree alone.

Dr. Sandeep Krishnamurthy, Dean, School of Business, UW Bothell, says, “The School of Business at UW Bothell looks forward to welcoming PharmD students in our program. These students bring with them strong analytical abilities and a unique perspective into the healthcare sector. PharmD/MBA students are likely to rise to eminent leadership positions in the healthcare sector. We are delighted to be a partner in this effort.”

Current first-year UW PharmD students who have a bachelor’s degree were eligible to apply for this fall’s initial cohort. The MBA classes will kick off with a special leadership skills retreat in mid-September.

 

Interested in earning your PharmD-MBA degree at the UW? Click here to learn more.

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The UW School of Pharmacy is a global leader in pharmacy education, research and service, committed to providing a transformative learning experience in a collaborative and diverse environment focused on improving the health and well-being of the communities we serve. Our mission is three-fold: inspiring education: developing exceptional, innovative and diverse pharmacy leaders and scientists; discovering solutions: advancing the science, development, implementation, and outcomes of safe and appropriate treatments; and serving people and communities: promoting the health and well-being of the public, locally and globally. The UW School of Pharmacy is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education. For more information, visit sop.uw.edu.

The UW Bothell School of Business is a dynamic, passionate and ambitious community of students, scholars, business leaders and staff. We inspire business excellence and enhance the vitality of the community through innovative research and exceptional educational programs with a strong commitment to ethical leadership, critical thinking and communication. The UW Bothell School of Business is independently accredited by The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), representing the highest standard of achievement for business schools worldwide. The school is a signatory to the Principles of Responsible Management (PRME) initiative, a UN Global Compact program. For more information, visit www.uwb.edu/business.

2016 Highlight: UW PharmD students organize health sciences Interprofessional Education Health Fair

2016 UWOSP IPE Health Fair
Dental and pharmacy students had opportunities for hands-on learning at the inaugural Interprofessional Health Sciences New Years Health Fair organized by UW PharmD students Photo: Sarah C.B. Guthrie

2016 Highlight Stories: These stories highlight showcase the great work, service and achievements of our preeminent faculty and students in 2016.

In November 2015, student leaders in Phi Lambda Sigma met with Director of Student Leadership Programs, Nanci Murphy, to brainstorm how best to use a $2000 leadership grant awarded to create opportunities for pharmacy student leadership.

By the end of the meeting, the students had an ambitious idea: to create a health fair for the community—an interprofessional one that included pharmacy students as well as groups from across the UW Health Science disciplines—and to do it within just two months.
There was just one small problem: none of them had organized a health fair from scratch before.

The students reached out to faculty, administrators and students across UW’s Health Sciences. “It was daunting, especially when we started talking with people who had organized health fairs before. But people were really generous, sharing their time and expertise,” said Nick Larned, one of the three lead organizers. “In a couple of weeks, we booked a site and connected with students in medicine, dentistry, audiology, and physical therapy and had a plan.”

Students from across the UW Health Sciences shared information and educated visitors at the Health Fair
Students from across the UW Health Sciences shared information and educated visitors at the Health Fair Photo: Sarah C.B. Guthrie

“UWSOP is regularly held up as a national leader for interprofessional education because we’ve been doing it so well for so long.”
–Jennifer Danielson, Assistant Professor and Director of Experiential Education in Introductory Practice

The New Year’s Health Fair took place on Sunday, January 24, 2016, in Magnuson Park, near multiple transitional and lower income housing units. The students saw about 50 patients the morning of the NFL playoffs. They took advantage of the time to learn more about each other and their training. “The great part of this event,” said Assistant Professor Jennifer Danielson, Director of Experiential Education in Introductory Practice for UWSOP, “was that the students learned so much about each other’s disciplines and had the chance to share their skills and knowledge. Pharmacy students showed first year medical students the basics of how to take blood pressure and glucose testing. Dental students examined pharmacy students.” Co-organizer Arianne Duong shared, “I had no idea how much you could learn from a thorough dental, head and neck exam. Dentists are a great first line check for blood pressure problems.”

Students from across the UW Health Sciences greeted visitors to the Interprofessional Health Fair
Students from across the UW Health Sciences greeted visitors to the Interprofessional Health Fair

Interprofessional Education (IPE) has been a key part of UWSOP’s curriculum for over twenty years, ahead of other schools of pharmacy and health sciences. “When I first applied to the UW for pharmacy, I didn’t fully understand the advantages of an IPE curriculum,” said co-organizer Phoebe Stracener. “But through my training, I see the difference it makes to be so close to the other health sciences. It will be less intimidating when I’m on my rotations next year, now that I have learned how differently each of the professions approach health care problems and know what each of us brings to the table to help patients.”

 

Interested in earning your PharmD degree at the UW? Click here to learn more.

Anirban Basu Elected Fellow of the American Statistical Association

PORPP Dir & Prof Anirban Basu
PORPP Dir & Prof Anirban Basu

UW School of Pharmacy and UW Department of Economics congratulate Anirban Basu on his election as a 2016 Fellow of the American Statistical Association in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the statistical profession. For more than 100 years, the ASA has recognized exemplary statisticians, quantitative scientists, and users of statistics by granting Fellowship to no more than one-third of one percent of the ASA membership in a given year.

Anirban is the Stergachis Family Endowed Professor and Director of the Pharmaceutical Outcomes Research and Policy Program at the UW with additional appointments in the Department of Health Services, the Department of Economics and the National Bureau of Economic Research. He is regarded as a leading international expert on methods to study heterogeneity in clinical and economic outcomes in order to establish the realized and potential values of medical technologies and public health interventions and of individualized care.

Anirban’s research, which marries microeconomic and statistical analysis to health policy, has resulted in the development of innovative methods to study heterogeneity in clinical and economic outcomes in order to establish the value of individualized care. His research focuses on comparative and cost effectiveness analyses, causal inference methods, program evaluation, and outcomes research. He teaches courses at UW on health economics, decision analysis, cost-effectiveness analysis and health services research methods.

He is an Associate Editor for Health Economics, the Journal of Health Economics and Observational Studies. Additionally, he is one of the panelists working to update the seminal Gold et al. book Cost-effectiveness in Health and Medicine. Anirban earned his Bachelor’s degree in Pharmaceutical Technology from Jadavpur University (India), his Master’s in Biostatistics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and his PhD in Public Policy with a concentration in health economics from the University of Chicago.

The American Statistical Association (ASA) is the world’s largest community of statisticians, promoting excellence in the development, application, and dissemination of statistical science. The second-oldest continuously operating professional association in the U.S., the ASA was founded in Boston in 1839 and boasts Andrew Carnegie, Florence Nightingale, and Martin Van Buren as early members. Read more about the organization’s history at ASA: The first 160 Years.

Story authored by Nicole Johns, Department of Economics, UW College of Arts and Sciences and shared with permission.

Advance your career in health care economics research at the University of Washington. Learn more about our Graduate Programs in Pharmaceutical Outcomes Research and Policy

 

Link to Department of Pharmacy archived news

Lee lab uses 3D electron microscopy to visualize influenza virus invasion

For the first time, researchers have images showing how a virus pries its way past host membranes

The Lee lab team at work decoding the influenza virus’ secrets (from L to R: Associate Professor Kelly Lee, James Williams, and Nancy Horn, PhD).
The Lee lab team at work decoding the influenza virus’ secrets (from L to R: Associate Professor Kelly Lee, James Williams, and Nancy Horn, PhD). Photo: Alex Levine Photography

Three to five million people worldwide suffer from the flu each year—and it’s deadly. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 250,000 to 500,000 people a year die from the flu. The people most at risk are those with compromised immune systems: children, older adults, people with immunosuppressive illnesses, and the unvaccinated.

But if you get the flu, those numbers just don’t seem to matter. You feel terrible—like you’ve been slammed by a giant bag of concrete. You lose strength and collapse into bed with fever, chills, aches, pains and more. Your body is all out of sorts. You feel like a zombie. Total dysfunction.

When you have the flu, you are out of sorts—right down to the molecular level.

Thanks to some advanced electron microscopy from UW School of Pharmacy’s Associate Professor of Medicinal Chemistry Kelly Lee’s laboratory, we are starting to understand how the influenza virus aggressively pries its way into cells. The team’s research may eventually lead to improvements in prevention and treatments for the flu and other similar viruses like HIV, herpes, dengue and Zika—diseases that affect millions worldwide every year.

The Journal of Virology published this break-through study in which, for the first time, Lee’s team captured 3-dimensional nanoscopic images of the molecular events that the flu virus carries out in order to fuse itself with a host cell and start a new infection. To create the 3D images, the team is riding a wave of new applications of cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM). These powerful electron microscopes, and the next generation cameras they use, are making it possible to obtain unprecedented glimpses into structures of protein machinery and viruses.

They take the protein and virus in a buffer and without fixing or staining the specimen, flash freeze it by plunging the specimen into cryogenic liquid ethane. With that kind of cold, the sample freezes before the water can crystallize, which preserves the proteins and membranes in their native states. Like in an X-ray CAT scan, they tilt the samples to get different views of the viruses undergoing fusion and then use powerful computational methods to reconstruct the 3-dimensional image.

Flu viruses are “enveloped” viruses, and like HIV, herpes, dengue and the Zika viruses, they have a lipid membrane that protects their genetic material. To deliver its genome into cells, the virus needs to merge this membrane “envelope” with the host’s cellular membrane. With better insight into the mechanics of this process, researchers may gain an understanding of how to interfere with this stage of cell entry and prevent infection. Indeed, antibodies produced by our immune systems target and in some cases jam the protein machinery that viruses use to gain entry into cells.

How the influenza virus engages with membranes as it would in infecting a host cell
How the influenza virus engages with membranes as it would in infecting a host cell Photo: Kelly Lee

Flu viruses are covered in spikes. Their external membranes are decorated with fusion protein, known as “spike complexes”— because they look just like that – little spikes arrayed across the virus’ surface. As the virus makes its way through your body, those spikes make contact with healthy cells. They grapple onto the membrane of the healthy cell (or target) and then draw the target membrane towards the virus, creating a dimple in the target surface. The spikes then attach, or pinch, the membrane and draw it closer to the virus, not unlike a tractor beam out of science fiction. When the target membrane is pulled tight, or docked, to the surface of the virus, there is a fusion that happens between the cell’s membrane and the virus’ membrane. These cell and viral leaflets join together to open a channel through which the virus delivers its genome to the cell.

This breakthrough study allowed the team to look at the different stages of the membrane fusion event and figure out the sequence in which they occur. Prior to this, “The field had a lot of indirect information from lower resolution techniques but now for the first time we are able to look at these processes at pretty high resolution and see the proteins, the membranes and how they become contorted and remodeled as the virus carries out membrane fusion. Most of the structures we see for membranes and how they get deformed are somewhat unexpected. It’s surprising and exciting when you see how these events are taking place at the molecular level,” said Lee.

The team’s research continues. “We hope go further in our research with enveloped viruses and are working with other departments to bring more electron microscopy resources to the UW,” shared Lee. “There is strong demand among researchers in many areas of biological sciences to use these types of microscopes and harness their capabilities to help us understand cellular processes at the nanoscopic level.” Beyond enveloped viruses, membrane fusion also is at the heart of basic cell biology and is a critical step in sperm-egg fertilization and signaling across nerve synapses, for example. The Lee lab hopes that their work on the influenza virus case may also help to improve the understanding of these fundamental functions in the life of cells.

Also: UW Health Sciences NewsBeat Lab uses electron microscopy to visualize flu virus invasion: Pharmacy team’s images are first to capture virus infecting healthy cell

Are you interested in studying with preeminent scientists like Associate Professor Kelly Lee?

Apply to our Medicinal Chemistry PhD Program

Link to Medicinal Chemistry archived news

UWSOP Announces Groundbreaking Plein Center for Geriatric Pharmacy Research, Education & Outreach

UWSOP student pharmacists train to be part of the patient care medical team in the Bracken Pharmacy Learning Center
UWSOP student pharmacists train to be part of the patient care medical team in the Bracken Pharmacy Learning Center. From left to right: Tien Nguyen, Lawrence Narayan, PharmD (PGY1 Pharmacy Resident at Swedish), Christopher Kim, Stephanie Heeney and Jason Hitchcock. Photo: Alex Levine Photography

Research shows that medication-related problems are one of the top reasons for hospitalizations and for older adults losing the ability to live independently, either due to competing side effects, falls, over prescribing, or improper adherence. Increasingly, people are living longer with chronic illnesses such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes—illnesses that are primarily treated with medications. The Pew Research Center reported that roughly 10,000 Americans turn 65 every day, and that by 2030, eighteen percent of the U.S. population will be over 65 years of age.

Alumna Laura Hart, PharmD, meets with a patient
Alumna Laura Hart, PharmD, meets with a patient

As drug research advances and medications become more specialized, personalized, and complicated to select, the need for providers with expertise in medication choices, chronic illnesses, and drug interactions grows. An under-utilized resource in managing patient medication therapy and chronic illnesses in older adults is the pharmacist. Joy, ’51, ’56, and Elmer Plein, along with other UW faculty colleagues, pioneered the education and training of geriatric pharmacy care specialists, a specialty that is increasingly in high demand. Clinics, health systems, nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and hospitals in Washington and nationwide are turning to pharmacists for their specialized medication knowledge to improve patient health, particularly for chronic illnesses that can be managed through proper use of medications.

Professor emerita, Joy Plein
Professor emerita, Joy Plein

In May 2016, the UW School of Pharmacy proudly announced the establishment of the Plein Center for Geriatric Pharmacy Research, Education & Outreach. The Plein Center will expand the School of Pharmacy’s role as a leader in the field of geriatric pharmacy to encompass the breadth of disciplines within the School of Pharmacy and beyond. The Pleins have also established the Plein Endowed Faculty Fellowship for the Director of the Center.

The new research center will promote the discovery and optimal use of medications in older adults through research, education, and outreach. Research will bring together the depth of UWSOP’s practice, outcomes and bench science research in basic biomedical, translational, clinical, and health services studies. Researchers will collaborate on projects that look at optimizing medication use including medication management, adherence, and safety; the role of drugs in prevention and treatment of health conditions affecting older adults (e.g., falls, fracture, cognitive decline, dementia diabetes, neurodegenerative disorders); and methods for enhancing pharmacists’ impact on improvement of care for older adults and underserved populations. The Plein Center will also include training programs in geriatrics for PharmD students and others, building on the existing Plein Certificate Program in Geriatric Pharmacy.

“With the addition of the School of Pharmacy’s Plein Center for Geriatric Pharmacy Research, Education and Outreach, the University of Washington continues to lead the way in geriatric health care,” said Sean D. Sullivan, professor and dean of UW School of Pharmacy. “Our School is co-located with UW Medicine, Nursing, Social Work – each offering geriatric specialty training and highly regarded research centers. With our collaborative, interprofessional approach to training, the School of Pharmacy is positioned to fully participate in a comprehensive approach to healthy aging.”

Joy and Elmer Plein
Joy and Elmer Plein

Joy and Elmer have devoted their lives to the field of pharmacy. Individually, both were trailblazers in the field. Elmer joined the UW School of Pharmacy faculty in 1938. He was responsible for a number of major initiatives, including founding the UW’s clinical pharmacy program in 1968, one of only two such programs in the West. Joy is widely credited for creating the momentum for senior-care pharmacy in Washington state, at a time when few pharmacists were geriatricians and there were even fewer resources to advocate for older patients. In 1973, she and Elmer developed a nursing home pharmacy course, leading to the establishment of the Certificate Program in Geriatric Pharmacy, now named for the Pleins.

Click here to learn more about the Plein Certificate in Geriatric Pharmacy.

Click here learn more about the unparalleled education offered in our PharmD program.

Bennette, Sullivan find cancer drug prices rise rapidly after market launch

UW School of Pharmacy researchers’ found large increases in oral anticancer drugs even in the face of increasing market competition

A new study published in the May issue of Health Affairs and authored by UW School of Pharmacy’s faculty members, Caroline Bennette and Sean Sullivan, illuminates the complexity of anticancer drug pricing and several market forces that underlie large price increases in the years after a drugs’ launch.

Caroline Bennette, PhD
Caroline Bennette, PhD

As Caroline Bennette was finishing her dissertation in the Pharmaceutical Outcomes Research and Policy Program (PORPP), she read a highly publicized paper that documented rising prices for cancer drugs. The paper claimed that the prices for innovative cancer drugs did not change much after launch. “I remember the news headlines covering that paper—they really emphasized the idea that launch prices was where all the action was. But that didn’t fit with what I was hearing from pharmacists and patients, ” said Bennette, now on faculty in the UW School of Pharmacy.

“I was just curious. What was happening to cancer drug prices after launch? But I couldn’t find the answer in the published literature,” said Bennette, “With encouragement and support from my mentors, Sean Sullivan and Scott Ramsey at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, I started looking at the trends directly.” Using a large database of pharmaceutical claims housed in PORPP, Bennette looked at the prices of oral anticancer drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) between 2000 and 2012 in the years after they’d been introduced. What she found went against the narrative that launch price was where all the action was. On average, the prices of these drugs continued to grow—roughly 5% per year over inflation—for years after their launch.

She shared these initial findings with her mentors and several other faculty members in PORPP. “They thought I might be on to something, but immediately challenged me to dig deeper. Not all of the drugs in our analysis showed the same increases in price over time – some rose much faster and others slower. The real story was going to be explaining those differences.” So Bennette dug deeper. Ultimately, she found that changing prices were associated with certain changes to the market, rising an additional 10 percent with each new FDA-approved indication for the drug and declining 2-3 percent with the approval of a competitor drug.

Bennette points out that many new anticancer drugs are first shown to work in advanced or metastatic cancer – where the clinical benefits are often relatively small – and later approved for use in patients with earlier stages of the disease. In these cases, a supplemental indication for a drug may reflect a larger clinical benefit than in the original indication, which might warrant a higher price. But drugs currently have a single price across indications. Raising the price of a drug for patients with the original indication seems unfair if the value of the drug for those patients hasn’t similarly increased. “There is a lot of discussion around the idea of using a value-based, indication-specific reimbursement system for anticancer drugs in particular,” said Bennette, who recently began working with Peter Bach from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center on this front.

Sean Sullivan
Sean D. Sullivan, PhD

In addition, the research team found that the introduction of a competitor drug had only a minimal impact on a drugs’ price and concluded that competition is unlikely to rein in the escalating costs of oral anticancer drugs in the near future. Why? Cancer drugs are often used in combination so a new drug won’t necessarily replace an older drug like it might in other conditions. In addition, several policies and regulations require many insurers to include nearly all oral anticancer drugs on their formularies, which further limits competitive pressure on manufacturers.

Bennette says she’s looking forward to further research on the complexities of drug pricing and the tradeoffs in ensuring patents’ access to affordable medications with the goal of fostering pharmaceutical innovation. “I feel very fortunate to be studying this issue at UW. I can walk down the hall and talk with several other faculty members who are interested in this topic, but who all come from different backgrounds and can offer unique perspectives.”

Click to read: Steady Increase in Prices for Oral Anticancer Drugs after Market Launch Suggests a Lack of Competitive Pressure.

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Link to Department of Pharmacy archived news

UW Symposium on Past Present and Future of ADME Sciences Dedicated to Deans Sid Nelson and Tom Baillie

(L to R): Juan Cantu, Dean Sid Nelson, Rene Levy, and Dean Tom Baillie
(L to R): Juan Cantu, Dean Sid Nelson, Rene Levy, and Dean Tom Baillie

“Thanks to the strong academic programs in the Department of Pharmaceutics and Medicinal Chemistry at the University of Washington, I have been well prepared for an exciting career in the pharmaceutical sciences,” said alumnus Ian Templeton. “Because of these strong programs, I now have classmates spread across many institutions, both public and private, as well as all over the world.”

In recognition of Dean Sidney Nelson’s contributions and to honor Dean Tom Baillie’s recent retirement, this event will provide a forum for scientific and social exchange between current faculty and students, alumni, and colleagues of the UW School of Pharmacy.

The program of speakers will deliver historical perspectives, describe the latest advances in research, and offer a vision for the future of research and training in drug metabolism and drug interactions. The program includes a gathering to celebrate Sid at The College Inn Pub, student poster session for networking with students and post docs, and dinner at the UW Faculty Club.

“An event like this is very special,” said Sean D. Sullivan, Professor and Dean of the UW School of Pharmacy. “I look forward to reconnecting with our scientific alumni who are involved in ground-breaking research worldwide, as we celebrate Sid’s and Tom’s leadership.”

Morning Session

8:30 AM Welcome and opening Remarks Sean Sullivan and Kent Kunze
8:45-9 AM From the past to the present in Drug Metabolism Wendel Nelson, UW
9-9:30 AM Structural investigations into the mechanism of carbon-mercury bond cleavage by the organomercurial lyase MerB Jim Omichinski, University of Montreal
9:30-10 AM The Current State of Biotransformation Sciences: enzymes, reactions and mechanisms Cyrus Kojastech, Genentech
10-10:30 AM Coffee break
10:30-11 AM Genetic Approaches to Understanding Drug Toxicity Deanna Kroetz, UCSF
11-11:30 AM Cinnamaldehyde-based Inhibitors of CYP2A6 and Estimation of Interactions with Nicotine and Letrozole John Harrelson
11:30 AM-12 Noon Lunch

Afternoon Session

12:45-1 PM Afternoon session opening remarks Kent Kunze
1-1:30 PM Presentation Rene Levy
1:30-2 PM Valproate and Beyond Mark Grillo
2-2:15 PM Coffee break
2:15-2:45 PM Midazolam as a CYP3A phenotyping probe: new insights on an old friend Mary Paine, Washington State University
2:45-3 PM Closing Remarks and look into the future Ken Thummel
3-5 PM Campus/school tour with current students and gathering at College Inn
5-6 PM Poster session at UW club with current students
6-8 PM Dinner

 

“When you really want something, you don’t give up.”

A look back at legendary pharmacist, civic and women’s advocate, Shirley G. Bridge

Shirley Bridge in her UW graduation cap and gown

As we near our 125th Anniversary in 2019, we continue to remember our history and the alumni legends in science and pharmacy practice who laid the groundwork for our collective success. 

BORN IN 1922 at Swedish Hospital in downtown Seattle, Shirley (Selesnick) Bridge’s life began at the center of the city she loved. Shirley’s early family life was modest. Her father was a tailor and her mother ran the elevator in a department store downtown. They lived in a 4th floor apartment on Capitol Hill, in a building that had no elevator. The trolley down Denny Hill to the grocery store cost five cents each way, so she saved her money and walked up and down the hill instead. 

Working for the public good was central to Shirley’s identity as an advocate for women, children, health care, human rights, and projects in the Jewish community. Over the course of her life, she helped develop housing for people living with AIDS, brought improvements to Harborview Medical Center, supported the Northwest School for Hearing-Impaired Children, served as president of the Seattle Women’s Commission, and was a founding member of the Women’s Endowment Foundation of the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle. 

After graduating from high school, she borrowed $200 from an aunt to enroll at the UW to study pharmacy in 1940. “Our mother was the one who pushed us into pharmacy,” she said in the Oral History interview. “She always said to me that you should be able to support yourself and your kids.” Shirley loved chemistry and had a knack for it, studying with a teacher in high school whose class was so rigorous, that, in her first year at the UW, she didn’t have to study at all. 

“We used slide rules and we did practical pharmacy,” she recalled. “We did something called ‘pharmacognosy’ which is just like botany.” She worked two jobs and even took a year off to support her studies and those of her sister, Beverly, who was also studying pharmacy. Despite those challenges, Shirley graduated magna cum laude in 1945, and went on to be one of the state’s first female pharmacists, spending her entire career in community pharmacy. 

She met her husband, Herb Bridge, at a picnic in 1947 while on a double date. Only Shirley wasn’t on a date with Herb; she was with his friend. Undaunted, Herb pursued Shirley and proposed on their second date. A few weeks later, he presented her with an engagement ring. In his autobiography, he describes their conversation. “Do you like it?” he asked. “Well, yes,” she said. “Fine. We’re engaged.” With that and a promise to support her career as a pharmacist, Herb’s search for a smart, career-oriented woman with a mind of her own was successful. They wed on January 25, 1948. 

Herb and Shirley Bridge made their first home at 604 East Union, where the rent was $52.50 a month (Ed. note: that’s not a typo). Shirley worked at Colden Pharmacy downtown and Herb was a reservist in the Navy and worked in his father’s store, Ben Bridge Jewelry. In 1950, Shirley gave birth to their first son, Jon, and months later Herb was sent to the Korean War. A few years later, their second son Daniel was born. Shirley returned to work soon after each birth and her Aunt Gert took care of the children. 

The couple continued to grow professionally and became more civically active as their family grew. Herb was nicknamed “Mr. Downtown” for his advocacy in creating a vital city center while Shirley advocated for legislative changes. In 1973, Shirley had gone to her local bank to co-sign a loan for a friend. The bank manager said, “I’m sure Herb won’t mind [if I give you a loan], I’ll give him a call.” Shirley informed the bank manager that she minded a great deal. She advocated for a new law and within a year, Washington state became the first to ban discrimination in credit and insurance based on sex or marital status. 

She was a tremendous patient advocate; on the Board at Harborview she saw the devastating impact AIDS had on patients and their families. As the HIV/AIDS epidemic spread, filling many with fear, “Shirley went around to neighborhoods knocking on doors to explain about AIDS and to reassure people,” wrote Herb. In 1992, thanks in part to her advocacy, the Bailey Boushay House opened, to be followed by the Shirley Bridge Bungalows, located in West Seattle, which offered affordable housing to families affected by HIV/AIDS. She had a passion for supporting women—young, female pharmacists in particular—and was a long time supporter of UWSOP. In the Oral History, Shirley said her mentors were junior faculty members, Joy Plein and Karan Dawson. Shirley “was a mentor to me and to all the women faculty of our School at a time when schools of pharmacy had few women faculty,” said Joy. “She earned her successes, which were many, and she was a role model for the rest of us—very competent, confident, compassionate and engaging. She

UWSOP Faculty Gail Anderson, Karan Dawson, Joy Plein with Shirley Bridge

would invite the women faculty to breakfast and we knew that along with the laughter and friendship she would go around the table and ask each of us what we were working on. We all wanted to have something to report and she frequently asked how she could help. We loved and admired her and she loved us and her alma mater.”

“I was very honored to learn that Shirley considered me one of her mentors. I have always known that it was the other way around.”
—Joy Plein, Professor Emeritus, UW School of Pharmacy

In the practical way of a survivor of the Great Depression, Shirley maintained her pharmacist license until the day she passed. In his autobiography, Herb joked, “She wanted something to fall back on in case my [Ben Bridge] jewelry business didn’t work out.”  

Shirley was also a cancer survivor, having fought five different primary cancers: colon cancer in 1955, then uterine, bladder, breast, and cecum cancer over her lifetime. “No sooner would she get out of the hospital than she would go on with her fundraising or working as a pharmacist,” said Herb. After a 53-year battle with cancer, Shirley passed away in 2008 with her family at her side. Her legacy in pharmacy and advocacy live on here at the UW and in her family, who have continued to serve the public good. 

The family endowed a professorship in Shirley and Herb’s name to fund female faculty and research in geriatric pharmacy. Shirley and Herb Bridge Endowed Professor Peggy Odegard established UW Pharmacy Cares with other UWSOP faculty, creating a faculty practice that provides a new approach to training our PharmD students, along with medication-related consultation and education to community-based partners. “The Bridge Endowment means a lot to this school,” said Peggy. “Without an endowment, innovative advances to pharmacy education and research are difficult to establish.” Shirley’s son, Jon, graduated magna cum laude with honors in economics at UW, followed by UW Law School, nine years active duty in the Navy and 22 in the reserve. Today, Jon shares leadership of Ben Bridge Jewelry as general counsel and co-CEO and with his cousin Ed Bridge, and serves on the Board for the Alliance for Education. With his wife, retired state Supreme Court Justice, Bobbe, herself an alumna and affiliate professor of law at UW, they founded the Center for Children and Youth Justice, a nonprofit for the reform of the juvenile justice and child welfare systems. Shirley’s son Dan became a Rabbi and served as Executive Director of Hillel UW from 1988-2007. After retiring from Hillel, he has consulted to many non-profits across Seattle. He currently serves as the Interim Executive Director of the Seattle Audubon Society and is the Emeritus Executive Director of Hillel UW. His wife Simcha Shtull has a private practice as a psychotherapist. 

In Shirley’s obituary, Herb remembered her as being “so instrumental in encouraging me in the right way and letting me know I could do things, whether it was the Navy or business or in the community. She was the material reason for any success I’ve enjoyed.”

 

We were saddened to learn of the passing of Shirley’s husband and Seattle legend, Herb Bridge, on April 2, 2018. He will be greatly missed.

 

This story owes a debt of gratitude to Herb Bridge’s autobiography, Building Bridges, and the Oral History of Shirley G. Bridge by the Jewish Women’s Archive.

UWSOP ranks #9 in U.S. News & World Report

Interprofessoinal training for UW School of Medicine and Health Sciences students at ISIS at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, WA. Medicine, nursing and pharmacy students are participating in hands-on, simulated training in realstic critical care scenarios.
Interprofessional training for UW School of Medicine and Health Sciences students at ISIS at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, WA. Medicine, nursing and pharmacy students are participating in hands-on, simulated training in realistic critical care scenarios. Photo: Clare McLean

UW continues its consistent record by ranking in the top ten nationally
of Schools of Pharmacy. One of the smallest Schools at the UW, Pharmacy has been well-known for providing transformative training to pharmacy practitioners and researchers since its founding as one of the first three colleges at the UW.

“I am so pleased that our peers have recognized our continued excellence in pharmacy education,” said Sean D. Sullivan, professor and dean of the School of Pharmacy. “This ranking validates that we are on the right track in our vision to be the global leader in pharmacy education and our mission to develop exceptional, innovative and diverse pharmacy leaders and scientists. I am proud and honored to be a part of this terrific team of faculty, staff, students, and alumni.”

US News and World Report ranks UWSOP #9Schools of Pharmacy are ranked by peer institutions every four years by U.S. News and World Report. In 2013, the last time U.S. News & World Report ran the survey, UWSOP ranked No. 10, amongst 125 schools of pharmacy. In this 2017 survey, UWSOP improved to No. 9 amongst a larger field of 135 schools of pharmacy.

“There has been enormous growth in the last 15 years in the number of schools of pharmacy, but very few have the advantage of being co-located with their collaborative sister health sciences schools—who also rank in the top ten nationally,” continued Sullivan. “This showcases the unique and transformative opportunities an interprofessional health sciences education from UW offers.”

Interested in earning your PharmD degree at the UW? Click here to learn more.

Read more:
UW Health Sciences NewsBeat: Medicine, Nursing programs earn top spots in national rankings

UW Today:
Medicine, nursing programs top national rankings; dozens more UW programs highly rated

Professor and Dean Emeritus Thomas Baillie announces retirement from UWSOP

Professor and Dean Emeritus Thomas Baillie
Professor and Dean Emeritus Thomas Baillie

Dr. Thomas Baillie, Professor of Medicinal Chemistry and Dean Emeritus for the UW School of Pharmacy, has announced that he will be officially retiring from the University of Washington in March of 2016. Tom has had an enormous positive impact on the School of Pharmacy. He has been a tireless and highly effective advocate for our research, teaching and training missions within the School, UW, and across industry. Over the years, he has been a strong mentor and keen supporter of our faculty, students, trainees and alumni. Tom’s leadership and organizational skills were crucial to the continued success of our school during the financial austerity imposed by the recession of 2008. He led us through a difficult curricular revision process triggered by major changes in accreditation standards that ultimately led to full accreditation for the school.

Tom Baillie joined the faculty of the Department of Medicinal Chemistry in 1981. He conducted a vigorous NIH funded research program in mass spectrometry, biochemical reaction mechanisms and toxicity. In 1994, Tom accepted an opportunity to join Merck & Co. as the Executive Director of Preclinical Drug Metabolism in West Point. He rose through the ranks at Merck where he was awarded the position of Vice President and Global Head of Drug Metabolism and Pharmacokinetics. A key member of Merck leadership team, he was also responsible for a group of 350 scientists and staff spread over multiple locations worldwide. While at Merck, Tom maintained strong ties to the school and faculty and fostered close relations between the two institutions. In 2008, he and his wife Kathleen returned to Seattle when he was appointed Dean of the School of Pharmacy and Professor of Medicinal Chemistry. During his tenure as Dean, Tom served as Chair of the Board of Health Sciences Deans and Vice Provost for Strategic Initiatives at the University of Washington. Having seen the School through the economic crisis and our successful reaccreditation, he stepped down as Dean at the end of his term in 2014 and returned to a full time appointment in the Department of Medicinal Chemistry.

During his long career as a scientist, Tom has made many high profile contributions in the areas of drug metabolism, drug toxicity and drug safety particularly as they relate to the drug discovery process. He is an author on over 250 publications and was recognized as one of the topmost cited (top 1%) researchers in the area of Pharmacology & Toxicology by Thompson Reuters for work begun here at UW in collaboration with our late Dean Emeritus Sid Nelson. He has received numerous honors and awards including a Fogarty Senior International Fellowship from the NIH, James R. Gillette Award from the American Society for Pharmacology & Experimental Therapeutics, the Founders Award from the American Chemical Society Division of Chemical Toxicology and the ISSX North American Scientific Achievement Award, in Honor of Ronald W. Estabrook. He has been elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, the Japanese Society for the Study of Xenobiotics, and the American Chemical Society.

We thank Tom for his service to our School and wish he and Kathleen the absolute best in their next adventures.

Do you want to study Medicinal Chemistry with globally-ranked researchers like Dean Emeritus Baillie? Click here to learn about MedChem and to apply

Link to Medicinal Chemistry archived news

Award season comes to UWSOP!

Don Downing is presented the Community Service award at the 2015 Martin Luther King, Jr., Recognition Ceremony
Don Downing is presented the Community Service Award at the UW Health Sciences 2015 Martin Luther King, Jr., Recognition Ceremony Photo: Alex Levine Photography

It’s award season–not just for film, also for the UW School of Pharmacy!

Many of our School’s faculty, students, post docs and alumni have been recognized in the past few months for their accomplishments.

Don Downing, Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Service Award

Institute for Innovative Pharmacy Practice (I2P2) Endowed Clinical Professor Don Downing was honored with the 2016 Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Service Award by UW Health Sciences for his commitment to service. The awards are given to students, faculty or staff in each Health Sciences school to honor Dr. King’s commitment to addressing community needs. Don “embodies a service attitude for his students and his peers, encouraging everyone to become involved to improve access to services for those who are less fortunate,” the presenter noted. Don began his career as a pharmacist in tribal health care here in Washington and continues to give time on weekends and evenings to numerous community-based health fairs. In addition, he developed the nation’s first pharmacist-provided flu shots, vaccines, and emergency contraception programs, pharmacist-initiated ongoing hormonal contraception services, and most recently was a key advocate for patients gaining increased access to pharmacists as members of their health care team.

ITHS announce KL2 Scholar award winner from MedChem

Eri Nakatani-WebsterEri Nakatani-Webster, PhD, a research associate in the Department of Medicinal Chemistry, has been named to the 2016 cohort of KL2 Scholars. The Institute of Translational Health Sciences (ITHS) KL2 Multidisciplinary Clinical Research Career Development Program, funded by the NIH, provides the time, funding, and rigorous mentorship necessary to foster the early career development of clinical and translational researchers. The ITHS KL2 program is a multidisciplinary program, up to three years in length, tailored to the research and career development needs of each scholar. Investigators are trained in-depth in a specific area of research, while also gaining knowledge of the full spectrum of clinical research. Nakatani-Webster’s research project is, “Staphylococcus aureus biofilm regulation from a protein folding perspective: exploring amyloid disruption as a novel therapeutic strategy.”

Students and faculty shine at Washington State Pharmacy Association (WSPA) award ceremony

UWSOP was very well represented at this year’s WSPA Award Ceremony. Congratulations to our alumni and faculty winners including:

Greg Hovander, UWSOP AlumnusGregory Hovander, ’72, RPh – The Bowl of Hygeia Award recognizes an exemplary pharmacist who has made outstanding contributions in the area of community service. In the mid-1970s, Greg started the first Class A pharmacy and implemented clinical pharmacy services for the Farm Workers Family Health Center in Toppenish, Washington. He also served as the chair of the first task force considering prescriptive authority for pharmacists. Greg continues his 43-year career as a pharmacist as the sole proprietor of Sultan Pharmacy & Natural Care, which specializes in natural, dietary, and self-care in conjunction with medical care.

Glenn Adams, '97Glenn Adams, ’97, ’98, PharmD – The Pharmacist of the Year Award honors a pharmacist who possesses qualities of excellence in routine practice and association activities, is an exemplary role model and who has contributed to the service and skill of WSPA during the past year. Glenn has been an outspoken advocate for pharmacists and was involved in pharmacy rules and legislation to ensure pharmacists can continue to provide high quality care to patients and the community.

Steven Erickson, PharmD, BCPSSteven Erikson, ’72, ’94, PharmD – The Bill Mueller Outstanding Mentor Award recognizes a pharmacist or technician who has been an outstanding mentor in the field of pharmacy. Steven worked collaboratively with colleagues to establish a clinically focused community pharmacy in Monroe, Washington, where he has practiced for the past 34 years. He was one of the first pharmacists in the state of Washington to practice under a collaborative practice agreement. His pharmacy has been a community residency site for UWSOP students since the late 1980s and is now the longest continuously operating pharmacy residency program in the country.

Sean D. Sullivan, BScPharm, MSc, PhDSean D. Sullivan, BScPharm, PhD, Dean and Professor, UWSOP – The David Almquist Award recognizes outstanding work in the endeavors of WSPA and the community in general. In addition to his career as professor and dean at UWSOP, Sean has been a strong advocate for the WSPA and demonstrated his support in efforts such as SB5557 and multiple WSPA events, including its annual scholarship fundraiser.

I2P2 Endowed Clinical Prof Don DowningDon Downing, ’75, RPh, I2P2 Endowed Clinical Professor, UWSOP – The Rodney D. Shafer Award acknowledges a pharmacy professional who has made pioneering and sustaining contributions to the profession. Don has long advocated for pharmacists as covered providers to increase patient access to care. In June 2015, the American Pharmacists Association (APhA) recognized his role in this effort here in Washington state and named him a Pharmacists Provide Care Champion.

Sheila Shapouri, PharmD studentSheila Shapouri, UWSOP PY4 – The Pharmacy Student of the Year recognizes a student member who made consistent, sustained and outstanding contributions toward the growth and development of pharmacy student participation on both a local and state level. Sheila has been very active in UWSOP and WSPA student groups, including serving as the Student Director on the WSPA Board of Directors and the UWSOP Dean’s Student Experience Advisory Committee. Her extensive involvement in community outreach and student organizations has inspired her peers to go beyond the classroom.

Steve Singer, ’81, RPh – The Generation Rx Champions Award recognizes a pharmacist who has demonstrated excellence in community-based prescription drug abuse prevention. Steve is actively involved in the pharmacy community, serving on advisory panels and as a member of the WSPA Board of Directors. Steve is an advocate for pharmacists and their role in Opioid Overdose Rescue and will assist any trained pharmacist in obtaining a CDTA for Opioid Overdose Rescue.

American Society for Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) Award

Nick Larned, PharmD studentASHP Chapter President Nick Larned won the Outstanding Professional Development Project Award at the ASHP Midyear Clinical Meeting in New Orleans. His poster showcases the chapter’s Multi-Institutional Shadowing Program utilizing 23 pharmacists from 6 organizations in the Seattle area. Fifty-six UW School of Pharmacy students traveled to New Orleans for the ASHP Midyear Clinical Meeting. Events included continuing education talks about advancing clinical practices, networking opportunities, and student development sessions. Our PY4 students Ashley Warcola and Hannah DeMeritt also competed nationally in the clinical skills competition on behalf of the UWSOP.

UWSOP grad students and post doc excel at ISSX

UWSOP graduate students Marc Vrana, Jenny Sager) and Li Wang at ISSX award ceremony
UWSOP graduate students Marc Vrana, Jenny Sager, and Li Wang at ISSX

At the 20th North American ISSX meeting in Orlando, UWSOP graduate students won three of the six awards that ISSX presents to students, reflecting the high caliber of our post docs and graduate students’ research. UWSOP had four predoctoral abstracts selected–Marc Vrana, Jenny Sager, Michael Liao, and Vineet Kumar–one postdoc finalist, Li Wang, and a grad student podium presentation given by Gabriela Patilea-Vrana.

Marc Vrana (Prasad lab) won first place, the Best Presentation Award: Predoctoral Research, for his poster titled “Differential Tissue Expression of ADME Proteins in Humans.” Jenny Sager (Isoherranen lab) won second place in the predoctoral category for her poster titled, “New Metabolic Pathways of Bupropion in vivo Reveal an Important Role of CYP2C19 and 11B-HSD in Bupropion Clearance; CYP2B6 Contribution to Bupropion Clearance is Minor.”

In addition, two of our grad students were finalists for best poster: Michael Liao (Mao lab), “The differential roles of P-glycoprotein (mdr1) in limiting brain and fetal exposure to norbuprenorphine in pregnant mice” and Vineet Kumar (Unadkat lab), “Quantification of transporter expression in the plasma membrane vs. intracellular compartments using biotinylation and LC-MS/MS based proteomics.”

Li Wang (Unadkat lab) won was selected as a postdoctoral finalist and  awarded third place in the Best Presentation category “Quantification of transporter expression in liver tissue from subjects with alcoholic or hepatitis C cirrhosis.”

Pharmaceutics grad student Gabriela Patilea-Vrana (Unadkat lab) was selected to give a podium presentation titled: “Importance of Hepatic Transporters in Understanding and Predicting Hepatobiliary Clearance And Hepatic Concentrations of Drugs: Introducing the Novel Concept of FTNET

Advance your career in research or pharmacy at the University of Washington!

Click on the links for more information about our PharmD program or Graduate Programs in Medicinal Chemistry, Pharmaceutics, Pharmaceutical Outcomes Research and Policy, and Biomedical Regulatory Affairs.

UW PharmD students to host New Year health fair on Jan. 24th, 2016

Map of Magnuson Community Center: The Brig
New Year’s Health Fair will be held at the Magnuson Community Center: The Brig on Sunday, January 24 from 9:30AM – 1:30 PM

FREE health services Sunday, January 24, 9:30AM – 1:30PM at Magnuson Community Center: The Brig

Student health professionals & mentors from UW Schools of Pharmacy, Medicine, & Dentistry, Physical Therapy Program, and Speech & Hearing Sciences have teamed up to offer a range of health services to the Seattle community. The event is open to the public and no insurance is required.

Faculty pharmacists, physicians, and dentists will be on-site mentoring students. Services will include:

HEALTH SERVICES

  • Blood pressure reading
  • Blood glucose/cholesterol screening
  • Osteoporosis and BMI screening
  • Falls prevention
  • Fluoride application
  • Dental screening
  • Head and neck exams

HEALTH EDUCATION

  • Medication safety
  • Over-the-counter and prescription medications education
  • Hearing education
  • Hand washing
  • Health insurance resources

Magnuson Community Center: The Brig (Near the Dog Park)

6344 NE 74th Street, Seattle, WA 98115

Served By Bus Lines: 30, 74 And 75

New Year Health Fair Flyer

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Download a PDF New Year Health Fair Flyer

Learn more about our PharmD program.

The Art of Science: “Human Kidney Tubule Cells” by Jenna Voellinger

Jenna L. Voellinger with her art work in T-473
Jenna L. Voellinger with her art work in T-473 Photo: Alex Levine Photography

In addition to being a newly-minted Ph.D., Jenna L. Voellinger is also an exhibiting artist.

Her image, “Human Kidney Tubule Cells,” created as a graduate student in the laboratory of Edward J. Kelly, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Pharmaceutics, graces one of the classrooms in the T-Wing of the UW Health Sciences Building.

Selected by UW’s design team, Jenna’s image stood out from both a scientific and aesthetic point of view. Her image and those of other researchers are installed in rooms in the T-Wing to inspire students and visitors, while raising awareness of research happening in UW’s Health Sciences.

The image shows kidney tubule epithelial cells that were isolated from human kidney cortex tissue and propagated in vitro. The cells in the photomicrograph were fluorescently labeled with antibodies for E-cadherin (red) and Aquaporin 2 (green) and nuclei stained with DAPI (blue). E-cadherin is a marker for cells of an epithelial origin and Aquaporin 2 is a water channel protein.

To make the image, Jenna used immunocytochemistry to visualize the proteins in the picture. The cells first go through a fixation and permeabilization process that allows the antibodies access to the antigen, or protein, of interest. She then incubates a primary antibody with their cells that is directed against the protein of interest, for example E-cadherin or Aquaporin 2. Next, the cells are incubated with a secondary antibody that attaches to the primary antibody and allows for visualization under a fluorescent microscope. The secondary antibodies have different fluorophores conjugated to them that allow for the different colors seen in the picture, such as green or red.

Jenna successfully defended her dissertation, “Molecular and Cellular Characterization of Human Embryonic Stem Cell Derived Hepatocytes.” Her dissertation research focused on characterizing human embryonic stem cell derived hepatocytes as they relate to primary hepatocytes. This research was been broken into three projects: 1) pharmacogenetic profiling of human embryonic stem cells; 2) characterization of stem cell derived hepatocytes with a focus on CYP-mediated oxidation; and 3) investigating approaches to enhance hepatocyte differentiation focused on the role of miRNAs in the development and maturation of hepatocytes.

“Jenna’s research has been a mixture of biochemistry and cell biology,” said Ed Kelly.  “A key component in cell biology research involves microscopy and, as you can see from this image of cultured human kidney cells, the results can be viewed as both art and science.”

Jenna’s art may be seen in T-473.

Interested in applying for an MS or PhD in Pharmaceutics? Click here.

Steve White Named Chair of UWSOP’s Dept of Pharmacy

UW School of Pharmacy's Department of Pharmacy's chair, Dr. Steve White

The UW School of Pharmacy is pleased to announce the appointment of H. Steve White, RPh, Ph.D. as the new chair of the School’s Department of Pharmacy, effective January 18, 2016.

White earned his baccalaureate degree in Pharmacy and a M.S. in Pharmacology at Idaho State University and began his career as a practicing pharmacist in the small town of Salmon, Idaho, until his mentor invited him to a career-changing pharmacology conference. From there, he earned his Ph.D. in Pharmacology at the University of Utah where he rose through the academic ranks after joining the College of Pharmacy faculty in 1986.

“It gives me great pleasure to welcome Steve White to the University of Washington School of Pharmacy,” said UWSOP Dean Sean D. Sullivan. “A nationally-known researcher, responsible for significant advancement in the treatment and prevention of epilepsy, Dr. White is a compassionate leader and a great colleague with a passion for collaboration, science, patient care and student mentoring. I look forward to working with him as we continue to grow our School’s mission as a global leader in pharmacy education, research and service.”

A leader in translational research in anticonvulsant drug therapies, White is the principal investigator and scientific director of the NIH-sponsored Anticonvulsant Drug Development (ADD) Program that was established in 1975 to identify novel anticonvulsant drugs using established animal seizure and epilepsy models. Over the years, the efforts of this program have contributed to the successful development of nine new antiepileptic drugs for the treatment of refractory partial epilepsy including felbamate, rufinamide, topiramate, retigabine and lacosamide.

White’s research is focused on understanding the factors that contribute to the initiation, propagation, and amelioration of seizure activity. He has collaborated with faculty from UW School of Pharmacy’s Department of Pharmaceutics, including Associate Professor Nina Isoherranen and Professor Emeritus Rene Levy.

His laboratory, which will relocate to the UW as a partnership between the School of Pharmacy and UW Medicine, features a broad-based research program aimed at gaining a further understanding of the factors that contribute to the expression and prevention of seizure activity. The results obtained from these investigations are likely to lead to the design and development of more efficacious and less toxic therapies for the prevention and treatment of epilepsy.

“The University of Washington School of Pharmacy has provided significant leadership to the profession of pharmacy and played a critical role in the education of the next generation pharmacists, educators and researchers,” observed White. “In support of this mission, I look forward to working closely with the faculty and other invested stakeholders in the execution of the School’s Strategic Plan. The vision set forth by this thoughtful five-year plan will benefit students, patients and the pharmacy community for decades to come.”

In 2014, he was named the 2014 recipient of the Epilepsy Foundation’s Lifetime Accelerator Award, in recognition of his commitment and pioneering contributions to the field of epilepsy and seizures. In 2011, White received an Honorary Doctor of Science from The University of Copenhagen Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Copenhagen, Denmark.

White has been the recipient of significant research funding from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), National Institutes of Health (NIH), and he and his collaborators have published over 170 original papers pertaining to the mechanism of action and the pharmacology of antiepileptic drugs. In addition to his academic service, he has served as Research Director of CURE (Citizen’s United for Research in Epilepsy), the largest non-governmental provider of epilepsy research funding, since November 2011 where he has assisted in the development of strategic programs that advance transformative epilepsy research that may someday lead to a cure or disease modifying therapy for the patient at risk for developing epilepsy. He has been a co-organizer of two NIH-sponsored workshops on models of refractory epilepsy and epileptogenesis and currently serves on the organizing committee of the biannual Eilat Conferences on Antiepileptic Drug Development. Additionally, White has been actively engaged as a mentor for the next generation of neuroscientists and epilepsy educators and is frequently invited to speak at national and international congresses.

* * *

The UW School of Pharmacy is comprised of three departments: Medicinal Chemistry, Pharmaceutics, and Pharmacy, offering Ph.D., M.S., and PharmD degrees, post docs and certificate programs. The Department of Pharmacy leads in pharmacy education, research, professional and outreach initiatives, including the Pharmaceutical Outcomes Research & Policy Program (PORPP), which conducts research in pharmaceutical economics, drug safe and pharmaceutical policy. The department supports general and specialized pharmacy residencies, and research fellowships in select areas of pharmacotherapeutics. The department educates 60 students in Ph.D. and M.S. programs, 177 in certificate programs, has 8 post docs, and, with MedChem and Pharmaceutics, contributes to the training and education of 386 PharmD students in the 4-year professional program.

The UW School of Pharmacy is a global leader in pharmacy education, research and service, committed to providing a transformative learning experience in a collaborative and diverse environment focused on improving the health and well-being of the communities we serve. Our mission is three-fold: inspiring education: developing exceptional, innovative and diverse pharmacy leaders and scientists; discovering solutions: advancing the science, development, implementation, and outcomes of safe and appropriate treatments; and serving people and communities: promoting the health and well-being of the public, locally and globally.

Link to Department of Pharmacy archived news

Pharmaceutics welcomes six new students with a passion for discovery

Pharmaceutics graduate students (L to R): Ryan Cheu, Olena Anoshchenko, Jessie Yu, Antonio Quinones-Lopez (not pictured here: Marc Vrana and John Amory).
Pharmaceutics graduate students (L to R): Ryan Cheu, Olena Anoshchenko, Jessie Yu, Antonio Quinones-Lopez (not pictured: Marc Vrana and John Amory). Photo: Alex Levine Photography

 

UWSOP’s Department of Pharmaceutics welcomed six new students this fall, here to join a great tradition of life-changing research. These researchers share a passion for discovery and come to our school from all over the world, and from all sorts of backgrounds: from English majors to chemists and biologists.

Originally from the Ukraine, Lena Anoshchenko finished her International Baccalaureate degree in Pearson United World College in Victoria, Canada, with 200 students from 100 countries around the world before going to college at Lewis & Clark in Portland, Oregon. She earned her BS in Biology and came to appreciate the value of multicultural and liberal arts education. After graduation, she moved to Seattle and worked at Gilead Sciences, Fred Hutch, and Infectious Disease Research Institute (IDRI) on projects related to drug discovery and development. She is interested in drug research and elucidation of relevant biological mechanisms.

Marc Vrana, who grew up in California and Washington, earned his undergraduate degree at the UW in English Literature and Education. From there, he pivoted and enrolled at UW Bothell to earn a second bachelor’s degree, this time in Biology. He worked in a lab researching experimental evolution of microbial co-cultures before moving into the lab of Pharmaceutics’ assistant professor Bhagwat Prasad. He is currently working on characterizing the inter-tissue variability in expression of ADME proteins, and will be likely be focusing on carboxylesterases. At the most recent North American ISSX conference, Marc received a best poster award as well as placing first in the pre-doctoral poster/podium presentation award competition.

Antonio Quinones-Lopez was born in Puerto Rico and grew up in the Austin Texas area. He earned his bachelor of science in Chemistry and Spanish at Southwestern University, a small liberal arts college in central Texas. He has mainly worked on synthesis of inorganic metal complexes and their in vitro interaction with DNA. In 2014-2015, he was named an American Chemical Society Scholar. His general research interests are in drug transport and delivery.

Originally from Hawaii, Ryan Cheu received his bachelors in Biochemistry from Santa Clara University. He spent a summer as a medical intern in Nepal at the Hospital for Rehab and Disabled Children. For the last two years, he worked at Genentech using FT-NIR and chemometrics for determining residual moisture in lyophilized drug products. He’s developed IEC, iCIEF, and MCE-SDS methods for late-stage drug analysis of Genentech’s drug products and drug substances.

Jesse Yu was born in Montreal, Canada. He earned his B.S. in Pharmaceutical Sciences and Pharm. D from Duquesne University. His research experiences includes solid state and liposomal formulation. He spent a summer with Amgen at their Cambridge, Massachusetts, site working as an intern in a preclinical PK lab and also spent 10 weeks at the FDA working as an intern in regulatory affairs.

Dr. John Amory
Dr. John Amory

Dr. John Amory earned his Medical Degree from the University of California, San Francisco where he also completed his residency in Internal Medicine. Currently, he is Professor of Medicine and Section Head of General Internal Medicine here at the UW where he works as an attending physician on the inpatient medicine wards and in the General Internal Medicine Clinic. His research interests are the development of novel forms of male contraception and new approaches to the treatment of men with infertility. John has published more than 115 peer-reviewed papers in the field of male reproduction, and holds current funding from the NIH grant for male contraceptive research examining the potential utility of inhibitors of testicular retinoic acid biosynthesis as reversible male contraceptives.

Interested in applying for an MS or PhD in Pharmaceutics? Click here.

Pharmaceutics’ Carol Collins part of drug risks in pregnancy mobile app team

A pregnant woman considers the medication she is about to take.
A pregnant woman considers the medication she is about to take. Photo: Thinkstock

Carol Collins, Clinical Associate Professor in Pharmaceutics, will bring her expertise in drug safety information and the design of drug safety databases to this important project that seeks to create a mobile app that will help convey information about drug risks for pregnant women in collaboration with faculty from UW Medicine, UW HCDE and right answer.com.

Janine Polifka, manager of UW Department of Pediatrics The Teratogen Information System, heads the UW component. TERIS contains up-to-date, authoritative information about the effects of drugs and chemicals on prenatal development.  The database covers peer-reviewed scientific research on the safety or toxicity of more than 1,600 agents. Among them are about 95 percent of the most frequently prescribed medications.  TERIS’s review board of fetal toxicology experts evaluate the magnitude of risk for each agent listed.

To create a mobile app that fits with clinicians, Gary Hsieh, assistant professor of human centered design and engineering at the UW College of Engineering, will gather information requirements of healthcare providers who treat pregnant women. Their viewpoints will shape the specifications for the mobile application.

Carol Collins, Clinical Assoc Prof, Pharmaceutics
Carol Collins, Clinical Assoc Prof, Pharmaceutics Photo: Alex Levine Photography

Joining Hsieh on the clinical usability trials and the app development is Carol Collins, clinical associate professor of pharmaceutics at the UW School of Pharmacy.  She has extensive experience in drug safety information and the design of drug safety databases. Collins has worked on the UW School of Pharmacy Drug Interaction Database and the University of Pittsburgh Drug Interaction Knowledge Base.

“Providing accurate and usable information to healthcare providers at point-of-care is very challenging,” she remarked. “We have to understand what the relevant questions are that healthcare providers have and address the challenges associated with providing information on the small screen format of mobile phones.”

Read the full story on UW Health Science NewsBeat.

Odegard and Diabetes Education team win UW award

UWSOP Associate Dean Peggy Odegard (pic far right) with the Golden Eddy award-winning team of Diabetes Educators
UWSOP Associate Dean Peggy Odegard (pic far right) with the Golden Eddy Award winning team of diabetes educators Photo: Alex Levine

Train the trainer program empowering clinic teams sees significant improvements in outcomes

The UW School of Pharmacy is proud to celebrate Associate Dean Peggy Odegard, PharmD, CDE’s, recognition with the Golden Eddy Award as part of a Diabetes Education team of outstanding patient educators awarded in Fall 2015. UW Medicine Patient and Family Education Services’ Golden Eddy awards are presented annually to Outstanding Patient and Family Educators. The award recognizes a truly unique patient education collaboration in the UW Health Care System –using specialized expertise and cross-training to increase access to patient-centered, specialized care and education in local communities.

UW Neighborhood Clinics and the UW Medicine Endocrine and Diabetes Care Center (DCC) have provided diabetes education to patients in select primary care clinics. A novel “train the trainer” program was developed by UW Medicine DCC colleagues Alison Evert, MS, RD, CDE and Associate Dean Peggy Odegard, PharmD, CDE along with Maureen Chomko, RD, CDE, primary care dietitian, to empower clinic staff to act in the role of patient educators. The award also honors the outstanding effect this program has demonstrated in improving participant diabetes health. The clinic-based staff teams who provide this impactful diabetes education to patients comprises an interprofessional group including registered dietitians, registered nurses, and social workers with Evert, Odegard and Chomko providing ongoing mentoring to staff to promote continued knowledge and skill development.

During the pilot, the process and impact of the classes offered in the clinics was studied with an eye to testing the ability to translate the DCC diabetes education program, taught by certified diabetes educators, into community-based learning for patients. The pilot had three primary goals: increase access to diabetes management education, and reduction in participant weight and A1c levels (a key measurement of blood sugar).

The results across all measurements are proof positive of the program’s benefits. The program has substantially enhanced access to diabetes education and has done so locally for patients in their own communities. This is evidenced by patient enrollments in these educational classes regularly filled at the primary care clinics and participation increased as compared to usual enrollments in similar classes at the Seattle-based academic medical center. Diabetes health is also significantly improved in two key ways for program participants with reduction in A1c levels by 1.1% over three months and loss in weight, on average, of slightly over one pound per month over three months. Notably, this significant progress made at three months was sustained at six months for participants.

As part of this effort, the UW Neighborhood Clinic program sites also met the requirements to receive accreditation by the American Diabetes Association (ADA), which permits the classes to be covered by Medicare and Medicaid, further increasing patient participation. Results of the project were presented at the ADA meeting in June, and the team is finalizing a manuscript for submission this Fall in primary care.

“This project shows the benefits of integrating educational, clinical, and research expertise to help develop impactful practice-based interventions,” underscored Odegard. “We had a terrific team to work with and look forward to continuing to increase the number of trainers educated and further improving the delivery of diabetes care throughout UW Medicine primary care.”

 

Advance your career as a pharmacist at the University of Washington. Learn more about our nationally and globally top-ranked PharmD Program.

Link to Department of Pharmacy archived news

Intercollegiate team will study natural product-drug interactions

Green tea is one of the products in the drug-interaction center's initial study set.
Green tea is one of the products in the drug-interaction center’s initial study set. Photo: ThinkStock

Herbal remedies are a multi-billion dollar industry. Sales of natural product supplements have nearly tripled in the past twenty years since passage of the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act in 1994. Fueled in part by the assumption that “natural” means “safe,” as well as rising costs for conventional health care, many people turn to these supplements to both alleviate symptoms and illnesses as well as reap perceived health benefits, often without consulting their health care provider.

However, natural doesn’t always mean safe. In fact, little is known about how natural products may alter the therapeutic effects and safety of prescription and over-the-counter medications. “Viewed as a whole, these kinds of interactions can range from mild to severe or even life-threatening. So far, the data in the field has been highly variable in quality and/or relatively sparse, ” notes D. Craig Hopp, Ph.D., Program Director for the NIH’s National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH).

Studies in the late 1990's showed that St. John’s wort and grapefruit juice had dangerous interactions with a variety of medications.
Studies in the late 1990’s showed that St. John’s wort and grapefruit juice had dangerous interactions with a variety of medications. Photo: ThinkStock

Studies in the late 1990s showed that St. John’s wort and grapefruit juice had dangerous interactions with a variety of medications. “For many years, pharmacists have had to deal with counseling patients on the safe and effective use of many herbal supplements without the benefit of reliable data from the literature and definitive guidance from authoritative sources,” commented Sean D. Sullivan, BScPharm, Ph.D., Professor and Dean of the UW School of Pharmacy.

A national team of researchers from the UW School of Pharmacy, the WSU College of Pharmacy, and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG) Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry has partnered to study potential interactions between select natural products and commonly used medications. The cross-institutional collaborative team, known as the Natural Product Drug Interaction (NaPDI) Center, was funded by a $10M five-year grant from NCCIH.

The goal for the team is multi-fold: assess existing gaps in the scientific literature regarding the potential for natural products to significantly interact with common medications; investigate how natural products may interact with common medications; establish a set of best practices to address the unique challenges in the study of natural product drug interactions; and develop and maintain a database accessible through a public web portal. “Establishing research best practices in this arena is of significant public health importance,” said Gary M. Pollack, Ph.D., Professor and Dean of the WSU College of Pharmacy.

NaPDI Grant Team Member
NaPDI Grant Team Members: Front rows (L to R): Danny Shen, Mary Paine, Zhu Zhou, Isabelle Ragueneau-Majlessi, Jeannine McCune; Middle rows: Vanessa Gonzalez-Perez, Jash Unadkat, Barbara Kavanaugh, Jingjing Yu, Laura Shireman, Yvonne Lin, Rebecca Cooney; Back rows: Ken Thummel, Carol Collins, Chris Kinsella, Bruce Pinkleton, Allan Rettie; Missing: Nicholas Oberlies, Nadja Cech Photo: Alex Levine Photography

There are four sub-teams managing the project’s work, involving administrative, pharmacology, analytical, and informatics aspects. The administrative team, led by Co-Principal Investigator Dr. Danny Shen and Co-Investigator Dr. Jeannine McCune of the UW School of Pharmacy, will provide overall administrative coordination and support and will develop and disseminate best practices on natural product-drug interaction research.“

The pharmacology team, led by Co-Principal Investigator Dr. Mary Paine of the WSU College of Pharmacy, will identify and prioritize the 4-6 natural products to be studied, including green tea and cannabinoids (marijuana), seek to uncover the mechanisms of natural product-drug interactions, and design appropriate preclinical and clinical studies to address scientific gaps.

The analytical team, led by Dr. Nicholas Oberlies, a natural products chemist at UNCG, will acquire the materials for study and ensure their consistency and sufficient supply. “An improved understanding of these interactions requires natural products chemistry expertise, as unlike with drug products, natural products vary considerably in biochemical composition both between brands and batches of the same brand,” observed Patricia H. Reggio, Ph.D., Marie Foscue Rourk Professor and Head of UNCG’s Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry.

The informatics team, led by Dr. Isabelle Ragueneau-Majlessi of the UW School of Pharmacy, will ensure that the results and research best practices are clearly communicated by creating a data and information repository available to researchers, practitioners and the public through a website, app and blog. UW and WSU will collaborate on this aspect of the project—bringing together investigators from WSU’s Edward R. Murrow College of Communication and the seasoned team working with the UW’s Drug Interaction Database (DIDB), currently the largest manually-curated repository of preclinical and clinical drug-drug interactions.

“Interactions may occur between prescription drugs, over-the-counter drugs, dietary supplements, and even small molecules in food—making it a daunting challenge for scientists to identify all interactions that could be harmful,” wrote NCCIH Director Dr. Josephine Briggs. “The bottom line here is that there’s a lot we don’t know and much more study needed.”

The NaPDI Center plans to have initial results available within two years, with more to follow over the remainder of the project. The five-year, $10M NCCIH grant was funded as a large-scale research program of the National Institutes of Health under a cooperative agreement award (1U54AT008909-01).

A version of this story also appeared in UW Health Sciences NewsBeat

Geri and Lynn Brady Preserved Medicinal Garden Legacy

Geri and Lynn Brady
Geri and Lynn Brady

As a community, we were deeply saddened to learn that Geraldine “Geri” (Walcott) Brady, the widow of Professor and former Associate Dean, Lynn Brady, ’60, passed away in March.

The legacy she and Lynn left through planned giving will live on at the UW and School of Pharmacy for decades to come. The Lynn R. Brady Endowed Scholarship Fund has supported students with high academic achievement with two full quarters of scholarship.

Geri’s substantial planned gift to the school ensures student academic excellence will be supported for many years to come and the fund will be renamed in her honor: The Lynn R. and Geraldine W. Brady Endowed Scholarship Fund. She also created the Lynn R. and Geraldine W. Brady Endowed Professorship.

Originally from Nebraska, Lynn and Geri moved to Seattle in the 1950s so that he could continue his research with Dr. Varno Tyler, a specialist in pharmacognosy, the study of medicinal drugs derived from plants and other sources.

Lynn’s time as a faculty member at UWSOP marked the transition from drugs made from plants to the production of synthetic drugs. Like his mentor, he became a national expert on medicinal plants, a passion that naturally led him to advocate for the UW Medicinal Herb Garden, the largest such garden in the Western Hemisphere.

UW Medicinal Garden Sculpted Monkeys
UW Medicinal Garden Sculpted Monkeys

Watching over the Medicinal Herb Garden was the job of two wooden monkeys, said to be copies of statues from Europe’s first medicinal garden in Padula, Italy. Over the years the monkeys were victims of pranks and vandalized. To protect them from additional peril, they were replaced by concrete versions and the original monkeys were tucked away at Geri Brady’s house for years, until they were moved to a shed near the Botany Greenhouse. Recently rediscovered, the monkey pair will return to the School of Pharmacy for a restorative break before their next home is secured. 

 

To study with UWSOP’s top faculty in health economics and outcomes, medicinal chemistry, and pharmaceutics, click here for more information about our Graduate Programs in Medicinal Chemistry, Pharmaceutics, Pharmaceutical Outcomes Research and Policy, and Biomedical Regulatory Affairs.

Want to earn your PharmD professional degree at the UW? Start here to learn more.

Link to Department of Pharmacy archived news

Are you a #HUSKYPHARMACIST?

Student Pharmacist in UWSOP’s Bracken Pharmacy Learning Lab
Student Pharmacist in UWSOP’s Bracken Pharmacy Learning Lab Photo: Alex Levine Photography

Celebrate American Pharmacists Month and share your #HUSKYPHARMACIST pride this October!

Whether you are an alum, student, faculty member, preceptor, graduate, friend, parent, patient or supporter, we want to see your #HUSKYPHARMACIST pride!

Pharmacy Practice Changes in Washington

2015 was a big year for Pharmacists in Washington state. Under new legislation, patients will have increased access to the kind of specialized care and knowledge pharmacists can provide. We would love to see your pictures and hear your stories about #HUSKYPHARMACIST work in a variety of practice settings!

Alumna Elyse Tung mentors a UWSOP student pharmacist
Alumna Elyse Tung mentors a UWSOP student pharmacist Photo: Alex Levine Photography

Join in the fun and share your pride!

  1. Click to print your #HUSKYPHARMACIST sign.
  2. Take a photo.
  3. Post it to Facebook (tag @UWSOP) or Twitter (tag #HUSKYPHARMACIST)

That’s it! We will share and retweet your photos and show our pride as Huskies and Pharmacists!

What makes a #HUSKYPHARMACIST so special? We are:

    • Smart
    • Compassionate
    • Medication experts
    • Patient care advocates
    • Change agents
    • Undaunted
    • BOUNDLESS
UWSOP student pharmacists learn from the best–Clinical Assistant Professor Leigh Ann Mike
UWSOP student pharmacists learn from the best–Clinical Assistant Professor Leigh Ann Mike Photo: Alex Levine Photography

The Chiba Morio Family: Undaunted in the Face of Adversity

 

Bain Chiba with his father Yasukichi, '17, at Bain's graduation from UW School of Pharmacy in 1937.
Bain Chiba with his father Yasukuchi, ’17, at Bain’s graduation from UW School of Pharmacy in 1937. Photo: Seattle PI 6/15/1937

Second year PharmD student Beau Chiba comes from a long line of UW School of Pharmacy pharmacists. When he graduates in 2018, it will be 101 years since his great-grandfather, Yasukuchi Chiba graduated. Beau is the sixth member of his family to attend UWSOP and his family’s story echoes the social, political, and economic ups and downs of the last century.

Beau’s great-great-grandfather on his father’s side of the family, Shirosabura Chiba, was a pharmacist who emigrated to the U.S. from Japan with his young family, including his son, Yasukuchi, Beau’s great-grandfather. When Yasukuchi graduated from UW School of Pharmacy in 1917, he went to work with his father. They owned several pharmacies in the Seattle-Tacoma area, including Main Drug in Nihonmachi (Japantown) in Seattle’s International District. Twenty years later in 1937, Yasukuchi’s son, Bain, graduated with his degree in pharmacy, likely making them the first father-son graduates from the UW School of Pharmacy. Bain began working as a pharmacist at the family’s Main Drug after graduation. Bain’s brother-in-law, Noboru “Nibs” Morio, began his studies at UW School of Pharmacy just before WWII. Mary Shimoda, who would later marry Nibs, was also a student at UWSOP. 

In 1941, all four members of the family were practicing or learning pharmacy, helping their neighbors and advancing health care. But in February 1942, just three months after Pearl Harbor, all of that ended when President Roosevelt signed an executive order to relocate 120,000 Japanese Americans to isolated relocation centers. 

And sadly the Chibas, Morios, and Shimodas were no exception. 

Beau’s great-grandfather, grandfather, grandmother, and great-aunt were forced to leave their homes in south Seattle and Beacon Hill for the harsh conditions of the internment camps. Automobiles were impounded. Homes and property sold. Families even donated their Japanese trees and shrubs to the UW Botanic Garden for safekeeping. Businesses were lost…including Main Pharmacy. 

The Chibas were initially sent to the short-term detention center at the Puyallup fairgrounds. The Army called it Camp Harmony, and it was anything but that. The family spent months living in close quarters in shacks with limited rations and poor facilities. 

The UW President and faculty advocated for their students. President Seig wrote a letter to 25 college presidents begging them to take UW’s Nikkei students. The Army initially permitted a few students to transfer. Most schools didn’t want the students and some rescinded offers as the story broke in the press. In December 1941, there were 450 Nikkei students enrolled at the UW, including Nibs and Mary. By May 1942, there were none. One dean went to Puyallup to hold an informal graduation ceremony for the Nikkei students who were just one month from commencement. Weeks later, the group was moved to Minidoka internment camp in Idaho. Among them was Mary Shimoda, Nibs’ future wife.  She was a remarkable student and was made a member of Rho Chi, an honor she received in absentia in 1942. She was in Puyallup, on her way to Idaho where she spent the war with her mother and sister. 

Nationwide, there was a shortage of labor. In some cases, people were able to get out of the internment camps—some worked farms in the Midwest and many health professionals were able to go to other parts of the country. As a knowledgeable pharmacist, Bain transferred out of the camp. He worked at the University of Michigan Hospital as a pharmacist until he could afford to move his family to safety in Michigan, where they lived out the war. 

Nibs took a different path. He enlisted to serve with the 442nd Infantry Regiment. With the motto, “Go for Broke,” the Japanese-American regiment was the most decorated in U.S. military history for its size and length of service. Nibs was in the 2nd Division, G Company, and was sent to Italy and then France to fight. He earned two Purple Hearts and a Bronze Star. In 1946, Nibs married his college sweetheart, Mary Shimoda. While Mary was able to leave the camp by transferring to Idaho State University to complete her education, Nibs eventually retired from the Army where he worked as a hospital pharmacist (without a degree!). He returned to the UWSOP to finish the education he had started 20 years prior. Upon graduation, he moved with Mary to Bellevue where they continued practicing pharmacy. She worked at Group Health and he at Overlake Hospital.

Beau Chiba, '18, photographed across from his grandfather, Bain Chiba's, '37, pharmacy location in Japantown, Seattle
Beau Chiba, ’18, photographed across from his grandfather, Bain Chiba’s, ’37, pharmacy location in Japantown, Seattle Photo: Alex Levine Photography/Uknown

Bain and his family returned home to Seattle a few years after the war ended. He was able to resume ownership of Main Drugs, but times were still hard post-War for Japanese-Americans in the Northwest. Many didn’t return. For the Chibas, the International District community came together and provided a safe harbor. In 1966, twenty years after they married, Nibs’ and Mary’s son—Beau’s cousin—Dave Morio enrolled at the UW School of Pharmacy, graduating in 1971. In 1980, he apprenticed with Bob and Maxine Sowders at Fife Pharmacy and Gifts, with the expectation that he would buy the pharmacy. He did just that in 1985. He worked closely with the Puyallup Tribal Health Authority serving PTHA contract-care patients. Dave also served on the UWSOP Pharmacy Alumni Association Board (PAA) as President. As a Clinical Assistant Professor, he helped precept many students. Being a staunch supporter of pharmacy and his community, Dave served as President of WSPA as well as the Fife-Milton Rotary Club. 

In 2008, the UW Board of Regents voted to issue 450 honorary degrees to the students who were pulled from the classroom and sent to camps and war. Among the 2008 honorary graduates were Nibs and Mary Morio. Mary finally gained her full-fledged status as a Husky. 

The Chiba-Morio family history reflects the pharmacy profession’s changes over the last century. Main Drugs closed in 1978 and now there are condos in its place. As physicians left the area and drug reimbursements continued to dwindle, Dave closed Fife Pharmacy in 2010 after 25 years. He now works for Safeway Pharmacy. 

2015 marked a new era in pharmacy practice with the change in Washington state legislation. In fall of 2014, Beau Chiba picked up the family mantle by enrolling at UWSOP. “I never got to meet my grandfather, but I’ve been told he was a character, and that I’m just like him. I chose UW School of Pharmacy to stay connected to my family history. It feels like home.”  

Link to Department of Pharmacy archived news

Celebrating 20 Years of Excellence for the Pharmaceutical Outcomes Research and Policy Program (PORPP)

PORPP Retreat 2015
PORPP Retreat 2015


“Great scientists and great surfers share a common trait. They don’t position themselves where the big wave is now; they position themselves where the next big wave is going to be. PORPP teaches students to read the patterns in scientific methods, to understand the history that built up behind the last big waves, and to prepare for the ride of your life when you finally catch the big one.” – Mitch Higashi, `01, GE Healthcare’s Chief Economist

PORPP: The Founding

A Blueprint for Program Development

Andy_Stergachis_for_web
Andy Stergachis

The Pharmaceutical Outcomes Research and Policy Program (PORPP) began largely out of a response to student and workforce needs. In 1989, Andy Stergachis, the current Associate Dean for Research, Graduate Programs and New Initiatives, was recruited from Group Health’s Center for Health Studies by Dean Milo Gibaldi to join the then-Department of Pharmacy Practice. Stergachis was advising David H. Smith, a student looking to begin a Ph.D., when he had a “light bulb” moment that ultimately led to the founding of PORPP.

Smith knew he wanted to do his doctorate work in Pharmacy, but UW did not offer a Ph.D. in Pharmacy. In the end, Smith chose an unconventional route and created his own interdisciplinary graduate program of study. As the School’s first Ph.D. graduate in pharmacy outcomes research, Smith went on and has achieved national prominence as Senior Investigator at Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research.

What stayed with Stergachis was the need for a formal Ph.D. program in Pharmacy. Gibaldi, who had long wanted a doctoral program in Pharmacy, was very supportive. And with that, Stergachis and others began to develop a plan.

In 1990, Stergachis was awarded the Burroughs Wellcome/American College of Preventive Medicine Scholar in Pharmacoepidemiology Award, a 5-year career development award. The funding from that award provided much-needed seed funding for salaries, curriculum development, and support for new visiting faculty and fellows to the burgeoning program, including epidemiologist Dr. Jackie Gardner and a newly-minted Ph.D. from UC Berkeley named Sean D. Sullivan.

Andy and Sean at that historic APhA Meeting
Stergachis and Sullivan at that historic APhA Meeting

Sullivan and Stergachis first met at an APhA meeting in Washington DC. Sullivan was looking forward to beginning his new position at Wolfson College at Oxford University. But fate (and Stergachis) had a different plan.

Stergachis presented Sullivan with the vision of a program the caliber of which had not been seen in outcomes research. Sullivan was intrigued. When Stergachis showed up—in person—at Berkeley a few weeks later, Sullivan said yes. “And then I had to write the most difficult letter of my professional career. After all, who says ‘no’ to Oxford?” said Sullivan. “But it changed my life.”

Stergachis reflected, “Sean was the catalyst to carry the vision of a Ph.D. program forward and to extend the nascent program into the field of pharmacoeconomics.” With that, Gardner and Sullivan joined a small group of existing UW Pharmacy faculty working in pharmaceutical outcomes and policy that included Dale Christensen and Bill Fassett.

The development of the new Pharmacy Ph.D. program then began in earnest.

The team began the appeal for external support by writing grants to study the safety and value of pharmaceuticals as well as testing the effectiveness of pharmaceutical care services. They sought national recognition to build program credibility. They offered workshops about pharmaceutical outcomes, pharmacoeconomics and drug safety, giving a multitude of presentations to establish a national identity. They sought funding to establish an endowment for graduate students, and began to gain attention and support from a few forward-thinking pharmaceutical companies, including Eli Lilly & Company and then Immunex Corporation.

By 1995, the team had attracted top scholars and built enough support and funding that the time was right to secure an official Program designation at the UW as the Pharmaceutical Outcomes Research and Policy Program in the Department of Pharmacy. The team submitted the proposal to the UW for PORPP and its new graduate program in 1995. By 1997, the first class of Ph.D. students began.

“Andy’s vision took a lot of insight into the future interest in outcomes and policy research. What he created was ahead of its time. The hallmark of our program is its proven impact on local and national policy.”—Sean D. Sullivan

PORPP: The Building

A Blueprint for Program Growth

Sean Sullivan
Sean Sullivan

Ask any of the four directors of PORPP, Stergachis, Sullivan, Lou Garrison, or Anirban Basu, and they will tell you that the success of the program is in its people: Find the best faculty, the best graduate students, the best post-docs, and the program will thrive.

New faculty were attracted to the nascent program, including former FDA scientist Tom Hazlet who began a certificate in Biomedical Regulatory Affairs (BRAMS) in 1998 that became a master’s degree program ten years later. With the foundation built, the reins were handed over to Sullivan who became the new director, ushering in a new period of growth for the start up program.

Within a couple of years, new faculty, including former post-docs Beth Devine and Dave Veenstra, joined. The program was accredited by the Graduate School. The Corporate Advisory Board (CAB), comprised of leaders in the pharmaceutical and managed care industries, had its inaugural meeting, creating an opportunity for researchers and leaders to share findings, discuss opportunities and industry needs.

Key partnerships were formed with other organizations including CHASE Alliance, Hutchinson Institute for Cancer Outcomes Research at Fred Hutch, Health Services, Group Health Research Institute, and Premera Blue Cross. These partnerships continue to provide extraordinary opportunities for collaborations, data sharing, student and faculty research, and joint and affiliate faculty appointments.

As partnerships grew, so did endowments and funding. In 2006, Lou and Fran Garrison established the PORPP Endowed Prize in Health Policy and Economics in honor of Lou’s parents, Lou Sr. and Marilyn. Initially funded anonymously, the Prize was designed to inspire students in PORPP.

After graduating, students became advocates and exemplars of the excellence for which PORPP has become known. Mitch Higashi, for example, led an initiative to establish the Health Technology Fund for PORPP, through a collaboration of pharmaceutical and health care firms in 2010. Two years later he and his wife, Mandy, established the Higashi Family Endowed Fund, a graduate and post-doctoral fellow travel fund within the PORPP program.

The Certificate in Health Economics and Outcomes Research, a distance-learning certificate offered through Professional and Continuing Education began in 2011. The program continues to thrive and is completely self-sustaining. As of last fall, over 120 students have been trained.

Garrison, Basu and Devine established one of the first Centers of Excellence in Comparative Effectiveness Research with funding from the PhRMA Foundation in 2011. The Center provides advanced training in research methods to PORPP and Health Services graduate students.

Under Sullivan’s visionary leadership, PORPP joined the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality’s (AHRQ) Evidence-based Practice Center Initiative in 2012, partnering with investigators at Oregon Health & Science University and Spectrum Research of Tacoma, WA. First led by Sean and Jerry Jarvik of UW Medicine’s Department of Radiology, the current site co-Principal Investigators are Beth Devine and John Gore.

That same year, Andy and JoAnn Stergachis established the Stergachis Family Endowed Directorship, ensuring the program is led by a dynamic and internationally recognized director and that the legacy of providing each student with specialized training in outcomes research is strengthened and enhanced.

“Sean took the program to a new level and I think it’s phenomenal. He did a superb job of institutionalizing the elements of PORPP that continue to this day and into the future.”—Andy Stergachis

PORPP: Through the Eyes of a Post Doc

Beth Devine
Beth Devine

As early as 1999, PORPP had established a great reputation and Beth Devine sought a post-doc opportunity in the program. “I was drawn to the opportunity to work with Sean and Andy at UW and Lou [Garrison] who was then at Roche. The coursework of biostatistics, epidemiology, decision analysis, and health policy was exactly what I was looking for as a next step in my career.”

As with many PORPP students and post-docs, Beth benefited from the program’s outreach to industry, obtaining a fellowship that included a year of coursework and a year of applied research at Roche Pharmaceuticals. She studied the cost-effectiveness of interferon-ribavirin for the treatment of hepatitis C; completed a study of patients to elicit their preferences for diabetic neuropathy, and completed several systematic reviews that summarized the psychometric properties of patient-reported outcome instruments to assess treatment outcomes for a variety of disease states, including depression and sleep apnea.

Devine had such a positive experience as a post-doc that she wanted to return as a faculty member. “The program has grown in many ways,” she notes. “We have hired additional faculty. Our students continue to be shining stars, our projects are varied and interesting, and we have superb collaborations with colleagues both inside and external to the UW.”

PORPP: To the Future and Beyond

A Blueprint for Continued Impact

PORPP Dir & Prof Anirban Basu
Anirban Basu

In 2014, Sullivan was appointed Dean of UW School of Pharmacy and a national search began for a new Stergachis Family Endowed Director for PORPP. In May 2015, the successful search concluded with the selection of Anirban Basu, Ph.D.

At the time, Basu was a Professor of Health Services and an Adjunct Professor of Pharmacy and Economics. He continues affiliations with Health Services and Economics and co-directs the Program in Health Economics and Outcome Methodology (PHEnOM), a joint program between Departments of Health Services and PORPP. “He is a well-established researcher and mentor,” said Lingtak-Neander Chan, Interim Chair for the Department of Pharmacy. “His work in comparative effectiveness and health economics research is internationally recognized.”

Shortly after his appointment, Basu, Veenstra, and Josh Carlson got word of their $3M grant, funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of NIH. They will develop a comprehensive toolkit of pragmatic value of information approaches and the corresponding software that can readily be used by clinical researchers and funders to estimate the value of randomized clinical trials.

“Dr. Basu is an incredible, dynamic leader and one of the brightest minds in the field. He is just the right person to take PORPP to its next level of growth: continuing its stability by creating opportunities for our junior faculty, students, and post-docs; growing partnerships with industry; and informing public policy with world-class research.”—Sean Sullivan

The future of PORPP is bright and wide open, poised to address many global and national challenges: from continued opportunities to inform national policy, to creating research to support the implementation of the Affordable Care Act and triple aim health care, to guiding best practices with the increase in personalized medicines, to understanding how human behavior affects medication adherence and clinical results, to the rise of technology in healthcare, to growing the international platform and linking with the important work done in the Global Medicines Program. “There are so many career paths for our graduates. It’s more important than ever that they understand the global marketplace,” notes Stergachis.

“I feel very fortunate to be selected as the director of PORPP. I think so highly of the PORPP faculty and students. We are primed to make excellent strides in the coming years in the field, including and beyond pharmaceuticals. I am excited to work with the faculty and students and see what we can do together in the next five to ten years.”—Anirban Basu

Apply to the Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Outcomes Research and Policy

Apply to the MS in Biomedical Regulatory Affairs (BRAMS)

Link to Department of Pharmacy archived news

Zhang named inaugural Ji-Ping Wang Endowed Fellow

Ji-Ping Fellow Faye Zhang with donor Si Luo
Ji-Ping Fellow Faye Zhang with donor Si Luo

The inaugural Ji-Ping Wang Fellow is Faye Zhang in the Department of Pharmaceutics. Faye Zhang (pictured left) received her B.S. in Pharmaceutics from China Pharmaceutical University and M.S. in Biostatistics from University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She entered the UW Pharmaceutics Ph.D. program in 2010 and joined Dr. Jashvant D. Unadkat’s lab for her thesis research. Faye’s research focuses on understanding the gestational age-dependent changes in drug disposition in pregnant women and their fetuses. She was the 2013 FDA Center for Drug Evaluation and Research ORISE Fellowship recipient.

The Endowment’s namesake, Ji-Ping Wang, ’87, ’92, passed away almost two decades ago in 1997 at the age of 48. At the time, she was a Ph.D. candidate working in Unadkat’s lab. Her husband, Si (Alex) Luo (pictured right), said the time she was working in the lab was “the happiest she had ever been,” and that Ji-Ping was so excited to work towards her Ph.D. at the UW.

Ji-Ping and Alex came to the U.S. and worked odd jobs to support her through school. She earned her B.S. from the UW School of Pharmacy in 1987. She went on to receive her M.S. in Pharmaceutics in 1992, working under Jash’s direction. Her master’s thesis was titled “Renal Tubular Secretion of Tiacarcillin in Cystic Fibrosis.” After earning her master’s, she worked for a number of years as a pharmacist, but missed research. She decided to come back to the UW and pursue her Ph.D., and return to her roots as a Research Scientist in Jash’s lab.

“I remember Ji-Ping fondly, as an excellent student who, without question, would have successfully completed her Ph.D. and become a wonderful research scientist in the field,” Unadkat said. It is fitting that Faye Zhang and future researchers will carry Ji-Ping’s spirit of excellence and passion for research into the profession.

Interested in applying for an MS or PhD in Pharmaceutics? Click here.

Examining the Economic Consequences of Adrenocorticotropic Hormone Therapy (ACTH) in Infantile Spasms and Multiple Sclerosis Relapse

PORPP Faculty Member Ryan Hansen and Research Team Present Findings at the 12th World Congress on Inflammation in Boston, Massachusetts

Ryan HansenUW School of Pharmacy Research Assistant Professor Ryan Hansen, along with Patricia Schepman, John Niewoehner, Michael Philbin, and Kavitha Damal of Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals, are presenting study findings in two posters at the 12th World Congress on Inflammation (August 8-12, 2015). The posters look at the health economic outcomes of H.P. Acthar® Gel in treating Infantile Spasms and Multiple Sclerosis relapses. Patients in both studies were identified by using the Truven Health Analytics MarketScan® commercial and Medicaid claims and encounters databases.

Infantile Spasms (IS) Findings

Infantile spasms (IS) typically occur within the first year of life. Children with IS frequently experience spasms, hypsarrhythmia and psychomotor retardation. Acthar is an adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) analogue that is FDA approved for the treatment of IS. Long-term prognosis of IS patients, specifically neurodevelopmental outcomes, is relatively poor.

The team studied the impact of ACTH therapy on patient outcomes by comparing the economic consequences of initiating ACTH early (within 30 days of IS diagnosis) with that of late ACTH treatment (> 30 days after diagnosis). A total of 259 IS patients <2 years old were identified; 76 percent of patients used ACTH early and 24 percent of patients were late users of ACTH.

The researchers estimated and compared the healthcare resource use and costs (inpatient, outpatient, and pharmacy) separately for patients in the two groups and found that the economic burden was lower for patients who received ACTH early: 16 percent fewer outpatient visits and 15 percent reduction in overall healthcare resource use. Unadjusted 12-month total outpatient costs (excluding the costs of administering ACTH) for early users were 30 percent lower, as were the total medication costs. Additionally, the relative rate ratio of outpatient visits, overall healthcare resource utilization, and total medication costs (excluding ACTH costs) were significantly lower in early ACTH users.

The team concluded that the economic consequences of treating patients with ACTH within 30 days of IS diagnosis may be associated with decreases in overall healthcare resource use, outpatient visits and total medication costs. The team notes that future studies are needed with a larger cohort of IS patients to ensure statistical significance and to examine the economic outcomes among patients who receive ACTH compared to other IS treatments.

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Findings

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune, neuro-inflammatory disorder characterized by acute exacerbations (‘relapses’), interspersed between remissions. MS relapses impose a heavy economic burden on society and are commonly treated with intravenous methylprednisolone (IVMP), and for some difficult-to-manage relapses, other hormonal therapies such as repository corticotropin injection (ACTH, Acthar), intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) and plasmapheresis (PMP). In this study, the team explored the economic burden accrued among MS patients with difficult to treat relapses comparing the health resource utilization, outcomes, and costs in patients who received ACTH versus IVIG or PMP.

Acthar Gel
Acthar Gel

A total of 439 Patients with ≥ 2 MS relapse episodes between 2007 and 2012 were identified; the first relapse was treated with IVMP and subsequent relapses were treated with ACTH, IVIG, or PMP. 49 percent of patients were treated with ACTH and 51 percent patients with IVIG/PMP for their second relapse. Of those, 228 had 24 months of continuous follow-up data, among whom 42 percent received ACTH and 58 percent received IVIG/PMP for their second relapse.

Through their analysis, the team found that patients who were treated with ACTH had significantly fewer hospitalizations and outpatient visits in the first 12 months, resulting in lower inpatient and outpatient costs, and similar total costs at one year. Additionally, total costs were still similar between the two groups in adjusted analyses. The findings of reduced outpatient services and costs and comparable total costs were consistent among the subgroups with 24 months of continuous follow-up data.

Difficult to manage MS relapses pose a challenge to clinicians and patients. In this analysis, the team found that treating these relapses with ACTH may be associated with decreased resource use and incur similar costs as IVIG or PMP, thereby supporting the value of ACTH in MS relapse.

 

Link to Department of Pharmacy archived news

UW-led team to develop innovative HIV treatment lasting at least 7 days

New regimen would make it easier for patients and potentially clear residual virus

Pharmaceutics Professor Rodney Ho
Pharmaceutics Professor Rodney Ho

 

An interdisciplinary team led by Professors Rodney JY Ho of the UW School of Pharmacy and Ann Collier of the UW School of Medicine received $14M from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to develop a long-lasting (7-day) therapy for HIV. The two co-Principal Investigators and the team will develop innovative treatments to overcome limitations of current oral drug therapies. The UM1 NIH grant is one of first that the NIH recently awarded as part of its key initiatives to address unmet medical need in HIV/AIDS. Dr. Ho was a recipient of the Milo Gibaldi Endowed Professorship, which funded part of the research in developing this program.

The HIV virus is a formidable opponent for researchers. It constantly mutates, making it harder to create drugs for prevention and treatment. HIV lives not only in the blood stream, but in tissues, making it hard to eradicate from the body. It is possible to greatly reduce the presence of the virus in the blood, but finding a way to reduce its presence in tissues has been significantly more challenging.

While current drug combination therapies have significantly improved the length and quality of patient life, they present two main challenges: 1) they must be taken one or more times a day lifelong; and 2) they are not as effective at removing residual viruses from tissues.

Taking treatment as prescribed, known as medication adherence, can be a challenge for many patients. A 2004 study showed that while over 80 percent of HIV patients take their medications as prescribed, two-thirds of older patients who missed a dose said they ‘simply forgot.’ As former surgeon general C. Everett Koop famously said, “Drugs don’t work in patients who don’t take them.”

Dr. Ann Collier of UW Medicine
Dr. Ann Collier of UW Medicine

With the global, U.S. and Washington state goals to eliminate HIV transmission and end the HIV/AIDS epidemic, achieving treatment success for all infected persons is an important component. If adherence is poor, HIV can develop resistance to antiretroviral drugs, which in turn means that higher drug levels or different drugs are needed. Insufficient drug levels may also occur in some tissues. These issues may lead to treatment failure with subsequent progression of HIV to AIDS.

The UW’s new Targeted Long-Acting Combination Antiretroviral Therapy (TLC-ART) Program is an innovative, translational medicine research designed to leverage existing knowledge and a world-class interdisciplinary team of academic, NIH, and industry researchers to deliver new, safe, stable, scalable, and tolerable antiretroviral combination treatments for HIV infection.

Based on the discovery at UW that some antiretroviral medications taken by mouth do not provide sufficient drug exposure and are linked to residual HIV replication, a team led by Drs. Ho and Collier developed the TLC-ART Program that has now received support from the NIH.

The Program has multiple projects designed to interact in a coordinated and collaborative way with the focused goal of producing injectable drug combinations that will achieve effective drug levels lasting more than seven days. In addition to laboratory-based research, the Program incorporates innovative behavioral science studies that will gather information from potential users of long-acting antiretroviral treatments.

Long-acting antiretroviral treatment would provide a new option to help improve patient adherence, especially for those with adherence challenges. With the ability to direct drugs to lymphoid tissue and potentially overcome drug insufficiency in tissues, this research may also help eliminate residual virus.

“We started out very early on in the battle against HIV/AIDS to find a treatment or a vaccine, but it continued to elude us. It is more than likely that a systems approach using innovative drug targeting to cell and tissue along with boosting of patients’ immune system may lead to a cure,” said Dr. Ho. “We cannot do this work alone and I look forward to collaborating with our partners and especially Dr. Collier, who has over 25 years of clinical trials experience.”

“Collaboration among researchers with many different types of expertise and with the affected community has led to major advances in treatment for HIV and I am optimistic that the TLC-ART Program will continue to advance treatment options,” said Dr. Collier.

The TLC-ART Program has investigators from the UW Schools of Pharmacy and Medicine, Fred Hutch, Seattle Children’s Research Institute, the Washington National Primate Research Center, as well as Harborview Medical Center, and will leverage resources of the UW/Fred Hutch Center for AIDS Research and the UW Institute of Translational Health Sciences.

Research reported in this press release  was supported by National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) UM1 large-scale research program of the National Institutes of Health under award number  UM1AI120176. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.
A version of this story also appeared in UW Health Science NewsBeat

Link to Pharmaceutics archived news

Ragueneau-Majlessi named UW CoMotion Presidential Innovation Fellow

2015 CoMotion Presidential Innovation Fellow Isabelle Ragueneau-Majlessi
2015 CoMotion Presidential Innovation Fellow Isabelle Ragueneau-Majlessi

UW School of Pharmacy Pharmaceutics Clinical Professor Isabelle Ragueneau-Majlessi has been named a UW CoMotion Presidential Innovation Fellow for 2015. The prestigious fellowship program debuted in 2011 to foster entrepreneurial thinking across UW.

Ragueneau-Majlessi is the co-author of the Drug-Drug Interaction (DIDB) and Pharmacogenetic (e-PKGene) Knowledgebase Applications, Principal Investigator and Director of the Drug Interaction Database program. She joined the faculty of the Department of Pharmaceutics as Clinical Associate Professor in 2009. Her publications look at drug-drug interactions (DDIs), drug disposition and clinical pharmacology, and the regulatory framework and clinical relevance of drug interactions.

The focus of her fellowship work will be to share her experience with the Database platform, which has been fully run at the University for almost 15 years through a successful licensing program.

Ragueneau-Majlessi was delighted to learn about the fellowship and the opportunity to become an active member of the University innovation community. In her Drug-Drug Interaction work, she is interested in continuing expanding the impact of the Database program within and outside the University. She strongly believes that the Database could, in the coming years, become a source of high-quality, unbiased information for clinically-oriented platforms and services, as part of a larger effort to promote drug safety.

Ragueneau-Majlessi earned her medical degree from St Antoine University in Paris, France, and specialized in Clinical Pharmacology. She designed and supervised clinical studies in the private sector and in academia for over six years, and started working at the University of Washington in 1999, first as a Research Associate, and then Principal Research Scientist and Project Manager for the Drug Interaction Database. She also graduated from the University of Washington’s Master’s Degree Program in Biomedical Regulatory Affairs in 2010.

UW Interim President Ana Mari Cauce announced the appointment of Ragueneau-Majlessi and 16 new members to the university’s prestigious CoMotion Presidential Innovation Fellows program. This year’s appointees join ten continuing fellows previously selected for success in fostering a culture of innovation at UW by initiating groundbreaking programs, collaborating with industry and sharing their ideas, knowledge and entrepreneurial thinking with other UW innovators.

“These 17 faculty members are an integral part of our innovation ecosystem and have encouraged industry, business and other academic institutions to take notice of UW and to consider us first when seeking partnerships to help address some of our world’s most challenging problems,” Cauce said.

Throughout their two-year terms, the 17 new fellows will serve as mentors to other UW faculty, researchers and staff pursuing entrepreneurial aspirations, and also share their experiences at campus innovation events. At the end of the term, fellows are encouraged to continue participation in the program and to serve as program and activity advisors to CoMotion.

“I am delighted to have the latest set of innovators at UW join the CoMotion Presidential Innovation Fellows,” said Vikram Jandhyala, UW Vice Provost for Innovation and Executive Director of CoMotion. “These innovation leaders exemplify what the UW and CoMotion are trying to build — scalable impact of the UW community for the benefit of all. I am proud to be able to work with such creative and innovative minds and welcome them to the broader innovation community.”

Link to Pharmaceutics archived news

Scenes from Commencement 2015

Dean Sean D. Sullivan presents class speaker Nancy Denini with her PharmD degree
Dean Sean D. Sullivan presents class speaker Nancy Denini with her PharmD degree Photo: Alex Levine Photography

Friday was a day of recognition and celebration! Over 100 graduate and PharmD students received their degrees and began a new phase in their professional careers.

Associate Dean Peggy Odegard presents Adrian Hughes with the Dean's Club Humanitarian Award
Associate Dean Peggy Odegard presents Adrian Hughes with the Dean’s Club Humanitarian Award Photo: Alex Levine Photography

Associate Dean Peggy Odegard welcomed the graduates telling them, “We are so proud of each of you. Completing a post-graduate degree at the University of Washington is not for the faint of heart. As faculty, we sought to challenge you. And you rose to the challenge, often exceeding our expectations. Know that when you exit this room, you leave with our confidence in your abilities in the profession and science of pharmacy.”

 

Professor and Dean Sean D. Sullivan
Professor and Dean Sean D. Sullivan Photo: Alex Levine Photography

“I hope you will become leaders in your chosen field,” Professor and Dean Sean D. Sullivan told the graduates in his address. “Everyone sitting on this stage is here to help you – have their numbers on speed dial. Know that you will always be a part of our Husky family and that I am proud of you.”

UW SOP Faculty
UW School of Pharmacy Faculty Photo: Alex Levine Photography

 

More images from the 2015 Graduate Recognition Ceremony

 

Alumnus Ryan Oftebro presents the Alumni Professional Excellence Award to Nancy Denini
Alumnus Ryan Oftebro presents the Alumni Professional Excellence Award to Nancy Denini Photo: Alex Levine Photography

 

2015 Plein Geriatric Pharmacy Certificate Recognition
2015 Plein Geriatric Pharmacy Certificate Recognition Photo: Alex Levine Photography

 

Plein Geriatric Pharmacy Faculty
Plein Geriatric Pharmacy Faculty Photo: Alex Levine Photography

 

Faculty Members Don Downing, Shabir Somani, John Horn, and Andy Stergachis
Faculty Members Don Downing, Shabir Somani, John Horn, and Andy Stergachis Photo: Alex Levine Photography

 

Faculty Member Joy Plein
Faculty Member Joy Plein Photo: Alex Levine Photography

 

2015-sop-graduation-18
Photo: Alex Levine Photography
Faculty Members Jennifer Danielson and Teresa O'Sullivan
Faculty Members Jennifer Danielson and Teresa O’Sullivan Photo: Alex Levine Photography

 

PORPP Students Ready for Graduation!
PORPP Students Ready for Graduation! Photo: Alex Levine

Hansen study finds for new users, sleeping pills may double car crash risk

UW School of Pharmacy Research Assistant Professor Ryan Hansen, PhD, PharmD
There’s a public safety concern that we want health providers and the general public to be aware of,” said Ryan Hansen, shown holding the prescription drugs involved in the study.

Three prescription sleeping aids are associated with an increase in motor vehicle crashes, according to a study by the University of Washington School of Pharmacy and the Group Health Research Institute. The research was published today in the American Journal of Public Health.

The research, led by Ryan Hansen, ’03, ’12, UW assistant professor of pharmacy, found that the risk of motor vehicle crashes was nearly double among new users of the medications temazepam (Restoril), zolpidem (Ambien, Ambien CR) and trazodone (Desyrel).

Dissertations don’t typically make the evening news. However, Ryan Hansen’s study on the impact of sleeping aids on motor vehicle accidents was not only published in the American Journal of Public Health in June 2015, it was featured in an NBC Nightly News broadcast.

The study grew out of a conversation with a family friend when Hansen was seeking a dissertation topic some years ago. The friend said that he had taken a sleep aid the night before, woke up in the kitchen, and noticed a bite was taken from a piece of raw pork in the fridge.

“As a pharmacist and a researcher, that had me wondering about the affect these sleep aids have and how we might measure their impact.”–Ryan Hansen, Assistant Professor, The CHOICE Institute at UWSOP

Ryan identified a way to link motor vehicle crash records with prescription drug data and identified a trend among people who had new sleep-aid prescriptions for these three drugs. Three prescription sleeping aids are associated with an increase in motor vehicle crashes, according to his research in collaboration the Group Health Research Institute. They found the risk of motor vehicle crashes was nearly double among new users of the medications temazepam (Restoril), zolpidem (Ambien, Ambien CR) and trazodone (Desyrel).

Study participants met the following criteria: had a drug benefit through Group Health Cooperative; were between 21 and 79 years old; were Washington state residents; and had Washington state driving licenses. The population’s medical encounters and prescription records were combined with Washington state driver’s license records and motor vehicle crash records.

For new users of all three prescriptions, exposure nearly doubled the risk of vehicle crashes. For new users, the increased risk could last for up to one year of continuous prescriptionfilling. Among the three drugs analyzed, temazepam appeared to offer the least risk for motor vehicle crashes, but may have other associated risks for some patients.

“Depending on an individual’s need to drive regularly, combined with a medical indication for sedative use, the choice of a particular sedative may affect the risk of crashing,” the scientists wrote. “Prescribers, pharmacists and patients should discuss this potential risk and consider the implications of this analysis when selecting a sedative hypnotic medication.”

“There are many approaches to the management of insomnia, including lifestyle changes such as cutting caffeine intake and exercising, which may alleviate the insomnia without medications,” Hansen said. “There’s a public safety concern that we want health providers and the general public to be aware of.”

The team emphasized the need for additional research to evaluate the risks and associations between overall medication use and traffic crashes. Noted Hansen: “People with questions or concerns about a new sleep aid prescription should talk with their physician, pharmacist, or health provider to understand the risks.”

Dr. Hansen interviewed by NBC News

NBC News coverage

Advance your career in patient-centered outcomes research at the University of Washington. Learn more about our Graduate Programs in Pharmaceutical Outcomes Research and Policy in The CHOICE Institute at UWSOP.

Link to Department of Pharmacy archived news

SB 5557 Expands Patient Access to Care in Washington

UW School of Pharmacy Students and Faculty at the Governor's Signing of SB 5557 on May 11, 2015
UW School of Pharmacy Faculty and Students  at the Governor’s Signing of SB 5557 on May 11, 2015

An Historic Day in Washington

Washington will be the first state in the country to require that pharmacists are included in health insurance provider networks under new legislation (SB 5557) signed by Governor Inslee on Monday, May 11, 2015. This law will increase patient access to medical care from pharmacists practicing within their scope of practice, just like nurse practitioners and physician assistants. This care means that patients will have access to covered benefits provided by pharmacists. Good news, especially for people in rural or underserved locations and those dealing with a chronic illness. Full story from UW’s Health Science NewsBeat: Law gives state’s pharmacists compensated-provider status

Institute for Innovative Pharmacy Practice (I2P2) Impact

I2P2 Endowed Clinical Professor Don Downing
I2P2 Endowed Clinical Prof. Don Downing

UW School of Pharmacy’s I2P2 Endowed Clinical Professor Don Downing has advocated for this change for over 15 years. “Ideally, 20 years from now the pharmacist will be a fully integrated member of your healthcare team,” Downing said. “Your pharmacist would refer you back to your physician regularly as appropriate, freeing physicians to do their best work, including acute care and diagnostics. As a patient, you will benefit from the full experience and specialized knowledge of your complete health team.” The I2P2 endowment was established by UW alumni who are passionate about innovative pharmacy practices.

Innovation in Pharmacy: A Washington Tradition

UW Pharmacy faculty have established other practice standards that have won widespread acceptance, including collaborative agreements for pharmacists prescribing under limited authority, providing Plan B emergency contraception (nine states), and pharmacist-provided vaccinations (all 50 states). Downing, working with UW Pharmacy faculty and students, have lead these innovations in pharmacy practice. In 2014, he won the Felicia Stewart Award for Lifetime Achievement for his career-long commitment to increasing patient access to emergency contraception.

SB 5557 Resources

We have a host of resources to help you understand what this milestone legislation means. Bookmark this page—we will continue to add to this list as items emerge!

Washington Pharmacists Gain Medical Provider Status provides an overview of the changes coming to pharmacy practice in the state of Washington beginning in 2016

Washington State Pharmacy Association, stay up to date on the latest news about SB 5557 (note: some pages require membership/registration to access)

Marcie Sillman of KUOW’s The Record interviewed UW School of Pharmacy’s I2P2 Endowed Clinical Professor Don Downing about what SB 5557 means for the average person

UW360 profiled Don Downing not too long ago and he talked about what it would mean for pharmacists to have provider status in health insurance networks

PORPP Researchers Receive $3 Million Grant to Develop VOI methods to Prioritize NHLBI trials

PORPP Dir & Prof Anirban Basu
PORPP Dir & Prof Anirban Basu

Three faculty members from the Pharmaceutical Outcomes Research and Policy Program (PORPP) and two faculty from the Division of Cardiology received a $3 million grant to develop a comprehensive toolkit of pragmatic value of information (VOI) approaches and the corresponding software that can readily be used by clinical researchers and funders to estimate the a-priori value of RCTs. Stergachis Family Professor of Pharmacy and Director of PORPP, Anirban Basu, is the principal investigator of the four-year project, which is being funded by the NHLBI. Assistant Professor of Pharmacy Josh Carlson and Professor of Pharmacy Dave Veenstra are key co-investigators for the project, along with Drs. Kelley Branch and Jeff Probstfield from the Division of Cardiology.

PORPP Prof Dave Veenstra
PORPP Prof Dave Veenstra

Like many other National Institutes of Health, the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) faces major challenges in determining how best to allocate investments in randomized clinical trials (RCTs). Funding prioritization decisions rely on scientific literature, systematic reviews, meta-analyses and expert opinion to assess potential impact and design of proposed clinical trials and studies. This process likely fails to consistently account for 1) uncertainty around medical decisions, 2) health impact of making optimal treatment decisions, and 3) population level return on investment.  These challenges are particularly acute for the NHLBI because of the breadth of interventions and size of the potential population impact within its disease areas.  Novel approaches in decision science can provide valuable information to enhance the RCT prioritization process at NHLBI.

PORPP Asst Prof Josh Carlson
PORPP Asst Prof Josh Carlson

“We would develop a checklist that would indicate the feasibility of applying these methods to a proposed RCT,” said Basu. “When feasible, our software can enable researchers to demonstrate the expected population value of conducting this trial. When not, it would inform NHLBI that more nuanced discussions are needed to better understand the expected returns from the proposed research.”

Basu and the team will be conducting a broad range of health economics and outcomes research-based research activities. First, they will develop a hierarchy of commonly used end-points in HLB research based on the ease with which these endpoints could be translated to comprehensive population outcome measures such as overall survival and quality-adjusted life years. They will then develop a stakeholder-informed checklist that accounts for this hierarchy and informs researchers whether it is feasible to estimate the expected population value of a proposed trial using pragmatic VOI methods.

They will also develop a variety of pragmatic VOI methods based on simplified mathematical simulation models, building on their prior work in this area. These methods will be showcased in a user friendly web-based software as a proof-of-concept to perform these calculations for an RCT based on inputs received from NHLBI stakeholders.

“We think that the demonstration of these methods in the context of NHLBI trials can really add to the repertoire of tools that funders have to make informed decisions about prioritizing research studies” said Basu. “In the long-run, these methods could be extended to many other areas of research and hopefully help build a more robust portfolio of research investments in the United States and abroad.”

Link to Department of Pharmacy archived news

PORPP Alumnus Joseph Babigumira Featured on Whole U Faculty Friday

Image of PORPP Alumnus and UW faculty member Joseph Babigumira
PORPP Alumnus Joseph Babigumira

We are so proud of University of Washington School of Pharmacy PORPP alumnus Joseph Babigumira, featured today in the The Whole U Faculty Friday profile!

Learn more about how he brings together his medical training, outcomes research, and passion for public health in resource deprived areas. He’s able to make a difference teaching here at University of Washington and through research and small-scale pilot projects, including a gaming app for HIV prevention, in Africa.

Read the full story on the Whole U site.

Link to Department of Pharmacy archived news

Students Duong and Heeney Receive National Recognition for Script Your Future Campaign

image of PharmD students Arianne Duong and Stephanie Heeney
PharmD students Arianne Duong and Stephanie Heeney

Earlier this year, PharmD students, Arianne Duong and Stephanie Heeney, collaborated with other health sciences students and created a campaign to raise awareness about the importance of medication adherences.

Their campaign, which included radio spots (listen), UW Health Science bus ads, individual outreach, video, and social media, was named a Finalist in the National Award category!

The Script Your Future campaign is a competition designed to engage health profession students and faculty across the nation by encouraging teams to develop creative ideas, events, and initiatives to raise public awareness about the importance of medication adherence.

The campaign included more than 135 public and private stakeholder organizations, including Challenge sponsors—the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP), the National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS) Foundation, the American Medical Association (AMA), the National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA), the American Pharmacists Association (APhA) and the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN).

Congratulations to Arianne, Stephanie and the UW Script Your Future team for your well-deserved recognition!

Link to Department of Pharmacy archived news

James Lin Wins NCPA Outstanding Student Member of the Year

Image of I2P2 Endowed Clinical Professor Don Downing with NCPA Student of the Year James Lin
I2P2 Endowed Clinical Professor Don Downing with NCPA 2015 Outstanding Student Member of the Year James Lin

Congratulations to James Lin, PharmD, ’16, on being selected as the National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) Outstanding Student Member of the Year for 2015!

I2P2 Endowed Clinical Professor Don Downing presented the award to James at the May meeting of the UW School of Pharmacy Practice Board. James represents a great tradition in UW Pharmacy’s training and development of community pharmacy leaders.

In 2014, James and a cohort of student colleagues developed a business plan for Fairhaven Pharmacy, in the community of Fairhaven, an historic part of Bellingham. Their plan garnered them a top 10 placement in the national business plan competition held annually by NCPA.

To promote interest in independent community pharmacy ownership, the National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) and the NCPA Foundation have established the Good Neighbor Pharmacy NCPA Pruitt-Schutte Student Business Plan Competition. The goal of the Competition is to motivate pharmacy students to create the blueprint necessary for buying an existing independent community pharmacy or to develop a new pharmacy. The competition links generations of pharmacists and allows opportunities to learn from each other.

The team put in countless hours of work and many trips to Bellingham to create a plan that would continue to grow the pharmacy while honoring its roots in the community. “Normally, students have to use fictional pharmacies to make their case, but the owner of Fairhaven Pharmacy, also a UW Pharmacy alumnus, Robin Johansen generously shared information with our students. They were working with real data which makes the project more compelling,” said faculty advisor Don Downing. At the conclusion of that project, James reflected, “Working on this project made me more motivated than I already was to own my own community pharmacy one day and better understand the factors I need to consider in choosing a pharmacy.”

We are so proud of James’ NCPA award as Outstanding Student Member! Congratulations!

Link to Department of Pharmacy archived news

Anirban Basu Named Director of PORPP

Image of Anirban Basu PhD
Anirban Basu, Ph.D., Professor & Director of PORPP Photo: Alex Levine Photography

In May 2015, Anirban Basu, PhD, was named the next Stergachis Family Endowed Director of Pharmaceutical Outcomes Research & Policy Program (PORPP) in the Department of Pharmacy at the UW School of Pharmacy.

Dr. Basu was a Professor of Health Services and an Adjunct Professor of Pharmacy and Economics, and will maintain the affiliations with Health Services and Economics going forward. He will also co-direct of Program in Health Economics and Outcome Methodology (PHEnOM), a joint program between Departments of Health Services and PORPP. He is a faculty research fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research, and is an Associate Editor for the journals Health Economics, Journal of Health Economics and Observational Studies. He has taught courses on decision analysis, cost-effectiveness analysis and health services research methods.

“He is a well-established researcher and mentor,” said Lingtak Chan, Interim Chair for the Department of Pharmacy. “His work in comparative effectiveness and health economics research is internationally recognized.”

Dr. Basu has received numerous recognitions for his work throughout his career – the NARSAD Wodecroft Young Investigator Award (2005), the Research Excellence Award for Methodological Excellence (2007) and the Bernie O’Brien New Investigator Award (2009) from the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research, the Alan Williams Health Economics Fellowship (2008) from the University of York, UK and the Labelle Lectureship in Health Economics (2009) from McMaster University, Canada.

He completed his undergraduate work in Pharmaceutical Sciences at Jadavpur University in India and then a master’s at the University of Toledo. From there, he delved into Biostatistics at UNC Chapel Hill and earned his doctorate in Public Policy and Health Economics at the University of Chicago, looking at the theoretical foundation of cost effectiveness analysis.

“I feel very fortunate to be selected as the director of PORPP. I think so highly of the PORPP faculty and students,” commented Dr. Basu. “We are primed to make excellent strides in the coming years in the field and I am excited to work with the faculty and students in PORPP and see what we can do together in the next five to ten years.”

In his first six months, Dr. Basu says he will focus on learning the intricacies of the program as PORPP celebrates its 20th anniversary. “I want for us to cherish this milestone year as we look to the future,” he said.

Lou Garrison voted President-elect of ISPOR

We congratulate Pharmaceutical Outcomes Research & Policy Program (PORPP) Professor Lou Garrison who was voted President-elect for the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR). He will serve a three year term.

PORPP Interim Director Lou Garrison, Ph.D.
PORPP Professor Lou Garrison, Ph.D.

“The growth in numbers and the geographic and disciplinary diversity of ISPOR over the past 20 years has been phenomenal, owing to the vision and energy of our founding executive Dr. Marilyn Dix Smith, who is leaving ISPOR with strong new leadership, a superb staff, and a solid financial foundation,” said Garrison. “I am extremely grateful for the opportunities that ISPOR has given me over the past 20 years.  I am highly honored to serve as ISPOR President.”

Dr. Garrison joined the School of Pharmacy faculty in 2004. During 2012 to 2013, he is on sabbatical as visiting senior research fellow at the Office of Health Economics in London. In the 12 years before joining UW, he worked as an economist in the pharmaceutical industry. From 2002 to 2004, he was vice president and head of health economics and strategic pricing at Roche Pharmaceuticals in Basel, Switzerland. He oversaw the development of the economic and pricing strategies, and research plans for all Roche compounds. Prior to this, he was director of the Project HOPE Center for Health Affairs, where he worked on a wide variety of health policy issues, including studies of healthcare reform in the U.S. and overseas. Before this, he worked at the Battelle Human Affairs Research Centers in Seattle, where he carried out studies of the adequacy of physician manpower supply and the cost-effectiveness of kidney and heart transplantation.

Dr. Garrison’s research interests include national and international health policy issues related to pharmacogenomics and personalized medicine, regulatory benefit-risk analysis, insurance, pricing, reimbursement and risk-sharing agreements, as well as the economic evaluation of pharmaceuticals, diagnostics, devices, surgical procedures, and vaccines, particularly as related to organ transplantation, renal disease, influenza, measles, obesity and cancer. He previously served on the Board of Directors of the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR). He currently chairs the ISPOR Health Science Policy Council.

Link to Department of Pharmacy archived news

Joshua Roth Awarded 2015 ISPOR Applied Paper of the Year

On Tuesday, May 19, 2015, PORPP PhD and Current K12 Scholar, Joshua A Roth, will receive the ISPOR Applied Paper of the Year. The award for his paper titled “Economic return from the Women’s Health Initiative estrogen plus progestin clinical trials modeling study” (Annals of Internal Medicine,  2014 May 6;160:594-602) will be presented at the Second Plenary session Tuesday morning.

Image of PORPP Annual Retreat, 2015
PORPP Annual Retreat, 2015

UW will have a strong presence at the 20th Annual ISPOR meeting in Philadelphia. Use the  PDF below to find us!

UW_PORPP_at_2015_ISPOR

Breaking News!

We are so proud of our faculty, alumni and students who have received formal recognition at ISPOR 2015!

Best podium by student – Kai Yeung
Best podium by new investigator – Aasthaa Bansal
Best poster by new investigator – Julia Slejko
Best poster (general) – Chris Wallick (SOP alumnus)
PhRMA 2015 pre-doctoral fellowship – William Canestero
PhRMA 2015 new investigator fellowship – Aasthaa Bansal

 

Link to Department of Pharmacy archived news

State of Washington first in pharmacy, again

Washington will be the first state in the country to require that pharmacists are included in health insurance provider networks under new legislation (SB 5557) signed by Governor Inslee on Monday, May 11, 2015. Pharmacists will be compensated for the patient care they provide within their scope of practice, just like nurse practitioners and physician assistants—improving patient access to care.

Lee lab pursues clues to HIV, flu in the moment of infection

Image of Nancy Horn and James Williams work with Med Chem Asst Professor Kelly Lee
Nancy Horn and James Williams work with Med Chem Asst Professor Kelly Lee Photo: Alex Levine Photography

In a basement lab deep within the Magnuson Health Sciences Building, a group of scientists works to decode the mysteries of two deadly viruses: influenza and HIV. Led by Kelly Lee, assistant professor of medicinal chemistry in the School of Pharmacy, they examine the viral fusion proteins found on the outside of “enveloped viruses” – viruses with membranes.

Kelly Lee is an assistant professor of medicinal chemistry in the School of Pharmacy. These proteins activate the fusion of disease-causing pathogens and host cells. During fusion, enveloped viruses merge their membranes with those of host cells to penetrate, and infect, the cell.

Proteins attached to the HIV virus membrane attempt to fuse with host cells.
Proteins attached to the HIV virus membrane attempt to fuse with host cells. Photo: ThinkStock

“We know how the proteins look before they carry out their function,” Lee said, “but we need to understand the structural changes that occur during fusion.”

By doing so, the lab hopes to develop more effective vaccines that will work with the body’s immune system to recognize and neutralize the harmful viruses.

Read the full story on UW’s Health Science NewsBeat.

Link to Medicinal Chemistry archived news

Solving Bietti’s Crystalline Dystrophy is mission of Pharmaceutics Prof Kelly

Image of Professor Ed Kelly and Graduate Student Cate Lockhart
Pharmaceutics Associate Professor Ed Kelly discusses BCD with graduate student Cate Lockhart, PharmD, ’13 Photo: Alex Levine Photography

Department of Pharmaceutics Associate Professor Ed Kelly and graduate student Cate Lockhart (UW PharmD, ’13) are undaunted by the challenge of researching the rare blinding eye disease, Bietti’s Crystalline Dystrophy (BCD). “Only one in 70,000 people has the disease and no one is doing basic research on BCD except our lab,” Kelly said. As he’s gotten to know people with the disease,  “what began as a curiosity, a ‘What if?’ has become a passion,” he shared. “I really want to find a treatment for this disease. It’s personal now.”

With such a low incidence rate, it is harder to get funding from traditional sources. The team instead is working directly with a patient driven biotechnology company, Reflection Biotechnologies, and has received funding from Institute for Translational Health Sciences (ITHS).

Ed Kelly’s BCD research is also supported by private funding. If you would like to make a gift to support Ed’s research into Bietti’s Crystalline Dystrophy, click here.

 

Read the full story on UW’s Health Science NewsBeat.

Link to Pharmaceutics archived news

Pharmaceutics Ph.D. Student Alenka Jaklic Named Magnuson Scholar

Image of Pharmaceutics Ph.D. Graduate Student Alenka Jaklic
Pharmaceutics Ph.D. Graduate Student, Alenka Jaklic

We are so proud of Pharmaceutics third year Ph.D. student, Alenka Jaklic, this year’s School of Pharmacy Magnuson Scholar!

Alenka has had the unique opportunity to join the start-up of an NIH-funded project aiming to develop a novel microphysiological system (MPS) that recapitulates key aspects of human kidney function, including drug transport and excretion. This research expanded her understanding of proximal tubular epithelial cells (PTEC) in drug excretion, and she realized the critical need to develop predictive models of renal tubular transport in healthy and diseased kidneys in order to improve drug dosing decisions and clinical outcomes.

Dr. Danny Shen, of the Departments of Pharmaceutics and Pharmacy, noted that Alenka “has demonstrated outstanding academic performance and the ability to engage in challenging research work. Alenka is showing all the signs and promise to become a superb research scientist… Alenka’s thesis will represent a nice blend of basic and clinical research that is truly translational with potentially high and long lasting impact.”

In the future Ms. Jaklic hopes to continue to pursue her passions for research and education through a career at an academic institution or clinical and translational institute. Congratulations!

Read more about the UW Health Sciences Magnuson Scholars.

Link to Pharmaceutics archived news

Three Pharmaceutics Graduate Students Selected for Prestigious ITHS TL1 Scholar Award

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Congratulations go to Brian Chapron, Cate Lockhart and Savannah Kerr  and  who were selected as Institute of Translational Health Sciences (ITHS) TL1 scholars starting Summer 2016. They will be participating in curriculum and interdisciplinary clinical and translational training in the program.

Cate will be conducting a pilot study of intravitreal gene therapy in mice that lack the cyp4v3 gene, a genetic cause of Bietti’s crystalline dystrophy. She will be identifying therapeutic vector candidates and evaluate wither these work to either delay or reverse blindness in these mice.

Brian will be doing studies with tacrolimus, a drug used to prevent organ rejection after transplant surgery. He will be doing experiments to understand how kidneys in patients with different CYP3A5 genotypes handle the drug and why some patients are at increased risk for kidney toxicity from tacrolimus treatment.

Lastly, Savannah will be using physiologically-based pharmacokinetic modeling to predict how the concentrations of drug changes following Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery. The ITHS is dedicated to speeding science to the clinic for the benefit of patients and communities throughout Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, and Idaho.

Link to Pharmaceutics archived news

New center to use novel method to screen chemicals’ toxicity

Image of pharmaceutics scientist preparing cell cultures for toxicity testing
Research scientists in the Department of Pharmaceutics prepare cell cultures to test chemicals for their potential risk to humans. Photo: Edward Kelly

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will provide $6 million in seed funding for a Predictive Toxicology Center at the University of Washington, enabling researchers, including Department of Pharmaceutics Associate Professor Edward Kelly, to develop more accurate in vitro models – organ-mimicking cell cultures – to test chemicals for their potential risk to humans and to help accelerate the evaluation of large numbers of chemicals and reduce the need for animal models.

The center’s research is important to establish novel methods that reflect the complexity of biological systems. Elaine Faustman and Terrance Kavanaugh, both UW professors of environmental and occupational health sciences, will co-direct the new center. Kelly will manage the project on the kidney cell culture. “These systems are being used in our lab studies to test drugs with known adverse effects on the kidneys, including antibiotics, chemotherapies, and immunosuppressants,” he said. Kelly is involved in another research collaboration at the UW to get organ models like the intestines, liver, and kidney to work together.

Preliminary testing shows that the device works as a kidney would, expressing critical proteins and demonstrating the polarity characterized by the type of cells found in this organ. “The cells attach, proliferate, and form the same shape they would in a human body and thus replicate many of a kidney’s normal functions,” he said.

Pharmaceutics graduate students in the lab
Graduate students in Pharmaceutics demonstrate how constant flowing media will go through microphysiological systems connected to pumps outside an incubator. Photo: Elijah Weber, Department of Pharmaceutics

When these cells are exposed to a heavy metal, Kelly explained, a “toxicant signature” or biomarker of tissue injury is evident, such as an increased level of protein molecules expressed.

“These systems are being used in our lab studies to test drugs with known adverse effects on the kidneys, including antibiotics, chemotherapies, and immunosuppressants,” he said.

Kelly and Eaton are involved in another research collaboration at the UW to get organ models like the intestines, liver and kidney to work together. That work is funded by the National Institutes of Health. The new EPA-funded Predictive Toxicology Center will build on this work and apply these organ models to assess environmentally relevant chemicals.

After validating these three-dimensional cell cultures using known toxicants, the Predictive Toxicology Center researchers will investigate biomarkers of cell injury or altered function that indicate an adverse outcome from an exposure to those chemicals for which insufficient data exists.

They will then use modeling techniques to assess and predict human health risks, linking laboratory data with human exposure pathways.

The center will use computational models to identify and characterize adverse outcomes from environmental chemicals, focusing on the importance of time of exposure, genetics and oxidative stress as mediators of toxicity. Such an approach will allow for connecting in vitromodel results with human physiological changes and better predict a chemical’s potential for human health effects.

Read more about in Health Science NewsBeat

Link to Pharmaceutics archived news

Higher dementia risk linked to more use of common drugs

Image of UW School of Pharmacy Professor Shelly Gray
UW School of Pharmacy Professor Shelly Gray

Dr. Shelly Gray et. al. found a persistent link between dementia and some medications in a University of Washington/Group Health study published in JAMA Internal Medicine on January 26, 2015. The large study links a significantly increased risk for developing dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease, to taking commonly used medications with anticholinergic effects at higher doses or for a longer time. Many older people take these medications, which include nonprescription diphenhydramine (Benadryl). JAMA Internal Medicine published the report, called “Cumulative Use of Strong Anticholinergic Medications and Incident Dementia.”

The study used more rigorous methods, longer follow-up (more than seven years), and better assessment of medication use via pharmacy records (including substantial nonprescription use) to confirm this previously reported link. It is the first study to show a dose response: linking more risk for developing dementia to higher use of anticholinergic medications. And it is also the first to suggest that dementia risk linked to anticholinergic medications may persist—and may not be reversible even years after people stop taking these drugs.

“Older adults should be aware that many medications—including some available without a prescription, such as over-the-counter sleep aids—have strong anticholinergic effects,” said Shelly Gray, PharmD, MS, the first author of the report, which tracks nearly 3,500 Group Health seniors participating in the long-running Adult Changes in Thought (ACT), a joint Group Health–University of Washington (UW) study funded by the National Institute on Aging. “And they should tell their health care providers about all their over-the-counter use,” she added.

“But of course, no one should stop taking any therapy without consulting their health care provider,” said Dr. Gray, who is a professor, the vice chair of curriculum and instruction, and director of the geriatric pharmacy program at the UW School of Pharmacy. “Health care providers should regularly review their older patients’ drug regimens—including over-the-counter medications—to look for chances to use fewer anticholinergic medications at lower doses.”

For instance, the most commonly used medications in the study were tricyclic antidepressants like doxepin (Sinequan), first-generation antihistamines like chlorpheniramine (Chlor-Trimeton), and antimuscarinics for bladder control like oxybutynin (Ditropan). The study estimated that people taking at least 10 mg/day of doxepin, 4 mg/day of chlorpheniramine, or 5 mg/day of oxybutynin for more than three years would be at greater risk for developing dementia. Dr. Gray said substitutes are available for the first two: a selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitor (SSRI) like citalopram (Celexa) or fluoxitene (Prozac) for depression and a second-generation antihistamine like loratadine (Claritin) for allergies. It’s harder to find alternative medications for urinary incontinence, but some behavioral changes can reduce this problem.

“If providers need to prescribe a medication with anticholinergic effects because it is the best therapy for their patient,” Dr. Gray said, “they should use the lowest effective dose, monitor the therapy regularly to ensure it’s working, and stop the therapy if it’s ineffective.” Anticholinergic effects happen because some medications block the neurotransmitter called acetylcholine in the brain and body, she explained. That can cause many side effects, including drowsiness, constipation, retaining urine, and dry mouth and eyes.

“With detailed information on thousands of patients for many years, the ACT study is a living laboratory for exploring risk factors for conditions like dementia,” said Dr. Gray’s coauthor Eric B. Larson, MD, MPH. “This latest study is a prime example of that work and has important implications for people taking medications—and for those prescribing medications for older patients.” Dr. Larson is the ACT principal investigator, vice president for research at Group Health, and executive director of Group Health Research Institute (GHRI). He is also a clinical professor of medicine at the UW School of Medicine and of health services at the UW School of Public Health.

Some ACT participants agree to have their brains autopsied after they die. That will make it possible to follow up this research by examining whether participants who took anticholinergic medications have more Alzheimer’s-related pathology in their brains compared to nonusers.

Drs. Gray and Larson’s coauthors are Paul Crane, MD, MPH, an associate professor of medicine at the UW School of Medicine, adjunct associate professor of health services at the UW School of Public Health, and affiliate investigator at GHRI; Sascha Dublin, MD, PhD, a Group Health physician, GHRI associate investigator, and affiliate associate professor of epidemiology at the UW School of Public Health; Melissa L. Anderson, MS, and Onchee Yu, MS, senior biostatisticians, and Rod Walker, MS, biostatistician, at GHRI; Joseph T. Hanlon, PharmD, MS, a professor of medicine at the University of Pittsburgh; and Rebecca Hubbard, PhD, an associate Professor of Biostatistics at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, who did this work while on staff at GHRI.

This work was supported by National Institute on Aging NIH Grants U01AG00678 (Dr. Larson), R01AG 027017, R01AG037451, P30AG024827, T32 AG021885, K07AG033174 (Dr. Hanlon), and R03AG042930 (Dr. Dublin) and by the Branta Foundation (Dr. Dublin).

For a list of medications highlighted in the study, please view this story from the AARP Bulletin.

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University of Washington School of Pharmacy

The UW School of Pharmacy is committed to educating the next generation of leaders in pharmacy, pharmaceutical research, and health care—while seeking to ensure the safe, rational, and cost-effective use of medicines. Founded in 1894, the UW School of Pharmacy is ranked #3 in the world according to Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Follow the School of Pharmacy on Facebook or Twitter.

UW Medicine

UW Medicine is part of the University of Washington. Its mission is to improve the health of the public by advancing medical knowledge, providing patient care, and training the next generation of physicians and other health professionals. Its system includes Harborview Medical Center, Northwest Hospital & Medical Center, Valley Medical Center, UW Medical Center, UW Neighborhood Clinics, UW Physicians, UW School of Medicine and Airlift Northwest. UW Medicine is affiliated with Seattle Children’s, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, the Veteran’s Affairs Healthcare System in Seattle, and the Boise VA Medical Center. It shares in the ownership and governance of the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance and Children’s University Medical Group.

Group Health Research Institute

Group Health Research Institute does practical research that helps people like you and your family stay healthy. The Institute is the research arm of Seattle-based Group Health Cooperative, a consumer-governed, nonprofit health care system. Founded in 1947, Group Health Cooperative coordinates health care and coverage. Group Health Research Institute changed its name from Group Health Center for Health Studies in 2009. The Institute has conducted nonproprietary public-interest research on preventing, diagnosing, and treating major health problems since 1983. Government and private research grants provide its main funding. Follow Group Health research on FacebookTwitter, or YouTube.

Joy & Elmer Plein Scholars Advance Geriatric Research

PleinGroup
Pictured left to right: Nanci Murphy, Tope Osiyemi, Ichiko Petrie, Laura Hart, Katelyn Keyloun, and Joy Plein

JOY AND ELMER PLEIN CREATED A LEGACY by establishing two funds for geriatric pharmacy research: the Elmer Plein Research Fund in Pharmacy and the Plein Endowment for Geriatric Pharmacy Research, in addition to a fund to support faculty development.

The Plein Endowment for Geriatric Pharmacy Research is awarded to students engaged in geriatrics research who hold or are working toward a professional pharmacy degree. The first three recipients of this fund graduated in June.

Focusing on two Puget Sound retirement communities served by Pharmacy Cares, the consulting pharmacy developed by the UW School of Pharmacy, Laura Hart, ’14, examined the residents’ and staff’s perceptions of the professional services provided by pharmacy faculty and students. Hart states, “Carrying out this project furthered my passion for geriatric pharmacy and my aspiration to pursue an academic career.” Hart is now a PGY1 Pharmacy Practice Resident at the VA Puget Sound Health Care System in Seattle.

Ichiko Petrie, ’14, looked for connections between medication regimens and the incidence of falls among residents at an assisted-living facility in Seattle. “It struck closer to home when I heard that my paternal grandmother was at the hospital recovering from a fall accident that injured her knee,” said Ichiko. She presented her findings in a poster at the ASCP Annual Meeting with classmate Tope Osiyemi. An editor of a peer-reviewed journal accepted their manuscript proposal. Petrie is currently working at Genelex as a Graduate Pharmacy Intern.

Katelyn Keyloun, ’14, studied Toxoplasmosis, which has been implicated in memory and behavioral changes in the elderly. Thanks to the Plein Endowment, she was able to create targeted compounds that have little activity against human heart cell lines. “My research took on a new meaning and perspective,” she reflected. Keyloun is the first author of an article in Parasitology and a Senior Fellow in health outcomes and policy development, through a partnership with Allergan and the UW Pharmacy PORPP Program.

“Dr. Plein continues to mentor and inspire! Thank you for this enriching opportunity, personally and professionally,” wrote Keyloun, Petrie, Hart, and Osiyemi.

 

Click here for an archive of School of Pharmacy news stories.

Klarissa Hardy Receives Major NIH Grant

KlarissaHardy

Congratulations to former UW School of Pharmacy Department of Medicinal Chemistry post-doctoral fellow, Klarissa Hardy, who received a $660,000 National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant to fight breast cancer! Hardy worked with Dean Sidney Nelson to study the affects of the anti-cancer drug lapatinib on the liver. “I learned a lot from Dr. Nelson, from his previous work and experience in this area.”

Dr. Hardy, now a researcher and assistant professor of pharmaceutical sciences at Lipscomb University, made history in receiving the first NIH grant for Lipscomb, and the largest research grant in the university’s history.

Hardy was part of the late Dr. Sid Nelson’s lab at Med Chem, where she studied the targeted breast cancer drug, lapatinib, to examine the role of cytochrome P450-mediated metabolic activation in the liver toxicity associated with lapatinib. “We examined how the liver metabolizes lapatinib and how the products formed from this process might be linked to the toxic effects of the drug on the liver,” she said.

Her current research is aimed at discovering genetic factors, such as metabolism, that may contribute to a patient’s risk of developing a toxic reaction to the drug, thereby limiting its use in certain patient populations. The goal is to improve the safety of the drug and discover ways to minimize toxic reactions.

“The Medicinal Chemistry Department at the UW School of Pharmacy is where all this work started,” said Klarissa.  “I thank everyone in Med Chem for their support and helpful contributions along the way.  I am especially grateful to my mentors, Dr. Allan Rettie and Dr. Sid Nelson, for their guidance, and to Dr. Michelle Wahlin for all of her work on the project during her graduate studies.”

See the complete story of Klarissa’s award at www.lipscomb.edu/news/archive/detail/101/28696.

Our congratulations to Dr. Klarissa Hardy for this well-deserved award!

 

Link to Medicinal Chemistry archived news

North American ISSX Meeting will award two of our faculty.

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Not one, but two of our faculty were selected to receive the only awards given by The International Society for the Study of Xenobiotics (ISSX). Dean Emeritus Tom Baillie was selected for the North American Scientific Achievement Award and faculty member Dr. Nina Isoherranen, was selected for the North American New Investigator Award. Both awards will be presented at the 19th North American ISSX Meeting at a special session on October 21 at 2 p.m., followed by scientific lectures by Baillie and Isoherranen. UW Pharmacy will host a reception for alumni, faculty, and friends at 5 p.m. on October 21. The 19th North American ISSX Meeting will convene October 18 – 23, 2014 at the Hilton Union Square San Francisco Hotel in San Francisco, California.

 

Click here for an archive of School of Pharmacy news stories.

How do you teach when the topic changes so fast? A Q&A with Dr. Doug Black

Doug Black

Doug Black, UW associate professor of pharmacy practice, confers with students in the Bracken Pharmacy Learning Center. From left are Zsolt Hepp, Mitul Patel and Tulip Younes.

With the Ebola virus grabbing headlines, we sat down to talk with UW Pharmacy professor Dr. Doug Black, an infectious-disease specialist, to learn more about how he teaches students about a topic that changes so fast.

Full story

 

Link to SOP news archive

Announcing our new Dean of Pharmacy: Dr. Sean D. Sullivan

Sean Sullivan

Provost Ani Mari Cauce announced the appointment of Dr. Sean D. Sullivan as our next Dean of the School of Pharmacy, effective September 15, 2014.

Sean came to the University of Washington in 1992 and was promoted to full professor in 2001 and associate dean for research in 2010. A pharmacist by training, Sean has held numerous leadership roles, including his most recent role as the Stergachis Endowed Director of the Pharmaceutical Outcomes Research and Policy Program (PORPP). Sean has a strong vision for the School, building on its strengths as we go forward together.

With expertise in pharmacy and graduate education, federally funded biomedical research and training, and pharmacy practice, he has the breadth of knowledge and skills to lead the School. We are excited that he brings into this important leadership position a passion and commitment for the UW, pharmacy, science, and the student experience. Please join us in congratulating Sean on his new role as Dean.

We are grateful to and thank Dean Baillie for his service and leadership over the past six years.

 

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Dean Emeritus Baillie Is Top Cited Researcher

Dean Emeritus Baillie
Dean Emeritus Baillie

Dean Emeritus Thomas Baillie was recognized as one of the topmost cited researchers in the area of Pharmacology & Toxicology. The Thompson Reuters Highly Cited Researchers list identifies over three thousand researchers worldwide whose research was among the top 1% most cited for their subject field and year of publication. Baillie’s research focused on understanding the biochemical mechanisms involved in the metabolism of drugs to chemically reactive metabolites (“metabolic activation”). Many such reactive intermediates are toxic to the cells they encounter, and by gaining knowledge of the identities of these metabolites, it becomes possible to rationally alter the structure of the parent drug to avoid metabolic activation, and thereby design a safer medicine. “Much of this research began at UW when I was a faculty member before I went to the private sector,” said Baillie. “I collaborated with many colleagues here on this work, most especially Sid Nelson.”

Snoqualmie Valley Hospital Awarded IPPE Preceptors of the Year

Bennett
Ron Bennett, one of the 2014 IPPE Preceptors of the Year

We asked our students about their favorite preceptors at Snoqualmie Valley Hospital – Ron Bennett (pictured), Elizabeth Fuchs, and Candy Naderi – and this is what we heard.

“They are wonderful preceptors. They involved me in everything an institutional pharmacist does from distribution to clinical pharmacy. They were very receptive to questions, and I was most impressed with their willingness to work with me on clinical subjects that were not even required from the rotation,” said one student.

Another student told us, “Snoqualmie Valley Hospital is an EXCELLENT site for students to begin learning about real-world hospital pharmacy practice. All of the pharmacy staff are supportive and generous toward students, and the small size of the hospital allows students to see the ‘big picture’ more easily than at a larger hospital. I can’t say enough good things. If it were feasible, I would recommend sending the entire Pharm.D. class to do their IPPE at Snoqualmie. It’s that good.”

Award for Excellence in Clinical Teaching Goes to Dr. John Watkins

Teresa O’Sullivan presents Kradjan Award to John Watkins
Teresa O’Sullivan presents Kradjan Award to John Watkins at Commencement.

OUR PRECEPTORS CONTRIBUTE TIME AND EXPERTISE, opening their practice to teach and mentor our students. The Wayne A. Kradjan Excellence in Clinical Teaching Award is named for our former Associate Dean, an exemplary clinical teacher and role model and awarded annually to honor one of our preceptors.

John Watkins, ’79, ’93, ’11, was selected as this year’s winner for being an exemplary practitioner, role model, coach, facilitator, and team player for over 20 years. He is recognized as a national leader in managed care and serves as a pharmacy manager at Premera Blue Cross. “John is well respected nationally for his forward thinking approach to formulary management and learning the nuances of this process from his perspective is an eye-opening experience,” said another student.

Dr. Watkins is instrumental each year in helping our students prepare for the Pharmacy and Therapeutics Formulary Management competition, in addition to his work as preceptor. We are indebted to our dedicated and wonderful preceptors who are essential to the professional development of our Pharm.D. students.

If you want to make a difference in the future of pharmacy, become a UW Pharmacy preceptor. Benefits include access to online and in-person training, project support from students from the nationally-ranked UW School of Pharmacy, and possible designation as clinical and affiliated faculty, which includes access to the Health Sciences Library and its databases. Fifty percent of all preceptor rotations are in community pharmacies and fifty percent are in hospitals and institutions. For more information about becoming a preceptor, please email: OPPE@uw.edu. For information about the UW Pharm.D. program, go to the Pharm.D. page.

 

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UW Pharmacy Alumnus Ryan Oftebro Innovates Method for Opioid Overdose Rx

Portrait of Ryan Oftebro Westlake Store

The pain of losing a cousin who mixed methadone with alcohol inspired pharmacist Ryan Oftebro to turn his attention to preventing others from suffering the same fate. Oftebro, ’03, ’12, one of three pharmacist-owners of Seattle’s Kelley-Ross Pharmacy, is participating in a partnership between Public Health-Seattle & King County, the University of Washington, and Kelley-Ross Pharmacy to provide a take-home naloxone kit to anyone who needs it.

Nasal Drug-Delivery System Noted as a Seattle Innovation

Impel nose image
Magazine article highlights the work of a company that markets an invention made at our School.
Impel Neurophama, a company started by Professor of Pharmaceutics Rodney Ho, John Hoekman, PhD, ’10, and a UW business school alumnus is showcased in a ‘Pacific Northwest’ magazine article about Seattle’s booming invention market. Impel is developing a technology platform for nose-to-brain drug delivery.

 

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Med Chem Alumnus Appointed Dean at Campbell University

MikeAdamsThe Department of Medicinal Chemistry is proud to congratulate alumnus Michael Adams, Ph.D. for his recent appointment as Dean of the College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences at Campbell University in Buies Creek, North Carolina. Michael did his graduate work in Medicinal Chemistry with the late Sid Nelson and graduated in 2003. His research interests focus on causes and mechanisms for prevention of drug-induced liver disease, with particular attention to xenobiotics that cause liver damage after metabolism.

We are happy to see Michael’s continued success and wish him well in his new role.

 

Link to Medicinal Chemistry archived news

Klarissa Hardy Receives AACP Award

KlarissaHardyFormer Medicinal Chemistry postdoctoral fellow Klarissa Hardy has received a 2014 New Investigator Award from the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP). Klarissa, now an Assistant Professor at Lipscomb University College of Pharmacy in Nashville, TN, was one of 17 award recipients for 2014. The New Investigator program provides start-up funding for new pharmacy faculty’s research programs. The awards are given to individual faculty starting their academic careers at ACPE-accredited colleges or universities in the U.S. Klarissa will receive $10,000 for her research project “Molecular Mechanisms of Drug-Induced Liver Injury by Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors” as well as a travel award so she may present her findings at the AACP annual meeting in 2015.

“I am very pleased for Klarissa to have achieved this success so early in her faculty career,” said Dr. Allan Rettie, Chair of Medicinal Chemistry. “It is very well deserved.”

Klarissa was part of the late Dr. Sid Nelson’s lab at Med Chem, where she studied the targeted breast cancer drug, lapatinib, to examine the role of cytochrome P450-mediated metabolic activation in the liver toxicity associated with lapatinib. “My current work continues along these lines,” she said, “and is focused on two additional anti-cancer tyrosine kinase inhibitors — pazopanib and sunitinib — which have both been associated with hepatotoxicity.” The goal is to characterize the metabolism and bioactivation pathways of pazopanib and sunitinib to provide insight into the biochemical mechanisms of hepatotoxicity.

“I am excited and thankful to God for the opportunity to receive this award,” added Klarissa, “and I see it as an encouraging start to my career. I also thank my excellent mentors, Sid Nelson and Allan Rettie, who supported my postdoctoral training at UW to make this possible.”

Congratulations to Dr. Klarissa Hardy on this well-deserved award!

 

Link to Medicinal Chemistry archived news

Bracken Family Expands Legacy with Scholarship

L.D. Bracken, a UW School of Pharmacy alumnus, was the original creator of the Blistex ointment. The School of Pharmacy has long benefitted from the generosity of L.D. and his family over the years, as noted in this UW Report to Contributors story.

 

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UW Faculty, Alums Receive Awards for Innovation

WSPA_logo_2013

This past weekend at its annual meeting, the Washington State Pharmacy Association (WSPA) announced its 2013 award winners — all of whom are individuals who demonstrate a commitment to the quality of patient care. Among this year’s honorees were UW School of Pharmacy faculty members Andy Stergachis and Ryan Hansen and clinical faculty members Steven Anderson, Ryan Oftebro and Steven Singer.

Andy Stergachis, UW professor of epidemiology and global health, adjunct professor of pharmacy and health services, and director of the UW Global Medicines Program, received the Pharmacist of the Year Award. A registered pharmacist, Stergachis has spent much of his career connecting pharmacists with the public health community. He is presently pharmacy adviser to the Public Health – Seattle & King County Preparedness Section and a member of the Public Health Reserve Corps. He has been instrumental in connecting local and state public health officials with the WSPA and pharmacy leaders to strengthen the role of pharmacies and pharmacists in emergency preparedness planning. He is also an affiliate faculty member with the Pharmaceutical Outcomes Research & Policy Program and former chair of our Department of Pharmacy. He currently serves as the editor-in-chief of the Journal of the American Pharmacists Association.

Ryan Hansen, ’03, ’12, acting assistant professor of pharmacy, and Ryan Oftebro, ’03, clinical associate professor of pharmacy, won the Cardinal Health Generation Rx Award, which recognizes excellence in community-based prescription drug abuse prevention. Ryan Hansen is vice president and director of technology at Kelley-Ross Pharmacy in Seattle, and he is an Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality/UW K12 Patient Centered Outcomes Research Scholar at the UW. Oftebro is a pharmacist and co-owner of Kelley-Ross Pharmacy. Both Hansen and Oftebro are highly involved in the WSPA and the American College of Apothecaries. Together, they led Kelley-Ross Pharmacy’s partnership with StopOverdose.org, Public Health – Seattle & King County, and the UW Alcohol and Drug Abuse Institute to provide Take-Home Naloxone in an effort to prevent opioid overdose. This program provides access to naloxone as an overdose rescue kit for anyone at risk of an opioid overdose, as well as anyone at risk of witnessing an opioid overdose.

Affiliate Assistant Professor of Pharmacy Steven Singer, ’81, received the Distinguished Leadership Service Award. His career in pharmacy practice has been diverse and has included community, hospital, managed care, long term care and now hospice. Throughout his career, he has always kept patient care as a top priority. He has served on advisory panels for pharmaceutical manufacturers and currently serves on two committees at our School. He is also a co-chair of the WSPA Community/Ambulatory Care Academy. Whether he is providing historical viewpoints or challenging the leadership to think ahead, Singer is a valued voice among pharmacy leaders. In 2009, he received our School’s Distinguished Alumnus in Pharmacy Practice Award.

Clinical Pharmacy Instructor Steven Anderson received the Bill Mueller Outstanding Mentor Award. As pharmacy manager at the Bartell Drug store in University Village in Seattle, he is deeply involved in the precepting and training of UW pharmacy students. In fact, throughout his career, Anderson has mentored and precepted nearly 80 pharmacy students. His students describe him as a passionate pharmacist who is never too busy to answer a question or offer an explanation. Understanding the importance of pharmacy’s involvement in patient care, Anderson began an immunization program at his facility in 2003 and a travel clinic in 2010. He became an American Pharmacists Association Immunization Instructor in 2012. He was awarded the Wayne Kradjan Award for Excellence in Clinical Teaching earlier this year from our School.

Alumnus and former affiliate instructor Glenn Adams, ’98, was also honored by the WSPA. He won the Health System Pharmacist of the Year Award, which recognizes outstanding health-system pharmacists and their services to the profession. He is the administrative director of pharmacy for Confluence Health in Central Washington.

The winners were recognized at the awards luncheon on November 9th during the 2013 WSPA Annual Meeting in Grand Mound, Washington.

~November 12, 2013

 

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Jeff Rochon is the 2012 Distinguished Alumnus in Pharmacy Practice

This week, at the UW School of Pharmacy Dean’s Recognition Reception, Jeff Rochon, PharmD, ’99, will be named the School’s 2012 Distinguished Alumnus Award in Pharmacy Practice, Rochon, the Chief Executive Officer of the Washington State Pharmacy Association (WSPA), is a leader in the Washington State pharmacy community who has had a significant impact on pharmacy practice, pharmacy education and patient care statewide and nationally..

“It is truly an honor to receive this prestigious award,” said Rochon. “I am humbled, and I am so grateful for the influence and guidance of so many mentors along the way who have afforded me the opportunity to do what I love everyday.”

Jeff_Rochon_Headshot_for_top_storyW

Rochon received his Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of Washington in 1999. As a student, he co-founded and was the first president of the Unified Professional Pharmacy Organizations of Washington (UPPOW) — the UW’s student professional pharmacy organization that is now nationally recognized for its outreach programs and development opportunities. At his graduation, he was honored with the Alumni Professional Excellence Award for his leadership and many contributions as a student. Since entering the field of pharmacy, Rochon has devoted his career to finding innovative ways to enhance the practice of pharmacy in his own work and for the profession.

As a pharmacist and pharmaceutical care director at Kelley-Ross Pharmacy, he helped develop immunization and emergency contraception programs as well as chronic disease state screening and management programs. At the Polyclinic in Seattle, he developed and ran an anticoagulation clinic using prescriptive authority through the collaborative drug therapy agreement.

In 2002, Rochon joined the WSPA as the director of professional development. He became the Chief Executive Officer in 2008. His time at the association has been highly productive. His accomplishments include creating and coordinating ACPE-accredited continuing education opportunities for pharmacists and technicians, regularly advocating in Olympia on behalf of pharmacy and patients, implementing statewide medication-therapy management programs and establishing longstanding working relationships with entities such as the Washington State Department of Health, the Washington State Board of Pharmacy and the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services, just to name a few.

“Jeff has been a pharmacy leader since the day he entered pharmacy school at the UW,” said I2P2 Clinical Endowed Professor Don Downing, who long collaborated with Rochon professionally for the past decade on efforts to enhance pharmacy practice. “He is a change agent and leader, and I look forward to seeing what he continues to accomplish on behalf of pharmacists moving forward.”

His list of academic presentations is long and covers topics including professional development, medication therapy management, tobacco cessation, community health screening and payment for pharmacy care services. In addition to lecturing on such topics at the UW and WSU Schools of Pharmacy, he has also presented at multiple national, regional and state conventions. His volunteer appointments have included multiple positions with the American Pharmacists Association and an appointment in the Phi Lambda Sigma National Pharmacy Leadership Fraternity Beta Gamma Chapter. In 2004, he was named WSPA’s Distinguished Young Pharmacist of the Year.

A proud Husky to his core, Rochon has also served as a board member of the UW Pharmacy Alumni Association and the UW Alumni Association. He has also lobbied for state funding for higher education as a board member of the nonprofit advocacy organization UW Impact, an organization that seeks to increase awareness of the role the UW plays in Washington and to provide opportunities for alumni and community members to take action. He is also on of the School of Pharmacy’s Pharmacy Practice Board, where he helps the School in its quest to consistently evolve and enhance its PharmD program. Rochon can regularly be found attending or volunteering at UW PharmD student fundraisers, health fairs and other outreach activities that allow him to mentor the next generation of pharmacists. He is well-known and respected by countless students for the guidance he provides them each year at the annual Pharmacy Legislative Day event in Olympia.

Ultimately, Jeff Rochon is a tireless advocate for enhancing pharmacy practice and improving patient care. And he is devoted to helping to ensure that the future generations of pharmacists in this state have increased opportunities in their profession. For these reasons and many more, the School of Pharmacy is proud to name him its Distinguished Alumnus.

~May 7, 2013

 

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WSPA Announces 2012 Award Winners

Several School of Pharmacy alumni and affiliate faculty members are among this year’s award winners. The awards include Pharmacist of the Year (Beverly Schaefer, ’70) and Distinguished Young Pharmacist of the Year (Ryan Oftebro, ’95). Dean Emeritus Sid Nelson also received a posthumous Distinguished Leadership Service Award.

 

Link to Department of Pharmacy archived news

Ryan Hansen is 2011 Distinguished Alumnus

Ryan Hansen

The School of Pharmacy’s 2011 Distinguished Alumnus Award in Pharmacy Practice will go to a young pharmacist who has already made significant contributions to pharmacy technology, clinical pharmacy and pharmaceutical outcomes research. Ryan Hansen is the vice president and director of technology at Kelley-Ross Pharmacy, the president of a clinical pharmacy consulting business, and has recently completed his PhD in the School of Pharmacy’s Pharmaceutical Outcomes Research & Policy Program (PORPP).

“I am humbled and honored to receive this recognition,” said Hansen. “I have so many colleagues who are also very worthy of this award. Joining this list of esteemed colleagues and alumni offers a welcome challenge to my career.”

Hansen received his Doctor of Pharmacy degree in 2003. Prior to that, he graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in chemistry and philosophy from Carroll College in Montana. He will graduate from PORPP this spring with his dissertation investigating the association between sedative hypnotic insomnia treatments and motor vehicle crashes.

Hansen has played a key role in helping Kelley-Ross Pharmacy gain recognition for its innovative pharmacy practice models. The pharmacy operates one of the few community pharmacy-centered mail service businesses in the country. This business allows Kelley-Ross to compete directly with national mail service corporations in order to preserve the integrity of regional community pharmacy practice. The result is a thriving business that serves local and regional clients interested in mail services. They have also created a practice model that other community pharmacies can follow.

Hansen, who was named a 2010 Next Generation Pharmacist Technology Innovator of the Year Finalist, led the implementation of robotic technology within Kelley-Ross. At its long-term care location, Kelley-Ross uses two robots that automate much of the dispensing services. This is not only making mail service pharmacy more cost efficient for clients; it is also giving pharmacists greater opportunity to provide increased care for patients.

“Since joining Kelley-Ross as an intern in 2000, Ryan Hansen has fundamentally changed our practice for the better,” said Ryan Oftebro, president and principal of Kelley-Ross. “His grasp of technology in health care, business acumen and leadership have enabled Kelley-Ross to grow and thrive. Ryan’s dedication and service to the profession sets an example for us all.”

As a consultant, Hansen is working with other pharmacies to help them enhance their own technology initiatives. He also helps them develop models and evaluations for improving cost effectiveness. Hansen works with UW pharmacy students at Kelley-Ross locations who are interested in applying and evaluating new technologies in their practice settings. In addition, he teaches the material related to pharmacy pricing and reimbursement in “Pharmacy, Health Care and Society,” a core PharmD course.

He has worked for many years in support of the technology initiatives of the School of Pharmacy’s Bracken Pharmaceutical Care Learning Center (PCLC). In this role, he works to enhance students’ access to state-of-the-art pharmacy technology. This past year, when the PCLC received new computers, he volunteered his time to help update the pharmacy management system’s computer network.

Along with his wife, Keli, Hansen also endowed a scholarship for incoming PharmD students. The Hansens are long-time School of Pharmacy Dean’s Club members.

In his role as a PhD candidate in PORPP, Hansen’s research interests included investigating the economic cost of opioid prescription misuse, evaluating pharmacotherapy options for treating epilepsy and modeling treatments for chronic respiratory diseases. He has presented at conferences for the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, among others. He has been published in multiple journals, including the Clinical Journal of Pain and the American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy.

“I have worked with countless pharmacists and students over my 30-plus years as a pharmacist and academic,” said Professor of Pharmacy and PORPP Director Sean Sullivan. “I have witnessed firsthand a variety of styles of work ethic, attitude, commitment and demeanor. Ryan exhibits the very best of all these attributes, and at such a young age. He embodies everything we should value and acknowledge in a distinguished alumni.”

The School of Pharmacy and the Pharmacy Alumni Association will present the Distinguished Alumnus Award at the Dean’s Recognition Reception on April 5 at the Museum of Flight in Seattle.

~March 28, 2012

 

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UW School of Pharmacy Ranks Tenth in the Nation

The “Best Grad Schools: 2013” issue of ‘U.S. News’ hit the stands on March 14th. Our School ranked in the top 10 once again. Numerous other University of Washington professional and graduate programs were also among the top 10 in their respective categories — including the programs in medicine, nursing and social work. Read more.

 

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Chairs Corner: Pharmacists without Borders

The February Chairs’ Corner focuses on the School of Pharmacy’s impact locally, nationally and globally. Chairs’ Corner is a bimonthly message about various facets of the University from the chairs of the UW Foundation Board of Directors. These messages are distributed to Foundation Board members, UW deans and chancellors, and Advancement staff. Read more. (PDF)

 

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Pharmaceutical Outcomes Program Receives Endowed Directorship

Andy_and_JoAnn_Stergachis_gala_2009

The University of Washington School of Pharmacy is pleased to announce the establishment of an endowment that will support the Pharmaceutical Outcomes Research and Policy Program (PORPP). The Stergachis Family Endowed Directorship is named after Andy Stergachis, PhD, professor of epidemiology and global health and adjunct professor of pharmacy, and his wife, JoAnn Stergachis, a sales executive with F5 Networks. Stergachis was the founding director of PORPP and former chair of the Department of Pharmacy. Andy and JoAnn Stergachis (pictured at left) made the lead individual gift to the directorship, which enhanced a PORPP professorship award.

The Stergachis family endowment will strengthen PORPP’s significant impact in pharmaceutical economics, policy and safety. It will provide administrative, research and training support for PORPP. Further, the endowment will have a profound impact on the PORPP program by ensuring that it is led by a dynamic and internationally recognized director. In turn, this will help the faculty in the program make an even stronger impact, continuing to train and inspire the next generation of research scientists. PORPP’s legacy of providing each student with specialized training in outcomes research will be strengthened and enhanced.

Stergachis was recruited to the UW more than 20 years ago by then dean of the School of Pharmacy Milo Gibaldi. At that time, Gibaldi wanted to strengthen the Department of Pharmacy’s practice- and policy-related research programs. With administrative support and some external funding, Stergachis started one of the first academic programs in pharmacoepidemiology and pharmaceutical outcomes research in the country. In 1995, that program became PORPP.

“Our program’s evolution into PORPP and the fortunate recruitment of Sean Sullivan — who had just finished his PhD — strengthened and further expanded the training and research scope of the program into its present-day world-class status,” said Andy Stergachis. “JoAnn and I are pleased to add our personal support to help ensure the enduring impact of PORPP faculty and its graduates.”

Andy and JoAnn Stergachis are founding and long-time members of the School of Pharmacy Dean’s Club. Dr. Stergachis’s research focus is pharmacoepidemiology, global medicines safety and public health systems research. He is a recipient of the American Pharmacists Association Foundation Pinnacle Award. In recent years, the Washington State Pharmacy Association bestowed upon him the Innovative Pharmacy Practice Award.  In 2010, he co-founded the UW Global Medicines Program. He holds a PhD and MS in Pharmacy from the University of Minnesota and a Bachelor of Pharmacy from Washington State University.

“With the generous gift from Andy and JoAnn, PORPP will be able to extend and broaden its support of high impact science and graduate education,” said current PORPP Director and Professor Sean D. Sullivan. “Our faculty, students and postdoctoral fellows will all benefit from the Stergachis family endowment.”

The first recipient of the Stergachis Family Directorship will be announced in spring 2012. The long-term goal is for the endowment to reach $1 million.

~January 18, 2012

 

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School of Pharmacy Announces Endowed Professorships

The University of Washington School of Pharmacy congratulates the recipients of the following endowed professorships. These prestigious professorships were made possible by the support of alumni and friends.

Clinical Professor of Pharmacy Don Downing
Institute for Innovative Pharmacy Practice (“I2P2”) Endowed Professorship

Don_Downing

Downing is a prolific advocate for pharmacists, patients and underserved populations. He has devoted his career as a professor and practitioner to moving the profession of pharmacy forward.

His practice and training interests have included the development of the nation’s first pharmacist-provided emergency contraception program and the first pharmacist-initiated ongoing hormonal contraception services. Further, Downing and then-Professor Jackie Gardner led the first-in-the-nation charge in the 1990s to educate and certify Washington state pharmacists to provide flu shots and other vaccines to large populations of vulnerable people.

He has also created pharmaceutical care and business strategy partnerships between the School of Pharmacy and the Nisqually, Skokomish and Shoalwater Bay Indian Tribes. His close relationship with area tribes stems from his previous role as pharmacy director of the Puyallup Tribal Health Authority for more than a decade.

Downing, along with now Professor Emeritus Jackie Gardner, co-founded the School of Pharmacy’s Institute for Innovative Pharmacy Practice in 2005. He currently directs the institute. As the I2P2 Endowed Professor, he will have increased opportunities to further enhance innovations in pharmacy practice and education.

The Institute for Innovative Pharmacy Practice is a premier center for pharmacy training, research and advocacy. It draws on the School’s strengths in senior care, pharmacy management and community health programs. It prepares well-rounded pharmacists who promote entrepreneurial solutions for better health and better business. It also creates research partnerships to help practicing pharmacists implement cost-effective, health-enhancing practice innovations.

Professor of Pharmaceutics Shiu-Lok Hu
Milo Gibaldi Endowed Professorship in Pharmaceutics

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Hu has established a vibrant research program in the areas of virology and AIDS/HIV vaccine development. He is currently part of three, multiyear National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases HIV Vaccine Research and Design grants, for which his collaborative contributions total more than $9.5 million.

One such collaboration, with researchers at the University of Massachusetts Medical School and New York University Langone Medical Center, is exploring the development of protective antibodies targeting the part of the HIV virus that binds to immune cells — considered by many the Achilles heel of the virus. Hu and his colleagues are looking at how structural changes to the part of the virus that binds to the cellular receptor may impact the development of novel vaccines.

Hu is a member of the Scientific Organizing Committee for the AIDS Vaccine 2011 Conference in Thailand this September. He is also a member of the editorial board for the journal AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses and an associate editor for Current HIV Research.

The Gibaldi Endowed Professorship will support Hu as he pursues new directions in research and teaching, such as those emerging from the impact of biotechnology on pharmaceutical sciences.

The fund was created in 2008 in honor of the late School of Pharmacy Dean Milo Gibaldi. He was dean from 1978 to 1998 and was renowned for his work in pharmacokinetics. He helped make the UW School of Pharmacy one of the nation’s premier pharmacy institutions. He passed away in 2006.

Dean Emeritus and Professor of Medicinal Chemistry Sid Nelson
Drug Metabolism, Transport and Pharmacogenomic Research (DMTPR) Endowed Professorship

Sid_Nelson-credit_Dan_Lamont

Nelson is internationally renowned for his groundbreaking research in the elucidation of chemical and biochemical mechanisms of foreign compound metabolism. His pioneering translational research has resulted in 221 peer-reviewed articles and 48 invited reviews and book chapters. His studies have also led to a heightened understanding of how reactive drug metabolites are formed and how they react with cellular molecules to cause toxicities. The ultimate goal of this research is the development of safer medications.

In addition, during his 13-year tenure as dean, he helped the UW School of Pharmacy achieve national prominence in its research activities. Under his leadership, the School secured a top 10 ranking in National Institutes of Health funding among pharmacy schools

Nelson has been awarded two patents and has received the John J. Abel Award from the American Society of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics. In recent years, he has held an NIH fellowship to conduct research in metabolomics/metabonomics at Imperial College London. This July, Nelson will accept the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy’s Volwiler Research Achievement Award.

The DMTPR professorship will help Nelson strengthen the School of Pharmacy’s research mission and respond to critical industry needs in the areas of drug metabolism, transport and pharmacogenomics.

Created in 2003, DMTPR is a partnership between the School of Pharmacy and corporate and industry constituents. It seeks to provide the pharmaceutical industry with excellent future researchers and with training, analysis and research in drug metabolism.

Chair and Professor of Pharmacy Peggy Odegard
Shirley & Herb Bridge Endowed Professorship for Women in Pharmacy

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Odegard is known nationwide for her expertise in diabetes treatment and geriatric pharmacy and for her commitment to advancing the profession of pharmacy. Much of Odegard’s career has been devoted to highlighting the important role that pharmacists play in patient care and to promoting collaboration among health providers.

Both a practicing pharmacist and an educator, she was recently named the Chair of the School of Pharmacy’s Department of Pharmacy. In 2008, along with pharmacy faculty members Annie Lam and Jackie Gardner, she helped found the School’s consulting pharmacy program, UW Pharmacy Cares. Odegard has been active in UW Pharmacy Cares in forming business partnerships with area pharmacies and care facilities. She is a long-time faculty member and director of the School of Pharmacy’s Plein Certificate in Geriatric Pharmacy Program.

Odegard’s numerous honors include the Washington State Pharmacy Association’s Pharmacist of the Year Award and the UW School of Pharmacy Gibaldi Excellence in Teaching Award.

The Bridge Professorship helped Odegard to initially establish UW Pharmacy Cares. Now, it will allow her to further grow the program as well as the program’s medication-therapy-management training program for Pharm.D. students.

The Bridge Endowed Professorship was created in 2008 by the late Shirley Bridge, ’45, and her husband, Herb. After graduating magna cum laude from the School in 1945, Shirley Bridge became one of Washington state’s first female registered pharmacists. She continued practicing until 1982. She was a long-time supporter and friend of the School of Pharmacy.

These endowed funds represent the unwavering generosity of our alumni and the remarkable work of our faculty. If you would like to support one of these professorships, please click here

~June 9, 2011

 

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School Mourns Loss of Bev Katterman

Remembering Bev Katterman

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Beverley Katterman, former co-owner of Montlake Drugs and Katterman’s Sand
Point Pharmacy and wife of the late Don B. Katterman, passed away on Thursday, May 28th. Katterman’s Pharmacy has been a mainstay in Seattle’s Sand Point neighborhood since 1965.

The Katterman family’s legacy to the UW School of Pharmacy lives on with the Pharmacy Alumni Association’s Annual Don B. Katterman Memorial Lecture. This year, the School celebrated the 30th anniversary of this event. Bev and her daughter, Anne, attended for a special tribute (pictured).

Throughout their life together, Bev and her husband worked hard to keep
their neighborhood pharmacies thriving as central members of their local
communities.

Bev also actively supported her husband’s endeavors to improve the practice
of pharmacy in the state of Washington. He was a mentor to countless
pharmacy students, a former president of the UW Pharmacy Alumni Association
and a former president and member of the Washington State Pharmacy
Association. She herself was active in many service organizations, including
the Children’s Orthopedic Hospital Guild and the Women’s Pharmacy Group.

A memorial service for Bev Katterman will take place on Saturday, May 30, at
2 p.m. at the University Baptist Church, 4554 12th NE in Seattle. A
reception will take place after the service in the church’s McAfee Parlor.
Remembrances may be given to Children’s Hospital and Regional Medical
Center.

UW School of Pharmacy Mourns the Loss of Dean Emeritus Milo Gibaldi

 

gibaldi-colorDr. Milo Gibaldi, who served as dean of the UW School of Pharmacy from 1978 to 1995, died Jan. 13 in Chicago at the age of 67. He is remembered at the UW as a humble, warm, gracious teacher, and a visionary leader.

“Those of us who were fortunate enough to know Milo, will miss his friendship, wonderful insights and ability to inspire,” noted dean Sid Nelson.

As dean, Gibaldi played an instrumental role in making the UW School of Pharmacy a premier school of pharmacy, developing a more clinically oriented curriculum, integrating the school into the UW health sciences community, and launching the Doctor of Pharmacy program.  Although internationally honored for his accomplishments in pharmacy research and education, he once said, “I think of myself as a teacher, first and foremost. Even when I discover something in my research, I really get excited about telling my students about it.”

Gibaldi was a pioneer in the study of pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, drug metabolism, bioavailability, bioequivalence, and transdermal drug delivery systems. He published more than 200 scientific papers and eight books, including the Drug Therapy Topics Supplement.  He served as scientific advisor to the Food and Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health, and several pharmaceutical companies.

Over the course of his career, Gibaldi received many honors for his work. He was one of just seven U.S. scientists honored at the Millennial World Congress of Pharmaceutical Sciences in 2000. In 1986, he became one of only two pharmacists ever elected to the prestigious Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Science. The International Pharmaceutical Federation bestowed the Erik Host Madsen Medal to Gibaldi in 1991 for distinction in pharmaceutical sciences. In 1996, he was elected a fellow of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS) and was a recipient of the association’s Research Achievement Award in Pharmacokinetics, Pharmacodynamics, and Drug Metabolism.

As dean, he oversaw the planning construction of the School of Pharmacy’s long-sought permanent home in the Health Sciences Center H-Wing. Previously the School of Pharmacy had been in Bagley Hall and other locations on the UW campus.  In addition, Gibaldi implemented the two-year, post-baccalaureate Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.) program, which had been in the planning stages for some years, and graduated its first students in 1982. Combined with an American Society for Hospital Pharmacy accredited residency program, it was recognized as one of the foremost graduate programs in the nation.

Gibaldi received his undergraduate degree in pharmacy in 1960 and his doctorate in pharmaceutics in 1963 from Columbia University.  He was an assistant professor at Columbia until 1966 when he moved to the State University of New York at Buffalo. There he advanced to the rank of full professor and chair of the Department of Pharmaceutics and established a national and international reputation for research in biopharmaceutics and pharmacokinetics. A strong promoter of collegiality, Gibaldi’s leadership was recognized by UW appointments as associate vice president for Health Sciences (1982-1992), chair of the Board of Deans (1987-1995), and chair of the Board of Health Sciences Deans (1992-1995).

Gibaldi was dean of the School of Pharmacy for 17 years. He stepped down from the deanship on July 1, 1995 to return to the faculty as professor of pharmaceutics and dean emeritus. He moved to Chicago in 2003 to be closer to family and teach at Midwestern University and continue with his research. Throughout his tenure and much of his life he battled serious health problems, and was admired for his perseverance and courage that enabled him to still reach great heights as a scientist, leader and educator.

The Milo Gibaldi Endowed Professorship in Pharmaceutics was created in his honor in 1993, designed to focus on faculty and student research and education in advanced drug delivery systems.

Milo Gibaldi is survived by his wife, Florence, and daughter, Ann. The family has asked that in lieu of flowers, those wishing to make a condolence and memorial gift please do so with a donation to the Milo Gibaldi Professorship Endowment. Donations can be made online or by calling the University of Washington School of Pharmacy Office of Development directly at (206) 616-7613.

 

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KATTERMAN LECTURE Managing Change: Pharmacists Shaping the Future of Pharmacy

The University of Washington and the Pharmacy Alumni Association (PAA) are pleased to present motivational speaker and ex-Husky football great, Tom Flick, as keynote speaker for this year’s Katterman Lecture. Joining Tom will be Rod Shafer, chief executive officer, Washington State Pharmacy Association (WSPA), Dedi Hitchens, director, Washington State Pharmacy Legislative & Regulatory Affairs Council and Steve Saxe, executive director, Washington State Board of Pharmacy.

Pharmacy leaders will discuss new legislation and practice issues. Tom Flick will provide strategies and motivation for improving communications within the work place and the pharmacy community as a whole, thereby empowering each of us to not only positively impact our professional, but also optimize our own personal success as a pharmacist.

For the past 16 years, Tom has been helping Fortune 500 companies and leading organizations meet the challenges of today’s business environment, by presenting valuable leadership, strategic team development and change management strategies. He has tackled the business world with the same passion, focus and spirit that earned him honors as a collegiate and professional quarterback. As Rose Bowl quarterback for the Washington Huskies, Tom was voted team captain, Most Inspirational award winner, and Pac-10 conference Player of the Year, before going on to enjoy seven years as a NFL quarterback.

As president of Tom Flick Communications and Outlook Consulting Group, Tom understands that people, not programs, help organizations change and grow. Tom works with a large variety of health, technology, manufacturing and service corporations and associations, helping them meet the challenges of an ever-changing business environment. He addresses over 100,000 men and women each year on high performance strategies for leadership, teamwork, change, and personal growth. His passion for raising employee morale, improving customer service, increasing teamwork and communication, managing change and developing more effective leaders is achieved by his unique gift to connect with the listener’s heart as well as their head and habits. His achievements and experience in the highly competitive worlds of professional sports and corporate America give him a keen insight into success.

Join Tom, local pharmacy leaders and your colleagues as we discuss key state and national pharmacy issues that affect our profession and learn how you as an individual can affect positive change in pharmacy practice. With Tom’s help we can create and implement strategies to improve the quality of life of pharmacists, pharmacy employees, patients and the community.

The lecture will held on Saturday, March 19, in the Warren G. Magnuson Health Sciences Center, in Room T-435. Registration starts at 8:00 a.m. The program will run from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. with discussion time built in at the end of the lecture.

All students, faculty, staff and health-care professionals are invited to attend. Attendees will receive 4.0 contact hours (0.40 CEUs) of continuing education credit. Registration fees are $40 for PAA members, $65 for non-members and $20 for guests (no CE Credit).

Same-day registration begins at 8:00 a.m. If you intend to register on-site, please contact the Pharmacy Alumni office at (206) 543-3485 the week of the lecture to ensure space availability.

Katterman Lecture to Showcase Latest Technologies

Technology is fueling rapid changes in the pharmaceutical industry. The direction of this profession will be greatly influenced by the advanced capabilities of advanced technologies.

As tens of millions of baby boomers continue to rely more on prescriptions in the coming years, pharmacists will be looking to more powerful technological resources to deliver medications with greater efficiency while offering added convenience.

Renowned pharmacist Bill G. Felkey will address the many ways pharmacists are becoming more innovative in their practice with the aid of technology. He will also discuss the vast potential technology brings to the pharmaceutical industry.

The recipient of numerous awards, Mr. Felkey is an Associate Professor of Pharmacy Care Systems at Auburn University. He has secured or assisted in delivering more than $5 million of funded research to Auburn University. His expertise and innovative style have brought him nationwide acclaim.

Come learn how to effectively incorporate the use of technology into your pharmacy practice. Discover how to harness the vast power of the Internet and better meet the needs of your customers.

All students, faculty, staff and health care professionals are invited to attend this lecture. Attendees will receive four contact hours (0.4 CEUs) of continuing pharmacy education credit. Registration fees are $25 for PAA members, $50 for non-members, and $20 for guests (no CE credit).

If you intend to register on-site, please contact Susan Wilbanks the week of the lecture to ensure space availability.

Saturday, May 10th
Warren G. Magnuson Health Sciences Center,
Room T-435
8:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Registration begins at 8:00 a.m.

Phonathon Gets Great Reception

One of the biggest volunteer turnouts to date at a School of Pharmacy Phonathon was held to raise funds for critical student programs and scholarships. The 2003 Phonathon, which was held on February 11th and 12th , brought together great teamwork on the part of our students, staff and alumni. Phonathon pledges given by phone continue to arrive into the office. Most of this year’s pledges are designated for the Dean’s Fund for Excellence.

More than 50 volunteers displayed a heartfelt commitment to the School of Pharmacy by devoting their time and energy to contacting alumni and securing much needed funds for the School. With the severe state budget crisis, and the twin challenges of dwindling state funds and rising tuition costs, Phonathon volunteers were charged with an ambitious task: to tap into the generosity of alumni to help ensure the financial viability of our scholarships and already strained academic programs.

Despite the recession plagued economy and a plummeting stock market, our alumni committed more than $11,000 to the Dean’s Fund for Excellence and other School funds. The focus for this year’s Phonathon was the Dean’s Fund for Excellence because it offers the greatest discretion in subsidizing student scholarships, emergency funds for students, student travel, and other School expenses not funded by the state budget.

The cornerstone of a successful Phonathon – the hard efforts of our volunteers, some of whom worked two shifts – paid off. Among the outstanding work done by our dedicated volunteers were those who secured top dollar pledges: Susan Bridwell, ’05, Derek Kuniyoshi, ’06, Tran Le, ’06, Alissa O’Connell, ’06, and those who secured the most pledges: Tina Choe, ’04, and, Cynthia Gierwatowski, ’03. Similarly, Georgia Gianacos, Pharm.D.’00 and Dana Hurley, ’97, received top commitments from their fellow alumni.

We owe a great deal of appreciation to Dana Hurley, alumnus and past president of the Pharmacy Alumni Association (PAA) who served as the Phonathon’s chair. Dana ensured both nights went smoothly and offered valuable insights into bringing greater efficiency to this fundraiser in the future.

“It was exciting to see the student callers actively competing with one-another to get pledges,” Dana said. “The student callers were thrilled when they had the opportunity to talk at length with the alumni they reached.”

We also owe thanks to Liz Fisher, a friend of the School of Pharmacy and wife of alumnus Bill Fisher. Liz served as lead of the earlier shifts both days. Liz offered guidance and effectively spelled out the Phonathon goals to the teams. Thank you Dana and Liz.

Many of our accomplished volunteers received door prizes such as Palm Pilots, large fruit baskets, and gift certificates to pizzerias, restaurants and drug stores. All of these gifts were donated by our generous area businesses.

Congratulations to all of our Phonathon volunteers for playing a vital role in ensuring the future viability and relevance of our School of Pharmacy.

 

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