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.