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